Ah, Melbourne in the Spring

There is nothing quite like Melbourne in the spring - unless it is Melbourne in the autumn. Both wonderful times of year here when the afternoons are warm and sunny and the populace heartened by it.

Last Thursday I led a small troupe of tourists on one of my favourite rides - from the city to Eltham. Helen and Kym are over from Adelaide with H's cousin Ed and his son, Chris, from Canada. We met at a local bike shop where they hired bikes and headed the short distance to the cafe in Albert Park for huge chocolate and raspberry muffins and coffee. While enjoying the lake and the sparkling sun on the water we settled on a ride along the Yarra river towards Eltham.

The Canadians are, of course, used to riding on the "wrong" side of the road so it was a little disconcerting heading up a couple of roads, and the bike lanes very welcome when they appeared. It was a perfect day for a ride and the scenery at its best following the recent rain. The river was up, Dights Falls looked like falls and the trees and grasses green as green could be. We didn't see any wildlife except the birds which were in fine voice all the way. The bellbird population seems to be growing.

We all marvelled at the river traversing the suburbs of Melbourne, stopped to admire the Children's Farm and the Abbotsford Convent grounds and headed off. Fuelled by the muffins we discussed where to have lunch - Heide gallery. When it came to it I missed the turn off and we headed past on to Westerfolds Park. Kym's bike had a puncture, quickly and ably repaired by Ed, and I did a quick recce to confirm that the cafe in the park was open. It was. However, as it is not yet the height of summer the only food available was scones, plain, berry or chocolate. So that's what we had for lunch.

Onwards to Eltham, and the coffee and book shop combined for another break before getting the train to Flinders Street. That is another much appreciated thing about Melbourne trails, they are so often near a train station at some point. Fortunately we were able to plunge through the peak hour commuters on the station to join yet another bike path and ride to St Kilda via Port Melbourne and the beach.

From St K I rode home picking up the final ingredients for our dinner while the others headed back to their apartment for a refreshing break before heading out to the wilds of Melbourne by car. Over dinner we relived the day (among other things ), made plans for the Australians to travel to Canada and the Canadians to return to Melbourne. I am sorry not to be heading to Adelaide to enjoy riding around that town over the next week or so with them.

One and all we had a joyous day, revelling in the bike trail, the variety in the landscapes we travelled and the perfect riding weather. Thank you, Melbourne