Inner Mongolia to Brighton Bathing Boxes

It’s rare that we get to spend time together in the same city with our busy schedules. When we do get a chance, it is cherished. I’m in Melbourne to attend our son Joe’s graduation. Coincidentally it is happening on his birthday and our wedding anniversary. On Sunday we decided to go to a location we hadn’t been to for a number of years, in this case the Brighton bathing boxes. Before I share a little bit about our adventure that occurred as we walked along the beach enjoying these miniature architectural wonders, I just want to include some information for those who may not know what these boxes are all about.

Brighton Bathing Boxes in Melbourne – Background

Nestled along the picturesque Dendy Street Beach in Brighton, Victoria, the Brighton Bathing Boxes are charming beach huts, dating back to the early 1900s., are a beloved symbol of Australia’s beach culture.

The Brighton Bathing Boxes are a collection of 93 uniquely designed and brightly colored beach huts. Each box is a work of art, with hand-painted designs and colours that make them a photographer’s paradise.

Originally built as changing rooms for beachgoers, these huts have stood the test of time and remain a popular attraction for locals and tourists alike. They offer a glimpse into a bygone era of Victorian morality and seaside entertainment.

Fun Facts

• Value: In November 2019, one of the bathing boxes was sold for an impressive $340,000.
• Cultural Significance: The area behind the bathing boxes is designated as an area of high Aboriginal sensitivity, protected by both State and Federal legislation.
• Location: The bathing boxes are located between Gould Point and Rocky Point on Dendy Street Beach.

Our Experience

We drove down to the Dendy Beach at Brighton. There’s 4 hour paid parking right at the beach location. In case you are thinking of skipping paying for parking I must let you know that the parking inspectors are incredibly vigilant. As we returned to our car where our parking had expired just minutes before we saw two inspectors booking the car just before us. Luck was on our side but not for the first car in the car park.

Despite that cautionary experience I’m happy to report that the entire time we spent at the Dendy Beach exploring the incredible bathing boxes was both colourful and fun. We were treated to a wonderful Melbourne Summer’s Day that felt more like spring.

Some 300 visitors from China were also enjoying the Brighton bathing boxes while we were there. Many were taking advantage of the beautiful colours to take photographs striking wonderful poses in front of the boxes or with the bay as a backdrop.

Now all three of us speak Mandarin. When one of the ladies from the group asked us to take their photograph we responded in Mandarin. This started a conversation where we found out that the lady was from Inner Mongolia and was here as part of a company sponsored visit where 300 people had been invited out to Australia. The visitors were from all over China and in addition to swapping stories a number of the ladies wanted to join us for a photograph.

Maybe because we were standing still, more and more of the ladies started joining us for a photograph. It was a lot of fun and highlighted that language really is the key to global understanding, friendship and knowledge sharing.

As the visitors were on a schedule all of a sudden the beach was empty and they had moved on to their next destination much in the same way that while we were in China a month ago we quickly moved between highlight destinations such as the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City.

When we asked about impressions of Melbourne there were two comments. Firstly that it was very beautiful and also the weather range was very tolerable. Yesterday in Inner Mongolia it was 6 degrees below zero celsius

So a simple day out in our own city led to us enjoying a somewhat international event on the shores of Port Philip Bay.