Melbourne
My host Michelle
My first steps on Australian ground (Tasmania not taken in consideration) were in Melbourne, knows as the capital of fashion & coffee, the home of arts & culture and the sports hub of Australia with the most popular one happening on waves on the famous ‘Bells beach’. Michelle, a local girl who moved to this city 3 years ago, was so kind to pick me up at the airport and host me for a couple of days in her beautiful house in Greensborough, a quiet & green suburb of Melbourne. She showed me some nices places I definitely should do and so i grapped my camera and hit the city that I was looking forward to for so long. Unfortunately it was raining cats & dogs so there was not much of sightseeing but sheltering instead! On my way to the city I got a call from Nis, a Maleysian girl from Kuala Lumpur who planned to join me for the Great Ocean Road a few days later and so we met in Victoria Market in the heart of Melbourne and spent the afternoon together exploring the city. Besides sheltering for the rain showers, we also walked along the riverside in Port Melbourne, wandered at the beachfront in St Kilda, …
Wiliiam Ricketts Sanctuary
In the evening I met my host again & she brought me to a very intresting place called Lentil. Very nice concept where people can come together, enjoy a nice meal, some live music and just contribute to the organisation with a donation. Read all about it on this link.
The next day Michelle brought me to William Ricketts Sanctuary, a 10 hectare property on Mount Dandenong just outside the city, of which 1.7 hectares contains an outdoor gallery featuring 92 ceramic sculptures of Aboriginal people from Central Australia and native animals, which merge with the natural surrounding. The Mountain Ash forests of Mount Dandenong were the perfect place for William to create a sanctuary. The sculptures were made of kiln fired clay in the on-site kiln, then placed in the forest scene. The sculptures, woven through the forest setting, express William’s philosophy that everything in and on earth belonged to it and that we and all living things are one life. The flowing water represents the flowing essence of life.
In the evening I invited Michelle for a nice dinner in Greensborough’ Thai restaurant Lime ‘n’ Chilli as gratitude for her hospitality.
Didier Van Bellinghen
Backpacking Around The Globe - 2013 