Run With It

With the relief of a signed lease, but with the keys still a few days away, I remained a nomad in Melbourne. However, the transition period offered some unique opportunities, and I ran with it.

It took two tram rides to get from South Melbourne to Toorak. With a large suitcase, a backpack, and a few smaller handbags, it was a lot to carry but not unmanageable. The beat-up wheels on the large suitcase no longer rotated smoothly, which kept the bag steady as the tram accelerated.

Out in suburban Toorak, many of the tram stops didn’t have platforms, so I had to keep a close eye on Google Maps in order to get off in the right place. I was surprised that trams were running in the lane closest to the center of the road, instead of the leftmost lane. It meant that passengers getting on/off had to cross an active lane. Over time, I realized that cars in the left lane were actually quite good at stopping behind the tram. But the first time I dismounted with my collection of luggage into the road, it was a leap of faith. The final leg of the journey was a walk through a residential street lined with tall, shady trees – a textbook example of the proverbial leafy suburbs.

In Toorak, I stayed in a private room that I found on AirBNB with a large window providing tons of natural light. It had a shared kitchen that was small but well stocked. One of the hosts, the friendly Gonzalo, pointed out my allocated fridge and pantry space.

I went to the local Wooly’s for ingredients, and made my favorite farro salad recipe for dinner. Well, in this case it wasn’t exactly a farro salad. Earlier in the day, I had searched for farro at the South Melbourne Market, to no avail. Even a shop that specialized in grains didn't have it! Though they suggested an alternative – spelt – so I took a chance and got a bag. My spelt salad was delicious.

​It was still Australia Day, and since I had missed the main festivities while out signing my lease and relocating to Toorak, I headed downtown to see if there were any remnants of the holiday atmosphere. Flinders Station was illuminated with green light, but otherwise I didn’t encounter anything. However, it was the night of the AO men’s semifinal, which was projected on the big screen in Fed Square, so I still found evening entertainment. In the background, the sunset behind the skyline and the awakening of the city lights was simply wonderful. On the screen, scrappy Medvedev was struggling against Alexander Zverev and lost the first two sets. I was surprised that Medvedev had made it so far, after seeing his poor performance at the match I attended. The temperature dropped so I headed back to Toorak, still yet to witness Medvedev actually win a set.

​It was a sunny Saturday morning and followed the tram line east to the Gardiner Creek Trail. There, I found a well-maintained path that hugged the riverbank, with frequent footbridges crossing the reflective brown water. There were lots of bikers, runners, and walkers out enjoying the day. The pathway brushed up against a cricket pitch and a golf course, and even had a net to protect against rogue golf balls. Although it was a suburban path with easy neighborhood access, it still felt like a slice of wilderness. I spotted the flicking tails of the purple swamphens between the gum trees, and a water dragon by the water’s edge. It was my first outdoor run in almost 3 months, and it felt amazing to be back out there. I ran with it, and ended up doing 5 miles.

​The AirBNB wasn’t far away from the lovely Toorak library, which I had discovered on a previous scouting mission. Getting there was a pleasant walk through a maze of peaceful back-alleys. I made progress on the blog, and returned to make spaghetti Bolognese for dinner. I chatted with the other AirBNB host, Valeria, who was originally from Lima, Peru and building confidence in her English. She mentioned that my American accent was easier to understand than the Aussie accent.

​As a part of my Australian immersion, I watched a few episodes of the kid’s show Bluey, which was the #2 most streamed TV show in the world in 2023. It follows a family of Blue Heelers living in Brisbane – the main character, Bluey, is the older daughter. The show had funny plotlines with Aussie tropes, like cricket games and avoiding magpies. Despite being only 7 minutes per episode, the show landed some really great moments. It’s widely celebrated for the way it depicts equal co-parenting, as Mr. Heeler often plays along with Bluey’s games. It also touched on the absence of a father figure (i.e. military or business travel) from a kid-centric worldview. Seeing these modern sensibilities infused into a show, I now completely understand its appeal to a global audience!

​Sunday was a bit of a remix of the previous days. I worked on the blog from a local park, paid another visit to the Toorak library, ate lots of spelt and spaghetti, and finished with another trip to Fed Square to watch the AO men’s final. The turnout was higher than the semifinal, and it was a warmer night, so I stayed for the whole thing. Though I was no fan of Medvedev, I was curious if he would manage to hold on. When the fatigue started to show, it made sense having followed his arduous journey to the final. Over seven matches, Medvedev spent a record 24 hours and 17 minutes on the court – a serious feat. However, the crowd was much more enthusiastic about the young Jannik Sinner, and happily celebrated his victory.

It was finally Monday – my move-in day! Since the apartment complex was run like an AirBNB, the check-in time wasn’t until 4:00pm. I spent the morning video chatting with friends in the US, and then traveled from Toorak to Carlton. I optimistically looked for the keys at 3:45pm – no dice. But as promised, the keys had appeared when I circled back at 4:05pm.

