Markets and More in Melbourne

There are TOO MANY treasure-filled markets and events on in Melbourne this weekend and over the Christmas period to keep track of without writing them down, so I may as well share the love!

This list includes the Christmas, craft, second hand and random markets, pop-up shops, fairs and vintage garage sales that I've heard of recently, but if anyone knows any others please let me know in a comment! 

---VINTAGE SALES IN BRUNSWICK 7th and 8th Dec---

RetroStar Vintage $10 or less Sale- 7th and 8th Dec - 8am- 5.30pm - 33-37 Stewart St, Brunswick. Right by where I used to live and FULL of treasures! 

Harry Wragg Vintage Sale- Also 7th and 8th Dec until 6pm 18-20 Moreland Road, Brunswick East 3057. Buy 3 items get 1 free!

---MARKETS and FUN STUFF---

The Big Design Market - 7th-9th Dec, Fri 10-9pm, Sat to Sun 10-5pm - Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton Gardens. Clever minds and their covetable creations.

Anatolian Cultures and Arts Festival - 8th Dec - 11am-10pm - Fed Square. A taste of Turkey!

North Melbourne Market- 15th Dec - 10-3pm  Lithuanian Club, 44 Errol St, North Melbourne. 

French Xmas Market- 7th/8th Dec- 10-6pm - 51 Grey St, St Kilda. Tres bien!

Scandinavian Xmas Market- 7th Dec- 10-5, 8th Dec 11.30-4pm - 21 St George's Road, Toorak.

NB: German Xmas Markets- There was one on 22nd Nov on Barkly St and another on 5th Dec in Melbourne Town Hall. No more lebkucken in store I'm afraid!

The Sisters Xmas Market- Weekends until 22nd Dec- 12-5pm but until 7pm on Fridays, Dream Tent at QV square.

Christmas on Victoria Green- 6th and 13th Dec- 4pm-8pm - 807 Bourke St, Docklands.

Kris Kringle Night Markets- Thurs 12th and 19th Dec- 5.30-10pm - 189 High St, Northcote. 

Christmas Twilight Markets- Friday evenings until Dec 21st- 4-9pm, Harbour Esplanade by Etihad Stadium, Docklands.

St Kilda Twilight Market- Thursday evenings 5-10pm until Feb 20th - O'Donnell Gardens. The regular Sunday market is 10-5 along the Esplanade with beautiful views of the sea and lots of treasures.

Supper Market- Fridays until March 7th - 6-10pm - Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford.

Coburg Night Markets- Fridays until Dec 20th- 5.30-10pm - Bridges Reserve, Coburg. Follow with the drive-in cinema perhaps?

Chinatown Market Day- Friday 20th Dec - 4-10pm - Heffernan Lane off Lt Bourke between Russell and Swanston.

Festive Foodie Market- 14th and 15th Dec- 11-4pm - Fed Square. Tasty Treats and Xmas Tree Mazes? Yes please!

Young Creatives Market- Sun 15th Dec- 10-3pm - Raglan St Gallery, 14 Raglan St, North Melbourne.

Kensington Arts and Crafts Market- Sun 15th Dec and monthly until March- 10-3pm - Kensington Primary School, 62 McCracken St, Kensington.

Blender Lane Artists' Market- Weds until 26th Feb, 5-10pm - 110 Franklin St.

Colour Box pop-up shop and creative workshops- Until Sat 21st Dec- 236 Nicholson St, Footscray

Mr Nice Guy Pop Up Burger Bar- Sat 7th Dec- 10.30 to 4.30pm, 535 Lt Lonsdale St

And of course, not forgetting the old favourites...

Camberwell Rotary Club Market- Sundays- 7am-12.30pm- This will always be my favourite, especially for the last half hour of frantic bargain hunting when sellers call out things like 'everything a dollar!' Closed 15th and 22nd Dec.

Queen Vic Market- Daily except Mon and Wed for cheap groceries and bits and bobs.

Night Market on Wednesday evenings until Feb 26th- Lemonade and sangria in summer, mulled wine in winter, and paella! Lots of it!

