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Published: November 16th 2007
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Wombat
Well, this is what they look like alive at least. Hi all!
Just an update as to what I’ve been up to these days. I arrived here in Sydney about two-three hours ago, still slightly feeling the ill effects of a hangover that I have not been able to fully work off, thanks to last night’s insomnia. Fantastic combination, let me tell you 😊 I caught a glimpse of my eyes in the bathroom mirror and right now they resemble two little burning red dots…good grief.
So before I shuffle off to call it a night I wanted to give you a recap of my last days in Melbourne. On Wednesday, I finally made it to the beach with Bridge and the kids. We weren’t going swimming, we just wanted to take a look and have a little lunch on the pier. The beach was somewhere near the city, I think St. Kilda? and had lots of charming outdoor cafes and shops. The sand was nice and clean, not your standard Edgewater-try-not-to-touch fare, and I even managed to brave my way far enough down to the water’s edge to collect some mini-sea shells. Of course, I asked Bridget a few dozen things about jellyfish, but she did not seem
From Melbourne Observatory
A lovely start to the day! (a) concerned and (b) knew nothing about jellyfish anyway. Seriously, where is Wikipedia when you need it?
Thursday was my day to be dumped in downtown Melbourne to fend for myself. I started off by going to the Rialto Hotel (soon to be an InterContinental Hotel!) and went to the Melbourne Observatory. It gives you a nice view of the city (if you can handle heights) and of course is complete with a café and wine bar.
Let me just tell you about these cafes before I go on. First, in downtown Melbourne, and I fairly certain in outlying suburbs, there is an outdoor cafe and/or eatery about every ten feet. Nearly all of them serve coffee, wine, and sandwiches that are so good only the most inept traveller would be starving or thirsty here. I mean there is some real effort put into food preparation. For example, for lunch I picked up a sandwich at a cafeteria. Now in the States this would consist of a little more than nearly expired lunch meat with a sliver of cheese and mayo gluing it all together. Here I had a “Tasty Cheese Sandwich with Mixed Greens and Fresh Fruit Chutney” on multi-grain bread…see what I mean? By the way, they company that makes them isn’t trying to convince me the sandwich is “tasty.” “Tasty” is a type of cheese. So is “Bitey.” Yeah.
Anyway, I spent most of my day exploring the city streets, checking out Chinatown, Greek town, a few opal stores, gift shops, and a park. But certainly I had to have a break after all that walking, so I wandered through a couple outdoor cafes until I saw a sign for “Bottle Shop.” A bottle shop is basically a liquor or wine store minus the seediness, and some of them, like this one, serve food and drinks. It just so happened that this little shop was packed full of wines, with a very friendly staff who had no problem letting you try anything on the menu. Needless to say, at some point I was surrounded by wine glasses…I think at least 5. Really, it was a good thing Bridget was picking me up at the train station within the hour…as they were really good salesmen (I stopped at two bottles).
The two bottles didn’t last long. Good thing Bridget had a spare. I think when we finally finished them off it was something like 3am. Hence, my beady little eyes.
Today was the last day in Mel'. And, to prove planning is everything, I decided that today would be the day to go to Yarra Valley (the local wine area). Poor Bridget and I made our way through two wineries - they are not as easy to spot as you would think - but I only had it in me to have one glass of wine and she passed it up altogether. Ah well. The scenery was really lovely and I’m glad we made the effort. Oh, and I finally saw a real Australian animal!! It was a wombat!! Unfortunately, it was also roadkill…but whatever. It looks like a freaking mini-bear. Jesus, I would sure hate to see what happened to the car that knocked that thing over.
Ok, so all of this brings me to Sydney, where I just had the Golden Arches (don’t scoff, I’m in recovery) and it is way past my bedtime….
Take care, I will update you on Sydney adventures soon.
Cheers,
Carol
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Heather
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Well it sounds like you are a pour trooper over there. Maybe you should talk to Campbell about the cafeteria food over there and maybe bring it to the Intercontinental Cleveland. Well my birthday was yesterday and I had no one to "cheers me" on my birhtday card. Im sure you fancied some great wine for me drinking enough for the both of us. Now really and truelly meaning it we need to go out when you come home. Lets see how broke you are first. And ironically I had the golden arches for my birhtday lunch yesterday! Cheers!