The Red Chapel

I watched my last film at MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival) on Thursday: The Red Chapel. It's a documentary about North Korea - the Danish director and two Danish comedians born in South Korea (presumably without South Korean passports) visit the country on the pretext of doing a comedic theatrical performance. The film won Best Foreign Documentary at Sundance, and there was a full house of about 300 (mainly Australian) people to see it.

The monuments and places visited didn't interest me so much; I have been to North Korea and everyone who goes there, whether tourist, journalist or diplomat, sees the same things. What was great about the film was that the younger comedian Jacob showed so perfectly the contrast of emotion in any North Korean visit. Your North Korean hosts are so unbelievably kind and generous to you, it is hard to remind yourself of what actually goes on there, and even harder to bring it up in conversation.

There was a great moment at the end where the director gets Jacob, who has cerebral palsy, to ask his female host why he hasn't seen any other disabled people in Pyongyang. But before she thinks of an answer, Jacob rescues her by saying that he should meet some on his 'next visit'. I know exactly that feeling. It was very difficult for me to ask the hard questions, particularly when you are being filmed all the time (as all tourists are) and when there is a more senior onlooker in attendance. There is no danger to you, but the consequences for your host is one of the many unknowns.

There was nothing of interest to me at MIFF on its final weekend, so instead I took a cycle ride from the hills of Belgrave, on the Eastern end of the metropolitan train line, South West to the beach at Carrum. The first section of the ride links Belgrave to the pretty Lysterfield Lake area via some rather muddy tracks through Birds Land Reserve. It was heavier going than I expected, and at one brief point I had to get off the bike a walk it through the mud. A commuting bike was not the ideal piece of equipment for this section of the ride. Rough tracks comprised the remainder of the route from Monbulk Retarding Basin to Lysterfield Lake. Around Lysterfield Lake is the State Mountain Bike Course; a large network of mountain bike trails that were built a few years ago for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The local cafe doubles as a bike shop where you can rent or buy mountain bikes, some with price tags of over 6,000 AUD.

It's a faster run from now onwards, cycling through some country roads and linking up with the asphalt bicycle track alongside the Monash Freeway. On this section, just South of Lysterfield Lake is Yun Yang Temple: a large Chinese temple complex (pictured below) which was well worth a look around. The residential roads of Wattle Drive and Box Street allow you to link up with the Dandenong Creek Trail and from there is the direct run, mainly on wide bicycle tracks, to Carrum. The Dandenong to Carrum run is a well known route for Melbourne cyclists; a good fast route away from traffic, and a nice energetic way to end a ride. After a quick stroll on the beach, a coffee was the order of the day before catching the train home.



Cycling Distance: 48 kms

Belgrave To City

The train to Belgrave is generally empty other than a smattering of tourists on their way to ride Puffing Billy, a steam train which goes all the way to Gembrook and back, taking about four hours in total. Four hours on Puffing Billy is enough for anyone, so most go to Lakeside, about half way down the track. The trip on Puffing Billy is expensive but fun, especially for kids, and you can sit on the edge and stick your legs out of the carriage. It's one the the main tourist attractions on the Eastern outskirts of Melbourne, along with the Dandenong Ranges, Healsville Sanctuary and the Yarra Valley wineries; tour companies often combine these for day trips.

It amazes me that you can ride all the way from Belgrave (the most Eastern of Melbourne's metropolitan train stations) back to the city on mainly recreational bike paths. But you can, and it's my favourite city day ride. Belgrave is over 200 metres above sea-level, meaning that the ride is generally downhill, and potentially has a very cold start. It wasn't too bad today though.

Following the fairly rough, unofficial and hard to navigate track North of the rail line is fun, as gravity does the work for you. At the end of the track I went down the main road (Burwood Highway) under the rail bridge and into Upper Ferntree Gully Station car-park, which had a small market on and is where the tourist information centre for the Dandenong Ranges is located. Further on, I crossed the rail line before Ferntree Gully Station and after about 1km took the signed turn-off to the left onto the Blind Creek Trail. From here the ride to Jells Park is straightforward, following the signs to the Knox City shopping centre and then to the Dandenong Creek Trail (which the Blind Creek Trail becomes just short of the park). On the way to Jells Park I rode pass some high-quality (seriously) graffiti on the underpasses (“Love Me While You Can!”), the statue of Oppy (bottom picture) and a large permanent sign usefully informing me that the shared path ahead is closed until June 2006!

Jells Park is not surprisingly popular. It is arguably the best park in suburban Melboure, having a nice lake and many shared paths. It also has a cafe and restaurant, which is a great place to have lunch if it isn't too busy; today it wasn't due to the inclement weather, so I stopped for a bite. From Jells park I took the Scotchmans Creek Trail, which initially climbs and goes through suburban streets. The planners have deemed that different routes through the streets each consist of the Scotchmans Creek Trail, leading to a plethora of trail signs going in literally every direction. Whichever way you go you should end up near the Monash Aquatic Centre on Waverly Road. I crossed Waverly Road and took the track near the TAFE: the trail part of the Scotchmans Creek Trail.

It's faster from here onwards. At East Malvern golf course Scotchmans Creek becomes the Gardiners Creek Path, which eventually goes on the bicycle and pedestrian bridge suspended under the Monash Freeway, connecting with the Main Yarra Trail going all the way to Southbank in the city. There are many local sporting venues on the way: a kids' Australian rules football game, two hockey matches and cycling in the velodrome were the spectacles on offer today. After an early dinner, I foolishly decided to cycle the 25 or so kilometers home, taking a look at the newly re-laid but yet to be open section of the Main Yarra Trail. The route home included Yarra Boulevard, which provides a good spot for taking a photo of the Melbourne skyline (top picture).

Cycling Distance: 93 kms