Melbourne

Saturday Jan. 27
The first day I was in Melbourne was uneventful. It was the evening that held all the excitement.

I slept in LATE (it was almost 11:00 when I surfaced!), and met Robyn's mom, Gai. Shortly after she was kicked out of the house for the remainder of the day while the rest of us organised her birthday party. Gai had turned 60 earlier that week, and they were having a group of their friends over to celebrate.

I caught up on email and blog (yay free Internet!!) while helping with food prep and decorations. As we were blowing up balloons, Robyn's friend Emily showed up, also to help out. We got to know each other quickly, and would end up spending most of the night chatting about Canada and Australia.

The party was SO much fun. There were about 30-40 people there, all friends that the family had known in their farming days plus new friends from the city. Emily and I helped out as much as we could in hopes of letting the family mingle, but Robyn was in top-organisational mode, as usual. We helped serve food, and cooked up some extras when the plates were running low. It was actually a lot of fun running around with purpose. I think I would have been a little lost, otherwise.

Robyn's mom Gai at her "Welcome to the Sixties" party. The decorations were far-out duuude...

Chris and his Celtic band provided the entertainment, both before and after dinner. The weather was cool (which of course they blamed on the visiting Canadian!), and after dessert was served people were starting to migrate inside. Before space got too tight, Chris and his band mate (also Chris), gathered us back outside as he cleared all the tables and set a bunch of us up in lines. It was time to learn a few Irish jigs.

There were three dances in all, each one slightly more complicated then the last. For the pairs dances I was partnered with Robyn's cousin (whose name I can't remember now...). We were a great team! The best part of the evening, though, was watching Robyn's brother dance with Chris #2 (and his GIANT Afro), in an attempt show us all the steps to the dances:
Classic ;).

The crowd started to thin around 11:00, and after finishing the majority of the clean-up, it was definitely bed time.


Sunday Jan. 28
Sunday was another lazy day. I was still catching up on my lost sleep from the tour, and was in bed, again, until after 10:00. I had plans to go out and see the city, but being useless seemed so much more appealing, so we did that instead. I called home and let my parents know that I had survived the Outback with all my limbs and would be staying with Robyn for a few days. It was great to hear voices from home, and I of course had lots to tell.

Robyn and I took an afternoon break from the computer and the couch to go the movies with Gai at the local theatre. We saw Happy Feet. It was cute :D.

Pizza was dinner, and then we were back in front of the tube. The Australian Open (tennis) had been going on for the last couple weeks, and that night was the men's final. The Open is played in Melbourne, so it was great fun to watch the big game, knowing the real thing was happening mere kilometres away.

As predicted, Roger Federov won the cup. I don't know much about tennis, but apparently this guy is one of the greatest players of all time, and this was his third straight Australian Open win. He's been winning cups like crazy for the past few years, apparently. It was cool to see a legend in action... tennis' own Wayne Gretzky ;).


Monday Jan. 29
Originally I was supposed to leave for Sydney on Monday. My plan had been to catch an early bus and travel throughout the day, crashing at the YHA Sydney Central that evening. On Sunday afternoon, however, Robyn had found me a deal on Jet Star, Quantas' discount domestic airline. If I stayed another night in Melbourne, I could get a flight to Sydney on Tuesday for $78, which was only about $10 more then the bus ticket. It would mean getting myself to Avalon Airport, which is at least an hour's drive outside the city, but Ian very generously offered to spend the day with me in Geelong, about 20 minutes from Avalon, and then drop me off at 6:30 p.m. for my flight. It sounded like a good deal to me, so we booked the ticket and I got another lay-in.

That afternoon I finally decided to head downtown and take in some sights. Robyn was going to meet a friend for lunch as well, so at about 11:00 we jumped on the tram and took the 45 minute long ride into the city centre. I headed straight for the info centre and asked at the desk for the best way to see the cities highlights in an afternoon. They informed me that there was a free bus that went on a continuous loop around the city, and provided commentary on the sights as you passed by. There were also about 15 stops along the route for you to get off and take a closer look. It sounded perfect, so I hopped on.

