Song: "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon
April 13th
We left the hostel early in the morning and headed off to our Fraser Island tour. One of the guys from the hostel, Shanil, was on our trip as well. We had an interesting bus ride to the ferry.
Oh, and I forgot a towel. I was going to bring two. That's what happens when you oversleep alarms. I bought one at the ferry station.
Today was a very rainy day, the rainiest of all our travels. It was raining pretty heavily on our ride across the water to Fraser Island, which is the largest sand island in the world.
Our tour guide's name was Jeff and he was a lot of fun, even with the terrible weather. "It's liquid sunshine" and "I just checked the weather report and the weather is going to be great today...in Perth" and other ridiculous comments kept our spirits up as best as possible.
We walked through a gorgeous rainforest and saw a beautiful lake called Lake McKenzie. It would have been more glorious in the sun, but even in the dreary weather it was beautiful. The coolest thing about the island is that all of the vegetation - and there was a ton of it - grew in the sand. Jeff tried to explain how this works, something about a mineral coating on the darker sand, anyway it was neat.
Also, apparently Fraser Island is home to a ton of dingoes. Yes, the baby-taking kind. We didn't see any, sadly.
After our tour through the day, we came back to our accommodation, which was similar to the hostel we stayed in except there were free towels and soap. Classy. We then ate dinner, and hit up the Dingo Bar, which is conveniently located right next to dinner. While waiting for the Dingo Bar's happy hour, a group of us went back to where we were staying and played an excellent game that Olivia taught us where everyone in the group has to turn around and take the ugliest picture of themselves possible, then the group picks the people with the prettiest pictures and they have to drink. My face wasn't ugly enough, so that was me and Sabine this time around. It was quite fun and it was an interesting way to meet our neighbors.
We had some pitcher of blue something at happy hour. It was not the best drink ever, but it was relatively cheap and cool colored. The Dingo Bar also played music videos all night long, and for the second time in our trip (but not the last) we heard Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al" which is a definitely favorite of Bernie's. Good times.
We ended the evening relatively early because we had to get up relatively early the next morning. Now that I think about it, we rarely ever slept in on this trip.
I only slept an eighth of the day away instead of half the day away in Dad time. :)
Sunday, April 26, 2009
I'm pining for the moon...
Song: "Nightswimming" by R.E.M.
April 12th
Easter
WAHOO! I got to eat chocolate today. Oh, yes, and it's sacred and all that too. The thought of going to church today did at least pass through my mind, but not enough to make me go.
Our taxi left at 5am this morning, and after I had stayed up until midnight before (to eat that lovely Tim Tam I was craving...) I wasn't too surprised that I overslept my 4:00am-ish alarm. I wanted to shower and make sure I was fully packed, but that didn't happen. Vilde called me early, Becca reminded me to grab my passport and with my giant chocolate egg and a tiny jug of milk in a bag, the girls and I were off to the airport.
It was too early for words. We got some finances straightened out and ate a little food before flying off to the lovely land of Hervey Bay, Queensland.
View from the plane as we took off from Sydney:
We got in early in the morning and checked in to our hostel. We then decided to go to the beach, where I got the worst sunburn that I've had in years. I put on 30 SPF sunblock all over, but Australia has no ozone so you really need 30+ or 50 or something. Regardless, it was a very relaxing Easter on the beach. There was some sort of sailing party going on.
We grabbed some food at an Irish pub. Nachos were involved. Nachos were a big theme of this Easter break, as I'm sure I'll mention later.
After food, we walked around, went to the drive-thru liquor store on foot (I know these exist in the states as well, but don't they sound like they're encouraging the wrong thing?) and walked back to the hostel. We chilled there most all evening, buying the all you can eat pizza and meeting all the different people living in the hostel.
I really enjoyed staying in the hostels when we did. We met people from all over. England, Sweden, Switzerland, etc. This trip just makes me want to travel more. Toward the end of the evening, after a few drinks, we got the bright idea to go back to the beach and go swimming. The moon was gorgeous and the people were entertaining.
I'm on the left, and severely burned. (picture courtesy of Vilde)
When we got back to the hostel, I stayed up a little later and talked with some people who were living in the rooms next to us in the kitchen. Also, I really think that America needs to a) have college/university last only three years and b) needs to encourage a gap year after high school for traveling, soul searching, etc. Some of the people I met had done some wild things in their time off. So who wants to go backpacking with me around Europe? :)
Anyway, I eventually went to sleep. It was quite an evening.
April 12th
Easter
WAHOO! I got to eat chocolate today. Oh, yes, and it's sacred and all that too. The thought of going to church today did at least pass through my mind, but not enough to make me go.
Our taxi left at 5am this morning, and after I had stayed up until midnight before (to eat that lovely Tim Tam I was craving...) I wasn't too surprised that I overslept my 4:00am-ish alarm. I wanted to shower and make sure I was fully packed, but that didn't happen. Vilde called me early, Becca reminded me to grab my passport and with my giant chocolate egg and a tiny jug of milk in a bag, the girls and I were off to the airport.
It was too early for words. We got some finances straightened out and ate a little food before flying off to the lovely land of Hervey Bay, Queensland.
