Author: Philip Mallis
Bicycle trip: Belgrave to North Balwyn
The eastern part of Melbourne has always been the area of the city with which I am most familiar. Having lived my entire life in middle suburbs and with relatives in the outer-east, I have definitely had more experience in these areas than any others in the city. But even throughout my many travels in…
Thoughts on riding through Camberwell and Canterbury
On my way back from Camberwell South the other day, I took a little detour off my usual Anniversary Trail route to have a look at some parts of Camberwell and Canterbury that I don’t normally visit. Back Creek, Camberwell I came off the Anniversary Trail at Elaroo Avenue in Camberwell and meandered through the…
Bolin Bolin Billabong
A short ride across the Eastern Freeway from North Balwyn, the Bolin Bolin Billabong is a welcome respite from the air and noise pollution produced by cars and trucks on the main roads that intersect the area. It is an oxbow lake, formed when the Yarra River gradually changed course over time through erosion. It…
Bicycle trip – North Balwyn to Bundoora loop (Part 2)
(Continued from Part 1 here). Bundoora – Viewbank Riding back through the subdivision, I crossed the Plenty River on the Greensborough Bypass bridge to get down to the Plenty River Trail as I had originally intended. The view from this bridge, probably lost on the cars speeding past at 80+ km/h, was quite stunning across…
Bicycle trip – North Balwyn to Bundoora loop (Part 1)
After a few days of pretty horrible weather (for summer anyway), Wednesday looked like the most bike ride-friendly day for the week. One route that I had been meaning to try was up to the Plenty Valley Parklands – a good 45 kilometre round trip (note the privacy buffer in the map below). North Balwyn…
Bicycle trip – Bellarine Rail Trail
For something a little bit different, I cycled the Bellarine Rail Trail on Monday with a friend who suggested the trip in the first place. Other than a brief sojourn along the Bright – Myrtleford rail trail a few years ago, I had never experienced cycling through the countryside before. After this experience, it’s definitely…
Bicycle trip – North Balwyn loop via Ashburton and Box Hill
Today I decided to try a new bicycle route through the middle eastern suburbs. This essentially consists of a big loop from North Balwyn down to Ashwood and returning north via Gardiners Creek and Bushy Creek in the City of Whitehorse. For some reason, Google Maps doesn’t like custom map directions and won’t embed the…
Crossing the road at Hawthorn Bridge
Hawthorn Bridge is a fairly new suburban tram interchange between the 48 and 75 on the Hawthorn side of the Yarra River. As part of the works when the current stop was built in the 2000s, the intersection between Burwood Road and Church Street was also revamped. Unfortunately this was done without much regard to…
Walking adventures in Port Melbourne
A quest to find an 8cm quiche baking pan brought me into South Melbourne today. After several days of fruitless searching at a multitude of homeware and cooking shops in the eastern suburbs, I finally found what I was looking for at Chef’s Hat on Cecil Street. After a celebratory cheese and spinach borek (for…
Day 1 of Boroondara election vote counting
Today I was scrutineering down at the VEC counting centre in Camberwell, which was a very interesting experience. Getting to see democracy work up close is something that I would recommend everyone do should the opportunity arise. While I was mostly paying attention to the wards I was a scrutineer for (Cotham and Gardiner), I…