My Monthly Chronicles: September 2026

September was a fun month with a formal, fathers day and a focaccia platter.  It ended with a beginning as we headed on a road trip to Canberra.  And more in between.  It was a lot!  More about that next month.  Above is a photo from our road trip stop in Wangaratta with a wonderful spring park that we looked over as we had lunch at Paulie's (see more about it below).

I have been rather slow with this post this month because life has been so busy but also because my edit view on blogger has gone a little haywire, making it harder to format than usual. 

To read more about my eating this month, read my In My Kitchen: September 2026 post.

Eat Pierogi Make Love
161 Lygon St, Brunswick East 

It made me very proud to see Sylvia dress up and have fun at her school formal.  There wasn't much vegan food on offer at the event so we went home via Eat Pierogi Make Love who offer excellent vegan options.  Their pierogi is so good with fun toppings and sauces.  We were so happy with our order: 

• Placki Frytki: potato and sauerkraut fries, based on a traditional Polish pancake recipe. Served with caramelised onion sour cream. ($12), 
• Ziemniak Pierogi filled with jalapeno, potato and mozzarella, boiled and served with vegan sour cream and salsa ($26).
• Kapusta Pierogi filled with mushroom and sauerkraut, pan fried, served with celeriac skwarki and celeriac, apple and onion purèe ($28)

It was a cold night so I was very happy to wash it down with a warming mulled wine.
 

Cornish Arms
163A Sydney Road, Brunswick

I had really looked forward to seeing my friend Alison for dinner at the Cornish Arms pub on Sydney Road.  Unfortunately Sylvia and I were tired after a busy week and were not at our best.  I was too tired to even order well when I agreed to her having Mac and Cheese Bites with  Fries as well as Vegan Katsu Chickn Sando which came with more fries.  That meant that leftovers were certain.  I also enjoyed my Nourish Bowl of sushi rice, tofu, miso roasted sweet potato, edamame, avocado and pickled ginger.

Father Day
Geelong

I drove down to Geelong for a Fathers Day afternoon tea with my family.  My mum made great scones with jam and cream and a sponge, and my sister Fran (who took the above photo) made deliciously gooey chocolate caramel slice with peanut butter in the caramel.

Trippy Taco
234 Gertrude St, Fitzroy

It was good to get back to Trippy Taco for some Mexican street food.  We shared the Mixed taco meal with two black bean tacos and two char grilled tofu (asada) taco.  I wasn't so keen on the tofu seasoning and much preferred the black beans but Sylvia swung the other way.  Both of us agreed that of all the savoury dishes the very best was the Heart attack trippy fries with salsa, vegan cheese, guacamole, and vegan sour cream.  I think nacho fries might be a more accurate name but nowhere near so poetic and scary!  The place was busy with a large group which gave it a nice buzz.

When I wrote about visiting Trippy Taco in 2013, I vowed to return to try the dessert tamale.  It has taken me 13 years but fortunately the place is still going strong and it was worth the wait.  The sweet tamale, steamed in a corn husk and served with vegan nutella and vegan ice cream was amazing.  Luckily we shared it as I was quite full by then.  It was so so good!

Melbourne Tram Blockage of 1990

Ever since I moved to Melbourne as an eighteen year old, I have loved the trams of Melbourne.  The cheerful and quirky conductors were as much a part of trams as the dinging when they start up and the screech of metal on metal when they turned a corner.  I was really interested to hear Greg Gardiner talk about "Melbourne and Coburg Trams" at the monthly Coburg Historical Society meeting this month.  I am not the only fan of trams; this was one of the most popular talks I have seen since I joined the society a couple of years ago.  I might have bought Greg Gardiner's tram history if the queue had not been so long.

One important moment about tram history that Greg touched on was the Melbourne tram blockade in 1990.  The state government tried to introduce scratchie tickets so they could get rid of conductors on 1 January 1990.  The tram workers responded by taking over trams and not charging passengers.  In response on 2 January, the government cut the power of the tram network.  Before they did, the workers drove 250 trams to part in the main street of the city as a protest.  It took 33 days before the tram power was reinstated.  I remember it well and was very angry that trams were no longer to have conductors.  I did not live far from the city and was amazed at the sight of so many trams nose to trail along Bourke Street that you can see in the above photo.  

You can read more about the blockade in The Age Newspaper in the articles From the Archives, 1990: Melbourne's tram blockade and Back to the days when the trams stood still.

Roadworks on Moreland Road

These days I ride my bike more than I take trams.  This above photo is of roadworks on Moreland Road near the train line.  The bike track has been detoured for weeks.  I am really tired of it and not knowing when it will end.  

Olivia Spring
637 Mt Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds

We were in Ascot Vale for an appointment.  Moonee Ponds is only a hop, skip and a jump away.  Olivia Spring has such a huge menu, we wanted to try of their dishes for lunch.  When I ordered a noodle salad with lots of vegies and chunks of fried lemongrass tofu.  And Sylvia ordered spring rolls to share but she as less keen on them.  Fortunately there was also lots of good food to eat.  She was delighted with vegan barbecued pork bahn mi and I enjoyed my tofu and veg as well as the spring rolls.  

