+ yishyene +: Carroty Fun at St Kilda Beach

In January, I got the luxury of spending a few days in Melbourne to see my old friends/eat long-missed food/see my 'old home'.

One of my favourite places to be in Melbourne is St Kilda Beach, where cafes and restaurants and ice cream shops line the streets. A lot of them open late too. There's Luna Park, the crappy amusement park with the giant clown-face entrance that's become a symbol of St Kilda. There are lots of palm trees; and in the daytime the water is speckled with kitesurfers. There's the pier, where I used to sit with my friends with our legs dangling over the edge and we'd share a carton of supermarket-bought orange juice (with vodka poured in) under the summer moonlight.

To me, St Kilda is best enjoyed on a warm summer night (as are many other things in life).

I used to have a friend who rode big and fast motorbikes, and one of the best rides he'd taken me on was along the St Kilda coastline. I remember we went so fast. With the cool air against your skin, the sound speed in your ears and the smell of the sea nearby, it really was MAGICAL.

My second-favourite memory is of my friend Joey and I walking on the sand along the beach, which was lit. We passed beachfront restaurants having parties outside. There were people dancing.. and most amazing of all, the shallow parts of the water (up to about 25m in) were full of people! People were sitting and standing everywhere with water (which was warm) anywhere up to the waist. Walking, talking, laughing, splashing. Naturally we did the same and walked in thigh-high water - me in a miniskirt and her in shorts - all the way back to the pier. I was so happy that night!

Anyway.. before I get carried away

I got to revisit St Kilda with one of my best friends Amy one afternoon. It was so good catching up.. it almost felt like we were back at uni again! I felt like I was in a whole different world from the world I knew in London.. a whole different PERSON even. We laughed and spoke and complained about the same things that occupied our minds five years ago, and in some ways it was as if I had GONE BACK to 2007. We were different but the same. Grown up but not. It was weird but wonderful.

Had fish & chips!

Followed by ice cream
(sorry, there wasn't time to take a pic of the ice cream)

It was windy that day

Well, it's windy almost all the time since it's a.. erm.. beach.. so never mind

A carrot in the sand

Amy and I used to joke and laugh about carrots a lot. It's a long story so I won't explain it, but we used do really weird and crazy and silly things like chop up carrots to sprinkle onto random people (in public, from her car), decorate carrots, make carrots out of pool noodles, and create stupid carrot drawings. I think we went a bit mad from the stress of completing our theses.

So we were walking along the beach… and she reaches into her handbag and pulls out.. a freaking CARROT. See just like old times!!!

Spot the carrot!

The first shot (left) is such a fail cos I was too preoccupied with laughing

It was a great day for kitesurfing that day
Something I always wish I tried!

We laid down on the grass here for a good half an hour
Stared at the sky and looked for things to decorate our carrot with

But not before trying to feed it to the seagulls!

Found a wine cap thingy and some fresh seaweed

Bob Marley/Reggae Carrot!!

I thought hard about sharing this
But it's the only photo we took together that day so I couldn't NOT
Me, with a tan, looking like a fried chicken next to a super pale/white Amy!!