After our extremely late night out last night and being in very comfortable surroundings in this Air BNB we totally slept right in today. I woke up feeling so well rested and refreshed, the best sleep I have had in what feels like months, thinking "why is is so early, i feel like i slept 12 hours?" looked at my clock and realised it was actually midday. The flat has block-out curtains so we were in total darkness in the middle of the day. Oops!
Sprung out of bed in a kerfuffle and got our shit together to go have a markets day. We planned to go to the markets so we could stock up our flat with yummy deli treats for late night munchies. I knew I wanted to go to Queen Victoria Market and Pahran Market, but we had a google and I found what looked like a gorgeous little artsy-fartsy market called Rose Street Art Market. So with that closing first we made that our 1st destination.
GREAT decision!
Rose St Artists' Market This place is pure magic from the moment you walk in. Each table is full of unique and interesting pieces which all tell a story about their creator and their passions. What I love most is that a lot of these are ethical based crafts be it supporting a charity, recycling materials, telling an educational story, or sharing a worthwhile message. It was lovely to see so many vendors who I felt urged to support in their ventures, these are people changing the world, not just lining their pockets.
The most stand-out stall of this place for me was a rockin little shop called Coffee and Clothes that upcycled clothing and remodeled the pieces to give them a totally unique, modern, and funky feel. Their display drew me in like a magnet. Straight away Hobbit and I were all over these jackets, the added patches, sparkles, leather, carefully chosen fabrics, studs, feathers, and labels were all put together to make what was once an aged unwanted item of clothing into something magical and desirable. I got to meet the creator, Claire, and she was so charismatic and magnetic. The kind of person I instantly feel like I could easily be best friends with. She wasn't one of those fake sellers who you know are just sucking up to you to make money, you got the feel that she was genuinely interested in your story and was wanting to match the perfect item up with you. I could have stood there and spoke to her all day but we had so much to do in so little time. There were two jackets there that I was really drawn to, but alas, at $595 each I definitely hadn't budgeted for that kind of spending and although she did ask me to barter with her I felt embarrassed offering the kind of amounts I could afford as they likely would have insulted her and all the passion and love she put into her craft. Maybe when I get back home I can save up and get one.
Moving along we purchased some beautiful candles from a groovy looking dude at Shadow Moon Creations, not the kind of guy you would expect to be standing behind a counter of sweet smelling flowery candles. He was so cool! I love that he offered a very generous discount for the return of his jars, I wish Perth vendors would do that.
I then spent ages tinkering about admiring all the adorable cat and dog creations at a ceramics stand, Shoko Ceramics. The most sweet little ornaments and unique scenes, these items would be all over my house if i lived close by. I fell in love with this sweet little dinghy filled with cats that had a sign saying 'Rescue', as an animal welfare supporter this grabbed my heart.
There was a sweet little heart necklace which I really adored, so Hobbit bought it for me and I can't wait to wear it. I love the carefully painted swirls and the vibrant shiny red.
Apparently this stall does pottery classes, would be great to check out.
Two friendly and I say this again, because it generally is not the case in Perth, genuine, young ladies who also happen to be sisters run this fantastic jewelry stall called Hutch Melbourne, with designs they create themselves. They twist metal wire into barbed wire type bracelets and necklaces, they also do roses and assorted swirls and designs. Hobbit and I fell in love with a few things here and the prices were really reasonable so we ended up purchasing a piece each. I got some stunning rose in heart earrings and he got a dagger with a skull pendant. The earrings are the design of their logo, and definitely an eye-catching piece of art. I cant wait to wear them. Again, I could have chatted to the lovely ladies here all day if I wasn't strapped for time and had I had more money I could have easily bought another five pieces, it was so hard to choose. When the seller is so lovely you just want to support them in their venture and help them make a good living from their hard work.
