It was really hot again today, and I'd been feeling like I'd spent the entire week in the house (not too far from the truth), so I decided it was high time to go to the beach again! Jen had to work (poor her) and so did Irene (which was bad since I'd woken her up rather early to see if she wanted to come to the beach with me; she declined 'cause she wanted to sleep in, then she also got called in to work) so I was on my own. I needed to be back home by 2pm to be able to meet Vicky online, so I was out the door by 9am and on my way to St. Kilda beach.This was my third time heading out to the suburb of St. Kilda, but the first time I'd gone on my own. Remember back on that first really hot day we had here, when Jen and Tarra and I went to the beach? We went to St. Kilda. Last weekend Jen and I returned to visit the Esplanade Market, which takes place at the beach each Sunday. But then too we were on a deadline, so we didn't stay to enjoy the water. My main goal of the day was to spend some quiet time walking the shoreline.
There is a big long pier at the St. Kilda beach, and I got off the tram right by it. A sign promising "penguin tours" caught my eye, so I decided to walk out along the pier to see what that was all about. I'm glad I did! When I got out to the far end of the pier where the kiosk is, I discovered that there's a breakwater on the far side. And apparently, pretty much as soon as that breakwater was built, it became home to a colony of fairy penguins! The breakwater itself is fenced off from the public (to keep us from annoying the birds), but now at least I know the colony is there. The penguins themselves spend their days in the water and their nights in their burrows in the breakwater, so I didn't actually see them. But apparently if I get back out there either at dawn or dusk, I should be able to spot them. How cool is that? Jen and I are planning a weekend trip out to Philip Island, some distance away from Melbourne, so we can visit its famous penguin colony. But hey, it's kinda cool to know we also have penguins literally in our own backyard!
After walking back down along the pier, I wandered along the beach. The sand was littered with shells and I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't all that comfortable walking in the sand in my bare feet. But I figured that (a) it's a good way to exfoliate my poor feet, which are getting quite the workout this year, and (b) it seemed kinda silly to be the only person on the beach wearing shoes! I even waded out into the water, up to my knees. Compared to the last time I was out this way, the water was a BEAUTIFUL temperature! I found myself wishing I'd worn my bathing suit - but since I was alone, it's not like I would've been able to go swimming anyway... what would I have done with my wallet and backpack? Perhaps another time. But it's sure good to know the water is finally a swim-able temperature. It's been torture, living beside the ocean and not being able to get in!
At the end of the beach, I found myself just outside Luna Park. I mentioned Luna Park in the blog earlier this week; it's an 100-plus-year-old amusement park right in the heart of St. Kilda. I was hoping to wander around inside it and take some photos, but wouldn't you know it, the place was closed for a private function. BAH. Another day, perhaps!
By now I was getting rather hot and knew it was time to get out of the sun for a while. I meandered along the shopping stretch (see the photo at the top of this entry), marvelling once again at the sheer number of cake shops that populate St. Kilda's. I mean really... who eats that much cake? There were some other cool stores, too, with all sorts of fun expensive things that I can't afford to buy. I did end up spending some money today though - I found a dragon ring that actually fits my finger! So now I have my Aussie dragon, and that's one more thing I can scratch off the souvenirs-to-buy list.
I headed home around 1pm and spent a couple of hours chatting over the 'puter to Vicky, Cat and Diane, and wrapping Christmas presents. Then it was time to go and meet Jen for our late-afternoon adventure. We'd agreed that it was high time for us to try out the local Chinese massage parlour (no, it's not what you think!). Jen strained her shoulder doing something on the trampoline a couple of weeks ago, and my back is, well, my back. So we met at the mall and signed up for massages. I'd like to point out that this is not the same as going to a massage therapist. For one thing, the service cost only about half of what I pay to see my therapist at home, and for another, they only do general massage, not theraputic massage. Also, we got to keep our clothes on - which was a good thing, since the kiosk is right in the middle of the mall, in full view of passers-by!
I had asked for a neck/shoulder/back massage, figuring this would be as close to what I have done to me at home as I would be able to get. Well. Let me tell you - the lady who worked on me was very good at what she does... but she sure massaged more of me than I had bargained for! She worked on my legs for a while, but what was most surprising to me was that she worked on my... um... butt. Quite a bit. (To be honest, I was quite glad at that point that I was lying face-down on a massage bed, so I couldn't see the people passing by the store who were undoubtedly staring at me!) Now, I've had that... um... portion of my anatomy worked on before (it's nothing but another set of muscles, really, AND attached to my back muscles, so working on them is sometimes part of the treatment regime for my back), so at least I was familiar with what she was doing. It just felt strange, knowing that unlike at home, I was in a place where other people could see what parts of me were being worked on. :-)
I really can't complain though... at the end of my half-hour session, I was so relaxed it was hard to get off the table, which was the whole point of the exercise. Jen and I wandered back homewards, stopping only at the pizza place to pick up some dinner. When we got home we pretty much crashed ourselves on the couches and didn't move for the rest of the evening!
