A bright summer's holiday season...
G'day and how ya goin'?
So, I made it. I got to Australia. I must admit that in hindsight the 15+ hour flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne wasn't as bad as I had feared. I got a decent amount of sleep and watched some movies to fill the time. They could've held off longer on serving breakfast before landing instead of waking me up with nearly four hours left in the flight, but other than that...no complaints!
Chris picked me up at the airport after I cleared customs and got my things. The first day was spent in and around South Melbourne where Chris and Belinda have their apt. My first meal was fish and chips (though really a hamburger for me). Melbourne is a very pretty city and the weather has thus far been quite cooperative. Highs in the upper 20's with sunshine and a nice breeze off the ocean. I managed to stay up until past 10pm on my first night to ensure that I would beat this whole "jet lag" thing once and for all. I think I'm getting quite good at the whole jetlag game.
The next day (Monday), Chris and I spent the day in Melbourne proper. Walked around, saw the sights, and I got to eat in Chinatown. It was the best roast pork (and only roast pork) that I'd had since Hong Kong. Delicious! Chris had to leave in the afternoon to pick Belinda up from work, so I was left to my own devices to sight-see. No worries there. I went up to the tallest office building in the southern hemisphere, The Rialto Towers, to get a sense of the city and surrounding areas. (This is normally where I would post some amazing pictures that I've taken and you'd all really be impressed by both my photography skills and computer abilities, but I'm online at a Starbucks and time is short. I'll post plenty of pics once I get to Sydney after New Year's and have a constant internet connection.) I finished my afternoon in Melbourne by walking through different shops, buying a book about the early colonial history of Australia, visiting the original Australian Houses of Parliament, and seeing the Shrine of Remembrance for fallen Australian servicemen and the surrounding English-style parks.
On Tuesday, Chris and I set off for Phillip Island. It's about two hours drive southeast of Melbourne. There, we got to visit a koala conservation center (great pictures to come), did some body surfing in the "Southern Ocean," and saw the famous "Penguin Parade." I saw some black wallabies (sort of mini-kangaroos) at the koala center. Thus far, I've yet to see a kangaroo. I'm starting to doubt their existence. I think all the road signs for "kangaroo crossing" are essentially there for the tourist. It's a lie, I tell you, a lie! Essentially, the Penguin Parade occurs each night at sunset when hundreds of Little Penguins (the world's smallest species) return from their fishing trips to feed their young. They form little groups about 50m out from shore, then come in in their "rafts." There's safety in numbers for them and they know it. After they've gotten onto the beach, they set off scaling the dunes to get to their burrows. It was quite a sight to see out in the wild. Also, I can confirm that the "aroma" of the Seaworld Penguin Houses is terribly authentic!
Yesterday (Thursday), Chris and I set off for the "Great Ocean Road." This was pretty amazing. It's a road that was built as a work project for returned soldiers of "The Great War" (WWI). It goes right along the coast and the views are spectacular. Along with the views, their was a gorgeous rainforest walk. The eucalyptus trees were easily 70m tall and ferns were the size of palm trees. The highlight was the "Twelve Apostles." These are rock formations that have been eroded such that they are no longer attached to the coast. They were probably 40-50m tall with sheer rock faces. I got some terrific photos of them and will post them in due time. In the meantime, you can use the link in my Livejournal to the Great Ocean Road for some of their photos.
I guess that's about it for me. I'll probably right more indepth descriptions of my activities when I'm not quite so busy or pressed for time. Hope everyone is having a terrific holiday season, Merry Chrissie and a Happy New Year!
If anybody should need or want to get in contact with me, my Telstra mobile number down here is +64-423-725-7635. Nobody is going to actually call me, but I mean, it's not everyday that I have an Australian cell phone number!
So, I made it. I got to Australia. I must admit that in hindsight the 15+ hour flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne wasn't as bad as I had feared. I got a decent amount of sleep and watched some movies to fill the time. They could've held off longer on serving breakfast before landing instead of waking me up with nearly four hours left in the flight, but other than that...no complaints!
Chris picked me up at the airport after I cleared customs and got my things. The first day was spent in and around South Melbourne where Chris and Belinda have their apt. My first meal was fish and chips (though really a hamburger for me). Melbourne is a very pretty city and the weather has thus far been quite cooperative. Highs in the upper 20's with sunshine and a nice breeze off the ocean. I managed to stay up until past 10pm on my first night to ensure that I would beat this whole "jet lag" thing once and for all. I think I'm getting quite good at the whole jetlag game.
The next day (Monday), Chris and I spent the day in Melbourne proper. Walked around, saw the sights, and I got to eat in Chinatown. It was the best roast pork (and only roast pork) that I'd had since Hong Kong. Delicious! Chris had to leave in the afternoon to pick Belinda up from work, so I was left to my own devices to sight-see. No worries there. I went up to the tallest office building in the southern hemisphere, The Rialto Towers, to get a sense of the city and surrounding areas. (This is normally where I would post some amazing pictures that I've taken and you'd all really be impressed by both my photography skills and computer abilities, but I'm online at a Starbucks and time is short. I'll post plenty of pics once I get to Sydney after New Year's and have a constant internet connection.) I finished my afternoon in Melbourne by walking through different shops, buying a book about the early colonial history of Australia, visiting the original Australian Houses of Parliament, and seeing the Shrine of Remembrance for fallen Australian servicemen and the surrounding English-style parks.
On Tuesday, Chris and I set off for Phillip Island. It's about two hours drive southeast of Melbourne. There, we got to visit a koala conservation center (great pictures to come), did some body surfing in the "Southern Ocean," and saw the famous "Penguin Parade." I saw some black wallabies (sort of mini-kangaroos) at the koala center. Thus far, I've yet to see a kangaroo. I'm starting to doubt their existence. I think all the road signs for "kangaroo crossing" are essentially there for the tourist. It's a lie, I tell you, a lie! Essentially, the Penguin Parade occurs each night at sunset when hundreds of Little Penguins (the world's smallest species) return from their fishing trips to feed their young. They form little groups about 50m out from shore, then come in in their "rafts." There's safety in numbers for them and they know it. After they've gotten onto the beach, they set off scaling the dunes to get to their burrows. It was quite a sight to see out in the wild. Also, I can confirm that the "aroma" of the Seaworld Penguin Houses is terribly authentic!
Yesterday (Thursday), Chris and I set off for the "Great Ocean Road." This was pretty amazing. It's a road that was built as a work project for returned soldiers of "The Great War" (WWI). It goes right along the coast and the views are spectacular. Along with the views, their was a gorgeous rainforest walk. The eucalyptus trees were easily 70m tall and ferns were the size of palm trees. The highlight was the "Twelve Apostles." These are rock formations that have been eroded such that they are no longer attached to the coast. They were probably 40-50m tall with sheer rock faces. I got some terrific photos of them and will post them in due time. In the meantime, you can use the link in my Livejournal to the Great Ocean Road for some of their photos.
I guess that's about it for me. I'll probably right more indepth descriptions of my activities when I'm not quite so busy or pressed for time. Hope everyone is having a terrific holiday season, Merry Chrissie and a Happy New Year!
If anybody should need or want to get in contact with me, my Telstra mobile number down here is +64-423-725-7635. Nobody is going to actually call me, but I mean, it's not everyday that I have an Australian cell phone number!