South Melbourne Market- Wed, Fri, Sat Sun for posher groceries and bits and bobs.

Night Market on Thursday evenings until 19th Dec.

Arts Centre Sunday Markets- 10-4pm - Arts Centre Lawn, St Kilda Road. Pop in and check out the Arts Centre 'All That Glitters' Exhibition too, it's dazzling!

Fed Square Book Market- Saturdays 11-5pm, The Atrium, Fed Square.

Rose St Artists Market- Sat and Sun 11am-5pm, 60 Rose St, Fitzroy. 

Coburg Trash and Treasure Market- Sundays 8am-2pm - 115 Newlands Road, Coburg.

Good Old Queen Vic

Working Holiday in Melbourne... Part 3

Melbourne- my four months living in your ample bosom have been AMAZING, but- alas!- I have just left to do my three months of rural work in order to extend my Working Holiday Visa for a second year, so I can return to you, you see? You deserve a re-cap of some of my favourite city memories since my last post:

A Pic collage of some city snaps

I've attended some great festivals and events in the last couple of months; Sydney Road's Street Party and a cheeky Sunday beer garden sesh was an ideal arvo, as was watching the fearless waterski jumps, riverside fireworks and jumping around at the sweaty Ball Park Music gig at the Moomba Festival weekend.

Fireworks by the Yarra at Moomba Festival

Future Music Festival was an awesome day too- though to me a festival isn't a festival without a hastily-erected tent to crash in(to) after tripping over a million insivible guy ropes, waking up with a hangover claiming 'hair of the dog' actually works and doing it all again for the next couple of nights. A lot of Aussie festivals end around 11pm, leaving hundreds of people cramming onto the same packed trams or walking miles to find an open bottle-o, only to find themselves in the casino and bailing at 2am. Wish I could go to Splendour in the Grass!

A highlight of my whole LIFE was watching Passenger (a.k.a Mike Rosenberg) perform at the quaint Athenaeum theater  a gig I had bought tickets to around Christmas! He was PHENOMENAL- I spent every strum, stomp and word transfixed at how witty, humble, entertaining, funny, talented (and thus attractive!) he was, even laughing out loud at his Taylor Swift/goat bleat cover, almost crying at Let Her Go, shouting out the lyrics to Holes with the hundreds of other spectators, and holding my breath while he gave an unplugged rendition of Blind Love. He was supported by the talented, hairy and soulful Stu Larsen and another less impressive fellow whose name I forget. WATCH THIS and begin to understand his greatness--->

I had another fun camping weekend in Moama for Easter (complete with egg hunt), and two glorious days spend visiting my camp friend in Torquay where I tried to surf (still a bit of a 'kook' though- someone who can't surf!), leapt off a huge rock into the ocean, ate shark and chips by the sea, grabbed bargains at surf shop warehouse sales, sampled the local nightlife and sunbathed on Bells Beach.

Yeah that's me almost standing up on a baby wave!

Another fantastic road trip took us to Philip Island, where we watched the cute fluffy penguins waddle in to shore at the tourist-fave Penguin Parade, spent time with my friend's Gran (she loved our enchiladas and cards evening!), seal-spotted from the Nobbies and went sand-dune boarding into the sea- NOTE: do this with your mouth FIRMLY CLOSED or you WILL have a mouth full of sand!

So excited for penguins!

At the top of a sand dune- ready to hurtle down it!

Melbourne International Comedy Festival was in full swing from March to April, with a myriad of shows to suit every sense of humour. I saw Neal Portenza's Test Show at the Tuxedo Cat and only endured one moment of pick-on-the-audience embarrassment but many moment of this-is-ridiculous-but-hilarious joy.

 

I started to look at Melbourne in a different way before I left- taking photos of the beautiful parts I knew I wouldn't see for a while and visiting the places I should have already been like the Shrine of Remembrance, the ACMI and the NGV (which has a Monet exhibition coming soon that I'd have loved to have seen, Claude being my fave French Impressionist and all- I've been to his house y'know!) and cool soon-closing events like the People's Market in Collingwood. 

