Brighton

Sarah's choice today. Always keen to visit a beach - she isn't likely to point her finger very far inland.  Today we focussed on Middle Brighton, which includes Church St, known for its shopping, fancy cars and cafe society.  Having said that, it's pretty chilled out and a lovely place to amble along on a Sunday afternoon.  We also hopped down to Brighton Beach which is famous for its row of historic bathing boxes.

Sarah's view

What makes me happy ? Well let me see... Justin Bieber, cats, friends and a whole bunch more!

Lots of colours everywhere, I think they were beach towels.

Skateboards are awesome ( but i do not have one ) especially these skate boards.

These sea gulls look like they are all sitting down in a classroom.

Lots of tiny shells and little grains of sand everywhere!

There is our beautiful city, of course in Melbourne.

I think kite surfing is awesome but weird. And as you've seen, my dad has said he would be able to kite surf. Well do NOT believe him.

The letter C flying in the sky!

Debbie's view

Even the mannequins were shocked at the prices in Brighton.

 Vrrmm.  We saw three Ferraris in Church st.

 Gorgeous gentleman watching the world go by.

 ....obviously the 'well-heeled' of Brighton

 This guy was flat out like a lizard drinking.

 For some reason this makes me think of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

 Aliens

 The iconic Brighton Bathing Boxes.

 Brighton Baths

Pastels are hot in Brighton this year.  So is yoga.  It is obviously stressful working out how to spend all that money.

Dale's view

The Brighton Baths - established in 1881, and now boasting a popular restaurant.

A Brighton Jag parked on Church St. Perhaps jag-spotting is my new theme.

A typical little home on the Esplanade, Middle Brighton.

Kite surfers on Middle Brighton beach

Reckon I could do that...but Sarah reckons I couldn't.

The Dendy Deli on Church St. Popular destination for moviegoers after visiting the Palace Cinema upstairs, or book buyers having just visited the great Top Titles bookstore.

One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small.

Brighton mannequins have skinnier legs than other mannequins.

The famous Marine Hotel, New St, Brighton.

This fellow stands guard outside the Educational Stuff toy store, Church St.

You can worship your beer at Harry's Bar Bistro.

This little beach house on The Esplanade makes me feel like my home is somehow inadequate.

The famous and colourful Dendy St Beach bathing boxes. For a mere $200000 you too can own one of these.

Unfair (that was the name of this surf ski).

Ripponlea

Ashamed to say that it has been over a year since we have updated this blog. We have plenty of suburbs to go, and we are going to keep at it, hopefully at a higher rate than 1 suburb per year. As it was a late decision to go out this time, we chose a nice little suburb that we could cover in 3 or so hours...Ripponlea.

Debbie's view

Welcome to Ripponlea.

I know a dog called Billie who has probably stopped here before for a drink (and a piddle).

Pull up a stool at the very popular Spout cafe.  The folks are so friendly there and the food is delicious.

...dance with me, in the old fashioned way.  Won't you stay in my arms? Oh I guess not.

What other kind of fish would you find in Ripponlea?

Sounds like a good film.

The gorgeous mirror at Miriam's gift shop.  So much to look at.

An amazing find at the bric-a-brac shop.  Astro Boy.

The local Op shop, teeming with glorious fashion and crockery.

Sarah's view

This is a glass roof thingy where the flower shop was. To me it looks like a big flower.

Yum yum yum. This was the meal I had at the cafe called Spout. This was the Spout mess which included pistatio, berries, morang, and yoghurt.

This is a pretty flower I saw in the flower shop we past but the thing is I do not know if its real or not.

This is the flower shop. I think it looks very pretty and also a bit old fashioned. I like how it has a main colour which is red.

Would anyone like a cup of tea ? Here are some tea cups that I saw in a shop and I really liked the colours on them.

Now this is probably my favourite picture I took because it looks like these sharp things are coming out from the middle of nowhere and I really like the colours.

This is similar to the picture before, with all the colours and how its all organised. There was a lot of colour in that shop.

I really like flamingos because they are PINK and funny looking and I like how they walk and they look like walking swans

These are one of the 2 sentences that kids HATE. Where ever you go you are always hearing "go brush your teeth , go make your bed, do this, do that." It's so annoying 

Dale's view

A Ripponlea landmark - corner of Glen Eira Rd and Hotham St. Not a building of beauty by any stretch, but no photo tour of the suburb would be complete without it.

 Retro chairs that can double as toilets??

Katherine - long time Ripponlea resident, taking a break from her work in the op-shop, was very happy to point out some of the more interesting shops to visit and photograph in her little neighbourhood.

 I can't look at this pic without the music from 'My three sons' (60's TV show) popping into my head.

 A decorative lane-way off Glen Eira Rd.

Attica - a 3 hat restaurant smack bang in little old Ripponlea. Ranked as 63rd best restaurant in the world I'll have you know,  and voted Restaurant of the Year by The Age - good food guide. Must eat there one day.

 This dashing face in the Ripponlea barber shop window was begging to be photographed.

The old Brinsmead's Pharmacy. Build in 1918 and maintained in its original style with original fittings. Apparently James Brinsmead was very famous for his hand cream! Unfortunately it wasn't open so we couldn't put this to the test (especially since they now only sell flowers).

 Proof that there are plenty of people living in Ripponlea... Look at all those postboxes!

This is shy Miriam from 'Miriam and Friends' http://www.miriambereson.com
- a lovely little gift shop on Glen Eira Rd that was full of things that captured our attention, especially Sarah's. If you look carefully, you can see the photographer in the mirror...

One of Miriam's lovely necklaces!

A typical Ripponlea suburban street (except most of them don't have two white jags).

Can't go past a beautiful E-type Jag without snapping a shot or two.

This fellow living on Hotham St really wants to spread the word.