My stops for the day included the war memorial, the botanical gardens (said to be among the best in the word after London's Kew Gardens), and of course, the Melbourne Arena where Federov had celebrated his tremendous victory the night before. The arena looked empty and definitely without the excitement I'm sure it had radiated throughout the tournament, but I still enjoyed my visit.

I got a late lunch at a pub in the city centre, and took a walk through Chinatown and around the city's grid pattern of downtown streets. At around 5:00 I hopped another tram back to Robyn's place and arrive shortly before dinner.

The evening was spent helping Robyn pack for her big flight back to Auckland the next day. Ian and I would be dropping her off first at Melbourne Airport, and then continuing on our way to Geelong for the afternoon. I got myself sorted as well, folding and putting away all my nice, clean laundry. I was convinced that I would never get the Outback smell of red dirt and overripe bus out of my clothes, but with a good wash and a few hours drying on the clothesline, they were as good as new!


Tuesday Jan. 30
I got my earliest start since arriving in Melbourne and was up at a whopping 9:00 a.m.. Robyn was still doing some last minute packing, trying to figure out if her luggage was going to exceed the 20 kilo limit at the airport. I quickly got dressed and put my stuff by the door.

We were all in the car within about an hour, but not before Gai took a picture or two of Robyn and I out front of the house. I can't wait to get a copy (Robyn: hint hint :P), it'll definitely be a great reminder of the generous welcome and hospitality I received from the whole Morrow clan during my stay! Thanks so much for all you did for me!

We dropped Robyn off and got her sorted at the Airport. Her baggage wound up being well under the 20 kilo limit, so before checking in we did some rearranging the in drop-off zone to take some of the weight out of her carry-on. I would be following her back to New Zealand in about three days time, so our goodbye was more along the lines of "Ok, so, see ya later!"

I have no doubt ;).

Ian and I took a casual drive from the airport to Geelong. It was scenic but clouds were starting to appear again, which always dulls the sights.

As far as I can tell, Geelong has three big attractions: a beach, a wool museum, and a really big department store. Ian and I decided to pass the time as the first two, only. The beach was nice but the weather was cool and grey. We took a walk along it until we came to a restaurant that seemed to serve an affordable lunch. Ian and I had gotten along really well during my stay with the Morrows. They had hosted many exchange students through the years through their ties with the local Lion's Club, three of whom were from Canada. We often chatted about the differences and similarities between Canada and Australia, and our lunch conversation was no different. Ian has an affinity for percentages and populations, and I tried my best to be accurate whenever he asked me a question.

After lunch was the wool museum. As I mentioned previously, the Morrows own a farm a few hours outside Melbourne in the town of Stahl (sp??). Ian has a paddock of sheep and is very knowledgeable about the process of sheering and caring for them. He was my personal tour guide throughout the entire museum and was very patient as I peppered him with questions.

There was also a carpet loom set up in the middle of the museum. A HUGE operation with spindles of wool threaded through an immense network of machinery. Every once and a while they turn the machine on for a demonstration, and with the knowledge that this little town had a Canadian in their midst, they were more than willing to show me all its inner workings. Some people may not think it possible, but I honestly had a lot of fun in the wool museum! I would have even bought a souvenir if my bag wasn't already bursting. Also, something as small as a pair of gloves averaged about $60. A little out of my price range.

We went for a drive after the museum, mostly just to kill time. The bad weather made walking a pain, but we still had about an hour and a half before we had to leave for the airport. After the drive got a bit repetative, Ian and I resigned to a pub and watched the rain out the window and the cricket on the television. 6:00 eventually approached, and we were off to Avalon.

The ride to Sydney was short (a little less than an hour). They had had a beautiful day there, apparently, but the pilot warned us the forecast was for rain the next day (of course...). I tried not to get myself too down about the constant grey skies. I would be there for three days and the sun was bound to show itself at some point... right?