Marvelous Melbourne

May 26th, Monday.
In Marvelous Melbourne, at least, that's what everyone here calls it. The city is massive, and all of the surrounding suburbs fan out from the center over an incredibly large area. I said early on that Brisbane was a big city, but not overwhelming....Melbourne is a huge city and it is overwhelming. I think we've got a good grasp on things now.

Mel is really the opposite of Adelaide, not least of the differences being the privatized public transportation system here. We had to be shuttled from the airport (Brisbane and Sydney have trains running, and Adelaide had buses) and it was pricey, but at least we were dropped right at the hotel and they'll pick us back up when we leave. When we arrived yesterday afternoon the sky was cloudy and threatened rain (it ended up only drizzling a bit) so the driver joking welcomed us to "sunny Melbourne." Then he added, "but it's alright we need the rain." I asked if the whole country was in a drought then (they are, for eleven years now) and he replied, "not really, its patchy. Victoria's a bit dry, but we've had a spot of rain these past weeks."

Today we booked an afternoon tour out to the Dandenong ranges, which are low mountains covered in primeval rainforest. We were taken up in a tour bus with a fantastic guide named Phil (Dr. Phil as he introduced himself assuring that we would learn plenty of useless information -- a promise he kept). Phil drove us first around the city to get an idea of where everything is, then we head out for the "Dandies."

The rain forest was spectacular, with giant "mountain ashes" (really just another variety of eucalpyt) that tower over massive ferns and mossy undergrowth. The whole place looks like dinosaurs should be roaming about. We stopped for tea at a little park in the forest where we socialized with flocks of cockatoos (about three different varietys) and other small parrots that were quite tame and would eat out of your hand. One arrogant cockatoo landed on my shoulder and stole my lamington (or jamington, since it had jam in it) straight out of my hand. Chris and I wandered into the forest and caught sight of a kookaburra, and snapped a few photos before getting back on the bus.

We then drove up the mountain to the summit of Mt. Dandenong were we de-bused to look out over the whole Yarra river valley with Melbourne shrouded in mist in the distance. The whole time we were treated to Phil's great sense of humor, himself being a Pommie (English) and having lived in Vancouver for a spell. He told us he fell in love with a Melbourne girl and had been there since they married the year before.

Anyway, time to go eat. I'll add some more stuff tomorrow morning...maybe.

Footy Fanaticism or Adelaide -- Day Three

May 25th, Sunday.
Yesterday Chris and I woke up and walked into the city to catch our free bus to A.A.M.I stadium to watch an Australian Rules Football match. Now, if you don't know anything about the AFL (and I'm sure you don't) I can't possibly make you understand it in words. However, here are a few points that might give you some idea:

The game combines elements of soccer and rugby.

Each team has eighteen players on the field, which is a giant oval.

The object of the game is to kick the ball (shaped like a rugby ball or a larger American football) through the middle of four uprights--thats a score of six. However, if an opposing player touches the ball as it goes through than it only counts as one point. Also, if the ball is kicked through the outside uprights, it results in a single point. Needless to say, these are generally high scoring games.

More aborigines play Aussie Rules than any other sport in the country.

The AFL is huge in South Australia and Victoria, but not so much in the rest of the country where Rugby is a bigger deal.

Ok, if you want to know more you have to find out yourself.

The game we saw was the Port Adelaide Power vs. the Sydney Swans. The Power has a better name, but the Swans have a better fight song. We got to the stadium early, so we crossed the street to eat some lunch in a giant mall. After poking around a bit, we headed back in to the stadium and found our seats near the field off to one side of the goal. As we sat down we were treated to the "curtain raiser" game of Indigenous teams playing a quick game. There was something that just felt out of place in modern day Australian society about watching a bunch of Abos play football for a crowd of mostly whites as pre-game entertainment. They seemed to enjoy themselves however, and a big to-do was made the whole day about Aborigines in the AFL.

After the "curtain-raiser" came the most mindbogglingly hilarious spectacle of young, mostly women waving flags and doing what I suppose could be called "dancing" to a terrible techo song that informed the crowd that "this is how we party", over and over again. Imagine a massive gathering of high school color guard/flag core girls trying to pretend like that are in an Usher video on BET and you have some idea of how ridiculous the whole thing was.

