Wrap-Up of Australia

Well, I fell behind by a few days, but I'll sum it up as much as possible.

We checked out the Wildlife Park in Ballarat just north of Melbourne and were able to see many of Australia's native inhabitants.
There were plenty of kangaroos lounging around and free-roaming that I could just walk up to and touch. These kangaroos were quite lazy as they are used to people coming up and handing them food. A few interesting facts on kangaroos: a female kangaroo can pause a pregnancy in times of shortage of food and then proceed with the pregnancy once food is available. A female kangaroo can also have one joey outside the pouch who still comes back for milk, one joey in the pouch developing, and one more baby developing in the birth canal.
We were also able to touch some koalas in the park. They were pretty indifferent to having humans around and only cared about having eucalyptus leaves in their mouth. Some things I learned were that koalas rarely need water, since they get hydration from the leaves, and also that they sleep 14.5 hours a day and spend about 7 minutes per day traveling. Tough day for sure.

Two apostles on the left of the walkway

I also did a Great Ocean Road day tour through Wildlife Tours, and it was well worth the money. Lunch included. The driver was amazing and I learned a ton about Australian history as well as the animals and coastal sites. I highly recommend using them if you ever visit. The tour was literally all day and took me to Bell's Beach which is were the surfing competitions started, along with the Ripcurl and Billabong companies. We stopped to see koalas in the wild and at the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge. These amazing limestone formations were fascinating to see and I managed to get some superb photographs. The 12 Apostles were originally called the six piglets but since that doesn't sound too appealing, they were renamed to the Apostles. Since there are 12 Apostles in the Bible, the name stuck even though at the most there have only been nine of the rock stacks. Currently there are eight, since the ninth one fell in 2005.
The most beautiful  area in my opinion was the Loch Ard Gorge. If you walk down the steps you can stand right on the beach and look out into the gorge and watch the waves come in. There is also a cave, but I didn't have time to explore this, although I would have even though ropes are up. This beach is where the sole two survivors of a shipwreck washed up after the ship and 50 other passengers were destroyed.

Panorama of Loch Ard Gorge, a cave is behind me just beyond the beach. 

Australia has thousands of acres of farmland and even more sheep farms. The countryside is breathtaking and butts up right to the edge of cliffs overlooking the ocean. I would love to live out of the city in this area and found it much more pleasant than Melbourne itself. If I can get a visa there, I will be checking out living somewhere along the coast away from all the noise and dirty streets. We hit up London Bridge just as the sun was setting. I miss the sunsets in Hawaii so it was almost like being home seeing the water and cliffs bathed in yellow glory.

Opposite side of London Arch at sunset

My last day in Melbourne, Marie and I got up while it was still dark to experience the Eureka Skydeck at sunrise. While it was very foggy and we didn't get to see much of a sunrise, the experience itself was worth getting up so early. I don't particularly like cities, excluding Denver, but I do like seeing them all lit up at night.

Looking out over the harbor from the Skydeck

Overall I enjoyed my visit, and next time will be checking out Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and more towns along the coast. Also I would like to travel the interior to Ayers Rock. I think Germany might be next in line though.

Melbourne at Night

Melbourne along the Yarra River at night.

Footy Game!!!!

Australian football is much easier to understand than American football. I've been watching American football for years and I still don't understand most of the rules. One footy game and I was hooked and able to follow the action. My friend Geoff was kind enough to show Marie and I to an amazing game between two rival teams from the city. It's the first time I've been to a game where half the stadium is for one team and the other half for the other. Very exciting and fun to watch. Geoff is part of the members club at the stadium so we were treated to a delicious meal ( both Marie and I agreed the steak was superb and we could have eaten another one each) and the drinks flowed constantly.

Melbourne Cricket Ground

AFL players, contrary to NFL players, aren't allowed to drink during the football season and also have curfews. They also don't use padding but are only allowed to tackle between the hips and the neck. I also have a new crush, in my opinion he's the best on the Hawks team, and number 23 and I will be married in approximately two years. I am a new fan though and expect to see more games in the future.
Today I checked out the St. Kilda area beach and the Docklands. It's been pretty cold and windy here and there was a storm rolling in, so no swimming right now, but I love the smell of the ocean and being by the water. First time seeing the Indian Ocean as well.

