Thursday, May 9, 2013

Plans and Maps: the Done and the Undone and the Yet to Be Done.


I'd been planning to visit Victoria Gardens in High Street, Prahran for some time, passing as I frequently do on the Number 6 tram. Hidden from the street, I didn't know what I'd find there; I imagined it might be dull, municipal, under-used. It is, in fact, a 5 acre oasis, bordered along its length by the back fences of neighbouring homes, which homes capitalise on their privileged views.
 Many locals came and went, with their dogs, with their friends or alone, while I was there. Without what you'd call an exceptional design or planting palette, it is nonetheless much-used, tranquil, easy on the senses.
I'm reading Paul Theroux's The Pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean ( 1995 ). His intention was to circle the Mediterranean, clockwise, from Gibralter to Ceuta. He appears to have had no distinct plan other than this, over 18 months; I marvel that he just takes me along with him as he bumbles along the coast. He is erudite, open-minded. He isn't drawn to ruins or to sights or sites. He talks to you, the reader, as his confidant.
One of the delights of blogging is finding your plans undone. I'd intended to report on Victoria Gardens in a thorough and considered way, reporting on it as if it and my experience mattered. What happened was that I found my garden photos were of little use...the gardens themselves were not especially arresting, or the unusually strong sunlight bleached my images, or I wasn't particularly interested in yacking on about a place no-one will go to.
Paul Theroux didn't much like Taormina in Sicily and didn't visit its Greek theatre. ( "Nothing held me in Taormina." ) Though favoured by the Edwardians, and visited by a poetry-writing D H Lawrence, "...these days it exists only to be patronized and gawked at. It was not a place to live in, only to be visited, one of the many sites in the Mediterranean that are almost indistinguishable from theme parks."  ( P 179 )
I, however, would probably traipse here, being fond of ruins, if they are not tourist draw-cards. Above is an image of the theatre itself, taken from a little book I've found, Provincial Art: Southern Italy and the Islands, published in 1957 by the Italian State Tourist Office.
But I am in Melbourne, and I'm recording pictures of statuary, garden furniture. So far, almost 2/3rds of the way through The Pillars of Hercules, it's Corsica I'd most like to visit. Its fountains would be older than this bit of Victorian Neo-Classicism, but it's graceful here, this fountain, in one of Melbourne's inner suburbs.
Victoria Gardens were " formally dedicated for public use" on 07 August 1885. They were laid out by William Sangster, "well-known gardener and nurseryman of the firm Taylor and Sangster." He was "once the gardener to John Brown of Como and was responsible for landscaping works at Stonnington, Rippon Lea, Daylesford Botanic Gardens and Wombat Park," so a little sign informs.
The gardens include this pergola and some stone shelters of a simplistic nature. There is a large "oval depression in the centre" the size of a small soccer field "and a symmetrical layout of paths." There are London Plane, Macadamia, Jacaranda, Plum Pine, Cape Chestnut, Prickly Paperbark, French Hawthorn, Lombardy Poplar, Yew, Lemon-scented Gum, Southern Magnolia, among others. Anything tough, vaguely Victorian.
I decided there wasn't much point elaborating on a garden whose chief merit was the joy it gave to all those bumbling in, if, from a visual point of view, its plantings and design were unexceptional. So, assuming some of the cheek of a travel writer who takes you where he wills, here above is one of the entrance gates, spearmint green, sort of Art Deco, just right against the treescape.
Beyond the Pillars of Hercules was the Unknown, the world beyond the Mediterranean, all that was chthonic. My plan had got skewed. I was somewhere unknown, but it was local and it wasn't frightening. I find that Paul Theroux doesn't exclude the tedious or ugly. He takes you where he goes, awkward or sublime, without judgement. He believes he's traveling alone, but I feel I'm looking over his shoulder.
Above, the statue of Victory, "supposedly a copy of one erected in Berlin to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo," or the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War, depending where you read. Victory, to me, REAL victory, entails a dissembling of self, a preparedness to 'get lost', an acknowledgement that the places we go to, whether they are far or near, have the propensity to shake us up a bit out of our known self.