View from the plane as we took off from Sydney:
 |
| From Hervey Bay, Easter Day |
We got in early in the morning and checked in to our hostel. We then decided to go to the beach, where I got the worst sunburn that I've had in years. I put on 30 SPF sunblock all over, but Australia has no ozone so you really need 30+ or 50 or something. Regardless, it was a very relaxing Easter on the beach. There was some sort of sailing party going on.
 |
| From Hervey Bay, Easter Day |
We grabbed some food at an Irish pub. Nachos were involved. Nachos were a big theme of this Easter break, as I'm sure I'll mention later.
After food, we walked around, went to the drive-thru liquor store on foot (I know these exist in the states as well, but don't they sound like they're encouraging the wrong thing?) and walked back to the hostel. We chilled there most all evening, buying the all you can eat pizza and meeting all the different people living in the hostel.
I really enjoyed staying in the hostels when we did. We met people from all over. England, Sweden, Switzerland, etc. This trip just makes me want to travel more. Toward the end of the evening, after a few drinks, we got the bright idea to go back to the beach and go swimming. The moon was gorgeous and the people were entertaining.
I'm on the left, and severely burned. (picture courtesy of Vilde)
When we got back to the hostel, I stayed up a little later and talked with some people who were living in the rooms next to us in the kitchen. Also, I really think that America needs to a) have college/university last only three years and b) needs to encourage a gap year after high school for traveling, soul searching, etc. Some of the people I met had done some wild things in their time off. So who wants to go backpacking with me around Europe? :)
Anyway, I eventually went to sleep. It was quite an evening.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
I want to break free..Oh how I want to be free
Song: "I Want To Break Free" by Queen
April 11th
I woke up at 7am and worked on my paper non-stop until 4:30pm, when I got it printed out at the admin building, stapled it and walked it over to the drop box to turn it in.
It feels so good.
I came home, started packing for my two week long adventure where I will be without internet in the northern area of Australia in Queensland. I leave tomorrow at 5am.
Holy cow. It is now Easter. I gotta go eat a TimTam. Byes!
April 11th
I woke up at 7am and worked on my paper non-stop until 4:30pm, when I got it printed out at the admin building, stapled it and walked it over to the drop box to turn it in.
It feels so good.
I came home, started packing for my two week long adventure where I will be without internet in the northern area of Australia in Queensland. I leave tomorrow at 5am.
Holy cow. It is now Easter. I gotta go eat a TimTam. Byes!
The street heats the urgency of now...
Song: "1979" by The Smashing Pumpkins
April 10th
Good Friday
I essentially slept off Thursday and awoke early to my legs covered in ink pen. I stuck to my guns and didn't get on the computer until I finished the reading. I then loaded up my iPod with some Robert Sinnerbrink and went back to sleep, hoping osmosis would be useful for paper writing.
I woke up, cleaned up and then spent all day listening to all the relevant lectures for my paper topic and writing up sheets of notes for them.
I took a break around dinner to investigate if anything around was open. Nope, nada. I then ordered Pizza Hut because I felt like it. Margherita pizza with pineapple is delicious. I also got bread sticks with cheese that came with a creamy garlic sauce (disgusting) and BBQ sauce (good but seriously? where's my marinara?)
By the end of the day I had a giant paper full of notes. Tomorrow's task was then to put them together. Blergh.
April 10th
Good Friday
I essentially slept off Thursday and awoke early to my legs covered in ink pen. I stuck to my guns and didn't get on the computer until I finished the reading. I then loaded up my iPod with some Robert Sinnerbrink and went back to sleep, hoping osmosis would be useful for paper writing.
I woke up, cleaned up and then spent all day listening to all the relevant lectures for my paper topic and writing up sheets of notes for them.
I took a break around dinner to investigate if anything around was open. Nope, nada. I then ordered Pizza Hut because I felt like it. Margherita pizza with pineapple is delicious. I also got bread sticks with cheese that came with a creamy garlic sauce (disgusting) and BBQ sauce (good but seriously? where's my marinara?)
By the end of the day I had a giant paper full of notes. Tomorrow's task was then to put them together. Blergh.
The district sleeps alone tonight after the bars turn out their lights...
Song: "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" by The Postal Service
April 9th
Play ominous music here. Both my lab reports were due today. We had our last optics class with Alex today. It was a very nice review session and again, I learned so much. I've been really lucky with professors here; they're all great. I turned in my completed lab, freshly printed from the physics lab, and all was good. One down, one to go.
After class, I went back to the physics lab and worked on my other lab report until it was finished.
Oh wait, and then I realized had to copy pages of my lab notebook that I didn't have. Then I began the walk back to the Village, got the notebook, ran to the library, made copies, attached them to the new lab report, and voila! lab report complete. While I was leaving the library with stapled copy in hand, I ran into Jay, who was still ill, but looking better at least. I am so glad I haven't gotten sick here yet. I'm attributing it to the 3 liters of orange juice I drink each week.
Ok, two down. Now to tackle my aesthetics paper...
I started working and I was getting productive for a period of time. During this, the maintenance folk returned our couch which was lovely.
