Wicked Melbourne adventures

Earlier this month I spent a day and a half in Melbourne enjoying the sights.  I did a bit of geocaching throughout the day, but also did my best to soak in my last days in Australia.  The entire reason I went to Melbourne in the first place was because, on a whim, I bought a ticket to go see Wicked mid-week.  Once I had my ticket, I decided to make it a full day of fun!

Travelling to and within Melbourne is actually pretty easy (now that I've done it a few times).  The hour-long train ride from Geelong to Melbourne is only $7.88, and it's quite comfortable if it's not too busy and there are seats available.  Then once you get into Melbourne, the MiKi cards you use to pay for the train also pay for the metro and trams through a tap-on/tap-off system.  I'll admit I did take the tram a few times, but part of the experience was walking around and enjoying looking at stuff, so often I would skip the tram.

My tickets to see Wicked were for May 14th, and I'm told that the show had just arrived in Melbourne on May 7th, so there were tons of ads all over the place about the show.  Throughout the day I had multiple reminders about how fun my evening was going to be.  It was fun to continually get excited throughout the day as I walked around and saw Wicked posters.

My first little errand - I paid for a passport stamp back in July 2013 when I originally got my Visa, but I never actually got the stamp (logistics didn't work out before I left).  I still had no trouble getting into the country because my visa was digitally linked to my passport, but I had already shelled out the cash and had my receipt, so I figured I would at least get that one thing done.  I had the whole day available to wait in line, but thankfully it only took about 20 minutes.  Success!

Since the show was going to be over late, I booked a room at a hostel in Fitzroy that I stayed at last Christmas when Dad and I visited Melbourne.  It's a cozy old nunnery (called The Nunnery) full of young international travelers.  I shared a room with a young German girl and an older Russian lady.  It was cheap at $35 a night, and worked absolutely perfect for my situation.  The funniest thing about staying there was the signs they had put up about "house rules".  The Nunnery was a convent at one time, but hadn't had nuns in it since the 70s, yet all the signs had references to the nuns.  "Keep quiet for the nuns" haha

 

With my bag dropped off, I set off to enjoy some scenery.  During the time in which I visited Melbourne, Victoria was enjoying the last few weeks of warm fall weather before it started to get a bit cool (and I say cool, not cold for their winter).  The beautiful Royal Gardens across from The Nunnery had trees that were slowly turning brown.  I remember much more vivid colors (more deep yellows and rusty reds) from enjoying fall in the New England area, but I didn't expect to see fall colors in Australia.  It was a bit odd because it was a really warm day and plenty of flowers were blooming in the garden as well.

Melbornian Autumn

I continued along through the CBD checking out shops here and there and enjoying the architecture.  Melbourne has a really interesting feel to it - there are these massive modern skyscrapers next to old-fashioned brick buildings from the 1860s.  It's highly contrasting but really fun as well.  I love the old storefronts that look like they were old-timey general stores at one time.

  

My favorite building in Melbourne is in the heart of the CBD.  I have no idea what the building is for, but when the sun hits the colored panes just right - it's so beautiful.  Like walking through a rainbow.

Rainbow trails

My favorite!

Another thing on my list of things to enjoy that day: Affogato.  I found a coffee bar actually named Affogato and got my very own Affogato along with a delicious lunch.  I asked for an Affogato with Frangelico (shot of espresso, scoop of vanilla and shot of Frangelico), but evidently it had been a busy day and they were all out of liquor, so I went without the booze.  Still a very delicious treat on a sunny afternoon in Melb.

I continued strolling through the CBD for the rest of the afternoon.  There was just so much to see and experience!  Beautiful architecture, cute little shops, and I loved the street art!  Every large city has it's fair share of graffiti, but it felt like true street art in Melbourne.

Love the bright color

Street monkeys :)

Later on I found myself in Federation Square, where a display was set up celebrating Wool Week.  They had a few small exhibits set up as well as a corral with lambs and a very famous sheep: Fred.  Evidently he had performed for the royal couple who visited the month before, and #imetfred was trending.  Due to work restrictions, I had to keep a safe distance from the animals, but I still enjoyed watching the kids pet the small lambs.

