Hello!
Where to start I don’t even know. I guess firstly on Wednesday
at work we had an Easter egg hunt which consisted of grownups looking on the
whole level five to find about 300 chocolate eggs. And I might add two cool
kids (me and Rani) made their own Easter Baskets….Yes I am 28. That was really
nice. What was even better is that Angela my new seat mate brought some
homemade chocolates in for me which were actually chocolate covered oreo cookie
balls which I LOVE! She so far has brought in homemade cookies, crackers, bags
of chips, jewelry, souvenirs, and now those…just for me. Some people are
jealous:D
Then after work on Wednesday I went to the Train concert at
the Opera House. It was AWESOME!!!!! Totally not like a normal concert. First
of all you sat in auditorium seats the whole time. No standing which was great!
The opening act was Taylor Henderson. I hadn’t ever heard of him but I think he
is pretty famous in Australia as he is headlining his own tour soon. He did a
good job and it was so cute because his dad and grandparents were there to
watch him. I mean how cool would it be to watch your musician grandchild
perform in the Sydney Opera House? Plus his dad even came on stage for one song. Then the main act, Train, came out. Pat
Monahan was a much better performer than I would have expected. He walked
through the audience, took hundreds of selfies with fan phones, and talked to
be people in the audience too. Of course the music was great. And I had to feel
pretty lucky watching Train at the Sydney Opera House! Beautiful night.
On Thursday night I caught the train to Melbourne. Everyone
here has been telling me how crazy I am to go by train instead of by plane. Of
course no one said anything BEFORE I bought the regional pass… Anywho they
might have had something there. So it was supposed to take 12 hours but that
turned into 16 hours. That is one L………….O…………..N…………..G train ride! I had this
older lady sitting next to me who was complaining to beat the band in between
telling me not to hitchhike in Victoria and fighting with her twin daughters.
It wasn’t horrible but not great either. Once I got to Melbourne, I walked from
Southern Cross Station to my hostel. It was about 2kms so with my luggage that
was not so good. Turns out I could have caught a tram or a train. Live and
learn. Anyway I dropped my luggage off then left to explore.
First I went to Flinders Station which was across the street and bought a Myki card so I could travel by train/tram/bus. Then I took the tram to Luna Park!! It was cool but the one in Sydney is better. Interesting story about some tight walking elephants though: in 1912 they commissioned two people to walka tightrope dressed as elephants. When the picture came out the world thought it really was an elephant tight rope walking. Then I walked down to St Kilda beach which was cool. Then I went back to Flinders Station and walked to Yarra River and the Aquarium. The Aquarium had a cool crocodile and penguins. Enjoyed that very much. Then I went back to the hostel. It was pretty nice there. It was nice and clean and big. Everything was there that was needed and it was cheap. The room I picked had 12 girls in it but it wasn’t as loud as one would think. Of course by the time they got home from the pub crawl I was leaving hehehe. It was in a great location! I would stay there again.
First I went to Flinders Station which was across the street and bought a Myki card so I could travel by train/tram/bus. Then I took the tram to Luna Park!! It was cool but the one in Sydney is better. Interesting story about some tight walking elephants though: in 1912 they commissioned two people to walka tightrope dressed as elephants. When the picture came out the world thought it really was an elephant tight rope walking. Then I walked down to St Kilda beach which was cool. Then I went back to Flinders Station and walked to Yarra River and the Aquarium. The Aquarium had a cool crocodile and penguins. Enjoyed that very much. Then I went back to the hostel. It was pretty nice there. It was nice and clean and big. Everything was there that was needed and it was cheap. The room I picked had 12 girls in it but it wasn’t as loud as one would think. Of course by the time they got home from the pub crawl I was leaving hehehe. It was in a great location! I would stay there again.
On Saturday I went on the Philip Island day tour. It was
alright. I didn’t much care for the guide on that one. At any rate I took the
fur seal cruise which was nice. I like marine life and of course don’t see much
of that in Michigan. So it was interesting for sure. Then we went and watched the Penguin Parade
which was interesting because there are very few places in the world that it
can be seen. It was kind of comical because there were probably 1000 people
watching 1000 penguins come on to shore under spot lights. We weren’t allowed
to take any photos of that though, sorry! I did meet a guy from Ohio and I
would have to say I was really excited to meet a fellow Midwesterner!
Sunday was the best day for sure! I went on the Great Ocean
Road tour with Outback Billy. He was such a good tour guide, I cant say enough
good things there. He knew lots of facts and had several funny stories. Plus he
dressed like I picture an Australian tour guide to dress; outback hat, boots,
khaki shorts and shirt. He was really nice! Anyway, that tour took us along the
great Ocean Road to see the London Bridge (what is left, funny story halfway down here), the twelve apostles (which
were only ever 8), the rainforest, and koalas in the wild!!! There was even a
koala walking along the road to its next tree. Really neat to see them in the
wild! There were a lot of nice people on that tour as well; a father and son
from Canberra (who have travelled more than me in the US), a couple from New
Zealand (that I picked their brain the whole way pretty much:D) and then a
family of four from Perth who were really nice. I cant even tell you how much I
liked that tour! Ocean Road has a deep history found here. Much like our Big Sur but with deeper meaning.
Then on Monday I went to the Pink Lake ehehehe which really
is a pink lake. So funny because the locals didn’t even know about it. Then I
met a nice lady at a store that directed me to the graffiti spots which were
breathtaking! Most people probably don’t know but I am obsessed with street
art. I had tried to go on a graffiti tour in London but it didn’t pan out. So I
was so excited to see the work in Melbourne. As you can tell from the pictures
it was amazing quality. There are two laneways in Melbourne that are dedicated
to street art so I actually saw some artists working on their pieces as it is
legal in those areas. Then I went on the Melbourne Star which is like the
London Eye in looks but it wasn’t overly impressive. I am glad I went on it but
I wouldn’t do it again unless it was at night.
The train ride back was about 14 hours because this time we
had a medical emergency….yay! Anyway I am glad to be back to Parramatta. I had
fun and I saw a lot of really neat things and met nice people. The public
transport there is really good as well but I know the Sydney trains for the
most part now. I must also add here that the time changed in Australia and guess what?!?!? I get to fall back twice because here they fell back since it is fall here:D That made me really happy!
Alright this was only a quick summary so if anyone wants
more specifics let me know.New pictures and video here. I hope everyone enjoyed their Easters!
