Mostly Melbourne and some other points of interest

So, I've been back from Melbourne for a few days now and just remembered that I haven't updated about it yet. I would have to say it's been a few of my favorite days here in Australia so far. I wish we could have spent more than the four days that we had there because there was clearly just so much to explore there that we had no time to check out. Despite the shortness of the visit, I am so happy that we went.

My group had the earlier flight on Sunday morning. That meant I had to leave at 6:15 am while the others left at 7:15. That hour did not make much of a difference, though; we were all pretty exhausted getting on the plane. Still, after a nap and some time to wake up, I wasn't too tired by the time we got off the bus next to our hotel. Melbourne is a beautiful city--in some ways, it was sort of like Boston with its historical buildings. In other ways it was more like Chicago, with the more planned layout of the city. Sydney is the opposite, with modern buildings and no distinguishable layout whatsoever. It was also a little colder in Melbourne. That is, colder being 65-70 instead of 75-80. The weather for those four days was absolutely perfect.

After we dropped off our luggage in a meeting room because our rooms weren't available yet, we were brought in groups over to Victoria Markets (not unlike Paddy's Markets, just outdoors). We spent a few hours there, browsing various clothing, getting lunch and buying souveneirs. I didn't really get anything there, but it was still fun to look around. Just a side note because I just remembered--while we were eating lunch we got to listen to some nearby man with a guitar's lovely renditions of the ABCs. Then, once that was done, Twinkle Twinkle. And when he was done with that..the ABCs again, and then Twinkle Twinkle again. I have no idea what he was doing but we were cracking up.

After an hour nap (completely necessary), we got dressed and made our way over to St. Kilda, a half hour busride away from Melbourne. Program directors had recommended to us that we go because of a festival going on. Unfortunately, we didn't make it in time to see the festivities. We still got dinner at the Spaghetti Bar, a restaurant in the area that was, for being a last-minute decision, really good. We did some exploring afterwards, went bar-hopping a little and caught the last bus (along with a ton of other people in the program) back into the city.

The next morning was another early wakeup for all of us, having an hour-long seminar on the history of Melbourne. Before coming to Melbourne, we had all signed up for two academic tour groups. For those of us who had our first one that day, we met up with our respective groups and headed out for the afternoon. I had signed up for a street/grafitti art tour. Within the first few minutes of the tour, I wasn't quite sure what to expect after our guide said, "I apologize in advance for the general odor of this tour. The nature of what we're looking at will bring us to back alleys and such, so it will be quite smelly."

The first few sites on the tour lived up to this warning a little too well. While the grafitti art was astounding, the garbage smell was absolutely horrible. Every one in a while, in the middle of a lecture on the history of this artist or that mural, a car or garbage truck would start driving slowly down our alley, forcing us to press against the bricks until they went by.

After our third site or so, the spots started getting less smelly and more interesting. By the end, I was in complete awe of the city and all its little hidden spots that you would never even know about unless you decided to explore a little. Unlike Sydney (or any other city I've visited, for that matter), its best spots were not out in the open. There were no big signs showing you where to go. Instead, you turned a corner, walked a little down an alley covered top to bottom in street art, turned another corner and suddenly arrived at a hole in the wall cafe or even, in some cases, a completely hidden street filled with under the radar shops and cafes that seemed to blend in with the graffiti that surrounded it. There were some spots that I just wanted to stop at and just people watch for a few hours. Of course, we would always keep moving, finding ourselves at places like ACDC lane (yes, the band ACDC) and obscure bars that looked more like emergency exits to more high-profile buildings.

What seemed different about Melbourne to me was the fact that it was so impressive with its giant skyscrapers and historic buildings but, at the same time, its more underlying subculture was just as impressive--those back alley spots that you had to make an effort to find. I definitely could have spent more time there without getting bored, and it seemed as though most people on the trip agreed.

