Route Version 17 from Brighton to Essendon

Wednesday morning dawned with the prospect of another battle with the Melbourne traffic, from south to north and later the reverse. It feels as if Melbourne has the highest density of traffic-light-controlled junctions in the world. On top of that it has a fairly extensive tram network that co-exists and mainly shares the same road space as cars. Trams have priorities in most conflicts, and tram stops are often in the centre of the road with no pedestrian island for passengers to alight on to. Thus the trams put on their flashing lights, extend a small STOP flag, and cars must not overtake to allow passengers to alight and walk safely and directly to the kerb. It doesn’t half concentrate the mind when near a tram, and the final straw is a procedure called a “Hook Turn”. Where the tramlines run down the centre of the road, a car wishing to turn right must not do so in front of a tram. Instead the car must position itself on the most left-hand lane, indicate to turn right, wait until the lights turn red, and those in the road into which it is turning go green, before proceeding. Traffic going straight on drives through in the right lane overtaking the vehicle indicating to turn right – it feels a very uncomfortable sandwich and a recipe for a side-swipe. Thus we have looked for routes that avoid tram routes as much as possible, but the grid layout means that traffic lights are almost invariable in number irrespective of route chosen. Oh, and of course, there are the toll roads to be avoided!

To steal ourselves for the battle we took a late morning stroll by the sea at the end of the street where we are staying. Quite a change from the surf to hear the bay waters making a gentle musical lapping against the shore wall…and it was warm and sunny, again. We worked our way by car northwards up the shore line and then took a deep breath before plunging into the maelstrom. When we got to Susan’s it was dog-walking time and a car ride to a parkland where we enjoyed views over Melbourne and being sprayed by a joyous Labrador who was permitted to go swimming for the first time in ages.

The evening was a “cellar party” given by Clodagh’s other godmother, Jan, who put on a spread to end all diets! She is renowned for her cooking, a reputation well-earned, especially the huge selection of desserts, some of which have graced our fridge (in diminishing amounts!) ever since. We followed Susan to their house and had little idea about which part of Melbourne we were in. The return journey was, therefore, an interesting debate between the TomTom and the recommended route from the locals. In the main we took the advice of the locals and had the fastest, smoothest passage home so far. Of course it was already pretty late when we got home….where we collapsed into bed!