​I took stock of the room, pleasantly surprised to find a fan and laundry basket. Then I picked up a few essential supplies at Wooly’s and gave the place a good cleaning, which it needed in a few spots.

​I had one night of overlap between the Toorak AirBNB and the Carlton apartment, and spent it in Toorak. It happened to be the season premiere of Australian Survivor. The Aussie version is filmed in Samoa and featured a large cast from all over Australia – including places that I now had visited! For example, a salon owner from Bondi and a creative director from the MONA in Tasmania. The theme of the season was Titans (leaders/experts in their field) vs. Rebels (talented folks with unconventional pathways).

The large suitcase made one more journey across Melbourne. I was so close to unpacking it fully, but of course, the universe wanted me to wait just a bit longer. There was a traffic accident and the tram had to reroute. It took an hour to get from Toorak into the CBD, and not even the intended stop. I switched to a different line that brought me to Carlton, and finally arrived on Elgin Street.
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The first order of business was laundry. Although the apartment had a coin washer and dryer, there was a modern laundromat next door that took credit card payments, so I went there. Both the washer and dryer were surprisingly quick, around 30 minutes each, and the powerful machines were the best I’d had in months. I picked up some Vietnamese food for lunch and hung out in the nice waiting area. After months of living out of a suitcase, it was great to actually hang up my clothes! The suitcase was at last banished out of sight under the bed.

​Next on my list was getting a proper haircut. It was my first professional cut since March 2020! While I had built confidence with cutting my own hair over the years, starting this new chapter in Carlton seemed like a good time to mix things up. I found a spot called Buddy’s Barbershop, where a friendly guy named Jan worked his magic with the razor and clippers. Jan was super easy to talk to and had lots of local insights. I left feeling fresh and energized. On the walk back, I stopped for gelato at Pidapipo, a recommendation from Zeah. The classic hazelnut gelato was to die for!

​My apartment was a few blocks away from the Carlton Gardens, and I set out on my first run there. I wasn’t expecting much from a park boxed in by major streets, but it exceeded my expectations! There were wide, paved pathways lined with tall, shady trees that crisscrossed the lawns, offering lots of different route options. Part of the city skyline was visible over the tree line, giving it a slight Central Park feel. In the center were two notable buildings, the Melbourne Museum and the Royal Exhibition Building – the only UNESCO heritage site in the city. In the late afternoon, there were lots of people on picnic blankets, playing basketball and tennis, roller-skating, walking dogs, or taking pictures by the fountain. There were urban birds, like magpies and magpie-larks, and a pond with ducks. The abundance of shade and water fountains made this a great running spot even on a hot Australian summer day. I did a few laps, taking a slightly different route each time, an endlessly customizable autocross course.

I made a simple dinner in the communal kitchen, realizing it wasn’t very well stocked. I was lucky to find a bowl and a fork! Although it was mostly quiet, I met an interesting fellow named Igor who grew up in Moscow, worked a finance job in Auckland, played in a Russian rock cover band, and had just moved to Melbourne. His New Zealand passport took a while to get, but it gave him working rights in Australia. He was about to leave Carlton for one of the outer suburbs, so it was a brief overlap. Still, it was a preview of the interesting people who would be rotating through the building.
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After an action-packed day, I spent my first night in Carlton and had a chill morning. One I regrouped, I had my eye on a park called Yarra Bend, a straight shot to the east. It was a 20 minute bus ride, and the bus was decently crowded at 4:00pm on a Wednesday. I even got to see how a wheelchair user boarded the bus, using a special ramp the driver unfolded.

​As the name implies, Yarra Bend Park encompasses a curvy part of the Yarra River, with trails heading upstream and downstream. I started in the upstream direction, through a section of bush that was surprisingly dense but had nice views of the water. It seemed like the kind of place where I’d encounter an unpleasant creature, so I was relieved to rejoin the main road. The road led to the Bellbird picnic area which had a trailhead for the Flying Fox viewing area, my ultimate goal.

​It was the late afternoon, and I wasn’t sure if the flying foxes (fruit bats) would be visible from the trail. Boy was I wrong! There were thousands of bats, densely packed into the trees on both sides of the river for a long stretch of the trail. Many were immediately above me as I looked in awe. They were surprisingly active – chittering, opening and closing their wings, getting into squabbles, and flying between trees.

​It’s really hard to convey how many bats there were! It was the time of year when the colony was at its peak population, which a signboard estimated to be 50,000 bats. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that many of a single animal in one place, except maybe the monarch butterflies, but these bats were also large. I’ll have to return at dusk, when they are taking off en masse.

I was not expecting such an incredible wildlife experience on a casual running path. Though I logged around 5 miles, in reality I stopped and stared at the bats for about as long as I was actually running. I’m really surprised these bats aren’t on the Melbourne tourism radar – it was a real highlight!
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Through the ups and downs of the transition period, the stellar runs at Gardiner Creek, the Carlton Gardens, and Yarra Bend were a source of joy. I’m excited for the weeks to come!