Where's the Queue?

Where's the queue? Where do I sign up to become an Australian citizen? I don't think the government is very savy about giving us visas for extended periods of time, but if they did, I would be the first in line. Love it, love it, love it. I'm currently lying on a glorious beach in Lorne, one of the many small towns along the Great Ocean Road. I've stunned. These types of crashing waves and roaring seas only existed in my imagination and the scene is truly hypnotic. I've never seen anything like it - what a surfer's paradise. My travel buddy for the week amd I drove down here for a lazy drive along the famous ocean highway, a twisty, impossibly beautiful road built by the returned WW1 soldiers in 1918. The entire road was constructed with pick axes and shovels as a monument to those who lost their lives in World War 1. It's mind boggling how they built it! It teeters right on the edge of the rocky cliffs, so close to the side that you feel that you will actually drop into the ocean below as you swerve from curve to curve. I'm only glad that I didn't have to drive, especially since the steering wheel is on the WRONG side. Emma took care of that for us and I was free to gaze out at the blue ocean and foaming surf for miles and miles. Oh!! We came upon some wild koalas. They were walking along the road - odd, because I thought they just sat in trees and slept all day. I took a liking to this little cuddly bear and walked beside him on the road for about a mile. Since he was directly in the middle of the narrow pass, I was concerned that he would be hit by some crazy driver and tried my best to urge him off to the side or up into the trees. However, he must have had a final destination in mind because he eventually shuffled along until he found a proper spot on the cliffs and disappeared.

The Great Road ended at the Twelve Apostles, a uniqe rock formation outside of the Port Campbell National Park. Once just part of the rock wall, forces of nature have eroded the soft limstone over hundreds and hundreds of years. At first, they simply formed small caves in the cliffs until, eventually, these caves broke away, leaving twelves isolated rock islands. Actually, there are no longer twelve of them - more like Eight Apostles with some extra piles of broken rocks lying nearby. It was quite pretty though. We didn't make it to the site for sunset, which would have been an inspirational viewing. Instead, we arrived, took some pictures and admired them for a bit, then turned around and drove back. Our intention was to find a little nook hidden among the trees in which to park the car and sleep for the night. After some searching, we found a tiny oasis overlooking the ocean and (tried) to sleep. I was a bit worried that we were in someone's backyard and we would be awakened in the middle of the night with blinding flashlights and knocks on our windows. Poor Emma was worried that our car would be mauled by wild kangaroos and stayed awake half the night guarding the car. We both woke up the next morning with crinks in our necks and sore backs, but, hey, whatever saves money, right? Plus, we had a breathtaking view of the sunrise along the water the next morning. Life is good!

Sadly, the Commonwealth Games came to an end in a vibrant eruption of fireworks, glitz, and glamour. The opening ceremonies were spectacular. We camped out along the Yarra River for most of the afternoon, claiming our spot before the hordes of crowds arrived for the evening ceremony. In the middle of the river was a huge line of 72 metal fish, each representing one of the competing countries. During the ceremony, these fishies danced, sprayed water in time with the music, flashed fireworks, and put on an impressive light show. The river was also used to transport the Queen's baton (similiar to the Olympic torch). There were several well known Australian singers and performers in the ceremony, none of which I can recall by name. I happened to like the the flying tram and lifesize koalas that floated through the air on a kayak. Let the festivities begin!

After our night on the Yarra, we were set to spend twelve days enjoying the games. Most of the time was spent lounging in one of the many 'live site' gardens throughout the city, watching the events on the grand t.v's or sipping wine and listening to various bands. There was certainly a network of visual spectacles and exhibitions to take advantage of during the afternoons and evenings. We saw tribal dancers from the Solomon Islands, reggae musicians from Fiji, a Jaipur Kawa Brass Band (memories from India), jazz musicians, West African drummers, worldwide dance companies, theater acts, comedy routines, Kenya acrobats, and the list goes on and on and on. One of the best acts was a children's choir from Africa. The children were discovered by an Australian mining enginer in a remote village of Tanzania. They were brilliant!

Although it was easy enough to bring a couple bottles of wine and sit in the sunshine for hours on end listening to the entertainment, we did manage to splurge on some Rugby 7's tickets. This is an event that I'm proud to admit I can understand (halfway expert anyway!) It is an interesting sport, Rugby 7's that is. Just when you are getting into the game and are on your feet cheering and whistling for some small little country that you've never heard of before (just where is Nuie Island again?), the game is over and you're left wondering what happened to the hype and excitement. This type of Rugby only lasts for 14 minutes, consisting of two 7 minute halves. Since the games were so short, we saw 8 matches and were able to witness some of the best Rugby 7's teams in the world compete in the Telstra Dome. Fiji, the Cook Islands, New Zealand, England, Australia, Wales and South Africa all put on quite a show on the field below. I seemed to be the only one in the entire 3rd section of the stadium that had never seen a Rugby game before. Therefore, I had about a dozen people turning to me to explain each and every play. For some reason, instead of calling a winning goal a "touchdown," it is called a "try." Until I found out this little fact, I was thinking how neat it was that they actually gave the teams points for trying to score a goal and putting forth the effort. I was gently taken aside and told, "No Ash, a try is the actual goal." I'm learning.....slowly. My next goal is to learn cricket!!! :)

We also saw the men's tri-athalon. The course ran along the beach in St. Kilda so we ventured out there to cheer on the running, swimming, and cycling. Of course, Australia was the favorite but I choose to cheer on a few of the lesser known athletes. Some of these poor blokes were so far behind that they were getting lapped again and again by the leaders of the pack. While most of the crowd left after the Australians and Canadians finished the course, we decided to stick around for the additional 1 1/2 hours that it took for the final runners to cross the finish line. The little Solomon Island boys were struggling through to the very end but they always had big smiles on their faces as they passed us along the road (probably because we were the only ones out there acknowledging their effort). Way to go boys!!

The atmosphere of the city was great! There were so many different people from around the world supporting one another, chatting in the streets, and meeting in the pubs into the early morning hours. It was also fantastic to see how extravagent some of the sports enthusiasts dressed during the events. There were wigs of every color and shape, painted faces, chests, and backs, flags hanging everywhere, and some people who wore nothing but flags to cover themselves! It was entertaining to just sit in the square and watch people drift by and wander from here to there.

Over the days, I finally met up with my friends from 7 months ago. I met Ashley and Gwenda while volunteering in Koh Phi Phi last July. Gwenda, from England, and Ashley, from Florida, are both staying in Melbourne for a bit. It was wonderful to meet up again and chat about what we've been doing since our previous time together. We had a wild night out at some beachy clubs and danced until the early morning hours. It's amazing how people come and go in your life as a backpacker. You never know who you will run into and where in the world you will meet again. We will all be going our different ways shortly, but we hope to meet back up again in Brisbane in a few months. Ashley and I are trying to plan a way to stay additional time in Australia without having to leave every three months. So far, we haven't come up with anything creative. Feel free to give me some advice if you have any!

Tasmania is my next destination. I'll be meeting Gwenda in Hobart for 10 days of touring. I think we are planning on renting a small car and just driving around the island. I've heard wonderful things about Tasy so I hope it meets my expectations. After Tasmania I'll be returning to Melbourne for a bit. From there, my plans keep changing. The weather here is turning to winter and the sun is gradually spending less time up in the sky. I might have to travel north to the sunny beaches and swimsuit weather again.

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