We're returning to the US for a few weeks tomorrow, and not a moment too soon. In addition to the obvious (holidays, family, work, etc) here's 11 (true) reasons why we know we've been in Australia too long:
1. You watch a movie and idly notice the people are driving on the wrong side of the road. Then you realize in America they are actually driving on the correct side of the road.
2. You ask the receptionist for today’s newspaper, and when she inquires why you want it, you respond you just want to check the TV section "to see what time the cricket is on.”
3. “No worries” becomes your most common response to any request whatsoever.
4. You complain about the fact Yarra trams is raising fares and (1) feel justified complaining about the level of service and (2) express this by saying “the tram is still too bloody packed during peak hours”.
5. Someone says they have been to Brissie, the territries, or OS and you know where they went.
6. You know which national teams are the Boomers, the Kookaburras, the Tall Blacks, the Black Caps, the Wallabies, and the Matildas.
7. You voice an opinion on the whole Ben Cousins situation.
8. You unthinkingly type “u” in words like harbour, endeavour, colour, etc.
9. You can guess Melbourne’s reservoir water reserves within a tenth of a decimal point.
10. The old, Italian gentleman at Nick’s barista counter gets you your large, take-away flat white without asking for your order.
11. You ask your spouse if your outfit makes you “…look like a daggy bogan?”
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Matt & Justin Timberlake - One Degree of Separation
On a weekend day in September, Matt was walking down the street in our quiet little neighborhood. Suddenly Matt heard a fluttering whoosh in his right ear and felt a bump on his shoulder. He flinched and, looking up, saw a bird flying away from him. “That’s odd”, he thought. “It’s almost like that magpie attacked me.” (Important note for nieces and nephews: a magpie is a non-poisonous bird. Yes, not all wildlife is deadly here). Continuing on his way, Matt made it about another ten yards when the same thing happened. Whoosh – thump! And the magpie flew up to perch on a tram cable.
Visions of Tippi Hendren and “The Birds” now flashed through his mind. Matt picked up the pace, turning to look over his shoulder at that damn magpie every few seconds. It remained on its tram line perch, staring straight at Matt and no doubt considering another dive bomb attack.
Visions of Tippi Hendren and “The Birds” now flashed through his mind. Matt picked up the pace, turning to look over his shoulder at that damn magpie every few seconds. It remained on its tram line perch, staring straight at Matt and no doubt considering another dive bomb attack.
Arriving home, Matt relayed his avian encounter to Marlys. She politely listened and then, with a look in her eyes that said “I don’t believe a word of this baloney”, asked what he wanted for dinner.
Ahh, but vindication was close at hand. The very next week, there was an article in the “50/50” section of the local paper – 505/50 is Melbourne’s answer to the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ “Sainted and Tainted” column, without the passive aggressiveness. In one of the day’s rants an older gent complained about “magpie culling” - apparently animal control was out culling a few magpie because they were swooping people, and the old-timer thought this just proved true Aussies aren’t what they used to be. “In my day, no child would complain if they were swooped by a few magpies this time of year. It was part of living in the bush”. (Actual quote).
Intrigued by the idea of bird attacks, Matt later dug up this article from the park service:
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/The+Australian+magpie
For those of you too busy to read the link, here are a few tips if a magpie swoops at you:
* Walk quickly and carefully away from the area, and avoid walking there when magpies are swooping. M&M - OK, we get this. Number One - Get OUT!
* Make a temporary sign to warn other people. M&M - sounds like a contradiction to rule #1. Do we leave, go get paper, colorful markers, create a sign, and then go BACK to the attack zone and leave a sign??
* Magpies are less likely to swoop if you look at them. Try to keep an eye on the magpie, at the same time walking carefully away. M&M - this would have been helpful information to add at rule #1. Alternatively, you can draw or sew a pair of eyes onto the back of a hat, and wear it when walking through the area. M&M - hmmmm. OK, so, seems to me the park service is having a little fun here. "Let's see what sort of goofy things we can get people to do... I know, let's have them sew buttons on their hats!"
* Wear a bicycle or skateboard helmet. Any sort of hat, even a hat made from an ice cream container or cardboard box, will help protect you. M&M - we are now envisioning the park service people screaming with laughter as they write out their 'dos and don'ts'. It's not enough to get people to sew buttons on their hats -- let's get them to fashion a ridiculous hat from an ice cream container or look like a weirdo wearing cardboard box as you walk around town. I think wearing a container or box on my head would deter more than a bunch of birds. We're trying to make friends in this town for crying out loud!
