I am still in Melbourne, enjoying myself.

The vista in all directions from here was equally harsh and (to my eyes) barren. Yet it is home to many. Not a place to which tourists come, I think.
It’s a city I like very much, but that may be because, like most tourists, I have stayed in its better areas. Yesterday I used my electronic “Myki” card to take trams and trains at random, and ended up in East Footscray. There will be people for whom Footscray is home, and I don’t mean to offend them, but it was a scary place. It reminded me of the way the movies portray the cities in “enemy” territory.

Melbourne has a large fleet of mostly modern trams, but for much of the day they are uncomfortably crowded and at times ridiculously so.
On a tram back to St Kilda, I reached the conclusion that those advocating trams or light rail for Wellington are in love with a concept that is nowhere near as pleasant as their dream. This was early afternoon, long before rush hour.
I got back to the house just as the sky darkened and a thunderstorm began. Heavy rain followed. It persisted. Then it eased, so I put the storm jacket on the camera and went out to grab some shots. I wandered along the St Kilda waterfront. The old pier was once a gathering place for the city’s rich and famous. Now it seems to be a refuge for penguins and a haven for people fishing.
From there, now that the rain had stopped, there was a clean fresh view back to the city.
Oh, and there was a tern which I think to be the crested tern (Sterna bergii) on the basis of its large size, full dark cap and bright yellow bill.
That’s all for now.
Once stayed at Footscray in the Vietnamese part. Quite safe.
Margaret, I didn’t mean that I was afraid for my personal safety … it was a comment more on the desolate nature of the architecture and environment.
Purposeful wandering … try the Federation Square book market on Saturday morning. Magic place!