Melbourne - Tuesday

Tuesday was a really busy day. In the morning Simon and I wanted to find coffee and hang out for a bit because it was pouring rain out, so we ducked into one of the many very cool alleyways and had coffee and just hung out for a bit. In the afternoon we met up with family that, until a few years ago, I didn't even know I had. So that was really really cool. We spent the afternoon with them after having lunch together in another really cool alley area, they took us on a tour showing us some of the sites, including a memorial and the Government House (where the Queen's representative stays), a market, as well as St. Kilda which was one of the suburbs we were suggested to go to. We didn't spend time in St. Kilda which was just as well, we had lots to do while we were there! Definitely a place I can see wanting to spend some time when summer comes back.

Later on, after some time hanging out at the hostel, we met up with a friend of mine that I met in Montreal, and who had come to visit us in Vancouver a few years ago. We had sushi at Federation Square, which is sort of the meeting area close to the central station, then we went for drinks on a rooftop of one of the bars. Melbourne is neat for cool bars and cafes etc. that are up a few floors that you otherwise wouldn't know about. This one was particularly cool (I think it was called the Palms?) as it was covered and heated, so though it was raining out, there was a cozy atmosphere under cover! A lot of the pictures I took have friends/family in them and as I don't know how they'd feel about their pictures up on the blog, I'm not including them here. But I'd be more than happy to send pictures to people if they're interested. Just let me know!

This is Flinders Street Station, the central station of Melbourne. It was half a block from our hostel, which was pretty cool. The hostel was in a really great location, too bad it felt like it was never cleaned!

This is Simon drinking his coffee out of the rain. It was raining pretty heavily at some points, reminded me of home! Luckily it didn't stop us from exploring, probably because we were so used to it :-)

Not the best photo (I don't think those exist!), but again wanted to prove that I was there too!

I think this is just outside Federation Square.

Simon outside Federation Square. The cool looking building right behind him was the Australian Center for the Moving Image, and the National Gallery (well, one of two), behind that.

Again the ACMI. There was an exhibit on about the art of Disney's classic movies, but it was expensive and there were kids everywhere. If I'd been with my mom, I'm sure we would have gone. As it was, we stayed far away!

This is taken from the bridge just off of Federation Square. Don't know the name. The tall building is REALLY tall. To me at least. Like Shangri La in Vancouver. Apparently there's a viewing platform about halfway up that you can go to but we didn't know about it until the last day and I'm pretty terrified of heights so it's good we didn't go! And there's a gold coloured column at the top that when the sun hits just right is apparently very gorgeous as it reflects light over the river. The Comedy Festival was on while we were there and though we didn't go, we did see lots of the events that were set up for it, mainly the ones for the kids. This was one of them, just outside the second National Gallery building, across the river from where we were staying.

Another shot of the National Gallery #2. I didn't take any photos of the market, as it was just food etc and I was worried I'd get yelled at, nor did I take photos of the main St Kilda street because we were in a car and I was too busy looking at everything, but this is the view of the beach. I really would like to go back when it's warmer out and sit on the beach for a while. And this is the Spirit of Tasmania, the ship you take to get to Tasmania. Apparently it takes about 12 hours (reminds me of the ferry you can take from the top of Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert!), and there are sleeping cabins and also public spaces to hang out. Though it sounds like unless you really want to bring your car, flying there is the best option. On the plane to Melbourne I was reading all about some of the historic jails that are still standing from the time when Australia was used for British convicts. It sounds like a lot of the ones still standing are in Tasmania. We passed one in Melbourne too but didn't go in. Not really what this trip was about!

Ok, I will try to be more timely with the Wednesday post. Again though, this is probably the most exciting reporting that you'll be getting for the next month or so, so I'm trying to stretch it out!

Til soon!

Melbourne Day 1

I'm going to write about each day separately, otherwise the post will get too long. But I'll try to be quick about it, promise! We arrived in Melbourne on Monday the 11th, at about 11am. The flight was super quick, and there was a shuttle to the Canberra airport from downtown, and from the Melbourne airport to our hostel. The hostel itself was poorly maintained and pretty dirty/smelly/yucky in general, but they had free breakfast and were in the center of town, so it served its purpose. And the yuck hostel is about the only negative thing I have to say about Melbourne!