Famous Fred

Across Federation Square is Flinder's Street Station, a very impressive station with an old-fashioned face.  They had a cool photo next to the wool exhibits showing a bunch of sheep that were run through the square in front of the station back in 1985.  Keep in mind this is a very busy metropolitan intersection, so I'm sure running the sheep through there was no small feat.

Caption reads: "Tim's reputation for breeding sheepdogs is internationally known.  His team of kelpies herded this flock of 1,500 merinos, in orderly commuter fashion, to celebrate 150 years of sheep in Melbourne and the arrival of the Melbourne Show.

Flinder's today

Excitement was building for the show as I enjoyed a tasty dinner at a traditional Japanese restaurant.  Of course I got to the theatre really early - I had my ticket all ready to go but I was just too excited.  The foyer was deliciously green!

I scored a terrific seat when I bought my ticket - very front row all the way to the right.  I'd seen the show once before so I wasn't to worried if only 90% of the show was clear from my seat, but I ended up having only one or two times where my view of the main character was obstructed by a cast member.  The show was absolutely fantastic!!  For some reason I expected the characters to have Aussie accents but they certainly didn't - the American parts were played with an American accent and the few English characters had appropriate English accents.  I sang along (only in my head) to every one of the songs and loved every single second.

When everyone exited the theatre, the CBD surrounding the theatre had been all lit up in green.  I wasn't sure if it was for the show or they normally use green, but it make my walk home to the hostel extra-enjoyable.

All-in-all, a fantastic day.  I had a very comfortable night at The Nunnery and walked to the train station the next morning after a leisurely breakfast.  If you ever get a chance to visit Australia, I highly recommend spending a few days in Melb to take in the sights!!

In front of the Royal Exhibition building

Vet med t-shirt quilt

While moving out of Kansas, back in Aug 2013, I had to go through all my clothes and figure out what to keep and what to donate (or throw).  I had a ton of tshirts from my Vet Med days, and though some of them were really worn out, I couldn't bear to part with them.  Mom was kind enough to help me make a 2-sided t-shirt quilt!!

I cut out the shirts and sewed the main part together, but Mom helped me do the edging (well, she basically did it).  And now I can enjoy my vet med shirts forever!  Thanks Mom!

The Great Ocean Road

Something on every Victorian visitor's list is to visit the Great Ocean Road.  I've been fortunate enough to live 30 minutes away from the beginning.  Two weeks ago, I set out on my last road trip to enjoy the GOR.

All attempts to fully describe the road fall short, but Wikipedia has a good summary:

"The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243 kilometres (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I, the road is the world's largest war memorial. Winding through varying terrain along the coast and providing access to several prominent landmarks, including the Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations, the road is an important tourist attraction in the region."

When Dad visited for Christmas, we did a full day on the Great Ocean Road, with a midday hike in Lorne as well.  The scenery was just so gorgeous throughout the drive.

Visiting the Great Ocean Road with Dad over Christmas

View from the road

Not only was the scenery spectacular, the roads were also really dynamic.  There were some long stretches with tree cover that were very windy.  I couldn't help but think that it would be a perfect spot for motorbiking.  Check out this video I made of the roads:

Driving along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia 

http://youtu.be/l3e971GOGuQ

  

If you ever find yourself in Australia, a trip to the Great Ocean Road is certainly warranted.  And later on down the road you can see the Twelve Apostles, of which only 8 are left due to erosion.  Along the drive, be sure enjoy the beautiful beaches!!

Day of Geocaching in Melbourne

I spent an entire day enjoying the sights of Melbourne (detailed story here), and during my walking around and exploring, I found some geocaches!!

For those that aren't familiar with geocaching, it's quite addictive, cheap, easy and a great family activity.  I read a very accurate (albeit unofficial) description on a blog once: "Geocaching is when people use multimillion dollar satellites and expensive personal equipment to find tupperware in the woods."  Truth.