I began to lose my productivity and I restricted myself to no Facebook until I read the entire reading of Hegel. I got about 10 pages away from finishing when Tara called me and asked if I wanted to go out. As a reward to myself for finishing those lovely lab reports and instead of working on my aesthetics paper all night, which was my original plan, I decided to go out to Uni Bar with Tara and Tara. It was a good plan. We came, we saw, we conquered. We met an Aussie named Angus "who brings the beef" (to a BBQ last week, long story) who has EXCELLENT taste in music. Seriously though, we bonded over his iPod until my purse broke and I went home. I also found out that some of my lovely Australearner friends also enjoy The Postal Service as much as I do. This was great news.
Obligatory picture:
That's Angus, Lindsey, Janaki, Kathleen, and me on the end.
Oh, and when I got home, in my lovely stupor, I forced myself to read the ending of Hegel. I got three pages away from finishing before I quit, likely because of this little incident with my pen:
I'm not going to lie. I have no idea what the hell I was doing, but it was damn fun.
April 9th
Play ominous music here. Both my lab reports were due today. We had our last optics class with Alex today. It was a very nice review session and again, I learned so much. I've been really lucky with professors here; they're all great. I turned in my completed lab, freshly printed from the physics lab, and all was good. One down, one to go.
After class, I went back to the physics lab and worked on my other lab report until it was finished.
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
Oh wait, and then I realized had to copy pages of my lab notebook that I didn't have. Then I began the walk back to the Village, got the notebook, ran to the library, made copies, attached them to the new lab report, and voila! lab report complete. While I was leaving the library with stapled copy in hand, I ran into Jay, who was still ill, but looking better at least. I am so glad I haven't gotten sick here yet. I'm attributing it to the 3 liters of orange juice I drink each week.
Ok, two down. Now to tackle my aesthetics paper...
I started working and I was getting productive for a period of time. During this, the maintenance folk returned our couch which was lovely.
I began to lose my productivity and I restricted myself to no Facebook until I read the entire reading of Hegel. I got about 10 pages away from finishing when Tara called me and asked if I wanted to go out. As a reward to myself for finishing those lovely lab reports and instead of working on my aesthetics paper all night, which was my original plan, I decided to go out to Uni Bar with Tara and Tara. It was a good plan. We came, we saw, we conquered. We met an Aussie named Angus "who brings the beef" (to a BBQ last week, long story) who has EXCELLENT taste in music. Seriously though, we bonded over his iPod until my purse broke and I went home. I also found out that some of my lovely Australearner friends also enjoy The Postal Service as much as I do. This was great news.
Obligatory picture:
That's Angus, Lindsey, Janaki, Kathleen, and me on the end.
Oh, and when I got home, in my lovely stupor, I forced myself to read the ending of Hegel. I got three pages away from finishing before I quit, likely because of this little incident with my pen:
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
I'm not going to lie. I have no idea what the hell I was doing, but it was damn fun.
Well the sky could be blue, could be grey, without you I’m just miles away...
Song: "Strawberry Swing" by Coldplay
April 8th
I was late to class. I took a picture of the marsupial laboratory anyway.
Today was our last physics 301 lecture with Mike. It was a good one though. We covered all our material and went outside to look at the polarization of the sun. I had read up a little on the subject, since he told us to go look for ourselves with polaroids (sunglasses, or in Australian: "sunnies") but I do not have any sunnies. The coolest thing about the polarization of the sun's light: Bee's use the polarization to communicate to other bees where they need to go to do their bee business. I had heard about the dance of the honeybees in my Philosophy of Mind class and I always sort of wondered how that worked. Anyway, we found that at ninety degree angles to the sun, it's polarized in different directions because of components of the E field being perpendicular and you probably don't care so I'm not going to explain. Well I thought it was cool...
A little break, where I came home for a bit, and then off to more lab! On the way out of the Village I checked my mail because I've been waiting for a package from my mom (In Australian: mum) and I got a package notification saying to pick up my package from the admin building before 5. Lab was until 5, booo.
Lab was entertaining though. This time Shaheen and I were working with the Zeeman effect lab. Look, pretty TV screen!
Luckily, we finished early enough that after sprinting back to the Village, I got my package!!
It was awesome. Thanks mom so much.
Pictures:
My mom is cooler than your mom because she writes "crap" on the customs label like a BAMF.
This was awesome. I totally needed it today, because I was going to spend all night on my lab reports. Whee!
Jay was absent from both parts of physics today, and after Jay's lab partner Josh didn't see him in lab, I was the next on the list for giving him his assignment. Jay was obviously not faking it when I went over to drop off his work. He had the flu. Sucks to have it so close to spring break.
April 8th
I was late to class. I took a picture of the marsupial laboratory anyway.
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
Today was our last physics 301 lecture with Mike. It was a good one though. We covered all our material and went outside to look at the polarization of the sun. I had read up a little on the subject, since he told us to go look for ourselves with polaroids (sunglasses, or in Australian: "sunnies") but I do not have any sunnies. The coolest thing about the polarization of the sun's light: Bee's use the polarization to communicate to other bees where they need to go to do their bee business. I had heard about the dance of the honeybees in my Philosophy of Mind class and I always sort of wondered how that worked. Anyway, we found that at ninety degree angles to the sun, it's polarized in different directions because of components of the E field being perpendicular and you probably don't care so I'm not going to explain. Well I thought it was cool...
