Welcome to Thornbury

We got fun, games AND foodtrucks. 

What's better than buying delicious food out of a truck? Try having a permanent grounds for trucking finding them! With beer! The wheels of my imagination were in motion when I heard this bad boy was opening up so close to home. Admittedly one word in particular sprung into the engine room with impressive horse power; hipsters. We checked out Melbourne's new hottest foodtruck park on Wednesday & were not disappointed on this somewhat emotional journey.
First impressions are pretty rudimentary especially when Welcome to Thornbury isn't just about creating food; but creating a community. The space is fabulously designed with the capacity for 700 patrons, including a  200 seater bar. My favourite aspect is the enclosed nature of the park allowing alcohol in all areas meaning you can wander amidst the elements, with a beer in hand sampling foods and meeting friends. There's protection from the elements and, wait for it...dogs! So many cute pups wagging tails beside owners. The park is easy to drive to, and even easier to take public transport or ride a bike along, with bike racks at the ready (repeat; hipsters). Ok, yes. And quite a few hipsters. But the night had more of welcoming out & proud feel to it than a "we've loved foodtrucks before trucks were even driven" vibe. Well behaved hipsters functioning within a pretty encompassing kind of atmosphere. So first impressions; tick. Food? I'm going to save you the trouble & give this place the thumbs up now.

I sampled the most delicious toasted sandwich my taste buds have ever come across from Toasta (http://www.toastafoodtruck.com.au/ there is a cute little waving piece of toast on the website worth checking out) titled 'Charlie' featuring swiss, shredded chicken, bacon, basil and walnut pesto, roast capsicum.

I feel like we were all pretty close to tears by the time the hot, buttery toast melted on our palates. Accompanied by locally brewed Bicycle Beer and pull out the handkerchief. Brunswick East Temple Brewing Company (http://templebrewing.com.au) have nailed this fresh, crisp summer ale on the head. Annnnnd back to Toasta for dessert. We did play with the idea of trying out a different food truck but with waits of 20 minutes (it was pretty full by this point) we knew we could trust our friends to deliver. The sticky date bread and butter pudding WITH custard was the perfect way to end the night. 

Last impressions are almost as important as the first ones, and I was left with this; cancel my dinner plans for the rest of the week, dinner is served. Welcome to Thornbury is not just a place to eat; it's a community. To see the truck schedule & keep updated check out https://www.facebook.com/welcometothornbury/timeline . I'll see you down there everyday this week. 

Hopetoun for Greatness

Please excuse my shakey-slightly-out-of-focus-salivation-shot. But I almost died when I walked past the display at Hopetoun Tea Rooms.

If you're looking for deliciously decadent desserts washed down with a pot of hot flavoursome tea; this is your kind of place. If you love impersonating the Toorak side of Melbourne with pinky protruding from your teacup; look no further.

It seems like half of Melbourne stops out the front of this tearoom to take a pic of the vibrant display; and the other half is waiting in line just to get in. Timing is certainly key; if you wait that extra ten minutes you might find yourself 20 meters away down stream drowning in your own saliva. 

My sister & I beat the lunch rush and settled in for lunch at this gem of a place. We shared a burger (which for a place we specifically went to gorge on cakes was bloody delicious; brioche bun, wagyu beef, curly fries...très gourmet) to line our stomachs with something savoury first. Being the tea devour-ers we are, we each took a pot of earl grey; Marquise Grey & Mademoiselle Grey (lavender & rose petal). At this point I feel it's important to shout out "Serendipitea" (http://www.serendipitea.com.au/) for their amazing loose leaf tea with real lavender & rose petals; the flavour is so naturally beautiful it's hard to comprehend how other tea shops can sell anything but this pot of relaxation. 

And for the all important cake choice; I demolished a piece of apple & blueberry crumble and the sister a raspberry tart, both in expert timing. Will definitely head back to try another.

I'd wager that only about 10% of the customers at my time of dining were actually the posh upper class we middle class expect to see at such an establishment, and the other 90% were doing their best to impersonate them with heads thrown back in high pitched yet controlled rich cackles. 

Worth mentioning is the disapproval of phones inside the tearooms; leave your selfie sticks out the front (; 

A Weir-y Drive

I recently bought a car for the freedom not to travel around the city, but to escape from it. And on Sunday, we did just that.
A short hour's drive away from our suburban Melbourne house we arrived in the beautiful town of Healesville. Having already been to a few of the surrounding natural attractions, we popped in to the Tourist Information Centre for a half hour chat with a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteer. After being bombarded with suggestions of beautiful places to visit, we settled on heading out to Badger Weir for a short walk amongst the trees. Ten minutes in the car and we felt a thousand kilometers away from the city.

The flowing stream was a great spot for lunch, and to recharge after a busy week. 

The only traffic was the local birds.

We took the Slip Creek track for an easy loop through the trees. The sun shone through the greenery lighting up the day & warming our newly refreshed bones. It was a particularly interesting spot to see the interleave of nature and man; with waterworks running through the park supplying Healesville and Northern Melbourne with drinking and irrigation water. The original penstocks still remain at the site, and even though they've long since been replaced with remotely operated controls; it's a nice reminder of the ability to coexist. 

The sound of a flowing stream, rolls through your brain and washes out all the city stresses leaving our to forget that you've only been gone for a few short hours. Naturally, no trip to Healesville would be complete without a quick stop at the Beechworth Bakery for some afternoon tea. If you're looking for a quick recharge; roll on down to Badger Creek Weir. 

Hi friends.