It's such a neat city. There were all of these things that we recommended to do, and we did as many as possible, but we also just took time to relax and wander around the city. The neatest part is that the most interesting things (ie shops and restaurants) in Melbourne are down side streets and alleys, as well as on the floors higher than ground level. We did a lot of window shopping, and also met up with some friends that I met in Montreal, as well as family I didn't know I had until recently, but I'll have to leave you in suspense about that for now as it wasn't until later in the week.

When we arrived we dropped off our stuff and immediately started wandering around. We grabbed lunch at a Japanese restaurant, it wasn't the best but it wasn't too bad. We went into a LOT of bookstores since we both enjoy them so much, and we found a salon school where Simon got his haircut (I went back Wednesday to get mine done). Before he went we went into the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's bookstore, and while I was looking for a quick amusing no-brainer book for the week (since I was almost done the one I'd brought with me), I ended up finding a recent book by an author whose previous book I've yet to find. Her name is Emma Larkin and her first book is about retracing George Orwell's steps in Burma, because he lived there while in the military during British colonial rule (the 1920s I believe). I've read Burmese Days, Orwell's book, but haven't found Emma Larkin's yet. It's on my list. Anyway I bought the other book and read at the National Library while Simon got his haircut. The Library really caught my attention because of what I feel is its resemblance to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Realistically it doesn't look much like it, but the vibe it had, lots of people around, many just hanging out, watching people pass by, was really like being on the Georgia steps. Anyway, here are some pictures...

Not a very good representation, but it's of the inside of the Library.

The coolest thing about this book, or one of the cool things I should say, is that the Friday before I bought it I presented with a group in one of my classes about the junta's response to the 2008 cyclone, and how they refused to let aid into the country despite the insane loss of life and potential for much more loss of life without immediate help, all because they were (and still are) afraid of the US intervening. And also, and potentially more importantly, because they didn't want outside monitoring of a constitutional referendum which was set for a week later, which was set up to solidify the power of the military (the referendum was rigged...they received something like a 98% approval rating according to their own reports. What other country has a such a high turnout for their polls? NONE. Urgh.). Anyway, the author managed somehow to get into Burma a week after the cyclone hit, and she confirmed pretty much everything my group had said, which felt very validating, but also sad and super frustrating given how many lives could have been saved with a faster response.

This is the National Library. Those of you from Vancouver, can you see the resemblance to the Art Gallery? Just a little? I thought so!

Another cool thing about Melbourne was that there is some really cool modern architecture in and among the Victorian style buildings of its origins. This is an example, I believe it's another RMIT building.

I'm not sure what this is meant to be a picture of. I think it's headed towards Lygon street, which is where all the great Italian food is. We ended up there for dinner that night.

This was a bath house, and I read somewhere what it is now but I can't remember. It's a cool building though!

More cool architecture.

After we wandered around for the afternoon we went back to the hostel to relax for a bit before we figured out what to do for dinner. This was the view from our hostel room window. There were shops on the first floor of the building, then a Chinese restaurant on the second floor, then the top floors looked like a cooking school. I'm pretty sure they could see us as easily as we could see them, which was a little creepy.

This is Simon at the Italian restaurant we went to on Lygon street. We had a marinara pizza and penne bolognese, and there was enough for leftovers, which we had the next day. We went to dinner pretty late so when we got back we took it easy and went to sleep pretty early, since we were up early that morning to catch the flight.

Alright, that was Monday. I'll try to post Tuesday over the weekend. With all of the school work I have (13000+ words for 4 essays all due in the next month), this and the post about Bateman's Bay (which will come after) are probably the most excitement I'll have in a while so maybe I should spread out the posts a little, hehe. Course then I run the risk of forgetting details. Hm. I'll post asap :-)

Til soon!

Off to Melbourne!

So I haven't taken many pictures this week. It's been the last week before break so I've done a lot of running around making sure all of my assignments were done and submitted properly. I've had one grade back, I didn't do fantastic but didn't do poorly either so I'm happy for now. Hopefully the grades will improve with time!!

Sadly there isn't much else to report. I did find out that a really wicked opportunity that I was given was prohibitively expensive which was a pretty big disappointment, but I think I'll do something similar in December anyway. Trying to look on the bright side!