But the Aussie's love their Footy, and this was apparently all part of a ritual. To understand how "hard" these people "get up" for Footy just imagine how American's treat Superbowl Sunday, and you've got a bit of an idea how it is at every AFL game. In other words, they really get into it. People cheered like made at every Port Power score (we sat with them) and booed even harder at every Sydney kick and score. There was also and incredible amount of profanity thrown around--and there were kids everywhere. Footy is as much a family affair as anything in Australia, and I guess most people just get used to the outbursts.

The Power struggled most of the game, but eventually came from behind only to lose in the last quarter by eleven points. Behind us was a hilarious older man who screamed out at various intervals:

After a bogus penalty: "It's a man's game you idiot!"

As the Power was doing well: "Come on Port, show some class!"

As the Power did poorly: "I don't believe this!"

Randomly: "Don't give the ball to him, he's a useless pr*ck!" or "This violates the rules of the game!"

Along with a handful of other, more colorful phrases.

Since the Power lost, everybody left a bit disgruntled but the general feeling was that the game was a fine spot of football all around. I couldn't have agreed more.

The sun set during the game, and it really turned into a full day affair at 36 minutes quarters, but it was fun never-the-less. Today, Sunday, we are in the airport about to fly for our final Australian destination: Melbourne. The airport has free WiFi. South Australia, the free internet state. After this its probably back to libraries, but we'll see. We learned our lesson after last time and went ahead and made reservations at a hotel in the city. So next post should see us settle in the heart of Australia's other big city.

Adelaide -- Day Two

It's May 24th here, Saturday morning. Yesterday we took the train out into the country (what Aussies call the "bush") for a little nature hike or bushwalk. The train ride itself was a nice experience as we rode through the Adelaide Hills and got to see a lot of the uninhabited South Australian countryside.

We alighted in a place called Belair on one of the oldest train stations in Australia (from the look of things) and walked a few short feet into Belair National Park. The park was the first ever set aside in South Australia, back in the late 1800s, and as such the sign we passed under to enter simply read "The National Park." Immediately as we entered it was like stepping into the real Australia with towering gums trees (eucalyptus are called gums here) over head, parrots chattering annoyingly in the branches, giant termite mounds made out of the red soil, and an overall sense of the age of the land.

There we signs of kangaroos out there, but we didn't see any wild ones. We did spot a few wild (thought they hardly act that way) koalas and more lorakeets, cockatoos, and other colorful birds than you can shake a stick at. The place was also crawling with giant bulldog ants. The park is huge, and we only had enough daylight to do a part of it. Our hike led us around a duck inhabited lake, up into the hills, through a freaky tunnel under on of the hills, into a valley where it was cold from lack of sunlight reaching the bottom (where we spotted the first koala), and up to where there used to be a waterfall before the drought.

Today (Saturday) we've got tickets to an Australia Rules Football match in Port Adelaide, which is a bus ride north of us. Then tomorrow we are off to our final destination before home: Melbourne.

Adelaide -- Day One

Well, there is a full day behind us in Adelaide now, and it was a pretty good one. Adelaide is what I like to call the Savannah of Australia. Of the three main cities we have now been to, Adelaide is the smallest and oldest feeling. Like downtown Savannah, a large proportion of Adelaide's buildings have been around since at least the 1890's or so. We went into the South Australia Museum which has two exhibits (one of South Pacific Islander artifacts and another of stuffed animals from around the globe) that have been up since 1895. The museum's axillary buildings are converted barracks over the doors of which read "Australian Light Horse and Scottish Battalion."

Before we went to the museum we of course saw Indiana Jones, a day earlier than the states. I won't write a full review, but I will say that even though it's not the best of the series, it is still an entertaining film.

The rest of the day was dedicated to seeing the city and orienting ourselves. We ended things off by finally getting some of the Asian food that is so ubiquitous here. I once again had kangaroo, this time barbeque's Chinese style. Today we are going to take a train out towards the mountains to one of the state parks for a bush walk. Time to see some Australian wild country.

