We arrived back from the Grampians for a week in Fitzroy – this time really central and close to the Melbourne Museum and CBD. We had an Airbnb hosted by Naz who we met on our first day. Naz is a bohemian type and very arty – an interior designer by trade. The studio was perfect for us in terms of location and even, curiously, had its own telescope. One slight drawback – Naz is a bit of a dirty bugger. Not a hoover or broom in sight. But hey, what’s a little dirt when you have your own trendy inner city pad?

Our days were pretty chilled. Late getting up followed by meditation, yoga, breakfast and more chilling. About noon we emerged on the street for coffee. Such a hard life.

A word about Melbourne street art . . . its everywhere you look, well in Fitzory anyway. There are supporters and detractors as you can imagine. Victorian Premier John Brumby called it a “blight on the city” – I am picturing an uptight fuddy-duddy here by the way. There is definite difference here between street art and tagging – the latter being the mindless spray-can mentality and which the Victorian Government has come down on hard – you can expect up to 2 years jail time if you are caught. The kosher street art is in some parts so-so and in others quite astonishing. Overall it just makes Fitzroy look and feel very cool and arty . . .

Street art has even made its way in Melbourne’s galleries. Jo and I visited the National Gallery (which was hosting a Van Gogh exhibition), the Ian Potter Gallery in Federation Square (a focus on Australian/Aboriginal art) and the Heide Museum of Modern Art (a former privately owned estate and collection in the northern suburbs). I also went to the opening night of a photography exhibition put on by a friend of Danielle’s in a place called the “No Vacancy” Gallery.

Being with Danielle has broadened my experience of eating vegan, which I have to say isn’t tooooo bad . . . I’m reminded of my upbringing – I wouldn’t touch a vegetable unless it was some form of potato and now look at me! The undoubted highlight of vegan eating in Melbourne was a chain called Lentil as Anything – we went to two, one in an old nuns convent in Abbotsford. It’s a not-for-profit organisation where you pay as you feel. There is a suggested list of payments ranging from $20 (where you effectively “pay it forward” to someone else) to zero (where you are encouraged to think about volunteering in the restaurant). The food was amazing and a great people watching experience – everyone from hippy types to yuppies, and some pretty mad ones.

We saw Danielle everyday after her work had finished. Shared a meal and a beer or three. Danielle is working for a car leasing company, which requires her to travel two hours there and back each day. It’s tiring for her, but in just 2.5 months time she is off on her next overseas adventure . . . I think she will use that time to think about the next stage of her life and what that might involve. She has some very cool business ideas.