* Carry an open umbrella, or a stick or small branch, above your head but do not swing it at the magpie, as this will only provoke it to attack. M&M - what good is carrying a small branch if you don't get to use it?? If a park ranger stops you, don't you think the first thing THEY'LL think is that you ARE swinging it at the birds...?
* If you are riding a bicycle when the magpie swoops, get off the bicycle and wheel it quickly through the area. Your bicycle helmet will protect your head, and you can attach a tall red safety flag to your bicycle or hold a stick or branch as a deterrent. M&M - ahhhh, the combo approach! helmet? check! Stick? check! getting out of the area quickly? check! Although isn't this tip a bit flawed? I mean if you're supposed to get out of the area, wouldn't it be smarter to stay ON the bike? How can you wheel the bike and carry a small branch over your head at the same time? and what about keeping your eye on the magpie? seems to me you should wheel the bike away backwards, right? and of course, don't forget to return later...warning sign in hand.
In sum, yet another Australian animal is dangerous to humans – at least part of the year.
So what on earth does this have to do with the one and only JT? Well, he’s on tour in Oz and when asked in an interview about his thoughts on Australia he let slip his scariest moment was when he was attacked by magpies. He went on for about 2 minutes describing his magpie attack (Matt shuddered in recognition). We’ll say this for the magpies - they attack without respect for money or celebrity. How very Aussie.
If you’re here in September, here’s what to look out for:
* Walk quickly and carefully away from the area, and avoid walking there when magpies are swooping. M&M - OK, we get this. Number One - Get OUT!
* Make a temporary sign to warn other people. M&M - sounds like a contradiction to rule #1. Do we leave, go get paper, colorful markers, create a sign, and then go BACK to the attack zone and leave a sign??
* Magpies are less likely to swoop if you look at them. Try to keep an eye on the magpie, at the same time walking carefully away. M&M - this would have been helpful information to add at rule #1. Alternatively, you can draw or sew a pair of eyes onto the back of a hat, and wear it when walking through the area. M&M - hmmmm. OK, so, seems to me the park service is having a little fun here. "Let's see what sort of goofy things we can get people to do... I know, let's have them sew buttons on their hats!"
* Wear a bicycle or skateboard helmet. Any sort of hat, even a hat made from an ice cream container or cardboard box, will help protect you. M&M - we are now envisioning the park service people screaming with laughter as they write out their 'dos and don'ts'. It's not enough to get people to sew buttons on their hats -- let's get them to fashion a ridiculous hat from an ice cream container or look like a weirdo wearing cardboard box as you walk around town. I think wearing a container or box on my head would deter more than a bunch of birds. We're trying to make friends in this town for crying out loud!
* Carry an open umbrella, or a stick or small branch, above your head but do not swing it at the magpie, as this will only provoke it to attack. M&M - what good is carrying a small branch if you don't get to use it?? If a park ranger stops you, don't you think the first thing THEY'LL think is that you ARE swinging it at the birds...?
* If you are riding a bicycle when the magpie swoops, get off the bicycle and wheel it quickly through the area. Your bicycle helmet will protect your head, and you can attach a tall red safety flag to your bicycle or hold a stick or branch as a deterrent. M&M - ahhhh, the combo approach! helmet? check! Stick? check! getting out of the area quickly? check! Although isn't this tip a bit flawed? I mean if you're supposed to get out of the area, wouldn't it be smarter to stay ON the bike? How can you wheel the bike and carry a small branch over your head at the same time? and what about keeping your eye on the magpie? seems to me you should wheel the bike away backwards, right? and of course, don't forget to return later...warning sign in hand.
In sum, yet another Australian animal is dangerous to humans – at least part of the year.
So what on earth does this have to do with the one and only JT? Well, he’s on tour in Oz and when asked in an interview about his thoughts on Australia he let slip his scariest moment was when he was attacked by magpies. He went on for about 2 minutes describing his magpie attack (Matt shuddered in recognition). We’ll say this for the magpies - they attack without respect for money or celebrity. How very Aussie.
If you’re here in September, here’s what to look out for:
"Nevermore. Nevermore"
Friday, November 9, 2007
Melbourne Cup
Tuesday was a state holiday: Cup Day. Yes, this is a country that gives you a day off just for a horse race. In 1895 Mark Twain visited the Melbourne Cup and said "Nowhere in the world have I encountered a festival of people that has such a magnificent appeal to the whole nation. The Cup astonishes me." Like our fellow Midwesterner, we were astonished by the pageantry of the Cup.
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most famous racing event. It's been a public holiday since the 1870s and Flemington track usually has up to 150,000 people attending. Its very much a cocktail party atmosphere - champagne and canapés, huge hats and racetrack fashions, (there is a dress code - men need to be in jackets/ties, etc.) and, of course, horses, jockeys, and gambling.