In Adelaide

We landed in Adelaide today (May 21st) around four o'clock after crossing into a new time zone that put us thirty minutes behind Sydney. To our chagrin, we found out that the train in Adelaide doesn't run from the airport, so instead we hopped the bus. Its cheaper, but not as direct and therefore slower. Anyway, we got into the city and de-bused to try and find a place to stay. Thus began our journey.

I had looked into some places in the city, but Chris had a list of safe bets (names like Quality Inn) so we decided to try those first. Turns out the first one we went looking for was north of the city and meant a ridiculous hump with all of our gear. My pack was suited for such situations, but Chris has a big duffel bag, and my laptop bag is a bit unwieldy. We made it never-the-less to discover the Quality Inn was all booked up. So we tried another local place around the corner with the same results. The man there gave us some suggestions, however, first pointing us across the street to the O'Connell Inn.

Suffice to say, the O'Connell is where we have ended up. It has an older feel, but it is nice, inexpensive, and best of all....they provide free internet. We are a little out of the way, but the buses should take care of us, and there is a train somewhere. Also, the Inn is right next to a cinema, so you know what that means. Yup, Indianan Jones tomorrow morning! A full day ahead of you guys. Don't worry, I'll be sure to spoil it for you.

Sydney Wrap-Up

Well, we did Sydney in two days, seeing the major sites by day and clocking plenty of kilometers afoot along the way.

We set out on Monday from our hotel and made our way first to the library for internet, then on to the main show at Circular Quay via the Botanical Gardens. In the gardens we got to experience some more rain forest complete with a multitude of giant fruit bats in just about every tree, fighting and chattering away. We got close up to a flock of grazing cockatoos, and I made the mistake of offering them some biscuit. Before I knew it they had surrounded me and begun to attack. I took off running to get away as one flew straight at my head. I escaped unharmed, but the greedy blighters did follow us for a bit.

Now in sunlight, we took another gander at the opera house and the harbor. Chris got pictures aplenty and I managed a few before the camera died again (turned out the switch kept getting set to “on” in my pocket.) I got some good video as well despite the thousands of Japs everywhere. Next we made to the famous bridge and crossed over to the North side. I had had thoughts of taking one of the bridge walking tours that leads people all the way to the crest of the bridge's arch, but I soon changed my tune when I realized I was barely going to make it across the regular level without peeing myself. The bridge is quite tall, that’s all I’m saying. Mom, you wouldn’t have even been able to look at it.

On the North side we strolled through a nice neighborhood and happened upon a secluded little beach with two park benches that looked out over one of the many smaller bays nestled off of the main harbor. After a rest, we headed back across the bridge to check out Darling Harbor and Cockle Bay. Of the whole place, these areas were the most tourist-oriented with a wildlife park and aquarium, boat tours, overpriced restaurants, and a food court and McDonald's. We did manage to get into the National Maritime Museum (again, free) and I was impressed with the exhibits which included a whole section on US/Aussie relations at sea (apparently a centennial gift from us.) It was probably the best museum we had come across. They also had docked out back a replica of James Cook’s Endeavor, but it cost money to go aboard and the light was failing. Plus we were starving.

After the museum we started our trek back, stopping first at a restaurant called the Orient Hotel where we enjoyed pies and mash. Mine was Kangaroo pie (roo is a delicious, noticeably gamey meat) but Chris stuck to what he knew with good ole Aussie beef. By the time we got back our legs were worn out and sleep was fast upon us.

The next morning we started out by foot in the opposite direction towards the coast. We saw plenty more of Sydney (and would end up seeing more then we bargained for on the way back) and without a map and only limited knowledge of the way we were going, we ended up right at Bondi beach. The beach, and the whole coast for that matter, was stunning. It was one of Sydney’s warmest days in a while apparently, so even though it is their fall/winter, plenty of people were on the sand or surfing the swells. I stepped into the water, but it was like ice…crystal clear, blue tinted ice. The beaches (three biggies in a stretch up against each other) are surrounded by cliffs that stretch off down the New South Whales coast. Staring out at the vast Pacific we even caught sight of a pod of dolphins fishing not far from the beach. It was an amazing place to be.