Geocaching is a great way to experience a new area as well as enjoy the outdoors with your family on a mutual quest.  If geocaching is new to you, I highly recommend looking into it here: http://www.geocaching.com/guide/   I paid $9 for the app on my iPhone and haven't spent a cent since on the hobby!  Adventure awaits!!

(Key:  Cached means cache was found and logged.  DNF means "did not find")

My adventure in Melbourne:

#1 Found: Southern Cross the age of the wave (GC30J6X) - This cache was just outside the Southern Cross train station - a central area of Melbourne. This was a difficult cache to find/retrieve because it was in the middle of one of those metal median pieces in center of the road. It was extremely difficult to try to find the cache without being hit by a car, but also while not drawing too much attention. Sadly it took me nearly 15 minutes to find it, but not after some Indian businessman offered help "Are you ok, lady?" So much for being inconspicuous...

Southern cross station

#2 Found: Carlton Cache Series #2 Mother Ursula's Mission (GC4CKA4) - This cache was in a lovely residential area of Fitzroy. Very quite neighborhood, but unfortunately the large building across the street from the cache was undergoing heavy construction, so lots of people were hanging around available to stare at me. Luckily I was still able to retrieve/log/return the cache without difficulties.

Fitzroy area, but not near the cache

#3 Found: John Woods (GC2V78E) - Another easy one to find but very difficult to extract without drawing attention. Throughout the day it became more and more apparent that metropolitan caching is a whole 'nother ballgame (I'm more used to caching out in the bush/fields). But as luck would have it, I swiped the cache quickly, took a stroll to sign the log and then quickly returned it as stealthily as I could. Very good location right at the Royal Exhibition Building to bring people near the Melbourne Museum.

John Wood cache at the Royal Exhibition Building

 

John Woods GC2V78E

#4 DNF: The Queen of Harlotry (GC342A7) - This cache was centered around an area of brick cottages in a row of 6 built in the 1850s. The area was referred to as a "Slumdown" and nearby was the domain of Madam Brusels, "the Queen of Harlotry" who ran 8 brothels in the area. I had no luck finding the cache due to high muggle activity, but previous logs were all DNF so I think it might have been muggled. Still, a fun place to visit, both because of the historical significance but also because it's a hotspot for the business folk during the lunch hour.

Lt Lonsdale circa oldtimes

#5 Evans Lane (GC3038R) - This was another great cache due to historical significance. Lots of these little laneways have been around since the 1850s-1860s, and some of the original brick is still visible. I love geocaching for many reasons - both for the excitement of "the find!" but also in that you are brought to secret spots in the city that you would not otherwise visit without seeking out the cache. This particular laneway was covered in really artistic graffiti (not gang graffiti but actual art). After nervously sticking my hand into a dark hole in the brick wall - success! Cached and onto the next one.

By this point in the day (and due to my location), the streets just kept getting busier and busier. I'm used to caching in the country or public parks. These caches have hazards listed like "dangerous animals" "ticks" "tree climbing" "snowshoes" "significant hike" "watch for livestock."  But these Melbourne CBD caches had hazards like "stealth required" "public transport available."  Quite nutty for my experiences.


#6 DNF Melbourne's Lanes #7 Artemis Lane (GC2XK7T) - Again, high muggle presence. There was literally no looking for this cache during this time of day. I have a hard time imaging that this area is ever deserted.

#7 DNF Welcome to Melbourne (GC2GVR5) - High muggle area in Chinatown. And of course I found the spot but couldn't "properly search" due to an Asian man taking his smoke break in the alley. I mean, c'mon.

 Asian man, I need you to finish your smoke
and leave so I can grab the cache!!

#8 Found: Drewery Alley (GC30AK1) "Drewery Alley, along with Drewery Lane and Drewery Place, were named after chemist Thomas Drewery, who was elected a City Councillor for Gipps Ward in 1851" More lovely historic laneways. There was some really cute graffiti in this alley (monkeys below) but it was still kind of a creepy alley. Glad to finally find the cache and leave.