It was all very, very posh and the pictures really won’t do the outfits justice. Everyone was dressed to the nines, and every woman had a hat. Or a “fascinator” in their hair. We never saw so many well dressed people in one place in our life. The woman we work with who organized our party procured a spot at a location called “The Rails”, which is normally a parking lot right alongside the track but for the Cup becomes one of the more exclusive areas for parties. We could sit in our chairs, drink champagne, eat hors d’oeuvres, and watch the horses thunder by.
Behind the Rails was “the Birdcage”, which is where the giant hospitality tents are located. Directly behind our party was the Emirates Airline tent, although to call it a “tent” is like calling the Taj Mahal a “tomb”. Amazing what lots and lots of oil money can do. Emirates is the main sponsor of the race (it’s officially the “Emirates Melbourne Cup”), so their tent is where all the TV crews and celebrities hang out. “Celebrity" in this case means "Australian celebrity", which to us Yanks really means "Who?". The only one we knew was Carson Kressley - he of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” – who judged the fashion show between races.
As for the gambling, we made ten bets and lost all but one. Luckily that one win was a 16 to 1 long shot so it made up for all the losses and then some. In addition, Matt’s horse for the big race finished dead last, so he actually collected a few bucks from the office pool.
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most famous racing event. It's been a public holiday since the 1870s and Flemington track usually has up to 150,000 people attending. Its very much a cocktail party atmosphere - champagne and canapés, huge hats and racetrack fashions, (there is a dress code - men need to be in jackets/ties, etc.) and, of course, horses, jockeys, and gambling.
It was all very, very posh and the pictures really won’t do the outfits justice. Everyone was dressed to the nines, and every woman had a hat. Or a “fascinator” in their hair. We never saw so many well dressed people in one place in our life. The woman we work with who organized our party procured a spot at a location called “The Rails”, which is normally a parking lot right alongside the track but for the Cup becomes one of the more exclusive areas for parties. We could sit in our chairs, drink champagne, eat hors d’oeuvres, and watch the horses thunder by.
Behind the Rails was “the Birdcage”, which is where the giant hospitality tents are located. Directly behind our party was the Emirates Airline tent, although to call it a “tent” is like calling the Taj Mahal a “tomb”. Amazing what lots and lots of oil money can do. Emirates is the main sponsor of the race (it’s officially the “Emirates Melbourne Cup”), so their tent is where all the TV crews and celebrities hang out. “Celebrity" in this case means "Australian celebrity", which to us Yanks really means "Who?". The only one we knew was Carson Kressley - he of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” – who judged the fashion show between races.
As for the gambling, we made ten bets and lost all but one. Luckily that one win was a 16 to 1 long shot so it made up for all the losses and then some. In addition, Matt’s horse for the big race finished dead last, so he actually collected a few bucks from the office pool.
Entrance to Flemington
The Two of Us All "Frocked Up"
Tilly, Emily and Mark Showing Off Their Race Day Fashions
Marlys, Dom and Rearn
Matt and Anthea
Thursday, November 8, 2007
And Now, Back to our Regularly Scheduled Program
Our apologies to the multitudes who have waited with baited breath for the next thrilling installment of AlianTravels. The dearth of posts was due to Matt’s return to the States for a few weeks, which meant very little time for either of us to blog about Oz.
In the interim our stuff arrived. Hey, it was only four weeks late, but at least very few things were broken. As Matt was living the high life in Minnesota, Marlys got to spend some quality alone time with 65 boxes, a bed that just wouldn’t put itself together, and piles and piles of clothes that required laundering and ironing. But we’re finally moved in, more or less, and read for guests!
To celebrate Matt’s return we drove up and into the Yarra Ranges Park to do some hiking, see the waterfalls, and get some fresh mountain air. One highlight was the mountain ash trees (they’re actually a variety of eucalyptus), which can grow to 200 feet tall. It’s like driving through the redwood forests, although in fairness the ashes are usually thinner than redwoods. Interesting fact: mountain ashes are agoraphobic. If two ashes grow close together, they will shed branches so they don’t touch. So in the forests, the trunks go up for 100 feet before there is any canopy. On the other hand, if an ash grows alone, it will have branches at all levels.
Emu (on left)
Tasmanian Devil
Koala
And also Echidna, Wallaby, Platypus , Wombat, Dingo, Flying Foxes (HUGE bats), and dozens of exotic birds.