17 comments:

  1. "One of the delights of blogging is finding your plans undone." I often find this to be true. I usually get frustrated and delete it or start again. Now I'll give this reality some thought.

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    1. James I've simply had to work with what I've got. I like the idea of making a story out of disparate elements. Often I don't know what I'm going to say until I've chosen the photos.
      This post here was especially challenging, linking Paul Theroux's book to a garden visit that was both less and more than expected. I had fun.

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  2. Apologies
    Not been here for a while but I need to say I loved the angel xxx

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    1. No bother, nice to see you again John. Yes, the statue's a beauty.

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  3. The combination of the idea of wandering and being open to new experiences along with the photograph of the green gates almost brought me to tears ! Nostalgia maybe ? A deep yearning ? Whatever it was you touched on something deep in this post.

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    1. Paul, sometimes when I feel least deep, when I feel I've nothing to say, life re-arranges itself and gives me a chance to say something ( I might have to work for it though ).
      I'm not sure if it's nostalgia or memory or some long-held need for a place in which I feel at home, but wandering, unplanned, without expectation, always chips in a little bonus.
      Thankyou. I don't profess to know much. It's beautiful to meet others who feel the same way.

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  4. when I blog, my plans become undone so often, that I hardly make plans now - the posts almost choose their own direction without much intervention from me. I often pass that park and have never gone in. I think I don't care if the planting's exceptional or not - tranquility and a natural setting and local is good enough for me. i enjoyed the post, thank you Faisal.

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    1. Sue, plans always get undone, one way or another. I've learned to prefer it that way.
      I wouldn't say that anybody HAS to go into Victoria Gardens, but it's a warm and friendly place, much as Central Gardens in Hawthorn, near Auburn Road are. I used to live near there. Though they've been since rejuvenated, they are a wonderful place to wander, with or without dog. I made many friends there.
      Thankyou, Sue, for your subtlety.

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    2. if that 's the park I think it is, I know it as Rocket Park, and used to go there when the children were little.

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  5. Dear Faisal,
    I enjoyed this post.
    I contrasted the journeys of Paul Theroux and your good self, with some people I know who travelled to the Mediterranean and did nothing but complain about the state of things. What they were really doing was comparing everything they saw with their neat clean part of suburban Melbourne. This was their benchmark for everything whether it was twenty years old or four thousand years old - and as such almost everything was found wanting. I recall thinking what a terrible holiday it must have been for them. Far better to have a rambling, accept-things-for-what-they-are-and-enjoy-the-experience holiday instead. That is what AGA and I do.

    I always liked the air of primness about the Central Gardens in Hawthorn but I have not had the pleasure yet of visiting the Victoria Gardens - except via this post.

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    1. Thankyou Kirk for all you've said. Melbourne's a modern city, isn't it, in the New World, without many or extensive cultural roots. In some ways, that's to our benefit, I feel: a new start for all. On the other hand, Melbourne's suburbia can still be awfully dull. To get anything out of travel at all you have to be open to the unfamiliar. Like you, it's the only way to do it, I reckon.

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  6. Big fan of ruins too, Faisal - and Paul Theroux too. 'Kingdom By The Sea' is a great read, should you not know it. Dave

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    1. Thanks, Dave. I'm enjoying Theroux so much I can see it's only the start of an infatuation. I know 'Kingdom by the Sea' by name, but maybe I'll make that my next one. Cheers.

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  7. I love the way you combined Paul Theroux with the Victoria Gardens, beautifully crafted as usual. I do like the statue of Victory - I think I could live with her in my garden, and the green gate is charming.

    I also enjoyed Kirk's comment. I wonder if those complaining tourists, who are obviously having a dreadful time, suddenly discover once home that they had a great holiday. Things often seem better in retrospect when you're back sleeping in your own bed...

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  8. Thankyou Carol.
    Yes, I wonder about tourists who dislike their time away. Didn't they do any research? Are they unable to encompass otherness? Has their comfort disabled them to such an extent they lack compassion or graciousness?
    I reckon wherever you go there's something out there to lift your heart or educate you.

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  9. Dear me, Victoria Garden doesn’t seem to be high on the list of gardens to visit. Mu better to go to classical Italy.

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