Caroline walked every street in Moonee Valley. Here’s what she learned.

Moonee Ponds woman Caroline has lived locally for 15 years. But it wasn’t until she took to the pavement on a quest to walk every street in the municipality that she truly appreciated everything Moonee Valley has to offer.

A self-employed web designer, Caroline often found herself at home behind a computer. When lockdown struck (again) in 2021, she downloaded a fitness app, laced up her runners and headed out to explore the neighbourhood.

Slowly but surely, she coloured in more and more of the municipal map.

Walking soon morphed into running. Now Caroline is a fully fledged fitness fanatic and in February she finally completed her mission to traverse every street in the City of Moonee Valley.

“It was a really good opportunity to go down streets I’d never go down, and find pockets and suburbs I’d never been into before… I feel like I’ve got a really good grip on Moonee Valley now and how it all connects,” she says.

What did Caroline discover about Moonee Valley on her travels?

Its architectural diversity and natural beauty, she says.

“We’ve got beautiful parks, we’ve got the swimming pool, public transport. The creek, the river. It’s great for the kids.”

More gruelling were the hills of Avondale Heights and Keilor East, which Caroline affectionately refers to as “like the alps”.

Asked whether she recommends the challenge to her fellow residents, Caroline gives an emphatic yes.

“It gives you the opportunity to really explore where you [live],” she said. “You can do it anywhere – that’s the whole beauty of it.”

And that’s what Caroline intends to do next. She’s already covered more than one-third of neighbouring councils, Merri-bek and Melbourne.