The next day, those of us who signed up for the Great Ocean Road tour got up early and embarked on a day-long tour that brought us about an hour and a half away from Melbourne. All I knew when leaving was that we would be brought along the coastline. I had no clue what it would look like, what I would see, anything like that. By the end of the day, my friends and I easily agreed that it was one of, if not the best day spent so far in Australia.

Our tour guide--as some of us called him Andy part II--was eager to make sure we had the best experience during the day, always changing the music and asking for requests to make sure we were all happy. Maybe in his early 30s, he was always asking if we wanted more talk, less music or more music, less talk. I felt bad for him at first because everyone was wiped out in the beginning, recovering from the night before. He even asked me at the first stop what he could do to make the trip better because I was sitting up front and seemed to be one of the only people responding to his questions or laughing when he put on Time After Time. I told him to give it a while, that his music was fine and not to worry. Sure enough, as soon as people started waking up and talking the whole bus ride got livelier and once Red Hot Chili Peppers was playing, he freaked out, driving faster and singing along to the lyrics as if he had had 7 Red Bulls. It was hilarious to watch. It was clear that as soon as we were awake and interacting, the trip went the way he wanted it to. He even made us learn--and sing along to--the Koala Bear song. Twice. It was great.

Not to mention the tour itself. I felt as though I were in a desktop background the entire time. The views were beautiful of the Australian coastline, as well as the portions that brought us through the rainforest and more peaceful rural fields and farmlands. Winding roads would all of a sudden bring us to these breathtaking views that seemed to come out of nowhere. We stopped every once in a while at spots worth stopping at, from the 12 Apostles to the rainforest, to a secluded cove where we could stick our feet in what I called Disney water--that ridiculous blue that seemed way too perfect to be real.

After a variety of stops and singalongs (ending the ride with Livin' on a Prayer), we arrived back at the hotel around 9:30 pm, completely content and exhausted from the day. I took a million pictures and, looking back on them, can hardly believe I was there myself.

The next day was our last day there, where I went on my second academic tour of the Melbourne Architecture. It was a nice complementary tour of the street art one, showing the more conservative side of the city. After the tour a few of us went to the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image), a museum that our Mass Media professor for the next part of the semester recommended all students of his visit while in the city. It was great--all for free, we got to play video games from the early nineties, test out various interactive light, movement and sound areas, have Matrix moves recorded of us, and learn a little about the history of film, television, etc. I even watched a few of my upcoming internship--Publicis Mojo's--past commercials. Overall a very worthwhile experience.

After a quick trip to the top of the highest building in Melbourne, a late arrivial to a group picture that resulted in about 15 of us being in our own sort of group picture of shame (we all had to pretend to look lost and/or out of place), and a 5 pm flight back to Sydney, I was exhausted by the time I got to my bed.

And, because I can't leave it out, an RA-sponsored group of us went to see a play, Optimism (for FREE might I add) at the Sydney Opera House! We all got dressed, had our pictures taken on the steps and took our seats for the 8 pm show. I'm not quite sure what I thought of it--it was very quirky, a little trippy and at some points pretty confusing--but regardless of any personal review, I can now say that yes, while I was in Australia I did see a show at the Opera House. Definitely something I'll remember.

And, as for interesting points go, that brings me up to tonight! After hopefully making my way to the beach tomorrow (I seem to say I'll go far more than I actually end up going), I'll have to start studying for finals. It somehow seemed to slip by me that yes, we DO have finals and yes, they ARE this week. Oh well--I'm not too worried with the free time we have this week. And besides...next week is Spring Break, i.e. our trip to Fiji..which means it's a little hard to let some studying get me down at this point. I suppose my next update will be after Fiji! Until then..let the studying proceed.

Movie Moments

Well, I just finished paper number two of the semester and felt it was time for another post.