A little break, where I came home for a bit, and then off to more lab! On the way out of the Village I checked my mail because I've been waiting for a package from my mom (In Australian: mum) and I got a package notification saying to pick up my package from the admin building before 5. Lab was until 5, booo.
Lab was entertaining though. This time Shaheen and I were working with the Zeeman effect lab. Look, pretty TV screen!
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
It was awesome. Thanks mom so much.
Pictures:
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
This was awesome. I totally needed it today, because I was going to spend all night on my lab reports. Whee!
Jay was absent from both parts of physics today, and after Jay's lab partner Josh didn't see him in lab, I was the next on the list for giving him his assignment. Jay was obviously not faking it when I went over to drop off his work. He had the flu. Sucks to have it so close to spring break.
Take these broken wings and learn to fly...
Song: "Blackbird" by The Beatles
April 7th
Physics class in the morning was fun. I was late again (really sorry about that).
We got to my favorite slide on the notes so far:
I love how the Sinatra song is cited. Michael Steel, you will be missed in our 301 classroom.
Oh, yeah. I may not have mentioned this but in both my physics classes we lose our lecturers halfway through and get new ones. Shaheen tried to explain why this is to me, but I got confused. I think it's so that lecturers with specific interests or expertise in certain topics can teach them or something. Anyway, at the end of this week I won't have Mike or Alex teaching my physics and optics lectures, respectively. I'll miss them both. They were really good teachers and they actually seemed to care if I was learning or not.
Anyway, we had our last tutorial with Mike and after the class looked around puzzlingly for a few minutes, I let him know that we didn't have the Tutorial 4 handout. I'm not sure why none of us mentioned this to him last week, when we also didn't have the handout throughout class, but it might have been because it was raining. I felt bad, but yet again I left tutorial feeling like I knew a lot more than when I came in.
I went to the store to grab a few things. Namely, Easter candy. I figured the stores on Easter weekend would either be closed or open at inconvenient hours so I got all my post-Lent sweets today. Good decision. Also, I feel like Australians are obsessed with chocolate. This may be due to my current Lent stipulations, but still, everywhere I go there is a giant display or full aisle in the store devoted to chocolate.
Here are some examples of the Easter setups:
I got myself one Kinder egg because those toys are so damn fun to put together. No Kinder bunny for me. Also, the Kinder commercials here have the world's worst jingle. I can't find it on YouTube, but I am not a fan. The bunnies reminded me of
Here's another aisle of the store:
So...much...chocolate...
I had aesthetics class, where I thought we were going to go over the material I was doing my midterm paper on, but instead we reviewed all the old boring topics involving Kant that were really easy to write papers on. I spent my tutorial attempting to outline my paper. Our entire aesthetics class was bonding over the frenetic paper writing we had to do over the next few days. I was intending on doing my midterm online quiz right after lecture, and when I asked how much longer the quiz would be open, Robert (the lecturer, who is super awesome) looked at me and chuckled a little and then informed me that it closed before class. My roommate Sean and I had both planned on doing it afterward, and Robert, as always, was really cool about the whole thing and said he'd open it up for us again. I felt like an idiot, but these things happen. Also, in Australia when you're reviewing the topics in class it's called a "revision exercise" instead of "review exercise." It took me awhile to catch on to this.
After class, Tara told me she had exciting news and pictures from last Thursday so she came over and we chatted about things for awhile. Girl talk, love it. I also remembered about my tendency to chuckle and say "laughter" out loud while laughing. It's ridiculous, and similar to when I say "sad face" in response to bad news. I had kind of forgotten about it since I don't use it too often in public. :)
I took my aesthetics quiz (I got a 9/10 on the quiz. Not too shabby.) and worked more on one of those physics labs I had due Thursday, then called it a night. Sleep is great stuff.
April 7th
Physics class in the morning was fun. I was late again (really sorry about that).
We got to my favorite slide on the notes so far:
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
Oh, yeah. I may not have mentioned this but in both my physics classes we lose our lecturers halfway through and get new ones. Shaheen tried to explain why this is to me, but I got confused. I think it's so that lecturers with specific interests or expertise in certain topics can teach them or something. Anyway, at the end of this week I won't have Mike or Alex teaching my physics and optics lectures, respectively. I'll miss them both. They were really good teachers and they actually seemed to care if I was learning or not.
Anyway, we had our last tutorial with Mike and after the class looked around puzzlingly for a few minutes, I let him know that we didn't have the Tutorial 4 handout. I'm not sure why none of us mentioned this to him last week, when we also didn't have the handout throughout class, but it might have been because it was raining. I felt bad, but yet again I left tutorial feeling like I knew a lot more than when I came in.
I went to the store to grab a few things. Namely, Easter candy. I figured the stores on Easter weekend would either be closed or open at inconvenient hours so I got all my post-Lent sweets today. Good decision. Also, I feel like Australians are obsessed with chocolate. This may be due to my current Lent stipulations, but still, everywhere I go there is a giant display or full aisle in the store devoted to chocolate.
Here are some examples of the Easter setups:
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
Here's another aisle of the store:
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
So...much...chocolate...
