Several times today I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I started the day in North Richmond, navigating my way around Church Street in search of accommodation at the YWCA in Richmond Hill. Once that was out of the way I was free to explore Richmond's famous Bridge Road, street of factory outlets all screaming SALE! 50% off! Buy NOW! at me. Aarrgh I can't get away from everyone wanting to take my money from me! Be strong and use the Force Louise, deflect them all your Wonderwoman bracelets of gold, resistance is USELESS! I think I walked the length of Bridge Road with my eyes closed, like a blind woman stumbling along without her cane.
There was one particular shop however that was inevitably going to be my downfall. Macro Wholefoods Supermarket....uhhhhh. Is that angels I hear singing through the open door? This must surely be Paradise in the afterlife. It's like a giant Harvest Wholefoods only stacked in regimented rows. I've noticed this about Bridge Road, neat stacking of shelves and perfect windows displays seems to be a signature of this precinct. But I digress, back to my dream shop, Macro. Every type of organic food is available in this superstore. Rows upon rows of it from vanilla yoghurt topped chocolate mousse tubs to anise and fig bread cobs. Oh. My. God. I managed to get out alive with only a muesli bar, a can of soup and a cookie. I consider myself lucky and am very proud of my self-control.
Further along Bridge Road is a spectacular window display of chandeliers that made my jaw drop. I decided that I was in the mood for excess today so I caught the tram to Docklands (the equivalent of Auckland's Viaduct) but missed and ended up at the Casino instead. Ah well, not quite what I had in mind but excess could not be greater here. Casinos are not my cup of tea, seen one, seen 'em all sort of thing. Aucklanders rag Sky City as a particularly tacky version of a casino but I think, hey, they're all tacky what's the difference between Sky City and the Crowne Casino? So I bypassed the jingle whoodle-oodling pokies and flickering dressing-room mirror light bulbs.
I did end up however in the Crowne Towers Hotel and whooeee Daisy-Mae them cowpokes in there are mighty fine looking spec-i-mens. A five-star hotel this place is a wonderland of waterfalls and marble. The atrium between hotel and shopping complex is a darkly lit mountain cavern. Photographs just cannot do justice to the dramatic effect so I'll try and make a thousand words draw a picture for you instead. The ceiling is a hanging Babylon of crystal stalactites, perfect droplets evoking the moisture encrusted web of a glow worm. Peacock colours of green and blue light the roof of this Lost World. Down below on the forest floor water falls through a cascade of marbled terraced ponds. The smooth surface is covered with tiny blow holes to allow jets of water to arc out. Spurts of water burst out all over the ponds, firing through beams of light, a visual representation of the musical symphony playing in the background. Beyond the atrium the reception, lounges and Conservatory bar and restaurant are opulent gold. This is somewhere I would definitely like to come back to stay on my book signing tour :-)
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