While I have been here I have realized it is a very, very good thing that I normally go to school in a cold climate where being outside requires a scarf, mittens, hat and about 17 layers of clothing. If I were to go to school here all the time, surrounded by palm trees and tempted by the hot sun to trek over to the beach, I would never get any work done. Today is my evidence. After getting out of class two hours early because my professor had a seminar to go to, I decided to join Maddie in going to Manly Beach for half the day, even though I plan on going tomorrow and went earlier this week. My train of thought: Paper due tomorrow by 2 pm? Only half of it done? Pssssh no worries I'll just stay in tonight and do it.

Actually, I did do just that so I don't really know what I'm talking about. I'd probably be fine even if I normally went to school but that's besides the point. I would probably just be annoyed more often that professors were forcing me to do work when there was quality vitamin D to be taking in all around me.

Anyway. Paper done, beach tomorrow, Melbourne Sunday. Sounds good to me.

I went to Manly for the first time on Tuesday after hearing nothing but good things about this place. Shannon, Brittany and I woke up early, got ready and, as we walked outside, that rain-on-pavement smell hit me like a wave. And, sure enough, the pavement was spotted with darker grey splotches and it had JUST started raining. The sky was some weird rain-sun combination that is so common here. We thought oh crap, we have no plan B. Plan B is to go despite the rain. So that's what we did. And by the time we reached the ferry about a half hour later, the rain was entirely gone. That's Sydney weather for you.

We boarded the ferry and it was beautiful. As Maddie mentioned today, it reminds her of the ferry to Martha's Vineyard which I could absolutely relate to. I haven't been in a while, but it doesn't take much for that feeling to come back to you. We boarded and instantly I knew I wouldn't be able to sit still inside. So I got up with my ipod, told them I'd be outside if they were looking for me and made my way to the front. It's a great feeling being on a boat when the sky is cloudless and warm wind is blowing around. Not to be corny or anything. It was one of those moments where you think, "Quick! Have to put on the most fitting song for the moment. Have to make this moment perfect." Admit it. You've thought that before, deciding that this is a Movie Moment and you have to make it a Movie Moment! We passed the Opera House which never loses its spectacular quality, no matter how many times I pass it. It's simply stunning.

When we got there the area surprised me. It was one of those pictaresque beach towns, with shops and cafes lined up in a straightaway Main Street-type setup leading you straight to a vast stretch of beach surrounded by cliffs with distant beach homes and pine trees all around. We walked through town to get lunch where two outdoor places competed for our service. It was slightly awkward standing there, deciding as they shouted at you, "discount for take-away!" We picked one and ate outside. Afterwards, we laid out for a good three hours or so before we decided it was time to pack up and leave.

On Wednesday, we took a "field trip" for our Aboriginal Australia module class. I say "field trip" because, as educational as it was, it did not feel as though we were on a real field trip. At all. We all met up at Hyde Park to join our teacher, Jennifer, who is half Aboriginal herself and possibly one of the best, most fascinating speakers I have ever been lucky enough to listen to. Her stories are incredible, both of herself and of Aboriginal culture in general. I knew nothing about Aboriginal society when I first arrived in Sydney and I am so grateful I have been lucky enough to be exposed to that aspect of Australian society while I've been here. We walked to the Art Galley of New South Wales from the park and my first thought upon entering was, why on earth have I not come here already? It hit me that I have not gone to any museums since I've been here. None. And you can't go abroad without going to the city's museums! Luckily this trip solved that.

We walked around, looked at many eras and genres, focusing on the Aboriginal exhibit. The art was beautiful. Once I understood that the hundreds of dots that created patterns of circles, lines and direction did not just represent patterns but instead, stories and maps of their country, I realized something significant. Aborigines of the past and today have a remarkable understanding of the land that many have ignored or taken for granted. This knowledge has been passed from generation to generation, and it comes out beautifully through the meticulous artwork of their culture. From a perspective of someone who has only recently begun to understand the extraordinary dimensions of Aboriginal culture, I can only say that I am entirely grateful I was able to go to this gallery and see more than European oil paintings, abstract modern art and photography, as engaging as those exhibits were as well.