I had aesthetics class, where I thought we were going to go over the material I was doing my midterm paper on, but instead we reviewed all the old boring topics involving Kant that were really easy to write papers on. I spent my tutorial attempting to outline my paper. Our entire aesthetics class was bonding over the frenetic paper writing we had to do over the next few days. I was intending on doing my midterm online quiz right after lecture, and when I asked how much longer the quiz would be open, Robert (the lecturer, who is super awesome) looked at me and chuckled a little and then informed me that it closed before class. My roommate Sean and I had both planned on doing it afterward, and Robert, as always, was really cool about the whole thing and said he'd open it up for us again. I felt like an idiot, but these things happen. Also, in Australia when you're reviewing the topics in class it's called a "revision exercise" instead of "review exercise." It took me awhile to catch on to this.
After class, Tara told me she had exciting news and pictures from last Thursday so she came over and we chatted about things for awhile. Girl talk, love it. I also remembered about my tendency to chuckle and say "laughter" out loud while laughing. It's ridiculous, and similar to when I say "sad face" in response to bad news. I had kind of forgotten about it since I don't use it too often in public. :)
I took my aesthetics quiz (I got a 9/10 on the quiz. Not too shabby.) and worked more on one of those physics labs I had due Thursday, then called it a night. Sleep is great stuff.
Your hair was wild, your eyes were red, you were in a rage...
Song: "I Don't Blame You" by Cat Power
April 6th
Eh, I didn't finish my lab report this morning. I got close enough, but Rowan and I were so confused we couldn't turn it in on time.
We went to visit the femtosecond laser lab on campus and it was super cool! The folks who work there are obviously awesome because of signs like this:
Check out the bangin' glasses, this very well could be my future:
One of the many neat things the micro-machining lab did was help design the 2000 and 2004 Olympic torches. They need certain tiny cuts in them so that the flame keeps burning but doesn't go out so they cut it with high powered femtosecond pulse lasers. Fascinating stuff.
Rowan and I hurriedly attempted to finish our lab between the lab tour and lab class but we didn't quite make it. Thankfully, Alex is a swell guy and he gave us until Thursday to fix it up. Unfortunately for my time management, that was the same day my other lab report was due. Eh, whatever.
I attempted to work on the late lab after lab class was over, but midway through I got a worried message from Bethany that our couch was gone. Out of pure curiousity, mixed with a little sentiment of "ah, I'm so confused on this lab," I came home and found that indeed one of our couches was no longer. If I could sum up the feelings of the room it would involve the word "flabbergasted." After my Nancy Drew skills kicked in, I realized that someone had fixed the broken chair that we've asked to have repaired since day one, and my next thought was that "maybe maintenance took our couch." It was after 5, so I couldn't call them this evening.
Instead I went to the gym, where my pilates instructor gave us chocolate eggs for being good all term. haha, the torture! I came home and gave it to Sean in exchange for some of his homemade guacamole, which was much smoother than mine. I like both kinds. I watched 30 Rock and did other unproductive things. Good day.
April 6th
Eh, I didn't finish my lab report this morning. I got close enough, but Rowan and I were so confused we couldn't turn it in on time.
We went to visit the femtosecond laser lab on campus and it was super cool! The folks who work there are obviously awesome because of signs like this:
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
Check out the bangin' glasses, this very well could be my future:
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
One of the many neat things the micro-machining lab did was help design the 2000 and 2004 Olympic torches. They need certain tiny cuts in them so that the flame keeps burning but doesn't go out so they cut it with high powered femtosecond pulse lasers. Fascinating stuff.
 |
| From Shots around Macquarie |
Rowan and I hurriedly attempted to finish our lab between the lab tour and lab class but we didn't quite make it. Thankfully, Alex is a swell guy and he gave us until Thursday to fix it up. Unfortunately for my time management, that was the same day my other lab report was due. Eh, whatever.
I attempted to work on the late lab after lab class was over, but midway through I got a worried message from Bethany that our couch was gone. Out of pure curiousity, mixed with a little sentiment of "ah, I'm so confused on this lab," I came home and found that indeed one of our couches was no longer. If I could sum up the feelings of the room it would involve the word "flabbergasted." After my Nancy Drew skills kicked in, I realized that someone had fixed the broken chair that we've asked to have repaired since day one, and my next thought was that "maybe maintenance took our couch." It was after 5, so I couldn't call them this evening.
Instead I went to the gym, where my pilates instructor gave us chocolate eggs for being good all term. haha, the torture! I came home and gave it to Sean in exchange for some of his homemade guacamole, which was much smoother than mine. I like both kinds. I watched 30 Rock and did other unproductive things. Good day.
Sunrise, sunrise, looks like morning in your eyes...
Song: "Sunrise" by Norah Jones
April 5th
Today was the end of Daylight Savings Time in Australia. This really had no effect on anything, but it happened.
My goal for this morning was to go see the sun rise. My train was getting in really early around 6 am and I wanted to go to the beach and see it. However, my train was delayed so I saw it from the comfort of my seat.
Still pretty. Once I did finally make it back to Central station in Sydney, I grabbed a ham and cheese croissant from a sandwich shop in the station which was not on par with the one I had in Melbourne. Sad face. However, it was definitely nourishment, which was necessary. I hopped back on the train to Macquarie and made it back in time to take a severe nap and then wake up and do my homework and post some pictures on Facebook.
