The morning hinted at a beautiful day ahead so I put on my walking shoes and hiked it for 90 minutes out to the New Brighton Beach. Crossing through numerous small neighborhoods and subdivisions along the way I couldn’t help but be reminded of how young New Zealand is. Nearly all of the development here is post WWII, low density, ranch homes. Makes for a monotonous stroll, to say the least. The crowning achievement of New Brighton is the large pier that juts out in to the sea for many tens of meters. Attached to this (on land) is the public library and a bar…in the same building. Whoever the ingenious architect/planner of this multi-use structure was ought to be given a medal. Seriously, what a great combination. All in one place you can go fishing, check out a book, read the paper and order a stiff one at 9am on a Friday morning. It came as no surprise that this was one of the busiest public libraries I have ever seen.
The New Brighton neighborhood is a bit of a
What I Learned Today: Having butter in a hostel kitchen is much like having a lighter at a party. Translation: it is good way to get girls to talk to you.
Nikos, one of the volunteers from my Wellington days arrived in town today, so I made plans to meet him and a few of his new volunteer friends out for a drink. While having a few drinks at the hostel beforehand I befriended my roommate, Karla, from Newfoundland. As later this week Karla is headed to Antarctica for 13 months of cultural artifact preservation, she was keen to spend one last night amongst civilization and agreed to come along. We also met Richie, from England, who had developed a thirst on his flight in today and thus we were rolling down to Al’s Bar three deep.
What I Learned Today: I may have some sort of illness. At the bar, listening to live music and steadily drinking I found myself thinking about spatially weighted hedonic modeling.
After the excitement of croquet, I decided to take it easy in the afternoon. Laundry and minimizing my domestic situation (throwing stuff away) occupied most of the rest of the day. As I had to wake up at 4am for my airport shuttle, my night lasted until about 8:30, when I gladly lay down in my quiet, single room and slept like a log.
What I Learned Today: After 114 days of shared accommodation, a small 80 square foot room to myself felt as large and comfortable as the Palace of Versailles.
Stepping out of the airport I was immediately struck by the warm, moist air. Having spent the last two and a half months in the windy, low humidity air of New Zealand the thick, still air in Melbourne was quite a change – like getting off the plane in Baton Rouge after having started the morning in the Pacific Northwest. The bus into the main station and the free transfer to my accommodation where just as efficient as the airport security…a good sign as I was in a race against time to catch as much of the Super Bowl as possible. After checking in, I tossed my bags on my bed and headed out in search of the nearest sports bar (The girls at the front desk proved completely useless and couldn’t mention one single sports bar in the city, other than “maybe the Casino?”). A block down the road I passed the Duke Hotel, which was showing the game on a large flat screen. The place was pretty much empty (it was 11 am on a Monday) so I had the best seat in the house. I was shortly joined by a talkative Aussie guy who worked next door, but spent the majority of the four hour game jawing my ear off about the supreme kicking abilities of the Australian Rules Football players. The cook was a NFL fan and was pulling for the Giants along with me. The manager and the talkative guy were rooting for the Patriots. As the bar began to fill up for the lunch hour I had to pass updates to the waitress who passed them on to the cook, as he was sequestered in the kitchen fulfilling his duties. On the Giants winning drive and the subsequent Patriots possession he temporarily shut down the kitchen and joined us in watching the end of, what I consider to be, one of the most exciting Super Bowls in memory.
I took a well deserved afternoon nap (I had been up since 1:30 am Australian time) and then ventured out into the city. A brief thunderstorm sprung up in the early evening, bringing some relief from the stifling humidity. The humidity, haziness, and soaring cumulonimbus clouds reminded me of the summers of my youth, of little league games rained out, of vicious lightening strikes and of tornado watches and flash floods. Living in Seattle, you just don’t get these things. Melbourne’s downtown is set on a perfect grid system and is filled with little alleyways and nooks that are jammed with restaurants while on the main streets retail stores dominate. The only place I’ve ever been with more shopping and restaurants is New York City. Men in suites downing pints of beer at small hidden pubs and the trams lining the street give the city a distinctly European feel. I stopped in the funky Federation Square for a bit of outdoor TV viewing on the huge screen before wandering back to the hotel by 9. In order to get my internal clock on the right setting, I managed to stay awake until 11 and then passed out dead.
