Kensington Markets

We were told that Kensington Markets were a must see, not for any typical tourist spot reason, more of a left of centre comunity experience, but were warned of the alternative sights we may come across. Now having worked and lived in Fremantle, WA I was well prepared for any little surprises coming our way.

We decided to go down there before the Sting concert. We underestimated the weather for the day as we got all dressed up for the concert which was later that night. For the past 4 weeks we have had an average of 32 degrees with high humidity but this day it was predicted to be 28 degrees which may not be so different in number but it seemed to be looking out the window. The only problem was we dressed according to what was showing out our window instead of what it felt like. It is safe to say although it was 28 degrees with the humidity it felt like 45 degrees and we overdressed for this climate.

So by the time we reached downtown I had sweated off all of my make up and my clothes were soaked. Poor Tim had jeans on and a long sleeve top which roasted him through and through. What made it worse was that we were given the wrong directions so we walked or rather I pushed Tim about 2 kms in the wrong direction. We finally realized this and found the right way to the market. Not a minute too soon either as I was so hot by this stage I felt like I was going to collapse. Poor Roxy was breathing so heavy, I'm sure she would have jumped right into a pool if there was one nearby.

We came to the start of the market which just looked like a residential street in a low socio economic area. Except their buildings were not houses but little hippie style shops. It was a very cute area, right up my alley. Loads of Vintage shopping. I found this little store, left Tim and Roxy outside (in the shade) because the issue with the quaint little vintage shops is they are usually held in historic buildings which means stairs, but I walked out in a completely new outfit, one that was much more appropriate for the weather and it's humidity. Feeling much cooler and able to plough on, we set off to discover other areas of this market.

Now this market is not any type of market I have been too. There is a mixture of food, cheap stores that could be described as white elephant stalls as well as stores that you would see in Pako street (your upper class more expensive stores). But it was the feel of this place that was the most interesting. We didn't know whether this area was safe or not. There were people who were really friendly and then there were people who you didn't necessarily want to meet in a dark alley.

There were the dread lock kind sitting on the street strumming their guitar with a like minded crowd around them. There were passionate environmentalists who have made a floral project out of a car as our picture will show. Sports fans paraded down these streets right next to the hippie dressed guy riding his bike with a big fat joint hanging out of his mouth. Police roam the streets but we could not work out whether this was because they were buying food or if they were on duty. Either way this place was very interesting and a nice 'hidden away' surprise of culture & community.

We stopped for a little lunch at this woodfire pizza place and headed off to Sting.

There isn't much I can say about Sting except he is still the exceptional and talented artist he is so well known to be. This concert was his best probably because we were close to him but also he sang all of Tim and my favourite songs and his humble personality shone right through this concert. It was by far the highlight of the day!