Nothing terribly interesting here. I may have done laundry.
April 5th
Today was the end of Daylight Savings Time in Australia. This really had no effect on anything, but it happened.
My goal for this morning was to go see the sun rise. My train was getting in really early around 6 am and I wanted to go to the beach and see it. However, my train was delayed so I saw it from the comfort of my seat.
Still pretty. Once I did finally make it back to Central station in Sydney, I grabbed a ham and cheese croissant from a sandwich shop in the station which was not on par with the one I had in Melbourne. Sad face. However, it was definitely nourishment, which was necessary. I hopped back on the train to Macquarie and made it back in time to take a severe nap and then wake up and do my homework and post some pictures on Facebook.
Nothing terribly interesting here. I may have done laundry.
Underneath this adolescent sky...we will not grow old
Song: "We Will Not Grow Old" by Lenka
April 4th
I woke up on the train to the faint sunrise and fields that looked a bit like home:
That was nice. I had slept a little, but not a ton on the train so I was a little lethargic. Once I arrived at the station, I left with no other thought in my mind besides "get coffee, get coffee, get coffee." I don't even really like coffee, so this was fun. Also, Australian coffee is not served delicious. I don't know what it is, but it sort of just tastes like warm milk soaked near espresso beans to me. A mocha here is like warm milk sprinkled with cocoa powder. Anyway, I got my coffee and a delicious breakfast quiche thing and was on my way. Not much of anything was open at this hour (8:00 am) except cafes and parks. The next thing I found was a park. My sister says those things on the trees look like those cardboard contraptions that go around your drink at Starbucks. I have no idea what they're for.
The park was essentially empty, minus some really motivated people exercising. I saw a team of people wearing the same shirts, but never caught who they were. Anyway, here's motivated guy number 1 and the team of who knows what players.
Oh right, it was called Flagstaff Park because before they built up the area around the city, it was used as a look out onto the water. Anyway, here's pretty church number one of several that I will come across today.
Also "open" at this hour was the Victoria Royal Mint, which may or may not have been interesting if I went during its operating hours. I went in the gate, but there wasn't much to be seen.
Here's the next church of the "churches Becky took pictures of in Melbourne" series:
I had my handy dandy map of Australia, which had a little inset map of Melbourne to guide me around the city until I reached the visitors center. I walked past the Victoria Library. Note: Australia likes its public sculptures. I have never seen cities so full of them until I came here, and my university campus is a whole other story in itself.
I'm also not sure why they had what looked to be a corner of the library in the side of the sidewalk (behind lamppost)
Anyway, my first goal of the morning was to get to the visitors center. On the way, I discovered it was the first weekend of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Here's one of the street theaters:
Unfortunately, it was mostly kids shows, but they had awesome titles:
My favorite was "Axis of Awesome" and Super Mega Maths Battle was pretty good too.
I left there (Town Hall) and got closer and closer to the visitors center. Along the way I passed this perplexing set of benches. Really?
On the other corner across the street was one of my favorite buildings in Melbourne, the Flinders Street Train Station.
Across the street from that was the visitors center!
It actually wasn't as helpful as I wanted it to be, but it was good to look around in anyway.
It was 9 a.m. when I got to the vistors center, and the place I wanted to go next was the observation deck at Rialto Towers and that didn't open until 10, so I walked around some bridges trying to find a place on my map called "Batman Park." I found some interesting things along the way, like my new favorite cafeteria. It wasn't open sadly.
I crossed some bridges
and then crossed back over them
The one above was a aboriginal conceptual bridge which celebrated the cultures of all Australians. Very artsy. The artist is quoted as saying:
I took a picture of the USA section of the bridge:
More bridge pics:
I have no idea what this building was, but it looked cool:
Ah, finally. I did make it to Batman Park, which was sadly nothing other than an odd looking pigeon cage and a helicopter pad. Yes, those sounded like bad ideas to have next to each other to me as well.
Also, along the way I found this on a pole:
I especially like the question mark.
I made it to the Rialto Towers without much trouble (ok, I got disoriented and crossed the bridge unnecessarily, but I made it there) and got my student discount and went up. It was pretty gorgeous up there, but I didn't really know what anything was. I used the little guides by the windows to spot where I had walked earlier and where I wanted to go later. It was an informative trip. Like a giant map, but really high up.
These were my bridges:
and here was the train station I came in on (in the bottom left hand corner):
Also, since it was early in the morning (10:15am) no one was there and I watched the included Melbourne movie by myself. It was kind of fun.
I left and my stomach told me it was time for lunch, or something like it. I stopped in a random cafe and got the best $2 croissant of my life.
and passed a pretty chandelier behind bars:
After eating that delicious croissant, I was thirsty and in my stroke of momentary genius I decided to buy a large container of orange juice instead of a several small ones throughout the day. I meant to bring my water bottle when leaving the apartment, but it slipped my mind. While buying the orange juice at the 7-Eleven (I know, so Australian), I ran into a group of Americans about my age. I think they were studying or backpacking around, but we didn't talk long.
