Melbourne/Bendigo

Just back from Melbourne, which was a bit of a scorcher and gave me a bad flu. We made the obligatory visit to Federation Square and the NGV (the new architecture here takes some getting used to –all of the city in fact seems an ongoing architectural project and the results don’t always look pleasing) but the exhibitions were interesting. Went to Magnation, it was a great browse given that they have two floors of magazines. However, didn't find a single literary magazine - there is so much of an emphasis on graphics/visuals these days that its hard to find a mag that employs pure text. Picked up a small fashion mag published out of Melbourne called A Cloth Covered Button - it was a beguiling mix of acute observations and articles that read like student essays.

We also made a day trip to Bendigo by train, which was great. Apart from the 40C heat, it was an interesting trip. I remain fascinated by these 19th century towns, it seems such an immense enterprise for Europeans and Chinese alike to come to this strange place and negotiate all those miles (in the case of Bendigo for the gold) and to build these towns of mansions and wide boulevards. Our migrations seem so easy in contrast. I haven’t been to South America but Bendigo felt like one of the towns that one finds in Latin fiction – spacious lonely boulevards and colonial architecture set down in a strange landscape.

Thanks to the train trip, got to see a bit of the Victorian landscape, which was exceedingly dry but strangely attractive. Brisbane, in contrast, is all green loveliness at the moment, albeit due to incessant rain. I was glad to be back at the University (though not at work) for the campus looks ever so charming in this quieter time - outside of Delft in Holland, it really is the most romantic campus I have seen. It is to last for just another two months though for I shall soon return to my old job in Sydney.