After our trip to the art gallery, we walked through the Domain (a breathtaking garden right by the Opera House) to Darling Harbor where we boarded an Aboriginal boat that took us to Clark Island, where we walked around the remote area with an incredible view of Sydney. We walked up uneven stone steps to a raised grassy area where a man decorated with traditional Aboriginal markings talked to us about how to use a Didgeridoo and how to throw a Boomerang (pssh which CLEARLY I'm already a pro at, after my trip to Royal National Park). Unfortunately, during his demonstration he accidentally threw his boomerang into the ocean. I felt bad but he didn't seem incredibly phased. Oh well, small blip I suppose.

That night, Brittany, Sarah, Nicole and I headed back to Newtown for Thai food--finally! Dinner in Newtown! It was on the pricey side but it was fun and the food was good--not to mention how amusing it was to see Sarah and Nicole "releasing the oxygen" from their wine to take mental notes for their Wine Industry class (yes, that is a class here). Still, I have learned a valuable lesson: no matter how open I try to be with trying new food, Pad Thai simply beats any other Thai food, tenfold. Case in point: Spicy Thai Chicken Salad? That's what I ordered, it was good, but it was no Pad Thai.

Which pretty much brings me to today, since yesterday was too boring to post here. Manly Beach this time around was great once again. Maddie and I headed over by ourselves and, even though we left at 2:30 and didn't get there until 3, it was absolutely worth it. We didn't get much time out on the beach because about an hour and a half in, clouds started rolling in. It was actually a spectacular view, with the sun behind us and dark clouds over our heads and ahead of us. We just sat around watching the distant rain and lightning in front of us before we decided to pack up. We didn't want to leave so soon after getting there, though, so we explored the town a little bit before heading out, getting iced coffee and listening to some live music outside.

All in all, a great week. As mentioned before, I'm going to Manly again tomorrow (I still think this name for a beach is hilarious..the shops are all along the lines of "Manly Massages" "Manly Coffee" "Manly Convenience" and my favorite, "ManlyCycles"). Tomorrow night will probably be low key because we leave for Melbourne at 6:30 am on Sunday. I'm not too thrilled about waking up this early, but it will absolutely be worth it.

Before I forget, I didn't mention in a previous post that on the way to Royal National Park the other week, I saw the most fantastic rainbow I have probably ever seen. It was one of those long, bold, picture book type rainbows that you never see in real life. It was just one of those moments that made me really appreciate where I am right now...a Movie Moment!

That's about it. Next update, Melbourne!

A shorter follow-up post

So apparently there's this whole other side to the Sydney area, Newtown. I had heard a little about it so when Brittany asked if I wanted to go check it out yesterday I was interested. I realized once we got there that I had actually gone running in the area the other day, but just wasn't paying attention to the shops, etc and hadn't realized it would actually be an interesting place to check out.

We took the bus over (which you can do if you want but it's also about a twenty minute walking distance) and when we got off, it felt like we were in some strange Australia version of Allston. I guess that's the best way to put it. Allston, a little bit of Cambridge, just with more incense and ethnic restaurants. We had heard that it was a great people-watching spot and that was certainly a correct statement. It's very scene but almost to the point that it's a little absurd. Lots of multicolored dreadlocks and that sort of thing. We stopped in a number of different shops and I finally brought myself to buy a dress and I'm happy I did; I always have to convince myself it's okay to buy clothes and then convince myself for the rest of the day it's okay that I did. There were a lot of vintage stores and unique clothing.

We stopped at a cafe in the middle of town where I finally discovered how to get a normal iced coffee around here (yeah I'm annoying about this, don't care). Instead of asking for a normal coffee over ice, you have to say a long black over ice. Since coffee here is apparently milk with coffee syrup, or something like that. They came over with my order like, "so you just wanted..a long black, and ice..right?" as if that were the weirdest request they had ever gotten. But it ended up being $2.50 as opposed to their $5.00 for iced coffee, Australian style. So there.