My next goal was to find the Arts Centre, which was in my little Melbourne video, and from there I wanted to find the National Gallery of Victoria. This trip, while essentially just for fun and exploring, was also for my aesthetics class in a way. We're supposed to write a journal of our aesthetics experiences, but I really was coming up short for examples. What better way to tackle an art assignment than by a field trip! A very long field trip I might add. Melbourne to Sydney is about the distance from Chicago to Washington, D.C. (a little shorter, but not by much). Regardless, it was totally worth it.
I found the Arts Centre. The building was pretty and it was conveniently located right next to the gallery.
Also, it was a gorgeous day out, and the forecast had called for rain today all week. Some days I feel crazy lucky.
The gallery was a lot of fun.
In it was my favorite ceiling of all time:
I laid on the carpet with the mother and her three toddlers and stared at it longer. I don't care if you think I'm insane; that's just how I am.
Ok, love it. Here's just a bunch of picture.
That was fun. I also wanted to briefly see Victoria's Royal Botanic Gardens. I liked their clock.
I tried many times to get pictures of the government house. Then I decided I didn't want to get deported. This one turned out ok.
My legs were exhausted after walking all day. I took a picture of the exit since I was so happy to see it.
I left the gardens and made my way over more bridges back to the city. Here's a nice picture of the city skyline across the Yarra River.
I stopped at the Federation Bells, which were interesting. They were played by a man on a keyboard I think which hooked up to each bell. It was fascinating.
I stopped and got some wedges with sweet chilli and sour cream and a glass of wine (Victoria apparently is known for its wine) when I returned to Federation Square, the area with the visitors center. I relaxed there and watched part of the comedy festival. Sadly, the acts themselves were not very funny. The master of ceremonies was entertaining. Here are pictures:
Amusing MC:
Unamusing act one (it wasn't funny. she just made silly faces and twirled around.)
Unamusing act two (this was just terrifying. they mimicked each other.)
After that, I was done and I bolted out of there to another wing of the National Gallery of Victoria in Federation Square. This museum had the aboriginal and other Australian art. It was also amazing.
This piece is in response to one of Australia's past Prime Ministers refusing to issue a national apology for the country's treatment of the aboriginal people. The next (and current) Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, issued the statement later in 2008.
This one was titled "Starry Night in Jimbala Country". The left side depicts an area where there are sharp stones for making jimbala, or spearheads. The right is the starry sky.
The next wing was other Australian art. My favorite from it was the one depicting the Australian spirit in sports:
Accurate enough.
I really enjoyed the next part of the exhibit, which was award winning Victorian high school art students work. It was pretty incredible.
My favorites:
Terrifying
Phenomenal
Yeah, that's painting. Crazy, right?
I left there, unsure of whether I was going to look for dinner or go back to the Queen Victoria Markets. I decided to look into the markets because they might close at 5pm. They closed at 3pm and it was 4pm, but I didn't know that, so I walked across town anyway. I took one of my favorite pictures of the trip down this side alley of commissioned street art:
State funded street art. I love it.
Here's Australia throwing sculptures in the street again:
Also, here's an Australian slang lesson for you. Heaps = many or much.
Like this one, "The Queen Victoria Market: It's heaps better than school!"
Notice the hours. :)
Well, I sat down with my map trying to find a place to eat using the pamphlet I got at the tourist center, and realized there was nothing near Queen Victoria Markets, so I hopped on the free tourist bus (Yeah, Melbourne! way to go with this one!) and went back toward the center of town again. I didn't realize the bus came with a bit of a tour...I might have gotten on it sooner. Anyway, it dropped me off at The Docklands, which seems to be a new developing area around the city close to the water. It's also near some studios where they shoot the show "Neighbours" but I didn't find out if they had tours or anything. It was getting to be after 5pm, so I looked around at the little shops. My main desire was a travel blanket for the train since I was so cold on the way here. I found one reasonably priced. It was a "cashmere like blanket." I also saw this set of souvenir license plates with my name and my sisters right next to each other. I didn't touch it or anything.
Daw.
The Docklands had a sweet ferris wheel, but I was not going to pay that much to go in it. Plus, I had free entry back into the observation towers, so I wanted to do that.
They had a set-up to honor famous people of Melbourne. Dame Edna has a statue!
Kylie Minogue's didn't look real and John Farhnam's just looked silly. Oh and Dame Nellie Melba, who I think was who the toast was named after. Note: Looked it up on Wikipedia, she was a soprano, also from Melbourne.
I went and got dinner at this relatively fancy restaurant. This knife was next to me by the window and I thought it looked cool:
Oh, yes and I had an excellent view.
Here was my Chicken Involtini. Scrumptious.
I left there and made my way back to the observation tower. I got a picture of my favorite Australian television station's (they show 30 Rock and Lost) Melbourne headquarters:
I went up to the tower hoping for a gorgeous sunset picture. It was a little cloudy, but here's what I found:
I left there and ran to the train station, picked up my ticket which I had booked that morning while bridge-walking, and sat down to leave. My legs were killing me. It's amazing what 11 hours of walking with your belongings on your back will do to you. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
April 4th
I woke up on the train to the faint sunrise and fields that looked a bit like home:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
That was nice. I had slept a little, but not a ton on the train so I was a little lethargic. Once I arrived at the station, I left with no other thought in my mind besides "get coffee, get coffee, get coffee." I don't even really like coffee, so this was fun. Also, Australian coffee is not served delicious. I don't know what it is, but it sort of just tastes like warm milk soaked near espresso beans to me. A mocha here is like warm milk sprinkled with cocoa powder. Anyway, I got my coffee and a delicious breakfast quiche thing and was on my way. Not much of anything was open at this hour (8:00 am) except cafes and parks. The next thing I found was a park. My sister says those things on the trees look like those cardboard contraptions that go around your drink at Starbucks. I have no idea what they're for.
