1. Community Fair
Elwood Primary has more than 760 students and a tight-knit school community. Teachers and parents work together on the school's big fundraising effort, eight community markets spread across the year. These are held in the leafy school grounds, with parents, students, alumni and neighbours drawn by vintage clothing, second-hand homewares and offerings from local jewellers and plant growers. In all there are 150 stalls, including the ubiquitous sausage sizzle, barista, animal farm, jumping castle and cakes baked by parents. Locals have spotted Nick Cave going through second-hand records, and last year former students – now musicians – Henry and Lily performed a Missy Higgins song with Missy herself listening in the crowd. It's that sort of event and it's on today.
Elwood primary school, Scott Street, 9am-1pm
Ideal for runners and dog-walkers. Photo: Leigh Henningham
2. On the beach
Elwood Beach is slightly more protected than its more famous neighbour at St Kilda. It's shaded by Norfolk Island pines and patrolled by Elwood Surf Life Saving Club – and the swimming is good, especially if it hasn't rained recently. A popular restaurant, Sails on the Bay, provides an eating option, but parking can be a problem on summer weekends.
Ormond Esplanade
Another stunning morning at Point Ormond. Photo: Penny Stephens PKS
3. Point Ormond
There's something poetic about the way the green bluff at Point Ormond rises above the sand to meet the sky. The Bunurong people once came here to collect and cook cockles. One of Melbourne's founders, John Pascoe Fawkner, anchored off Point Ormond before he sailed up the Yarra in 1835. In 1840, a ship called Glen Huntly sailed into the bay flying its yellow flag and Point Ormond became a quarantine station. For years afterwards Glen Huntly Road was known as Typhus Road. Today, Point Ormond is a place where children roll down grassy slopes and cyclists stop for a quick drink of water as they ride along the Bay Trail.
Bruce Standish at his shop Natural Health Supplies. Photo: Richard Cornish
4. Bruce the Vegan
Bruce Standish has been promoting meat-free and dairy-free eating from his shop, Natural Health Supplies, for the past 35 years. In that time he has ignored almost every merchandising fad, selling his fruit and veg out of cardboard boxes with handwritten prices, and advertising "Health Videos for Hire. 2 for $15". Ramshackle and wonderfully dated, his little shop stocks very good organic produce at remarkably good prices. Pumpkin was just $2 a kilo when we visited, oranges $3.50 a kilo.
78 Ormond Road, 9531 7577
The grumpy Swimmer bookstore, Elwood. Photo: Richard Cornish
5. Books
It's the day the Man Booker prize is announced and a woman in black activewear jogs into the bookstore and asks excitedly for Paul Beatty's winning book, The Sellout. After buying it, she jogs to nearby cafe and starts to read. A mother and young daughter enter the store and the girl throws herself onto the bear-shaped cushion inside the kid's reading tent and then flips through a picture book. The vibe at The Grumpy Swimmer bookstore is anything but grumpy. Customers are as excited about books as the staff.
110 Ormond Road, 9525 7488
Elwood Canal at sunset. Photo: Leigh Henningham
6. The Canal
Not many streets in suburban Melbourne have flood markers, but it's common to see water running across the old bluestone ford on Foam Street. This is Elster Creek, widened into a canal downstream from Glen Huntly Road in the 1880s to drain the St Kilda west wetlands. Iron rings were built into the walls so pleasure boats could be moored along its banks, but silting reduced its 1.5-metre low-tide depth to just ankle depth in places. Walk the banks and watch toadfish swim through the seaweed a kilometre inland. Upstream of Glen Huntly Road is Paul Hester walk, a serene path through sugar gums and she oaks, where dogs chase balls and children play pooh sticks in the swift stream.
Next Week: Queenscliff
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