(Almost) biking in Melbourne

The Great Ocean Road led me to Port Campbell. I stayed overnight there, and then headed back to Melbourne. I stopped at a few places along my return. I saw a few more of the limestone formations along the ocean. They are just so incredible to see, and the power of nature still impresses me (more waves, people :). The Otway Tree Walk is interesting. It is simply a walk through the trees, and at one point, I was standing level with the canopy. It's pretty awesome to see some of these trees and ferns. Along my return route, I stopped to take a picture of a kangaroo crossing sign, and then started driving again. Not three minutes later, a kangaroo went zipping in front of me while crossing the road. They're fast! Again, I just love seeing animals in their natural environments. I wasn't far from Melbourne, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I glanced for a better look, and there was this huge, massive eagle (I'm fairly sure it was an eagle, or a hawk), flying by the highway. It was humongous! Just spectacular to see. In case I haven't mentioned it in an earlier post, the interior of South Island (New Zealand) has many hawks. I saw them all the time while driving through that area. Anyway, the rental car was returned, and I made my way to my Melbourne hosts. I arrived a day earlier than they were expecting, and both their older girls are sick, but all is going well. They are a very laid-back family. As they told me when I arrived, "the only rule here is that there are no rules".

I think I could live in Melbourne. Granted, I really only saw the city itself for a day, but it is lovely. In some ways, it reminds me of Chicago. The Yarra River runs through the city, and there is a path beside it. Loads of bikers, runners, and walkers along the path. There is a boat club on the river, so I saw many people sculling along the river; some were in singles, others were in fours. It took me back to that brief stint I had with crew during undergrad. Their public transit is fair to good. It seems much newer (the trams, the trains, etc) than what we have in Chicago. The really nice thing is that you can actually understand the announcements for the upcoming stops. There is both a city circle tram and a city shuttle that is free to take around the major downtown area. They run fairly regularly.

I indulged the tennis nerd within me and visited Rod Laver Arena. This is where the Australian Open is held. It was informative, cool, and fun to see. We (all three of us on the tour :) visited the players' change room. I saw Federer's locker - oooooo, special :) I sat where the players sit in the media room when they recap their matches. We did get to see some of the courts, including the main one. However, Pink is playing there, so the court is covered with the stage. We also went into a Superbox (like the skyboxes at home). We walked the Hall of Champions. For me, it was really awesome to see. I would love to return both to explore more of Melbourne, and to attend the Australian Open. That would require some finagling as the tournament is in January. Apparently, it isn't difficult to get ground tickets, and you can see loads of matches during that first week. I am pondering the possibility...

I toured a bit around Melbourne. If you are into music or the arts, there is lots and lots to see. The architecture is stunning and quite varied (really old-style European buildings next to very modern and slightly funky buildings). There are a lot of sculptures throughout the city as well. It is also a very literary city. The State Library of Victoria is beautiful; they had some interesting exhibits on display. One was focusing on Victoria authors and Victoria writing though out its history. The other was simply on the history and influence of books. They had quite the selection of really, really old texts along with some newer publications. They are also nuts about sports (cricket, footy - Australia rules football, etc.). Speaking of sports, I heard Obama threw the first pitch wearing his SOX apparel. (BTW, it amazes me that the Sox are in second place in their division; I did check the standings today).

I had every intention of hiring a bike for an hour or so to bike along the river, but the time escaped me, and it was too late for me to rent one when I finally got to the bike place. It is a wonderfully peaceful walk, anywhere along the river.

I'm off to Tasmania tomorrow. Not sure what my Internet access will be (my Melbourne hosts basically gave me free access to one of their computers), but I am going to keep a look out for the Tasmanian Devil.

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