The only photos I have are from the run I did last weekend with a lovely girl from my program. Needless to say I didn't take too many photos as I was running, though I seriously considered it because it was a gorgeous day and there were dragon boat races happening on the other side of the lake. So really I was pretty distracted for most of the run because I was watching what was happening on the water. Maybe I wasn't as serious about the 5k as I could have been, but I wasn't in any rush really, just wanted to do the 5k without walking, which I did. I came in just under 35 mins which isn't great, but for being 5 weeks into the 13 week 10k training, I figured it was forgivable :-) Here are some photos I snapped before and after.

These ladies have done the run every year, and seeing as it was the 25th anniversary, I'd say that's quite an accomplishment! They were cutting a cake which I thought was a little weird to do before we all started running, but I guess that's the way it goes.

I don't actually know what this is a picture of, but I took it as we were all by the starting line. So I guess it was last words before the race began.

These girls were the BEST! They couldn't have been older than 11-12, and they were all dressed up. Needless to say they won prize for best costume!

This was post-run, watching the awards being handed out. The top ladies to finish were done in about 18 minutes. Crazy!!

Simon and I are off to Melbourne tomorrow, so the next time I post I will probably have many more photos to put up. It's raining here today, I hope this isn't an indication of what it's going to look like over the week in Melbourne. If it is though, being from Vancouver, I'm sure we'll deal with it just fine!

Til soon :-)

Low Key Week Recap

I had a bunch of essays and other fun things to complete this week, so it sadly wasn't that exciting or eventful. But here's a recap anyhow :-)

Over the weekend Simon and I filled out our voting abroad registry, and sent them in the mail, which made me happy. When we were filling them out we were in the study room with a friend from China who was telling us that he's never had the chance to vote. I think that's the problem with the average Canadian. We take it for granted that we're able to and people don't vote because they seem to feel like their voice doesn't get heard. Well, it DEFINITELY won't get heard if you don't vote! They have mandatory voting here in Australia. I understand there are two sides to that debate, but it's definitely something Canada should consider. It's just too bad that people don't take it upon themselves to care. That's my opinion at least!

These photos are for Angela, since we sadly didn't get to see the balloons up in the air. I saw this one when I was out running on Tuesday morning. Must've been a lovely time up there, as it was a great day for it!

These were all shots from my run. This thing is on ANU campus just off of the lake. I have no idea what it is, but it looks pretty cool! I'm guessing a satellite dish of some kind?

Wednesday night instead of doing work like we should've been, we went out for Korean BBQ dinner. It was pretty delicious, but definitely sub-par to the awesome dining experiences I've had it K-Town in LA with Lynn. They didn't have the variety of side dishes that snobbily I am used to :-) That being said, it was a really good dinner and we both overindulged, as is the case with Korean BBQ!

I snapped these shots with my phone from the place I was sitting in the library. It was a gorgeous sunny day and then the clouds rolled in, faster than I've ever seen it happen before. It was dark and creepy, at about 3:30 in the afternoon. I was outside til this started actually but then ducked in since I knew what was about to happen!

These photos probably don't do it justice, but it just started POURING down. Like sheets of rain. And there was thunder, lightning, and HAIL. Hail! It was crazy!

It lasted about half an hour, then the clouds cleared and it was sunny again by the time I headed home. I still can't believe how fast weather systems travel over Canberra.

Hm, not sure why I included this one. I guess because of the clouds? Another shot that I took while running. I must look like such a nerd to people who pass me while I'm running and taking photos!

That's about it. It's Saturday, Simon and I did the low-key cinq a sept type of deal yesterday and I got caught up on sleep last night. Today I have to catch up on some reading and start on a presentation that I'm giving with a group of people on Friday. We have a two week break after that so Simon and I are going to see today how much it would cost us to go to Melbourne for a few days next week. Then I'm back to catch up on work and start in projects. Hooray! :-) Tomorrow I'm running a 5k women's only run with a friend from the program, which I'm excited and nervous about. I'm sure I can run, my knees just hate me so I'll have to take it easy. It'll be fun though, finally putting the running training I'm doing to good use :-)

Til soon!