Vegan Market
Coburg Town Hall, Bell Street

The vegan market at Coburg Town Hall lured us back with its delicious food and convenient location.  We met Faye there and bought lots of great food.  Again we took a tub with us.  By the time we left it was filled with Biscoff cheesecake from The Kindness Echoes, Raspberry cruffin from Alex a Baker,  Chocolate caramel tart from Gingersnap Patisserie, Dubai chocolate brownie from Sweet Little Tings,  In my photo you can also see the Kindness Echoes Cheesecake and Vanilla slice, and Alex a Baker's cruffin and Cinnamon bun.  

We took home so many delicious treats.  The vegan cheesecake was impressive.  Not all vegan cheesecakes are equal!  Our caramel tart melted by the time we got home but was very good and the brownie is a favourite of mine.

After our purchases, we went out the front to buy lunch from the food trucks.  As we waited I enjoyed the busker who was scatting with lots of warm and entertaining observations about the people about him.  Then we took our lunch inside where we caught up.  (I was going to say chewed the fat but that might sound like it was what we were eating rather than a turn of phrase).

Sylvia and I had great vegan toasties from Bean Brewed.  I loved how they were named.  My Vegemite and cheese toastie was called the Bogan ($10).  And Sylvia had the the Reuben Hood ($16) with pastrami, sauerkraut, mustard and cheese.  Faye enjoyed a massive Berlin Doner Kebab from Oh my Doner.  We picked at a little of sweet food and then took the rest home.

Green Man's Arms
418 Lygon Street, Carlton

I was pleased to try the vegan roast at Green Man's Arms last month.  I had promised Sylvia she would also get the chance to try it so we were back in September.  She had the roast.  I was very happy that she got the chance to try an excellent Yorkshire pudding after only having had one very stodgy one.  She thought the lentil and nut roast was amazing.  

I wanted to try more of the menu and ordered the Chorizo focaccia plate.  It was an attractive arrangement of slices of amazing soft focaccia, discs of their in-house chorizo, cashew feta in a lettuce leaf, lots of yummy pickled veg and a generous dollop of hummus with wonderful crispy chickpeas.  There was too much of the feta which I found a bit bland and not enough of the focaccia which I could have eaten forever.
 

 

For dessert we had the vegan Basque Cheesecake with lemon curd ($18).  I am not usually a fan of lemon curd but the cheesecake needed the tart fruity sauce.  It was good but not as great as the Kindness Echoes one at the Vegan Market.  But we really loved our mocktails.  Sylvia had a velvety fruity Baby Peach and mine was a refreshing mint and lime flavoured Ginger Julep with lots of fizz.

Ballards
915 High Street, Thornbury

When Ballards announced their pop-up sandwich Sunday lunch, Sylvia was excited and I had a voucher for their food as a leaving gift from my old workplace.  (Best leaving gift ever!)  We got there 30 minutes after they opened and queued for about another half an hour.  Then we were given a table in the sun and asked to change.  That was a lesson about changing tables because it confused the staff and our order was forgotten.  We were starving by the time we got our food but it was worth the wait.

The first dish that was served was The Seer: a Pear & almond frangipane tart ($10).  It was odd to get dessert first and made us think that something was weird with our order.  It was the last thing we ate and absolutely divine.  Frangipanie is such a treat and the pear was just perfectly soft and melt in the mouth.  Next we had The Burning World: Shoestring fries, pepper cream gravy & feta ($14).

Sylvia had the Filth: Marinated lion's mane, roast peppers, chimichurri, chili cheese sauce, rocket & pickles and I had the Holy Money: fried lemongrass sausage, mushroom påté, sauerkraut, cucumber. coriander & pickled red chili dressing.  Twenty dollars each seems a lot for a sandwich but these were generous fillings in huge slabs of focaccia with amazing textures and flavours.  I really loved the house made sausage and slaw.  It was not as spicy as I feared.  Sylvia loved hers too with the lions mane and accompaniments.  They were so filling we took half each home in a box.  Now that's what a I call a great sandwich.

Kevabs
89 Sydney Road, Brunswick 

 

When we were out all most of the day without eating and Sylvia suddenly found she was ravenous because she hadn't eaten since getting up, we had to make an emergency stop at Kevabs.  I could not resist the brownie.  Sylvia had a falafel kebab with a small pesto pasta on the side and a vanilla cupcake to follow.  She felt so much better after some good food.

Paulie's Corner Cafe
Shop 1, Corner Reid & Ovens St, Wangaratta,

On the last day of September we drove to Canberra.  We broke up our seven hour drive with lunch in Wangaratta at Paulie's.  It took a lot of research to find good vegan food in the country and this was excellent.  I think this was the only place along the way we could find with a vegan menu and lots of vegies.

