I had a lovely day today despite the weather being grey and miserable. I headed down to Station Pier to spend the day with a friend walking and catching up with news. Despite my photos below looking nice and sunny, the water and skies all blended into one sludge of grey. There was no wind but it was a cold damp day.

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Station Pier has a long history in Melbourne. It’s the place where immigrants came to Melbourne. They first set foot off the ship here and stumbled into the inns and pubs nearby. Post war saw massive numbers of immigrants from Europe come to settle in Australia. Nowadays it’s the place to catch the ferry to Tasmania.

Later in the evening, we decided to head to the Night Markets in Moorabbin on the site of the old Phillip Morris cigarette factory.

We live in an industrial area where there’s lots of light industry but I’m noticing over the years, these places – relics of the 60s, are closing up and becoming gentrified. Old factory sites have become gin halls, boutique breweries, cafes and restaurants. Who knew that our suburb is now trendy.

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On the site of the old cigarette factory, there’s a wall with pictures of it during its hey day when it pumped out cigarettes. Nearby the new Ponyboy restaurant opened up for the first time tonight selling souvlaki (Greek style with the chips in them) and we had a great chat with the owner. The Pony Boy cider was delicious.

Inside in the night markets, there was plenty of people. We had some whiskey and cider tastings and ended up buying both. People were out and about catching up with friends and family. I enjoyed every minute of it because it felt like I was somewhere in town – this is not usual being in “the burbs”.

However ever since Covid, the suburbs have been brought to life. It’s nice to be able to walk nearby and see people out and about enjoying themselves in the evenings. We will definitely be coming back.