Melbourne (pron. Melbin)

"The Grotto" Great Ocean Road- South Victoria, Australia

The Twelve ApostlesThe Great Ocean Road- South Victoria, Australia

Federation Square- Melbourne, Australia

Mad Max's Car- Australian Center for the Moving ImageFlinders Street- Melbourne, Australia

Well, a lot has happened since I last blogged- turns out there's a bit more going on in Australia than in Masaka, Uganda. I'll start with my most recent adventure, a weekend in Melbourne, then go back and update on what has happened in Sydney since I last posted.

Molly and I left Sydney Thursday afternoon. Even though Melbourne (pron. Melbin- get it right, otherwise they'll know you're a tourist) is only an hour and a half southwest by plane, the difference in weather made it feel like an entirely new country. First of all, while we left Sydney siders basking in 85 and Sunny, the citizens of Melbourne were bundling up against low 60s, wind, and rain. The relaxed-no-worries-mate-I'm-headed-to-the-beach mentality was also left behind in my beloved New South Wales. Though Melbourne is aesthetically pleasing (more so than Sydney) things there seem to be all business. I get more of a European, big city feel in Melbourne than I do in Sydney. I didn't like that as much as the relaxed Sydney atmosphere, but I suppose I'm a bit biased. It is home, after all.

We arrived Thursday evening and checked into our hostel in Chinatown. The last hostel I stayed in was Jinja Backpackers so naturally the Exford hotel just didn't quite compare :( Thursday evening we went to Shengai Dumpling, which, according the the queue down the alleyway, is somewhat of a local legend. (15 pork dumplings for $7.50- a steal in Australia.) Melbourne's Chinatown isn't quite San Fransisco's but it certainly wasn't lacking in its awkward signs: we made sure to bypass a restaurant called "New Kum Den" (???) and couldn't help but laugh at a sign INSIDE our restaurant that politely requested customers to "please refrain from smoking OUTSIDER the building." After dinner we walked around the CBD in search of some of Melbourne's famous bars. Before I left Sydney, I'd heard from more than a few people that the "dodgier the laneway, the better the bar." We found plenty of creepy alleyways, but very few bars. Tricky Melbourne. It was getting cold so we ended up going back to our hostel after a glass of wine at an Irish pub. (The beer was too expensive- $9.50 - whhaaatttt).

Friday morning we left the hostel early and walked to Federation Square. We poked around the Ian Potter National Gallery Victoria, which showcased Aboriginal, Colonial, and Contemporary Australian art, then visited ACMI- the Australian Center for the Moving Image. ACMI was very cool, especially the special exhibit they had on Walt Disney's films. I also got to see a few Academy Awards, some of the jewelry worn by Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbosa in Pirates of the Caribbean, and the car used by Mel Gibson as Mad Max. From there we stopped at Degraves Street (dodgy laneway) at a hole in the wall french cafe. Next we went to Queen Victoria Market on the other side of the CBD. Besides the inexpensive strawberries we snagged, we were quite disappointed with the market wares- mostly cheap touristy stuff. We ate dinner at Nando's- reminded me of Chipotle (!!!)- then reassured our 8 male hostelmates that we were the lamest people to ever stay at the Exford by going to sleep by 11- at least we'll never see them again.

The next morning the bus picked us up at 7:30 for our tour of the Great Ocean Road. There were about 20 of us plus one driver/guide. The road was absolutely stunning and we packed a lot of cool sights into one day including:

Bell's Beach

Wild koalas and roos

The birthplace of RipCurl, QuickSilver, and Billabong

Ngatanwarr Rainforest

The 12 Apostles

London Bridge

Loch Ard Gorge

The Grotto

Sydney update soon.

Settling In

I finally got my underwater photographs from Lady Elliot Island developed! Here's the best one:

I can't believe this post has taken me so long. It's so easy to get distracted here.

Sydney is a very cool city- it reminds me a lot of Chicago, which is probably why I like it so much. There are always a million things going on at once... I'm actually a bit overwhelmed because I feel like I'm missing out on some of them. I would certainly not be opposed to living here at some point in my life.

I usually go into the city (a 25 minute bus ride) 3-4 times a week... usually for bars in the evening but also for sightseeing during the day. I went to the aquarium about a week ago, which was great, but not quite the same as seeing everything while snorkeling on the GBR.

Coogee has turned out to be a wonderful place to live. I can see the ocean from my room and I can walk there in about 30 seconds. Rough life. I go running almost every afternoon on the Coogee to Bondi Ocean trail... the whole thing is 7 kilometers. My friends and I walked the entire path last weekend... It's quite a stunning walk.

View of Coogee Bay on the Coogee to Bondi Ocean trail

Randwick is about a 25 minute walk from Coogee and is the site of my University. More importantly, it's home to the Royal Randwick Racecourse. Not exactly Churchill Downs, but we still had a blast.

Girls' day at the Royal Randwick Racecourse

On Saturday I went on a wine tour to the Hunter Valley, which is north of Sydney. We went to three wineries and tried all sorts of wines, liquors, ports, and cheeses. The most memorable was the Dragon's Breath Chili Liquor which we all took as a shot. My mouth was on fire for the rest of the day.

Hunter Valley wine tour, Dragon's Breath Chili Liquor

Classes finally started this week. I'm... relatively excited about them. Here's what my schedule will look like:

Monday: Australian Cinema and TV

Tuesday: Sport, Law, and International Diplomacy

Wednesday: Terror and Religion

Thursday: In Sickness and In Health: A History of Medicine

Off to the beach!