On the way back we missed one of the many little roads we had come down on and ended up in the rich part of Sydney where all of the mansions line the river near the coast. It was here we passed the Malaysian Consul. By the time we made it back it was time for a serious nap, then dinner at Roy’s Famous (though I don’t know if Roy can back up his claim, but at least the steak was good.)

Today, as I write, we have checked out of the hotel and are bound for Adelaide just as storm clouds have rolled in.

Brisbane Wrap-Up

I wrote this post on the 18^th before flying to Sydney and saying goodbye to Brisbane:

Farewell Brisbane, you will be missed. Queensland seems like a great state, what little I’ve seen, and I’m sad that I don’t have time to explore more of the country. We were here four full days and didn’t even see all of Brisbane itself (though we saw quite a bit.)

The day after the Zoo we went into downtown and saw the sites. After a trip to the mall to eat, we entered the Brisbane City Hall, home of the Museum of Brisbane. The entry was free (as is the case with all the museums around here it seems) and the museum was decent, although the main focus of the exhibits was immigration and all the different periods and peoples in Brisbane’s history. The best part of the visit was riding the lift to the top of the clock tower. The lift is the original from the ‘30s, and the first built in Queensland period. It had an operator and everything, and he was a sunny, humorous man who was quick with the jokes. We got to view Brisbane from above, but unfortunately (because we didn’t know we’d have this opportunity) we didn’t have a camera.

Later that day we walked out to the suburb called Milton. It was quite fun to see my name on everything to include the Milton Brewery where they brew Queensland’s beer spelled XXXX but pronounced fourex (every state apparently has their “own” beer and they celebrate them—particularly in association with sports, not unlike our NFL.) The place had a tour so we decided to take a look inside the Milton Brewery where I learned a great deal about the Australian economy, for it is of particular note how in Australia almost everything possible is made here. The brewery used all ingredients grown somewhere in Queensland, and local coal (which is abundant) to fuel their engines as well. Our tour guide was excellent and told us way more than we needed to know about everything. The best part for me though was strolling through the packaging museum and seeing old labels for Milton Beer, which is long extinct.

While in Milton we also located the giant Suncorp Stadium where, on Saturday night, we returned to watch the QR Reds (the local team) loose to the Waratahs from New South Wales in a Super 14 Rugby match. The game was great, with lots of tension because it was a grudge match of sorts, but even when the Reds lost everybody still seemed in a good mood. I was disappointed because I half expected a riot.

Before the game on Saturday night, to backtrack a bit, I have to mention our trip to the South Bank. After leaving Milton on Friday, we crossed the Brisbane River to see the city from the opposite side by night. We got some great photos, and then we stumbled across the cultural heart of Brisbane. The South Bank was like another city, and on Friday night it was happening. There we people everywhere, including a group having an art exhibition for “Schizophrenia Awareness.” There were cafes and restaurants on the river, a beach, a miniature rain forest, and booths set up with people hocking wares. We ate at an Italian place where we were able to enjoy local king prawns in spaghetti (prawns are just big shrimp here.)

We came back the next day to the South Bank in the morning because we had discovered the free internet. The place was just as nice in the day, and had the water not been so cold, I might have hopped in the water at the world’s only inland beach. The weather was excellent, sunny and warm for the most part. It did rain briefly before the game Saturday, but the shower was over in minutes and forgotten an hour later. While it rained we ducked inside a place called Irish Murphy’s were a guy not much older than us, dressed in a kilt, was playing away on a set of Scottish bag pipes to a crowd of University students celebrating Norway’s Constitution Day. Befuddled and intrigued by all of the Norwegian fanfare, I asked a girl if any of them were actually from Norway. Turned out she was, and one other person, the rest were just along for the ride. They had just finished a parade of some sort. By the quiting of the rain, the piper had gone from Scotland the Brave, to a couple of reels, to Amazing Grace, then started all over sort of mixing them all.

We left the next morning, taking the train back to the airport. All in all, Brisbane was a great city and I’m glad it was one of our stops. On to Sydney.