Pancakes & Penguins!

---

3/23/10

I finished my final week of work last Friday, crazy how a month flew by! I didn’t go out on St Paddy’s Day because my neck was still bothering me from a migraine the day before so I thought I’d take the night to go to bed early. After much thought I finally decided that tickets to Perth on the West Coast were too expensive so I found really cheap tickets to Melbourne and decided to roam around there for the following couple weeks.


The following night after work I met up with some of the people I met at the last BBQ and we went to a place called Homebar on Darling Harbour. It was “Uni Night” (college night) so most of the people there were at least 5 years younger than me but I got in for free because of Drago once again, and the bar overlooked the harbor with cheapish drinks so that made it ok. It ended up being a really random and fun night with lots of dancing! I even made some girl friends to dance with so I didn’t have to worry about creepy guys. Luckily I also have some good guy friends to protect me from the creepy guys too…there was some weirdo Australian guy being inappropriate so my lovely New Yorker friend decided he was going to go set him straight, pretended he was my husband and after who knows what else was said I got a very heart felt apology over and over again from Mr Creepy along with an offer to buy me and my friends drinks…it was pretty hilarious and I was left alone the rest of the night!


My last night in Sydney I was very adventurous and did all my laundry! It had to be done and I was putting away most of it in my big bag to leave at Drago’s while I travelled with my tiny bag for 2 weeks. The next morning I checked out, dropped my bag off and me and showed Drago the Chinese Friendship Garden he didn’t know existed after having lived in Sydney for 5 months. I always love going there, it’s like escaping to a whole other world in the middle of the city! We then went and got some very authentic Asian Food where we were the only non-asians around…that’s when you know it’s got to be good! I then headed to the airport and let me say, not having to check any luggage is unbelieveable! So much easier and more convenient! About and hour and a half later I was in Melbourne.

I stayed at the YHA Melbourne Central YHA, there are 3 in the area but this one is closest to the river and I love being near the water! It’s also close to where my parents will be staying when we come to Melbourne. Every floor has it’s own kitchen and common room and everything is very clean and modern! My first night there I ran into a boy I’d met briefly at the hostel in Sydney. I ended up watching the Departed and drinking some Goon (boxed wine) with him, his friend Tara and another guy from Sweden. The guy from Sweden had been let go from his company along with many others so is traveling for a year while he can get paid unemployment!


The next day was fantastic! There is a food and wine festival going on in Melbourne along the river that I fell upon! I had a lovely stroll along the river, admiring all the really interesting, modern architecture, tasted some fresh made bread, filled out a food channel survey and got a gift bag, saw a dog circus with neon colored poodles, ate 16 mini pancakes with strawberry jam for $5, got $4 purple stud earrings and a purple neck wrap with lavender that I can heat up in the microwave! Very productive, and my day continued with a stroll through the gardens. There was some strange scavenger hunt going on while I wondered around as I ran into people in super hero costumes and others with numbers on their chests running around inspecting monuments and checking in at various tables set up around the city…still not sure what was going on but it made the day a little more interesting!


As I crossed the river and headed back to the hostel I passed the Giant Ferris wheel and ended up directly in the middle of a Thai Festival. There were swarms of people and I was pretty much the only non asian in the bunch. If I wasn’t so poor I would’ve eaten from every Thai Food booth there was (and there were at least 50+) but I restrained myself and nibbled on a piece of the delicious loaf of bread from my Food Channel gift bag. I tried taking a short cut to escape the madness and ended up in the middle of a Miss Thai competition next to a Thai Boxing match…very strange. Eventually I got free and went back to the hostel where I made a grilled cheese sandwich with my free bread I had just acquired.

I skyped with my loving boyfriend, went to get a drink and ended up having a conversation with a lovely German lad who had just arrived in Australia a few days earlier and looks EXACTLY like Gavin DeGraw. He also has a blog but it is his own homepage that he can make on his Macintosh Apple Computer….freakin macs they torment me everywhere I go with their beauty…one day I will get one!

Anyways we talked about differences in culture, how he loved how friendly everyone here was that in Germany for example, if you went into a bank, store, whatever the people working there would always introduce themselves as Mr or Mrs so and so while here he was shocked when he went to the bank and was given a first name by the clerk! I guess the German culture is similar to the English culture also in the respect that the men are not supposed to show any signs of emotion that would make them look weak; sadness, crying, etc. He is not like that though so I guess Australia is the place for him!


I ran into Tara on the way to my room who said people were hanging out on the roof so I joined them and had a lovely time with a very international group! Some Dutch, some Scotch, some Kiwis (New Zealanders), some German and me! We nearly lit our hair on fire trying to get one of those outdoor heating lamp things on but once it was going it was very comfortable! See fall has begun and right now the farther south you go the colder it is…I’m at the very bottom so it is much cooler than it was in Sydney! Although now I’m used to 80 degree weather every day so it could be 70 and it feels freezing!


The next day, before getting on the bus to Phillip Island, I had breakfast with Tara and then we headed down to the river. We got delicious gelato, took a ride on the Giant Ferris wheel and checked out these giant bells on tall poles that were on display behind the Ferris Wheel. Basically these things were programmed to play various songs which sounded amazing. There were about 30 of them you could walk through and they sounded like church bells chiming. It’s hard to explain but I took a video so put a pin in it and once you see the video you’ll understand how cool these bells really are!


I was very tired since the night before my 2 roomates didn’t go to bed until like 2am and then got up around 5am so the hour and a half bus ride to Phillip Island was something to look forward to! I arrived to this cluster of cabins and camping sites that is the hostel. It’s very cool, little water falls, a pool, etc and I get my own bathroom yaaayyyy!!! It is a little strange however because everyone goes to bed really early and I’ve found there really isn’t much to do on this little island. Especially when it’s cloudy and cold…which it has been. SO the first couple days I didn’t do much, walked along the beach a bit, found a great hamburger place with one of my roommates and today the sun came out which made everything soooo much better! I got to actually lay on the beach even if part of the time I was wearing a bikini bottom and a sweatshirt. I had the beach basically to myself though which was quite nice. Then this evening I went to the Penguin Parade!!! It really is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. Just after sunset 100+ tiny penguins come waddling out of the ocean in packs. Some get scared and run back in quacking. Some seagulls hang around to watch as well and I get the impression penguins don’t have the best relationship with them…I saw a few stare offs…This continues for about an hour as they go back to their homes under and around the boardwalk that has been created to preserve their habitat. After the “parade” you can walk along the boardwalk and get so close you could touch them! Taking photos or videos is strictly forbidden but you can see some of the videos I took once I upload them ( hey I was at a freakin penguin parade I HAD to get something on tape! And thanks to the best Christmas gift ever (thank you Tammy!) my little flip camera makes it very easy to be discreet!


Tomorrow I take the ferry to Sorrento, a beach house hostel and then I may see how expensive flights are to somewhere more north because it’s pretty chilly down here and I was really looking forward to some chillin on the beach! I’ll let you know but for now, I’ll be in Sorrento for the next 2 days! Goodnight! (I was without internet for about a week so I’m currently writing part 2 to be posted soon!)

---