Cute monkey graffiti in the alley

Alley had a super creepy aura

#9 DNF: Men of Harlech (GC10GBZ) Last cache of the day was nearby an old church. I didn't have to worry about muggles because the entire alley was blocked off for constructions. Super disappointed as a last cache, but I was happy to have the 6 finds that I did.

Damn construction

All in all, a good day of caching (and tons of walking) plus a great tour of some of Melbourne's more historic districts. I look forward to getting home and logging more Kansas caches!

Bucket Lists are a BAD lifestyle choice

My time here in Australia has been winding down, and I've had a lot of people ask me about what's on my "Australian bucket list".  At 29, I am far from being a wise old woman, but I am really annoyed at how much weight people put on so called "bucket lists".  I am adamantly against bucket  lists - because if you wait until the last minute to do all these great things, what the hell have you been wasting your time on in the interim?  Why are you saving everything for a bucket list?  Get out there and do it, dammit!

There is really only one "bucket list-worthy" item that I'd like to do - visit and experience the Great Barrier Reef.  Now that would be a great trip.  Unfortunately I can't afford the flight/accommodation/etc required to do the trip.  And if I'm going to do the GBR, I'll want at least two weeks to really take it in.  A two-week vacation to the GBR isn't in my "time-budget" here in Australia.  After all, the reason I came here was to study/learn/train at the lab I'm currently at, not to extensively vacation around Australia.

Google (yeah a great source, I know) defines a bucket list as "a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have to accomplish during their lifetime" or in my case "to accomplish during their time in a certain part of the country/world".  You shouldn't make a bucket list 6 months before you die, or 2 months before you leave your location - no, you make your bucket list TODAY.  And tomorrow, you start on it!

The GBR is a long-off trip to be planned.  But everything else - during the first week after my arrival in Australia, I immediately started doing things, going places, attending festivals, trying restaurants.  If you don't start on the things you want to experience on day one, then you'll never give yourself the chance to try it all.  I've done a ton in Victoria, seen lots of the tourist places and historic sites.  I've been to quite a few museums in the area to learn about the culture, as well as made a small number of friends that have helped me with/taught me about local traditions and customs.

Do fun stuff!  Do it!

I've done this before on a smaller scale - I did short 3-week trips around the country during my 4th year of vet school.  My trips were mainly to visit/work in labs around the country, but also to experience the culture in that region.  I got to live in Connecticut for 3 months after first year of vet school, and I did my best to experiences as much as I could during that internship.  I'd make great friends, do fun things, and then have to say my goodbyes.

"Bucket list" items (seriously, I hate this term) don't just include food/locations, they also include people.  For each trip I've taken, I've been lucky to meet great people both at work and outside of work. I was only there for a short time, so I made the most of the time I had with them.  And dammit if there wasn't always that one person who brushed me off for two weeks straight, but then during my last week "Aw!  You're leaving soon!  Let's get coffee together everyday this week and spend the entire weekend together!"  NO... that isn't how it works people.  Spend time with people when you can, and one last hurrah is appropriate for a send-off, but it is completely inappropriate to guilt someone into feeling bad for not spending lots of time with them right before they leave.

I'm not naming people, but this has happened to me four times now: Connecticut, Louisiana, Iowa, and Kansas all had culprits.  Kansas was by far the worst one.  I loved spending time with the people I knew back home - some of them for years.  But seriously, I lived in Manhattan for ten whole years before moving to Australia.  Yet a few individuals couldn't be bothered with me until *just* before I left.  It's insulting.  Enjoy the long weekends with friends when they come.  Go out for dinners/coffees often - do it for no other reason than "just because".

I've had some friends lose friends/parents this year, and I apologize if the following paragraph sounds flippant.  Death is no small matter, and I don't consider it something to be trifled with.  My "leaving" locations was temporary for Kansas, but not really for CT, LA, IA.  I'll likely never see those people again, maybe I will, who knows.  So saying goodbye was semi-final (but not as final as death of course).  PEOPLE LEAVE!  People move, people start new jobs, lives change.  So if they are important to you - SPEND TIME WITH THEM WHILE THEY ARE HERE.  They may move, they may get sick, they may end up in a terrible car accident.  Ok, I'm being dramatic, but really.  Spend time with the people who are important to you.

