Miss Black took me around downtown Melbourne yesterday. It’s a great place, clean but a little disorderly, approachable, and very pedestrian. It’s full of sidewalk cafés, arcades built on twisty little passages not the least bit alike, odd little alleys, overhanging awnings. I felt like we could have wandered for days, in, around, over, through, at every corner some new fashion boutique or chocolaterie or art shop.

I took no pictures, despite the bounty of opportunities, because my camera’s charger and spare battery are packed away in my still-absent suitcase. The friendly Qantas agent assures me that it will arrive later this morning – we shall see.