NüfNüf Go Round

Try to find parking in Melbourne that doesn’t cost you a small fortune.
We declined the hotel’s parking for 30 dollars per night and instead opted for the parking garage across the street at 18 dollars a day. Compared to paid parking in Sydney, that actually felt somewhat reasonable — and I guess we were lucky.

Our choice of parking meant that one of us had the honour of hopping out of bed before 7 a.m. to extend the parking for the day. I admit I only did it on the third day, because Timo stopped offering after two attempts during which I kept saying, “Of course I’ll do it, it’s only fair.” 😂

Well. When I went downstairs half-asleep to extend the parking, I noticed that the car parked next to ours had its passenger-side window completely smashed in. The one behind it had a neat circular hole in the window, with police already doing what they do. I was a bit worried for our car, but I assume whatever happened there was targeted.

Timo and I — not wanting to drive around the city — started hiking wherever our feet would take us.

As a little aside: I often wonder how I get around when I’m on my own, because when walking with Timo, I just trust that he knows where to go. And let me tell you — that guy is always right. Sometimes annoyingly so. I maintain he’s some kind of navigation savant.
It’s adorable that he wants to impart that knowledge unto me, but walking me somewhere I’ve trustingly waddled along to and then telling me to find the way back doesn’t work. Especially when you don’t allow me to use Google Maps. 😂

Our first stop was the Queen Victoria Market — a huge market where you can buy all kinds of food, fruit (which I guess qualifies as food…), a few local products like kangaroo furs, and lots and lots of other products proudly made in China.

A couple of rambutans, dinosaur lychees (giant lychees), and a blood orange slushie later, we moved on to the adjacent Brick Lane Market. Here you can find delicatessen, bakeries, butcheries, and more. I discovered that if you feign interest everywhere, people happily give you free samples — and are absolutely delighted if you tell them you’ll “circle back later.”

In the CBD, we stumbled across something like a public cold-water mist distributor designed to cool you down on hot days — like today. It felt amazing.

In the general area of the Botanic Gardens, we were harassed by a breeding mama and papa bird — just by walking through a wider area they deemed their territory, they swept in at us and almost collided with our heads! This happened several times. 😄

Eventually, we arrived at the Botanic Gardens and the Shrine of Remembrance, a war memorial and museum. After having a look around inside, we wandered through the gardens, which were quite lovely. The little rainforest walk was especially enjoyable.

My personal highlight, however, was a dusky moorhen chick. I love baby ducks.
So I spent a considerable amount of time at the pond, taking pictures of my new friend, while Timo waited patiently. We also spotted a few fun cacti — as you can see in the pictures. 😄

Come dinnertime, I felt we deserved a well-rated burger. It was only a 31-minute walk. Though somehow, someone always manages to turn that into two hours through conversation…

The burger wasn’t bad — but I shall perhaps admit that it may not have been entirely worth the alleged two-hour walk. Potentially. 😂
On the bright side, seeing this part of the city at dusk made for some lovely photos. And it led us past an Asian grocery store where I may have stocked up on coconut-, chocolate-, and matcha-flavoured mochi. There were so many good ones to choose from!Baca lagi