Ok, back to the traditional "bucket list".  "Oh but M, I have kids, I can't experience all the things going on in my location because I'm busy with kids"  Yeah that's another bucket list you can tick off everyday - each day is a gift, but especially with kids because they grow so fast and in a blink of an eye they're teenagers!  Experience as many activities as you can with your kids, but it doesn't have to be an award-winning restaurant or a huge cultural festival.  Moments during a tea party or playing in the sprinkler in the backyard can be more precious than any event you have to pay for.  Friends with kids - you probably already know this, I'm preaching to the choir.  You know, because I have so much "experience with kids", haha.


In summary.... man this post ended up much longer than anticipated, sorry about that.  I'm not really a fan of editing.
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In summary... visit the historic places in the area you live, go to a few cultural festivals, go to that restaurant you've been "dying" to eat at.  Stop waiting to do that "thing" or that "thing" will be closed/over and you'll have missed it!  If you have kids, you can reduce this list as you like, but you're not getting off on the next point.

Spend time with the people who are important to you!!!  For me, that's my family.  Living overseas has been really rough in that respect, but being so far away from my family has made me appreciate how lucky I was to have them nearby when I lived in Kansas.  If it's your buds - spend time with them and don't wait until the week they leave to hang out with them.  (They will end up resenting you if you treat them like that)

If you have enjoyed my post, please comment!  Really, I think I am the only person who visits this blog anymore....

KSU Article about Geelong

I received a bit of an early birthday present this year.  I was contacted by one of the people in the public media department of Kansas State University to talk about my time here in Geelong working at AAHL.  I was excited to be able to share stories with him and even more excited to see the final article come out this past week.  I think it turned out really great, and I've already received a few emails from people commenting on the article and asking more questions.  Have a read below.

Birthday Down Under

I had a birthday!!  My birthdays have always been family-oriented, but that's quite hard while living in a foreign country.  But even still - it was a great birthday spanning about three days (due to Easter scheduling as well as time conversions).

My pseudo-birthday was Wednesday (because things were nutty on Thursday).  I organized a bit of pool and ping pong in the secure area along with Easter sweets to enjoy.  There was a great turnout, about 10 of us enjoyed a long lunch playing pool and other games in the secure area lounge.  Now how many people can say they enjoyed their birthday playing pool in PC3?  It was an awesome way to break up the day, though I'll willingly admit to a terrible stomach ache at 4pm.  Too much fun and sugar, but totally worth the stomach ache.

Later that evening was Dodgeball.  Wednesday was the first evening we all wore coordinating tie-dye shits made by a fellow PhD student's friend.  It dunno if it was the magic of tie-dye or a phase of the moon buy everyone was ON FIRE!  I've never played a better game of Dodgeball.  Not only did we win, but we won honorably with awesome plays and some slick catches/throws.  Bangin' night and great way to end the day of my pseudo-birthday.

Dodgeball Champs in tie-dye!

Thursday came, my actual birthday, but I didn't make any plans because people were leaving for Easter vacations and such so it was too difficult to organize.  Regardless, I had a very peaceful day in the lab and got to leave a bit early (due to the holiday I wasn't the only one).  That evening, I went out for tea with a few PhD-mates at a nearby hotel.  And "going out for tea at a hotel" really means "having dinner at a bar".  Such confusion with nouns at times, but I'm catching on.  It was a terrific end to my real birthday day.

Good Friday was enjoyable as well.  Like I said, birthdays are very family-oriented for me, so I got to Skype with my parents as well as my sister.  When they called it was Thursday evening, my real birthday, in the states.  I had a nice hour-long talk with both my folks via Skype and then with my sister afterwards.  It was really great to hear from home, but it kind of made me more anxious to get home.  I miss my family a lot so it was super great to hear from them on my birthday, as well as motivate me to get things done to organize my travels home.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to head to Bell's Beach for the famous pro-surfing competition held annually at Bell's Beach - we'll see if I can get in or if it's too busy.  All in all, a great birthday week!!