What I Learned Today: Little pieces of home can go a long way on the road. Just watching the Super Bowl brought with it a sense of revelry and a reminder that in less than six weeks I’ll be back on American soil. As a sidenote, unfortunately, the overseas broadcast of the Super Bowl did not include the vaunted U.S. commercials. Instead we were stuck with cricket and rugby snippets as well as that annoying Snickers ad with Mr. T in the tank (do you have it in the US?). They did, however, advertise that the Super Bowl commercials could be viewed on MySpace immediately following the game.
Overwhelmed, I did finally manage to settle on some mandarins, a bag of fresh salad greens, and a pair of lamb and mint sausages. In my time down under I’ve developed a real taste for lamb and mint…it’s a good combination, especially in sausages. After lunch I strode down to the Visitor’s Centre in search of decent city and transit map. One could not be had for less than $10. I eventually ended up near the University of Melbourne and took an opportunity to browse the massive campus, which was surprisingly active considering it is summer break. A glutton for punishment (or maybe just a seeker of knowledge), I hit up the library to do a bit of research on some projects that I am tangentially working on while overseas.
In the evening, Matt, one of the volunteer from Brisbane who is now in Melbourne, stopped by my hostel for a few beers. Later on we met Jana, another volunteer from Brisbane, in Chinatown for dinner. Hidden deep in an alleyway was an unassuming little blue door with “Shanghai Noodle Company” written on it. Inside was a bustling, unpretentious two-story restaurant absolutely filled to the brim with patrons. We were quickly seated, prodded for an order, and delivered food within 7 minutes of arrival. The table turnover here is quick as demand is high. The food did not disappoint, either. The first decent Chinese dish I’ve had since crossing the equator in October. When it came time to pay, the old man running the till (likely the proprietor) knew exactly what we had by memory, quite a feat considering the volume of customers. After dinner we met up with one of Matt’s old roommates, Scott from Tasmania, and retired to The Lounge for some drinks on the outdoor porch overlooking Swanston Street, one of the main nightlife streets in Melbourne. Nearly 75% of the patrons on the porch smoked, the polar opposite to the situation in New Zealand, where hardly a smoker could be found. There is some interesting sociological research just waiting to be done on regional/national nicotine habits.
What I Learned Today: The industrialized supermarket has greatly reduced our abilities to handle the medieval market setting. I am used to going into a store with a list of grocery items and then choosing between the generic, the mid-level, and the high-end brand and that’s it. Here in this market setting, you’ve got 35 vendors selling tomatoes of all qualities and all different prices. Trying to keep track of the best deals on just one item is tough, doing it on a whole list of groceries must be damned near impossible, at least for a novice like myself. The old Greek women, however, seemed to be right at home, demanding samples, haggling over prices and slowly filling their carts with fresh produce and meat. This, in all actuality, is a “Super Market” in all facets of the word, far, far superior to the imposters bearings such names as Safeway, QFC, and Albertson’s.
Famished, we eventually ended up in the Greek Precinct ready for a true Hellenic lunch. We were not disappointed. My Souvlaki Kebab was nearly the size of my head and took both hands to lift. Not only was it a healthy portion, but the lamb can only be described as succulent. I can say with some certainty that in my past 118 journal entries I have not once referred to any of meals as succulent, so you know this isn’t a term I throw around lightly. Rather than the compressed, some-what tasteless meat off of a rotating spit that is common in kebabs, my kebab was overflowing with actual, juicy chunks of lamb complete with small shards of dripping fat. Combined with the outstanding Tzatziki sauce and the homemade Pita bread it was otherworldly. I have a feeling I’ll be back to Spotitos Café at least once again before I leave Melbourne.
In the evening I met up with Anna and Sabine,
What I Learned Today: It is a generally accepted fact that girls are attracted to guys who are in bands; however, not being in a band can have its benefits. Namely, when he is up on stage you – the un-band member – have unfettered access to hit on his girl (especially when are both ripping on how bad his band actually is).