Sylvia had the Poke bowl.  She was pleased she could substitute sushi rice for the soba noodles (because buckwheat allergy) which were served with  avo, pickled veg, cucumber, edamame, mushrooms, furikake, seaweed, Japanese sesame dressing and lime ($25).  It was not her perfect meal but had some elements she loved. 

My Nourish bowl of roasted pumpkin, beetroot hummus, avo, leaves, dukkah, falafel, tortilla, cucumber, edamame, cherry tomatoes, corn, red cabbage and green goddess dressing ($25) was really good.  Exactly what I needed after some wrong turns and to fortify me before I tried to check into the wrong hotel!  With a bit of luck I will find time to write more about some of the highlights of the trip!

Top: Yolanda's Bake Sale @ Queensberry Co-op: Spinach and feta scroll; Dong Dae Moon: Kimbap; Sister of Soul: Oreo cheesecake

Middle: True North: Cabbage Garden Salad; Flowers: South Melbourne Market; Times New Roman: Spaghetti with Napoli sauce

Bottom: Mr Nice Guys: Cinnamon scroll, Sister of Soul: Sunday Roast: Elektra: Matcha Milkshake

Died: Gloria Steinem, Richard O'Sullivan, Tim Read (Greens MP), Angry Anderson

In the News:

‘Timidity is a virus’: Paul Keating fights the fading of the light as he seeks to enshrine his legacy, The Guardian, 2 September 2026.

Lindsay Clancy’s case is a Rorschach test, by Moira Donegan,  in The Guardian, 7 September 2026.

Mamdani and Trump underscore a shift in 9/11 discourse 25 years later, Politico, 10 September 2026. 

Mary Kostakidis stared down the Zionist lobby, and courage won, Michael West Media, 11 September 2026. 

Data centres have existed for decades. So why are they so controversial now? The Conversation, 14 September 2026 

Victorian Greens MP Tim Read dies aged 64, ABC News, 19 September 2026. 

Donald Trump gave a speech that went largely unheard. It's part of a war with his press pool, ABC News, 22 September 2026. 

'We hear you, you were right': Ed Miliband addresses critics of Labour policy on Palestine, Middle East Eye, 28 September 2026

Trump's war, migration cuts and AI pull interest rates in all directions, by Alan Kohler, ABC News, 28 September 2026. 

This Labor government is the Ed Sheeran of Australian politics – There is more opportunity to push back against toxic centrism, Amy Remeikis in DeepCut, 29 September 2026.

Amid rising support for right‑wing minor parties, can David Shoebridge reinvigorate the Greens? The Conversation, 30 September, 2026.

The OpenAI Medicare breach exposes the dangerous gap in AI regulation. New Politics, 30 September 2026.

Listening, Reading, Watching 

Listening to the radio: Rearvision: Why Australian history has always had a revisionist edge ABC, 12 September 2026.

Reading: Collapsing Glaciers, Climate Change and Human Security, Lyrebird Dreaming, 28 August 2026.  An interesting reflect on the floods in Nepal and climate change.

Watching lots of great tv:

Goolagong: (ABC iview) a biopic of iconic Aussie tennis star, Evonne Goolagong Cawley.  The oddest thing that struck me while watching this was that when I was a child and she was a hero, I never know she was Indigenous.

My Brilliant Career: (Netflix) a great modern update of a1901 Australian classic novel and 1970s film.  I loved Philippa Northeast as the headstrong farmgirl who dreams of being a novelist but is being groomed for a conventional marriage.  

Tampa: the Turning Point (ABC iview): a powerful documentary about a key moment in Australia's 21st Century politics when Australia refused entry to asylum seekers rescued at sea by a Norwegian freighter.  I was not living in Australia at the time so this helped put together some of what I have heard and read.  Most shocking was seeing how the Howard government's attitude changed when the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened in the USA during the stand-off.  This led to not only Australia's draconian refugee policies but also has influenced refugee policies elsewhere in the Western world.

The Pitt (HBO Max): we finally watched this brilliant hospital drama that is amazing at how it handles nuances in social attitudes.  Noah Wylie is amazing.  I can see why it has gone viral and won awards.

Rolf Harris: Primetime Predator (ABC iview): this documentary about how the iconic Australia entertainer was found to be an unprincipled pedophile.  I loved him so much as a kid that it was devastating to watch and see creep behind the jovial grin.  Even more disturbing was hearing how people were often warned about him and to know that when I met him while working at the BBC he was so charming and gave me a hug.  Makes my skin crawl to think of it.

Read lyrebird by Jane Caro

On film we watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was fun to see this classic musical comedy horror film from 1975.

Finally I enjoyed reading about U2's imprompu concert at the school my nephew attends in Dublin.  U2 celebrate 50th anniversary at the school where they formed, BBC News, 25 September 2026.  Such an amazing experience for him!