There was a really quirky lady in a stall down the back who was making handbags and accessories out of soda can pull tabs that she was carefully sewing together. The end result was a truly spectacular looking chain mail effect and a stunning item that would turn heads in any room. I was also tempted to support her and be the lucky owner of one of these lovely art pieces but the price just wasn't right and as this was my first day in Melbourne I didn't want to empty my bank account just yet. But if you are a fan of handbags, especially ethical ones that look really amazing, then this is definitely THE place to visit. Check out her magnificent creations at Handmade + Rings. I think I might have to save up and get something online. I would also love to send her my collection of pull-tabs which i have in a jar and keep adding to. I wonder if that gets you a discount? I should have asked.
My last mention, but definitely not the last cool place in the market (Id love to talk about them all) is an amazing stand which raises money for an orphanage selling photos on Block Mounts . The creative genius behind it travels the world photographing street art and block mounts it into really stunning little ornaments of inspiration. Some of the photos were just stunning art but there were also some that were very thought provoking messages (be it through an image or actual words). Hobbit was particularly taken with one that had a photo of a Chinese person standing up against the tanks in Tienanmen square, but the tanks had been removed and instead was an Imperial Stormtrooper. We both studied it for a while and it drew us right in. So we bought it. I shuffled around for a while enjoying all the colours and messages till i stumbled across one that read "The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd". I don't know why but this one made me feel all emotional, my eyes welled up, I felt like it was made especially for me. So I chose that one. I have always felt like I didn't fit in with the crowd and whilst that was a bad thing when younger, now I feel like it is an advantage, that fitting in with a crowd or any 'type' just pigeon-holes and subdues you. Now I feel like my uniqueness is a ticket to freedom and the ability to really change the world, no constraints. So this message hit my soul.
The charity this stand supports is www.orphfund.org and in there you can view some of the photo blocks. Please check them out.
We then made a mad dash to the Queen Victoria Markets to find the deli section so we could stock up our little fridge for the week with some lovely gourmet deli items. We had been told by a few friends who frequent this part of the woods that this is definitely the place to find the best delicious treats.
It was a bit of a tram ride, then a run across the CBD. When we got there we found out we only had 40 minutes to closing time! and when we stepped inside we realised that in the time we had we wouldn't even be able to see 1/10th of the shops in this grand space. So we just chose the indoor deli area (with a promise to come back another day with the time it deserves to slowly peruse the whole area) and circled about picking out some little portions of cheeses, dips, olives, stuffed prosciutto (as recommended by my lovely friend, Lisa, who knows my taste perfectly) and stuffed figs from what became my favourite place, Diannes Delights. Hobbit found some kranskies in the Polish Deli and i found some Leberkäse which I was so excited about seeing as we had not had any of this delicious loaf since being in Germany and it is definitely me favourite German food of all. After a bit of a chat with the lovely Polish Butcher, he cut us 4 thick slices and it truly pained me to not be able to buy an absolute tonne of other stuff to try, but alas, one week only! We found a baker and got a lovely sour dough sesame baguette and croissant, great accompaniment with the sausage.
There was an African stand that was selling lemonade where we got a lovely big refreshing drink which hit the spot perfectly on this hotter than expected day. I also got a little piece of very expensive smoked cured salmon to try which looked delicious but later when I tried it I found it way too strong in taste, but I could definitely appreciate how well cooked it was and how perfect the blend of flavour cooked into it was.
Hobbit didn't pack a hat and today was a lot sunnier than we expected so we had been looking all day for a hat stand to protect his bald head (solar panel for a sex machine). Just outside the outdoor veggie markets was a hat emporium on a table called M E Fashion where we had a blast trying on a load of hats. I bought two really lovely warm fluffy numbers and again, I could have easily bought about 10 more, and hobbit unfortunately didn't get what he was looking for, nothing for baldies that need sun protection off their head and neck. Melbourne is definitely the place to stock up on winter wear but not all that great on hot aussie climate protection. Never mind, we had all that stuff back home but just didn't think to bring it. But there were a load of going out hats that looked cool only they were too big and were a one size fits all (but Hobbits) situation.
