Grandpa’s Guide to Driving in Maidstone

I don’t have anything else to do so I bought a new laptop. I’m gonna use this for my journals and important documents. My old laptop is for “gaming purposes”. *laughing* Yep! You heard that right! For gaming purposes! The truth is that I’m fond of playing Starcraft and other online RPGs. Playing computer games isn’t just for kids. I know some professionals who are also really fond of playing RPGs. Oh wait! I’m currently using my new laptop so I’ll get on with business.

Now I remember exactly what I was about to type here! It’s about my travel in Maidstone!

Maidstone is a suburb located about 8 kilometers from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Maidstone has a population of approximately 6,050 and its Local Government Area is the City of Maribyrnong. The suburb is bordered by the West Footscray to the south of Suffolk Street, by Braybrook to the west of Ashley St., by Footscray to the east along Summerhill, and by the Rosamond Roads and Maribyrnong to the north and northeast along Williamson Road.

Maidstone was mainly made up of period weatherboard, brick Art Deco, and California Bungalow houses constructed between 1920s and 1940s. And also in the 1940s, concrete houses were built to serve as homes to the families of returned servicemen from World War II. From the early 1990s, many factory sites in Maidstone have been turned into new housing estates therefore; these recent developments boost, availability of good public transport, and Maidstone’s location (which is close to Mebourne’s central business district) helped Maidstone’s median house price escalate dramatically over the past 10 years.

And some of the prominent places that one should not miss while in Maidstone are:

1. The Maribyrnong River

The Maribyrnong River (Maribyrnong means “saltwater”) rises about 50 kilometers north of Melbourne, near Mount Macedon. If flows generally towards the south and combines with the Yarra River then flows into Port Phillip.

During the second half of the 19th century, many of Melbourne’s industry were located near the River thus degrading its water quality. But 1960s and 1970s, the industries started to close and presently, the banks of the Maribyrnong River has catered parklands and highly sought after residential estates.

2. The Maribyrnong River Trail

The Maribyrnong River Trail is a shared path used for cyclists and pedestrians which follow the Maribyrnong River through the northwestern suburbs of Mebourne.

The paths located on both sides of the river follow the windings of the Maribrynong River through a valley cut in the basaltic plateau in Keilor East at Brimbank Park, then across a floodplain, and then enters the Yarra River at Docklands.

In following the paths, you’ll enjoy every minute of your travel because you’ll see fantastic riverside parklands, the Pipemakers Park with its Living Museum of the West (which has many artifacts about the river valley and the Wurundieri people who lived there 40,000 years ago). And you’ll also pass the Flemington Racecourse.

3. The Highpoint Shopping Centre

The Highpoint Shopping Centre is the major shopping centre located in Maribyrnong, Victoria, near the suburbs of Maidstone. The centre has over 400 stores and it is the largest shopping centre that serves Melbourne’s western and northwestern suburbs.

Highpoint Shopping Centre is also Australia’s fourth most profitable after Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre, Sydney’s Westfield Bondi Junction, and Sydney’s Warringah Mall.

And another thing that I remember about Maidstone:

When I went there, I had a car booked with the Maidstone Car Rental. My trip was awesome because I saved a lot with my rented car. Even though the rent was really cheap, man! The car was really cool and in excellent working condition!

-Grandpa Benjamin