I swung by the Queen Victoria Market to pick up some groceries for lunch. Gazing at the interesting selection from the Wild Game vendor I couldn’t help but purchase some kangaroo sausages. They taste a bit gamey, but with the right spices in the sausage they proved to be delicious. I have a feeling I’ll be trying the wild boar and crocodile before I leave town.
The National Gallery was my destination for
What I Learned Today: B: Shortly after the mainstream adoption of the codex (the modern equivalent of the vertically-bound book) the demand for laboriously hand copied Bibles rose sharply, especially for those in the English and German Languages. The Church, however, deemed this to be an abomination and desperately tried in vain to destroy all the copies it could; copies of their own Bible, the very ones the priests purportedly used to deliver mass….Just another small reminder that the quest for absolute control of thought (through manipulation and monopoly of the medium) transcends all governments and religions.
Crossing into East Melbourne, I came up on the Captain James Cook cabin. Shipped from England in boxes and rebuilt on the spot, the small structure sits inconspicuously in the middle of the Fitzroy Gardens. America’s fascination with Columbus and the other early European explorers pales in comparison to Australia and New Zealand’s god-like worship of Captain Cook. Next to Queen Victoria, he is easily the most revered of all the 18th century figures in the South Pacific. It seems every little town on the coast has a “Captain James Cook landed here and surveyed the land/resupplied his ship/cut new timber/took a nap/killed some locals/pissed/shit/sneezed, etc
The Fitzroy Gardens give way to the Royal Cricket Grounds. The Lambeau Field of Australia, the RCG is the most famous cricket stadium in all the land. Located next door is the Vodafone Arena, the Melbourne Tennis Ground (home of the Melbourne Cup), and Olympic Stadium, site of the 1956 Olympic Games. Combined with the Botanical Gardens just across the Yarra River, this compendium of sporting venues and adjacent parks creates a massive greenspace occupying the southeast quadrant of the inner city. It was deathly calm on this Friday afternoon; however I can imagine it turns into a madhouse during a test cricket match or the tennis tournament. Before heading back to the hostel I stopped at the National Gallery again to finish where I left off yesterday. Back home, the Metro YHA has a great rooftop complete with deck chairs, a BBQ, and a million dollar view of the Melbourne skyline. I grilled up some mint flavored lamb with sautéed onions, peppers and mushrooms, all purchased at the market for less than $5.
What I Learned Today: Sometimes a piece of art really takes hold of your mind. The gallery had an offering from a Brisbane artist who carefully took spider webs from her backyard, sprayed them with fluorescent colors and then laid them on a black background. Their striking resemblance to city maps drew me in as I attempted to assimilate each one to a city whose road pattern I knew.
That evening I met Matt and Jana at their place on Farraday Street. The location is superb, just two blocks from the University of Melbourne and twenty steps from Lygon Street, the Italian District. The condition of the home, however, is not. It currently houses about ten people, mostly backpackers with working visas and one aboriginal couple. You can imagine the sort of maintenance the landlord gives to such a place….none. Matt’s old roommate, Scott from Tasmania, was hosting a birthday party up in North Melbourne so on the tram we got with intentions to crash. It was advertised as a cocktail party, but being backpackers our wardrobe of fine clothing is limited to say the least. No problem, as only about 50% of the revelers present had followed the invitation’s dress code guidelines. It was a good party and we returned home sometime after the 3 am hour.
Consiting of a large percentage of men,
What I Learned Today: Enough alcohol can even mess with my usually amazing sense of direction
I woke up in time to check out at 10am, probably smelling like a goddamn bar rag. Still drunk, I showered, stored my belongings in a locker and then retired to the upstairs lounge to nap for a bit on an outdoor swing. As luck would have, this, my last in Melbourne, was finally a pleasant day. The extra few hours of sleep and the fresh air didn’t really seem to help so I changed tactics and decided to walk it off.
Downtown was an absolute melee as today
My overnight 10 hour bus bound for
What I Re-Learned Today: The best way to beat a hangover is too attack it straight on. Lying around, feeling sorry for yourself and trying to remember what it is you did the night before only makes it worse. The only way to cure it is to get up and walk it off. Oh yeah, Chinese food helps too.