Sketching Melbourne streets

Some artwork made around my hometown over the years.

We’re back in Melbourne for the time being, and walking around my old neighbourhood is making me nostalgic.

There was one patch of time where I lived with two of my best friends, my boyfriend was just down the road with his best friend, we were mates with the girls two houses down, and a bunch of other friends were all within a short walk, bike or tram ride away.

I’d go out drinking in the various pubs and bars around the area. I’d get a coffee at the little cafes on my block. I had tasty treats from two close-by bakeries, brunch was a very frequent occurrence, and we had our regular pho place that would fill up supplied takeaway containers with delicious soup for us.

Sure, Covid hit and we were all locked in our houses for months on end (280 days in total, to be precise). But we had our little bubble of friends, our little community, that made it a bit more bearable.

After a while, the bubble popped. Friends moved out to the suburbs to start families, or moved overseas, some stuck around. We moved to Mo’orea. While it lives now in the past, that period of my life will always stand out as some of my most golden years.

Here are some sketches and artworks made of some of the places around my old neighbourhoods:

Abbotsford

When we first moved into Abbotsford, it was a dump. There was nothing around except one radio station/pizza restaurant (bit of an odd combination) and lots of drug dealers.

Lulie Street tavern

Over time, we started to get more and more great little places. A couple of cute cafes, a better pizzeria, and a bar in the same building as us; Lulie Street Tavern. Let me tell you, it’s dangerous to have a bar with free pool within stumbling distance. Original Lulie Street has now been knocked down, but new Lulie Street is still going strong!

A random bar patron

And then there was the convent, the children’s farm, the Yarra river and the community gardens. Just a few blocks from the industrial zone and you’d feel like you were in the countryside. I can’t tell you how many days I’d go walking in Studley Park only to find a completely new trail to get lost on. Despite living there for years I feel like there’s so much more to be discovered.

Lucas tending a patch at the community garden.

Collingwood

Rooftops of Collingwood

The industrial vibes of Collingwood are not for everyone, but I find them charming. The new plastered on top of the old. Slowly slowly these old, rickety buildings will get demolished or gutted and everything will become new and shiny, but for now it still has a bit of grungy charm.

View from a balcony

I fell in love with my husband in his Collingwood house, where I’d stay for weeks on end, only going home to do my laundry. We’d make spinach and cheese on toast and salads with what he grew in the garden, and I’d spend long hours lying in a patch of sun on his bed, thinking lazy thoughts and looking at passing clouds.

View from Martin’s window

Fitzroy

Living in Fitzroy was an absolute treat. One of our favourite places (now gone) was Grub Street Food Van, a cute little cafe with a massive outdoor area shaded by grapevines and a little caravan where they made the coffee.

Another cafe, Alimentari, made my hangover cure; a porchetta sandwich with sautéed greens. Greasy, delicious, and the perfect thing paired with an oat milk latte after a big night on the beers.

I’d love walking and wandering the streets of my neighbourhood, stopping to say hi to the local pets, leaving before sunrise to meet a friend at the gym, doing laps of the park between meetings on a work day. Everything was in walking distance.

Now, I walk around there with a baby in tow. I point out all the old haunts and tell him about my life before him. He’s only 11-months-old, so he doesn’t really get what I’m saying. One day, we’ll come back when he’s older, and everything will be completely different to what I remember, and I’ll regale him with more boring stories.

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