Australian Art in the NGV Federation Square gallery

Interactive Screen Worlds exhibition at the ACMI

View from the Shrine of Remembrance

The Melbourne Museum has an interesting exhibition on the lost treasures of Afghanistan that were hidden in the depths of the presidential palace by Kabul's National Museum staff during times of political turbulence and warfare, but re-discovered in 2003. From intricate pottery to stunning turquoise and gold jewelry, the unearthing of these objects has given Afghanistan back a tangible sense of their rich culture and history, and it was refreshing to experience something positive in relation to the troubled country, as well as just to swoon over the elaborate adornments!

I started attending hip-hop dance classes at the Melbourne Dance Hub, where I worked on improving my "swag"- it's a work in progress! My friends and I also worked up a sweat at the 5K Puma Glow Run along Birrarung Mar; where dance tents every kilometre and a rave-like party at the finish line allowed us to punctuate our speed-walk/jogging bursts with booty-shaking and skanking under showers of glow sticks, all to the backdrop of the night cityscape, and followed by a great night out on Chapel Street. I've been to so many of Melbourne's best (and worst) watering holes that a thorough run-through of my favourite Melbournian nightlife spots deserves a post of it's own- watch this space!

The Glow Run Starting Line

My drink-fuelled escapades and culinary extravagances were funded by another temp admin job I had at Victoria University's Sunshine campus (Sunshine being possibly the most ironic name for such a bleak suburb), with the rest being spent at weekend garage sales, vintage warehouses and op shops, if not on my ever-depleting Myki card.

RetroStar vintage warehouse just opposite my flat in Brunswick- epic!

My next job (and lifestyle) will be wildly different- banana farming in a town called Innisfail roughly 1 hour south of Cairns whilst living the backpacker life in a working hostel! Once I've settled in and had my first taste of banana farming I will reveal all in another post. 

Until then- wish me luck!

Working Holiday in Melbourne- Part 2

How fast time flies when you're having fun SO BUSY YOU CAN'T EVEN HAVE A JOG!

To be honest I could get up earlier and jog before work but... but... well, there's always a reason, right?

Anyway the reason for my packed schedule is a combination of having kind-of sorted my life out as I intended to in my last post, and also just being so overwhelmed with how much there is to see and do here that I am scared (yes, terrified) of missing out of anything I'd regret! YOLO induces FOMO- fact.

The view from my friend's city pad I stayed in before sorting my life out

A couple of days after my skills test and interview at a temp recruitment agency (Shave HR), I got my first gig working for the Australian Red Cross processing donations for the Queensland Floods, Tasmanian Bushfires and other disaster appeals. It isn't the most... challenging work but I'm always keen to try new things and learn new skills, even if it leads me to the conclusion that I do not want to do this kind of work- I need more stimulation! Though I have made some wonderful friends, gained useful office experience and I do love the notes the elderly tend to include with their donations reading "God Bless the work that you do in times of crisis" and such like- I'd consider working for a not-for-profit again, even if just for those snippets of joy that brighten my day and all the other amazing things about working for a charity, like staff who bake cakes...

I also found a flat! Gumtree is such a great resource for people on a WHV, there are a few other flatmate-finding sites but Gumtree really is the monopolizer of all things free, cheap, short-term and occasionally odd. Amid the ads for 'free rooms depending on what you're willing to do' (GULP) I found a fully-furnished room for short-term let in the cool hipster suburb of Brunswick with a lovely housemate, goldfish and many terrariums. Happy days!

Chinese New Year Market on Southbank

Between work, shopping and exploring the city with my new and old friends it's hard to find time to look for The Job, but I'm working on it. Melbourne has so many festivals and events on during summer (which is drawing to a close here) that I've been spoilt for choice- more on that at a later date! I have had fabulous times at the St Kilda Festival, Chinese New Year celebrations and the Queen Victoria Night Market recently, but I do tend to oversubscribe myself to things I want to do!

St Kilda Festival for my second year in a row- sang along to Pez's Festival Song, fest so apt!

