Melbourne Aquarium

Lone Jellyfish

I love sharks!
Bright pink jellies
Big fishbowl


Sea turtle and friends

Birds of Royal Botanic Garden

Shrine of Remembrance

Entrance to Shrine


Shrine of Remembrance

View from Upper Section
Front View

Sculptures in the Park

Friday night we attended a stand-up comedy show with four comedians representing Ireland, America and Australia. One of them, Andrew Stanley, did a hilarious reading of a 1970's romance novel with a hero named Slade (you must say that in your deepest, manliest voice to be effective). It made me blush. Several times. The show I really wanted to see but couldn't get tickets for was Josh Earl is a Librarian. I highly recommend going to his MySpace page for some great examples of his work, especially if you're a 30-ish library employee.

We did some exploring on Saturday, starting with the park along St. Kilda Road and going to the Shrine of Remembrance Memorial, a tribute to Australians serving in WWI. It is so large we can see it clearly from our apartment balcony and is quite stunning. You can read about it in detail here. There were still fresh flowers from Wednesday's Anzac Day parade inside the memorial, surrounding the Stone of Remembrance which states "Greater Love Hath No Man". At exactly 11 a.m. on November 11th, a ray of sunlight shines through the opening in the roof and lights up the word "Love"...which is the exact time and day of the Armistace ending the war. There is a wonderful view from the top of the monument, so of course I took some photos. Then we went to the Royal Botanic Gardens for a walk in the sunshine. I loved the camellias. We walked around the Ornamental Lake and saw some interesting birds, including a black swan. The garden is so big that there were whole sections we didn't see, but I have a feeling we'll be visiting again. One consequence of the drought here is that none of the fountains or water sculptures have water in them.

On Sunday we went to the Melbourne Aquarium. Besides getting to see alot of really strange creatures, like Leafy Sea Dragons , Sea snakes, and Moray Eels, which remind me of that creepy Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth, we got to watch a "dive feed", where two divers go into a huge tank full of turtles, fish, sharks, etc to feed them in front of a room full of people. It was fabulous! The turtles and huge stingrays were incredibly hungry and trying to get all the fish. The turtles would chew on the yellow buckets containing the food and have to be shooed away, and the stingrays would try to cover the divers to get at the food. The divers had buzzers to alert each other when the sharks were nearby. We also saw coral, jellyfish, seahorses, and some lion fish.

Besides going to memorials, seeing deadly sea life, and studying, I've been learning some new recipes. My confidence in the kitchen is pretty low, so nothing too fancy yet, but I made a nice shrimp and asparagus risotto and also a delicious curry chicken/veggie dish. I'm going to try a spicy salsa meatloaf later this week.

Here's an excerpt from the Beat, one of the club guides in Melbourne:
"The hottest new crunk, hyphy, bmore, partyjammin steez on the weekly tip every Thursday at Revolver."

Can anyone translate please? 'Cause I'm wondering what it says. Am I really getting old? Probably the same people wearing the mod, one-size-fits-all mini-dresses know what this means. Arrrgh!

More- Fitzroy Park

Fitzroy Garden photos

The Fairies Tree

Anzac Day

Marching band clarinetist

Anzac Day Parade
Yesterday was a national holiday here, Anzac Day, in honor of the first significant WWI battle by Australian forces. More details here. Mark had the day off, and we attended a parade in the morning along St. Kilda, a major street into downtown. The parade was similar to a Fourth of July parade, but without floats or beauty queens. Much more sophistocated and serious with marching bands, bagpipers and officers and their families, some riding in military vehicles, some pushing walkers or riding in electric scooters. Much Australian flag-waving. We walked over to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to see about attending the footy (Australian rules football) match but they were sold out, and we didn't spot any scalpers (don't know if that happens here).

So we headed over to the Fitzroy neighborhood, first stopping in Fitzroy Gardens, a beautiful park with several attractions, including a Fairies tree and minitature Tudor village (see photos). It was a sunny day and we were both ready to stop walking and sit down for lunch after that. I had a veggie burger and fresh fruit. The veggie burger was a large patty without bun or sauce but was delicious. It put the frozen Gardenburger veggie burgers I'm used to eating at home to shame. We wandered around Fitzroy, which is kind of a mix between Hawthorne and Mississippi neighborhoods in Portland. Lots of funky stores, bookshops, cafes, and artsy benches. We caught the tram back home and I took a nap.

Our internet connection in the building has been down for over a day and was magically up again this afternoon (Thursday). No specific explanation from management but I'm glad it's repaired. All my coursework is online, except for a couple textbooks I'm reading. It's amazing how much I depend on the internet connection to work these days. Luckily the timing couldn't have been better since yesterday was a holiday and I had planned to spend the day out with Mark.