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I left there (Town Hall) and got closer and closer to the visitors center. Along the way I passed this perplexing set of benches. Really?
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
It actually wasn't as helpful as I wanted it to be, but it was good to look around in anyway.
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
"Let's declare, all of us as one, with free will and full heart and clear mind. We swear to the fact that we are equal Australians."I liked that.
I took a picture of the USA section of the bridge:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I made it to the Rialto Towers without much trouble (ok, I got disoriented and crossed the bridge unnecessarily, but I made it there) and got my student discount and went up. It was pretty gorgeous up there, but I didn't really know what anything was. I used the little guides by the windows to spot where I had walked earlier and where I wanted to go later. It was an informative trip. Like a giant map, but really high up.
These were my bridges:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
My next goal was to find the Arts Centre, which was in my little Melbourne video, and from there I wanted to find the National Gallery of Victoria. This trip, while essentially just for fun and exploring, was also for my aesthetics class in a way. We're supposed to write a journal of our aesthetics experiences, but I really was coming up short for examples. What better way to tackle an art assignment than by a field trip! A very long field trip I might add. Melbourne to Sydney is about the distance from Chicago to Washington, D.C. (a little shorter, but not by much). Regardless, it was totally worth it.
I found the Arts Centre. The building was pretty and it was conveniently located right next to the gallery.
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
The gallery was a lot of fun.
In it was my favorite ceiling of all time:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
Ok, love it. Here's just a bunch of picture.
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
That was fun. I also wanted to briefly see Victoria's Royal Botanic Gardens. I liked their clock.
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I left the gardens and made my way over more bridges back to the city. Here's a nice picture of the city skyline across the Yarra River.
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I stopped at the Federation Bells, which were interesting. They were played by a man on a keyboard I think which hooked up to each bell. It was fascinating.
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I stopped and got some wedges with sweet chilli and sour cream and a glass of wine (Victoria apparently is known for its wine) when I returned to Federation Square, the area with the visitors center. I relaxed there and watched part of the comedy festival. Sadly, the acts themselves were not very funny. The master of ceremonies was entertaining. Here are pictures:
Amusing MC:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
After that, I was done and I bolted out of there to another wing of the National Gallery of Victoria in Federation Square. This museum had the aboriginal and other Australian art. It was also amazing.
This piece is in response to one of Australia's past Prime Ministers refusing to issue a national apology for the country's treatment of the aboriginal people. The next (and current) Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, issued the statement later in 2008.
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
The next wing was other Australian art. My favorite from it was the one depicting the Australian spirit in sports:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I really enjoyed the next part of the exhibit, which was award winning Victorian high school art students work. It was pretty incredible.
My favorites:
Terrifying
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I left there, unsure of whether I was going to look for dinner or go back to the Queen Victoria Markets. I decided to look into the markets because they might close at 5pm. They closed at 3pm and it was 4pm, but I didn't know that, so I walked across town anyway. I took one of my favorite pictures of the trip down this side alley of commissioned street art:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
Here's Australia throwing sculptures in the street again:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
Also, here's an Australian slang lesson for you. Heaps = many or much.
Like this one, "The Queen Victoria Market: It's heaps better than school!"
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
Well, I sat down with my map trying to find a place to eat using the pamphlet I got at the tourist center, and realized there was nothing near Queen Victoria Markets, so I hopped on the free tourist bus (Yeah, Melbourne! way to go with this one!) and went back toward the center of town again. I didn't realize the bus came with a bit of a tour...I might have gotten on it sooner. Anyway, it dropped me off at The Docklands, which seems to be a new developing area around the city close to the water. It's also near some studios where they shoot the show "Neighbours" but I didn't find out if they had tours or anything. It was getting to be after 5pm, so I looked around at the little shops. My main desire was a travel blanket for the train since I was so cold on the way here. I found one reasonably priced. It was a "cashmere like blanket." I also saw this set of souvenir license plates with my name and my sisters right next to each other. I didn't touch it or anything.
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
The Docklands had a sweet ferris wheel, but I was not going to pay that much to go in it. Plus, I had free entry back into the observation towers, so I wanted to do that.
They had a set-up to honor famous people of Melbourne. Dame Edna has a statue!
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I went and got dinner at this relatively fancy restaurant. This knife was next to me by the window and I thought it looked cool:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I left there and made my way back to the observation tower. I got a picture of my favorite Australian television station's (they show 30 Rock and Lost) Melbourne headquarters:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I went up to the tower hoping for a gorgeous sunset picture. It was a little cloudy, but here's what I found:
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
 |
| From Melbourne Excursion |
I left there and ran to the train station, picked up my ticket which I had booked that morning while bridge-walking, and sat down to leave. My legs were killing me. It's amazing what 11 hours of walking with your belongings on your back will do to you. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