The weather was still bad when we got there and it didn't really get better. It started downpouring for a little bit but we were determined to get dinner in town since we've only heard good things about the ethnic restaurants in the area. Unfortunately, it was about 5 when we were starving and most dinner places didn't open until 6. So we walked back and made dinner, but we're hopefully going to try again within the next few days.

Today I slept in way too long..about 12:45 to Brittany asking if I was coming or not to Cheers to watch the Super Bowl. A few of us were planning to go together to watch the game at maybe one of the only sports bars showing the game for us Americans. By the time I got there it was the last 20 minutes or so of the fourth quarter, so I didn't see much. But it was really nice when I got there anyway..a corner of the bar was taken over by BU students watching the game together. Unfortunately I know nothing about football...which is why I wasn't too depressed to get there late. Apparently a great play was made, and everyone jumped up cheering and I just sat there like, wait, what happened? I'm oblivious. Oh well, I hardly even knew that the game had ended. Still, it was nice to be there and kind of be in the middle of some American-ness for a bit.

Tomorrow we're going to Manly Beach, which is a ferry ride away from the harbor. I'm really looking forward to it; it's supposedly beautiful, and the ride is supposed to be half the fun.

And next weekend we're going on a week-long academic trip to Melbourne, flights paid for by the program. That should be fascinating and I'll be sure to update once I actually have something to update on.

And the weather's getting better! There you go, Sydney.

"Let's have a chin wag, then"

Last week consisted entirely of writing my paper. 3,000 words is a lot when you have nothing really to talk about. After we handed it in on Friday, I could finally start really looking forward to the weekend. I was planning on going back to Paddy's with my friends to do some more shopping/exploring, but then I realized that I really wanted to get a run in that day. So I covered myself in sunscreen and headed out. Halfway through the run it started downpouring--so much for that sunscreen. It cut my run short and was an adequate indicator of what the rest of the weekend was about to be like.

The whole weekend I've been thinking, come on Sydney? Where's that sun everyone's always bragging about. Our Saturday plans were pretty much set in stone, though. A few of us had signed up to go to Royal National Park, which we discovered on Friday had a cancellation fee--we still would have had to pay half of the $119 if we were to cancel because of the rain. With that in mind, I decided to suck it up and go regardless of the weather, which I'm pretty sure everyone else also decided.

Somehow my phone died through the night and I woke up 20 minutes before we were supposed to go. So I scrambled around, got ready in a far smaller window of time than I would have preferred, and ran downstairs. Only to find that the bus was late and I actually could have taken 40 more minutes to get myself out of bed and ready. Not a big deal though--the bus (which ended up being this ridiculous van) eventually came, and our tour guide, probably in his early twenties, jumped out of the driver's seat, beaming.

"Hi everyone! Sorry for a bit of a wait, hope everyone had breakfast? Yeah? Cool!"

This guy was ridiclous. The side of the van had a tiny sign that read something along the lines of, "You're wilderness and wildlife escape!" Very worth being some sort of Failblog post. We all clamored into the van where some people were already sitting in the front. I made my way to the back, stepping carefully over spears that reminded me of my track days where javolins took up the entire aisle, leaving us to perform crazy sidestep acts. Once settled, our tour guide, Andy, started talking to us through his microphone that all tour guides keep as a necessity.

"Hey guys! Hmm..does anyone here speak French? Heh, heh because we have French people on this van. These guys, up here. No one? Hm. Okay. Okay well I'm Andy, are you all from America? Cool. Cool okay well.."

I don't even know how to describe how hilarious this guy was. The entire trip felt like we were being guided around by a seven-year-old who thought that nature rocks. At first I thought, Oh god what have I gotten myself into. He has no idea what he's talking about.

"Seems to be raining a bit, yeah? Well are you guys, is everyone wearing swimsuits? Okay, cool, so you don't mind the rain. Heh"

After everything he said he would laugh awkwardly and apruptly, there would be a short pause, and we would all start cracking up. Halfway through the hour long trip we were saying "who IS this guy?"

Anyway, once we got to the first site, Andy explained to us that we would have a "big of a chin wag" before making our way. At that point we were all like, "wait, what? huh?"