We are realizing how much energy it takes to constantly be exploring here- not only deciding what to see or do, but to figure out where it's out, how to get there, etc. We've spent several evenings lately at home, listening to music (M. downloaded most of our albums onto the laptop before we left!) or watching bits of TV (we have 4-5 channels) or reading. It's different than "tourist mode" because we'll be here for a while so feel we have time to see things. Sometimes I just want to stay inside and unwind and think. I didn't have much of that last quarter when I was always rushing around doing work, or studying or trying to fit in time with friends. I would love to start writing again, even if just journaling on a regular basis.

One of the things we've both noticed about Melbourne, is it's a very urban environment, and like many European cities, people really dress up. Mark sees men in suits everywhere...even if a few of those suits look shabby, we've observed, they are still worn. To my dismay, the fashion theme here is "mod/retro" and I absolutely hate it. Think Twiggy. Think sweater dresses (too long to be a shirt, too short for a dress), wide sleeves, bright geometric clashing colors, and ankle boots. I am walking around in jeans and my beloved hoodies and Columbia sportswear hiking shoes and feelin' like the makeover police are going to grab me any minute. Oh well. Hoodies are just so darn comfortable and unlike geometric print wraparound mini-dresses, they don't care if you have that second helping of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream...

Write Us

Mark and I are tired of opening an empty mailbox, so feel free to send cards, letters, photos, cartoons- or whatever else you fancy- directly to us at:

173 City Road, Apt. #285

Southbank, VIC 3006

Australia

Mirror of the World

On Wednesday afternoon, I was wandering around looking for a post office, and found I was right near the State Library of Victoria. I tried a photo but it didn't turn out well so I'm referring you to the wikipedia entry if you're interested. Of course I went in, and discovered a wonderful exhibition on the fourth floor called Mirror of the World: books and ideas. It's refreshing in the midst of my graduate program and all the stresses that accompany it to be reminded why I'm in this field, and the exhibit provided a great reminder. It began with the earliest written material up to present day graphic novels. I saw a cuneiform tablet, which I'd only read about for a class; a leaflet from the Gutenberg bible; works from Shakespeare and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; Audobon's Birds of America (very big, and vivid!); and a display on book arts showing examples of decorative binding, marbling, and other papers.

From the exhibition brochure: "Books are mirrors of many worlds: worlds here and distant, past and present, real and imagined. Through text and image, they act as keepers of ideas, of knowledge and of stories. This exhibition showcases many of the rare, beautiful and historically significant books held by the State Library on behalf of the people of Victoria. It celebrates the unique place of books in our hearts and minds". Well said.

Bon voyage, mates!

Sia and me
Eddy and me
The gathering
Mark, Tamara, me

Dena and me
The original R, Will & D
Will and Rebecca looking at Sydney pics

I meant to post these earlier...here are some pics from the 'bon voyage' party friends Rebecca & Tamara hosted for us! It was a small but wonderful gathering of friends too see us off.

Coffee and Ken

Okay, so I spoke too soon about the coffee here. I went for coffee on Monday morning, and the waitress, who was from Canada, explained the different kinds as you can read here if this interests you. I ordered a "flat white" which is an expresso with milk, and it was delicious. So sorry, people of Australia. You really have some good coffee...I was just being a spoiled American.

Melbourne has been having an International Comedy Fest and have televised some of the performances in the evenings...Several jokes about spoiled, stupid Americans (see above paragraph). The TV here is interesting- a combination of Australian and international shows, the American ones on different networks at different times than we're used to, of course. I watched a 'Baywatch' type show the other night-- a documentary about real lifeguards at Bondi beach in Sydney who save multiple lives in a day and manage to have surfing contests amongst themselves in their free time. And they look like a Malibu Ken doll with shiny white teeth and a deep bronze tan.

Not much else going on, I've been studying like a madwoman the past couple days.

Saturday (continued)

Arts Centre

After having a nap on Saturday, Mark and I prepared for an evening out with dinner and an Australia Opera production of "The Barber of Seville" at the near-by Arts Centre, in the State Theatre. We walked over to the Southbank riverfront area, and ate at a restaurant called Tutto Bene. This restaurant is known for its risotto- a curious thing to be known for- but it was delicious. With our bellies happy, we walked over to the theatre and found our seats.

The opera was fabulous- I was familiar with the music, but not the production. Set in a health spa, the set was stunning (I wanted to just climb onstage and spend some time there but was worried they'd make me sing in Italian). It was a mix of vivid aqua, yellow, coral, and dark wood colors. I don't really know how to describe it to do it justice so I won't try. The opera itself, sung in Italian with subtitles above, was hilarious- and we laughed throughout the entire thing. They had a twenty minute intermission and it was funny to see all the opera goers chomping on ice cream bars in the lobby...not what you'd expect, but funny in a refreshing way. What a wonderful evening.