Take last weekend for instance; between after-work drinks in the city (including the cool but crate-clad Section8 and $12 jugs at La La Land), Mexican fare from Guzman y Gomez (bit obsessed with this place atm), laundry, groceries, Skype dates, a jog, some op-shopping in second-hand stores, a rad festival party in St Kilda, a wonderful free outdoor symphony orchestra concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, the artsy White Night festival that took over the CBD, all-you-can-eat Indian, garage sale browsing, markets and a movie marathon- who even has time to check out the pre-Savers sale stock you want to buy never mind job-hunt!? Well, I fitted that in too and got some bargains on their 50% off night on Monday!

Repeat after me: I-Must-Be-Less-Sociable-And-More-Disciplined... but doesn't Live-Life-To-The-Fullest have a better ring to it?

Enjoying Mozart and wine at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Treasured Jewellery; Old and Made-New

I am so full of love for my favourite vintage almost-shiny things that I MUST share their stories with you. 

I emphasise 'stories' because that's what I love about old things; they have their own past, present and future often NOT akin to "manufactured in Asia, distributed to UK, sold in Workington Topshop last week"- though yesterday I did buy this adorable ring-bracelet (ringlet? racelet?! Sounds like an Ann Summers product) in Toppers after watching Great Expectations at the cinema with Pops. It made me happier than the film at least!

Below is a charm bracelet I've been working on and I love it so much I don't actually want to wear it in case I lose it! The chain itself was my Mum's from her 18th Birthday and I added to it some charms from my Great Aunty Margaret's charm bracelet, which mostly consisted of Canadian maple leaves due to her family in Ontario.

I have bought charms in New Zealand, Australia, Tokyo, England and both coasts of the US so far, and am always on the lookout for new ones to add!

Personal favourites so far include the acorn that opens to reveal a squirrel, the mini bible containing tiny printed pages and the statue of liberty- though the gramophone handle actually turns which is just DARLING too!

While in San Fran I dragged my friend to Treasure Island Flea Market to hunt for some treasure of our own and boy did I find some!

The pendant on the left is actually a clip-on earring that I've clipped to the central pearl on an old necklace, and the stone at the top is just threaded onto a gold chain so I have to make sure it doesn't flip over while I'm wearing it. Must fix that... Actually while I was in the Town Hall Antiques shop in Woburn Sands, Milton Keynes last week I got this matching brooch too (oh and if you're in the area, The Black Horse is delicious!).

The tiny cuckoo clock and the key I got in a 'thrift store' in upstate NY where I worked at camp. The woman who owned it was such a darling she gave me a discount on all the things I was buying including this sparkle-tastic embellished cape-top...

The feather earrings I made by just attaching the feathers I got at the flea market to earring hooks using little metal hoops like you find on the ends of necklaces, and I intend to give a pair to my Mum as a gift this Xmas.

I also made these cute-as-a-button earrings by super gluing some of my Gran's beloved button collection to flat-fronted earring backs I had in my old craft box (who am I kidding- one of the many craft boxes that litter my loft!) and gave two pairs of them to my lovely friends for their Birthdays last week. 

I have made loads of button earrings in the past, including the three heart-shaped pairs below I made at camp. The closest ones are actually copper shapes that I sanded and dusted with enamel then baked to set- gotta love Camp's Arts and Crafts department! The middle Cath Kidston buttons and the floral ones were sent to me in Birthday parcels from adoring friends whilst I was in the US- thanks guys! 

If you don't have any earring backs like I've used above you can use old earrings as long as they are flat-ish, I've used flowers and smileys before but the ones below were stuck to old heart studs. 

Back to Aunty Margaret's hand-me-down heirlooms now, just to show you my new favourite old rings...

...And some of my favourite vintage necklaces. This tiny locket was my Mum's from when she was a Bridesmaid and contains photos of her parents (my grandparents), and the larger one contains photos of my Grandad and his Mum <3

These final three tarnished treasures were my Grandma's- the bottom one being a gift my Grandad bought her for their wedding anniversary- they were married 56 years and had the kind of love that just doesn't seem to exist anymore. Watch this space for the love story of their lives that I must get round to writing one of these days... I am sure it would be better than the stories behind the items in my jewellery box!