The markets closed as it was 5pm and we agreed we were starving so decided to start making our way home to go and eat all the delicacies we had purchased (*drool*)
On the way home we had a wonderful gander through Haighs. Now, for those of you who know me, you know that for me to actually step foot in a Haighs store was something I had wanted to do for many many years and I felt like I was walking on holy soil. I was so tempted to fall to the ground and kiss the shiny clean wooden floor. The smile on my face made the Cheshire Cat look depressed and I think I got face-ache from the delight. I walked slowly around absorbing the delicious chocolatey smell and nearly died of excitement when the shop assistant came across with a little gold basket and tongs asking "Would you like a sample?" WOULD I!!!!! Is the Pope a Catholic? So much restraint involved in not ripping the basket out of his hands and pouring the whole contents down my throat. After a wonderful detailed look at every single item on each and every shelf (twice), we both picked out some treaties to get us through the week but agreed to come back on our last day to stock up on all our long list of take home gifts and treats. We spent about $70 without blinking an eye, in fact I was quite impressed at my restraint! hahaha. Boy it was cool to walk into this shop after years of worshiping it! I can't tell you how much I adore Haighs chocolate but lets just say I'd likely need a second lap band if they sold them in WA lols! If you have never tried a Haighs chocolate, then make sure you add it to your bucket list. It definitely runs rings around most chocolate I have tried (and I've tried a LOT :P)
Note: If you know me and go to Melbourne without taking my money and Haighs order you can pretty much cancel out the friendship.
For a while I have been looking for some really cool sparkly sneakers. Found some in Amsterdam in the Sketchers store on my last day there but they had sold out of my size, was devo! Well, in similar style I stumbled across a Sketchers store here which had a last pair of really glitzy sneakers on the sale rack, but not my size - Bummer. They said the DFO store had a pair in my size so I might have to check that out during the week. With the amount of walking I was already doing on this first day, and expected to do over the week they sure wouldn't go astray.
Walking back we just kept passing store after store after store of fantastic things. Unfortunately a lot had closed or were closing so we will have to venture back past that way again. I did happen across a music store tho where I snapped up a vintage t-shirt which had a picture of a kitten with Freddy Kruger nails, so cute and menacing.
Back at home we settled in for the night and managed to put together an amazing picky-platter with all the things we had bought today. Definitely staved off the hangries which had been building up. I had also bought some salady things at Woolworths so that added a healthier touch to it all. We watched the spectacular BushFire Relief concert and ate our yummies. It was so cool to see such a odd mix of artists all coming together to help Australia at our time of need. Queen, KD Lange, Alice Cooper, Icehouse, Tina Arena, and many others. Celeste Barber made a brilliant MC which as a non-fan of hers I hate to admit, and I particularly admired her balls to get up there and totally obliterate the Liberal Party for their lack of any compassion or ethics - that itself is nearly enough to put her back in my good books. Anyone who slams a Lib is A-OK in my mind. I am SO anti-liberal it is not even funny. And proud to say too. Most people say never talk religion and politics, well I say lets talk about those things first, a good healthy debate is the only way to learn and share learnings. Plus, if we all agreed on everything we would have no reason to talk.
As the night was getting late we decided to devise a bit of a plan to make sure we factored in all the things we want to see and do so we made up our list. Museum, Chappel street shopping, a 2nd hand day (clothes and records), Sky Deck, Casino, Witches in Britches, Sealife Aquarium, a few parks, malls, and shops. Plus we have Whitesnake Concert Wednesday and Quireboys Saturday, so it will be a great week - so long as no one gets Carona-virus - which both of us have joked about all week anytime someone around us sneezes or coughs or sniffs we are all over it with the 'quick, quarantine them!' type jokes under our breath to each other. Hobbit had the sneezes tonight so it was all on. Hilarious. Luckily it was just a bit of dust up the nose, he is all fine now, my little presh.
Well, Im so tired now as it is 2.30am and we have another adventure day planned for tomorrow so I am going to go off now and sink into that lovely great big king size enveloping bed with those black out shades pulled down and sleep like the dead.
Adios!
And hey, thanks for reading. If you live in Melbourne and enjoyed this blog - feel free to thank me in Haighs Chocolate. No, seriously!