Saturday

Queen Victoria Market

Saturday, Part I: DoubleOh and I had a great trip to the Journal cafe yesterday morning, despite our guidebook failing to mention it is in the same building- no more than 10 feet away from the entrance of the City Library in downtown Melbourne. I ordered a latte and banana muffin, he got some English breakfast tea nonsense. Coffee here, as I mentioned previously, comes in a smaller portion then I'm used to, but costs about the same. So my little latte lasted about one minute. (It took a lot of willpower not to order a second one...impressive, I know). The reading material at Journal was eclectic if you consider fashion mags, encyclopedias, and National Geographic more eclectic than this. We sat against some cushy leather benches enjoying our goodies as I enthusiastically observed that this would be a comfortable place to study while simultaneously stealing longing glances at the City Library entrance. I finally went in and applied for a library card and looked around briefly. I'll definately go back when I have more time.

I'm not sure how this happened, but we found ourselves walking to Royal Park, intending to quickly stop by Queen Victoria Market to grab some cheese, bread and fruit for a picnic lunch. We ended up wandering around the open air Market, a vast group of tents where people were selling tourist trinkets, cheap clothing, and a huge selection of fresh produce- apples, grapes, oranges, corn, potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes- it was the most produce under a tent I've ever seen. Tough grocers shouted their specials from behind wood stands. We eventually found some bread, salami, and cheese. Doubleoh assumed we were done but of course I wanted more coffee...so I walked up to a booth and ordered a Vienna style coffee because it had 'cream'. Well, I discovered 'cream' means whipped cream, not creamer as I anticipated. From my grocery store trips and this experience, I've concluded that creamer just doesn't accompany a cup of coffee here. I burned my tongue while trying to walk to the park and threw the coffee out after the whipped cream had all melted. Then we walked, walked, walked to the park which we had both pictured as more of a garden with lush green, manicured grass, flowering plants and bushes, and perhaps a lake. Instead we saw brown, brown and more brown.

When we finally found a bench and sat down we faced a brown grass field with wire fence around it. A lone drinking fountain sat a few yards away. As we ate lunch, a woman talking on a cell phone and walking three mean-looking black dogs came by and stood with her back to us chatting on her phone while her dogs tried to devour our food. She ignored us when we tried to get her attention. Finally, she and her pesky dogs left. Five minutes later, a different, smaller, dog ran up, peed right beside Mark's legs and then covered it, kicking up a cloud of dirt on Mark in the process. Shortly after, we caught a tram and came home. To be continued...

Day View from our Balcony

Since all I've been doing is studying, I thought I'd post some daytime views from our balcony- I think it quite fun to look down on people playing a tennis match, and to the left of the court, the blue glass cylinder shaped-thing is the pool. I find I can't get too close to the edge since I'm afraid of heights. The front of the balcony is see-through glass or something.

Mark and i are venturing out in search of a place called 'Journal' on Flinders Lane which is supposed to have "fantastic coffee" and a "eclectic collection of reading material"!

Catching up

My life the past couple days has been studying, with breaks to explore our grocery options...okay, and a few naps. There are a few major stores- Safeway, Coles, and IGA- as well as a Walmart disguising itself as "The Big W" (didn't fool me- I can recognize cheaply produced products sold in mass quantities by a smiley face any day!). I remember from previous trips abroad that there is always something- an ingredient or household item- that you just can't seem to find, or at least find as easily as at home. (That's part of the whole experience, I know.) Pinto beans elude me- when I finally find the bean section, which mostly has baked beans, I cannot find any pintos. I've tried asking a couple of clerks but they just look confused and point to the beans, eager to escape my silly questions. I made veggie burritos last night with some other kind of bean, and it was okay.

I'm trying to adjust to the smaller sizing here...the tortillas purchased for last nights meal looked a bit pitiful compared with our standard size at home. The 'tall' size latte I get at home is a 'large' size here. The toilet paper comes in packages of two or four, not eight or more. I notice, too, that women my age generally seem smaller compared to me, and I cannot help but feel like a typical overweight American...for example, I have gone up about two sizes in clothing here. Fortunately, the restaurants actually serve realistic portions so maybe that will make a difference during my stay.

Balcony View

Here is a night view from our balcony; the little white dot is the moon.

Southgate and St. Kilda beach

Jellyfish

View toward CBD
Yarra River
St. Kilda Beach
Beach feet