Out and About

Today we walked through the Southern Cross Station, which is the newest train station in Melbourne and is also one of the top ten recognized stations in the world for its architecture. The building is massive with a very unique ceiling similar to an upside down skateboarding park.

We did some shopping for an outfit for later that night. Malls are very similar here but the quality of clothing appears to be much lower and any sense of style from the common Australian is severely lacking. Marie said it's very relaxed and anything goes. Personally, I like to look a little put together before appearing in public in what looks like half pajamas and half workout clothes. The term for it out here is "bogan" meaning trashy. It just looks like a lot of homeless walking around.
Australians know nothing about what Mexican food should taste like or how to make a margarita. Last night we went out for Marie's flatmate's birthday to Mexicali Rose, a wanna be mexican restaurant. I wasn't impressed. The nachos had a horribly small amount of cheese, and the quesadilla wasn't good either. All the cheese and chicken was in the middle of the quesadilla and spilling out the top and the rest of the quesadilla was empty. I asked for a margarita with salt and I got a tequila martini that was amazingly sour and strong. We ended up dumping it into the frozen margaritas. After the restaurant we headed to The Richmond Club which has three levels. A footy game (Australian football which is a cross between rugby and American football, not soccer, to be honest I haven't figured it out quite yet) was on so there were lots of guys there but they paid no attention to our wolfpack of about ten girls. Marie and I had guys come up and talk to us, including one very drunk Frenchie who knew all the words to De La Soul's Ring Ring Ring and sang it to Marie from the across the bar. We hung out there most of the night and at about 1 am were headed to another bar but couldnät get in, so we got some kebabs of lamb and chicken from a small diner. The kebabs here are basically what a gyo is in the states. The Greek/Lebanese/Isreali food here is pretty darn good and much more satisfying than the sad attempt at Mexican from earlier.
Today we are having a movie marathon here at Marie's flat, since a movie here costs $18. We opted for the cheap lazy route today and it's kinda nice to just sit around and do nothing for once.
 

First Day In The Land Of OZ

After the longest flight of my life on I think the largest plane I have ever been on, (747) I have finally reached Melbourne. Marie picked me up at the airport and we took the tram to her house. Not only does the toilet water not flow in the opposite direction, but the toilet is also in a seperate room from the shower. She also has possums living on her porch. It is hot as balls here today as well. We decided to hit the city as soon as I was unpacked to get some sights in.
First up was lunch and we ate at a quaint greek bistro on packed back ally next to various other tiny cafes and bistros. The food was pretty good but a little dry. (Interesting tidbit, Burger King is called Hungry Jacks here because some other franchise here had already licensed the name Burger King). 

Marie showed me some of the more popular sights in downtown Melbourne, such as Federation Square which holds what is considered the ugliest building in the city, Flinders Street Station, the Yarra River, and her hotel, Intercontinental Melbourne: The Rialto. Flinders Street Station is the old train station in the city which was basically deserted when Southern Cross Station was built. The building itself was supposedly meant to have been built in Panama, but somehow the blueprints were switched around and the building was constructed here.

Flinders Street Station

The Yarra River flows throughout most of Victoria and takes up a prominent path through the city with various pubs, bars, and elegant restaurants along its banks.

The Yarra River with the Eureka Skydeck towering to the left.

The Rialto where Marie works is one of the oldest building in the city and survived several

renovations. The building has been around since the early days of the Australian Gold Rush and used to be an important distribution center for goods such as wheat, wool, etc. Now it's a very posh hotel with much of the original brick work still in place. The photo below is of the Bluestone Bar inside the hotel which used to be open to the outside. This is where the horses and wagons would line up to be loaded up with products.

We wandered around a bit more and are now camped out in her living room watching Australian sports. Which I don't understand, but the guys are hot, so I'm okay with watching. Also Australian money looks like Monopoly money, so I'm headed out to buy Park Place.