I've started this blog specifically to keep some of my writings together. I'm Sophie, a 20 year old Melbourne based writer who spends most her time reboiling the kettle, reading interesting books, writing and working. I'm currently pursuing a French Major, Linguistics Minor; mixed in with travelling, eating & hanging out with some cool kids I mentor at a LGBTQI youth group. Some of the things I post have already been published elsewhere, some I hope to get published and lots are just extracts and bonus material I have nowhere else to store. Here's a picture of me holding a monkey:

The Art of Being An African Daisy

Because even flowers need some time to recharge.

These are my favourite.

A darker tone beneath the shade

the light dims and your beauty should fade.

But in the darkness,

you are the light;

encompassing freedom like birds in flight.

Droplets fall and begin to bead,

as you radiate the basic human need

to hide-away for a day or two,

time to recharge; time to be you.

And as I see your underside,

I realise you’re not there to hide

And notice in your introversion

that you’ve undergone a conversion.

Once in proud and open bloom

our hearts again, once more, have room

to absorb your darker tones

realised now that you’re alone.

And in your darkness

you are my light

Reminding me

with just one sight

that when you’re fragile

and while you’re weak

your petals say more

than when you speak.

Then when you’re ready to come out

the words you spoke; now you shout

and suddenly these shouts are sung

and your journey has, once more, begun.

So while my eyes fall, slowly,

heavy,

and my dreams grow hazy.

You remind me

the art of being

an African Daisy. 

The Age of Anonymity

This article was published here. It was part of an initiative for Cyber Bullying aimed at the LGBTQI youth community. Check out the website for more youth based articles. 

“I’ve never had so many friends; I’ve never felt so alone.” –Postsecret

The digital age is among us, bringing with it unlimited sharing, anonymity and pseudonyms. The façades we create on our Facebook pages are stripped of all structural integrity and remain a flimsy projected image of our ideal self. We’re logged in, checked in and ready to connect.

The dangers of the internet are plastered on the walls of our retinas with campaigns of cyber safety, pleas for the prohibition of pornographic imagery and an abundance of anti bullying paraphernalia. But in all the warnings about who you’re really talking to on the other end of optical fibres, or how many years your Grindr friend really holds under their belt, we neglect the biggest danger of all; ourselves.

While social media sites, like Facebook, promise to connect you to friends and the world around you, the outcome can be quite the opposite, creating ostracism from friends and isolation from the world. Of your 700 Facebook friends, how many could you count on if something went wrong? How many would you meet up with for a coffee, or a chat? Instead, we obsess over other peoples’ lives, or at least the façades they create of happy, perfect lives. We count the friends they check in with, and as our digits fill up, our hopes empty. Beneath this tableau, lies a person too insecure to just live in the moment they are in, and so they incessantly assure everyone they have friends by posting photos, checking in, and making alluding statuses until suddenly it becomes a competition; an endless cycle of everybody trying to prove just how OK they are.

The truth is, it’s ok not to be ok all the time. You don’t have to have 700 friends to actually have friends. And mostly; you don’t have to prove anything, to anyone. One solid friendship is infinitely more valuable than 700 false ones. Social media feeds off social anxiety, and sends depression and mental illness victims into further isolation. But it doesn’t have to. Behind the façades lies the potential to connect, and inspire. And from time to time we need a mask to hide behind to get through. Sometimes you need to make the decision; if I can’t say this to someone in person, should I really be saying it? It’s easy to disassociate that what you’re typing or texting is ending up in the possession of someone else’s eyes; someone else’s feelings. So by having tricky conversations in person, you can see the reality of your words, and leave bullying, harassment and excessive criticism out of play. This also leads to more successful relationships, which leads to a happier you.

There is value in the cyclic updates of mundane activities. It does feel good when someone recognises to the world that they spent time with you, or they like your photo. But it feels better, especially in the long term, when you close your laptop, open your door and go and see people.

If you’re like me, it’s quite likely you use the internet as procrastination to just about everything. So here’s some ways to turn your procrastination into a positive use of time (and yes some of them involve stepping away from the computer).

Avoid tricky conversations and seeking help over the internet

Even a phone call is better than a message, no matter how hard it may be. It’s ok to reach for help, with sites like Beyondblue calling them on 1300 22 4636, or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. While asking someone on Tumblr might seem like a great idea, the people behind these blogs generally have no experience in mental health issues, and can sometimes be disadvantageous. Postsecret is a great website to get things off your chest anonymously, without confronting people, however it’s only a starting point. Conversations are key.

Learn a new skill

Over the past three months I’ve learned how to; fold a shirt perfectly in three seconds, make an origami turkey, sew a wall hanging for our bills, grow potatoes from an old potato, bake an amazing citrus tart, and found cool websites to practice my French skills. Whenever you learn a new skill, teach it to someone else, in person.

Turn off your technology before bed

Studies have shown that having your screens and phones on wake up your brain, and by turning them off an hour before bed, you get a better rest and decrease anxiety levels. Use the time to read a book, talk to your family or flatmates, or simply relax.

Try meeting new people by joining a group

Instead of following a blog, stalking a profile, or using an app, join a group to meet new people. Whether it be a soccer club, youth group, string ensemble, or book club; if you’re doing something you enjoy you’re bound to meet similar people. If you are meeting someone you’ve met off the internet; always tell someone where you’re meeting, and go to a public place like a café the first time. If they don’t want to buy you a cup of coffee, they don’t deserve your time.

Think before you send

Once you click send, those words are forever stained in cyberspace. If you say the wrong thing in a conversation, in time it will be forgotten; if you write the wrong thing it’s there to haunt you both.

Here’s one more for good measure: instead of posting a status about all the things you hate, tell the world what you like. Post a picture of some flowers growing in your garden, update your status to a thing that made you smile that day, or share your favourite quote. While the internet can be an isolating place, we can use it to send a little bit of positivity into somebody’s day. We can build up some support behind our façades.