"What? You don't say chin wag? It's you know, like, when you talk....your chin wags? Yeah."

Again, another point where we would burst out laughing. We had our chin wag about the site, the trees, the birds, some Aboriginal history, filled our water bottles and got back into the van where we started our trip through Royal National Park.

Even in the rain, the place was beautiful. A large portion of preserved wildlife, the park was filled with strange exotic plants, birds, and beautiful views of secluded, untouched ocean surrounded by looming cliffs, forest, and rocks protruding from the water. The waves were massive, and every time the hit the rocks the waves would explode around them, Little Mermaid style. We hiked through forest, along the way being guided by Andy who would explain different plantlife to us. Turns out that even though he had the excitement of a 7 year old--at one point he literally crouched by a puddle, splashed his face, leaped up and kept going as though nothing had happened--he definitely knew what he was talking about and it was clear that Australian nature was his life. He brought us to some amazing views where we had time to take pictures, and he would take pictures of us, which have been promised to soon arrive to each of us via email.

At one point, as we were travelling from one spot to the next, Andy crashed his van into a few boulders. Yelling "Ahhhhh fuck shit ugh!" we all started cracking up thinking, "is this really happening?" Of course, I was in the very back and, as I predicted he looked into his rearview mirror with his microphone and said, "You uh, Mandy?" "Jackie." "Jackie! Yeah, can you uh, just open your window a bit to tell me if I can back out okay?" "YUP." Anyone who knows my driving capabilities knows that I am horrible with backing out of anything. So I reluctantly poked my head out the window in the pouring rain to tell him, "left, left, a little left, yeah you're good WHOA SLOW DOWN PLEASE." Did not know that my trip to Royal National Park would include me guiding our tour guide out of a tight spot. It was great.

After a long walk we got back in the van to go to a new site for lunch, where there was a sheltered picnic area. We all pitched in to make lunch, provided with lunch meat, vegetables and weird condiments ranging from corn relish to spicy chilly philly cream cheese. Starving, we scarfed down sandwiches that were quite makeshift, combining random things to see how they would be. Of course, a few of us were at the French table, where conversation with them was limited to "can you please pass the sundried tomatoes? The sundried..those. There." After lunch we took turns in groups learning how to throw spears and boomerangs, another surpising area of expertise of Andy's.

Those boomerangs were scary. I kept freaking out after every throw anyone made until Andy got so amused he decided to record me freaking out, saying in a very jolly manner that this will "definitely make it's way to the website." After the boomerang/spear session we got back under the shelter where he explained more about the boomerang and its history.

"Actually....you could even hit one of those seagulls," he said, pointing behind him where some seagulls were just hanging out innocently.

"Do it!" Someone challenged him.

He looked at them with an unmistakeable glimmer in his eye. "Aw, don't tempt me now."

"Do it!" More people chimed in.

"Um, would anyone object to this? Raise your hand if you don't want me to throw a boomerang at a seagull. No one? Really? No? Well, if anyone finds out about this you are all share the blame."

He snuck over to a flock of them by the beach, looking back at us every once in a while, me thinking the whole time, he IS seven. And praying he wouldn't hit it. He didn't, thank God, though I seemed to be the only person hoping he didn't. Instead he lost his boomerang in a marsh. "Aw, there it goes, oh well," he shrugged.

Our trip continued with coffee and Tim-Tams (best. thing. ever.), and some more sight-seeing after the more daring decided to go into the freezing, high wave ocean near our sheltered picnic area.

Exhausted we finally made our way back, rewarded on the bus with boomerangs for each of us and a thank you for "being good spirits despite the rain and not dying in the ocean..aheh.."

Despite the rain, it was definitely worth it. I saw some great views, learned a little more about the wildlife here, threw a spear and boomerang, and had a ridiculous tour guide that entertained us the whole way.

I was going to write more about the weekend but I'll save it for another post since this is already absurdly long. More to come!