In the interim our stuff arrived. Hey, it was only four weeks late, but at least very few things were broken. As Matt was living the high life in Minnesota, Marlys got to spend some quality alone time with 65 boxes, a bed that just wouldn’t put itself together, and piles and piles of clothes that required laundering and ironing. But we’re finally moved in, more or less, and read for guests!
To celebrate Matt’s return we drove up and into the Yarra Ranges Park to do some hiking, see the waterfalls, and get some fresh mountain air. One highlight was the mountain ash trees (they’re actually a variety of eucalyptus), which can grow to 200 feet tall. It’s like driving through the redwood forests, although in fairness the ashes are usually thinner than redwoods. Interesting fact: mountain ashes are agoraphobic. If two ashes grow close together, they will shed branches so they don’t touch. So in the forests, the trunks go up for 100 feet before there is any canopy. On the other hand, if an ash grows alone, it will have branches at all levels.
Road Through the Park
When Matt was in Minnesota the third most frequent question he was asked was: “Have you seen a kangaroo yet?” Embarrassed by the fact he always had to answer “no”, we resolved to see all the wildlife we could as soon as possible, and so on the way back into town we stopped at the Healesville Animal Sanctuary. For those of you coming to visit with kids, this is a must see location. It is a wonderful place, not at all zoo like, and the following is a non-exhaustive list of Australian fauna we observed:
Kangaroo
Emu (on left)Tasmanian Devil
Koala
And also Echidna, Wallaby, Platypus , Wombat, Dingo, Flying Foxes (HUGE bats), and dozens of exotic birds.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Aussie Speak
It’s the slang that will get you in Melbourne. Aussie Slang, or “Strine” as it’s sometimes called, is said to be a reflection of the harsh Australian land and the no-nonsense "let’s get on with it" attitude of the people. Some say the slang -- and the accent in particular -- came about because people had to learn to talk while keeping their mouths open as little as possible because of the flies. In fact, the term “Aussie salute” means to brush away flies with the hand. A person who has a strong accent and uses a lot of slang is said to talk real “ocker”.
You learn easy slang like ‘G’day’, ‘no worries’, and ‘mate’ and you think you’re set. But then the next day someone is telling a story dripping with slang and people are crying because they are laughing so hard and you’re sitting there…. just not quite getting the joke…you look like an idiot.
If it’s not the slang, it’s the accent. You know the word exactly but it’s how they’re pronouncing it that you can’t quite pick up -- so you look like an idiot.
I was in a meeting with a consultant and he told me one of our client contacts was in charge of procurement and SLAs.
“Essellays?” I asked, “I’m not familiar with that term – is it Australian?”
“SLA?” came the reply, “isn’t that fairly standard globally?”
“Um.” I respond nonchalantly -- I want to ensure I come off as internationally attentive to my new colleague, “say it again… the term is “essellays”?”
“Yes. S-L-A. Service Level Agreements.”
“Oh. S-L-A. Yep. I know that.”
“Uh-huh.”
These people think I’m an idiot.
Another day I went to meet with our finance person to discuss Melbourne accounting processes. I sat at her desk across from her – between us were papers, files, and other work. She pushed aside the papers and moved some folders and said,
“Here, let me clear you some farting room.”
“Excuse me?” I asked
“I just want to move my work so you have some farting room.”
“I’m sorry…some farting room?” I pronounce “farting” the way she did – more like “faah-ting”.
She nodded. “Don’t you fancy a bit of “faah-ting room”?”
“Um.” I look around as if I’m going to find an appropriate answer in the Xerox printer or the florescent lighting.
I grab a piece of paper and write the word, F-A-R-T-I-N-G and hand it to her.
“Are you saying, “farting”? You want me to have some farting room?”
I ask in my flat, nasally American accent.
Her head snaps back in laughter. Now her head nods forward. She pounds the desk (and my farting room) with her fist. She can’t speak. I look at her mutely. She gasps….more fist pounding… shaking her head she grabs the piece of paper and writes out:
F-I-G-H-T-I-N-G
“Fighting room? As in elbow room? That’s what you’re trying to say?”
She nods. Tears streaming down her delighted face.
You learn easy slang like ‘G’day’, ‘no worries’, and ‘mate’ and you think you’re set. But then the next day someone is telling a story dripping with slang and people are crying because they are laughing so hard and you’re sitting there…. just not quite getting the joke…you look like an idiot.
If it’s not the slang, it’s the accent. You know the word exactly but it’s how they’re pronouncing it that you can’t quite pick up -- so you look like an idiot.
I was in a meeting with a consultant and he told me one of our client contacts was in charge of procurement and SLAs.
“Essellays?” I asked, “I’m not familiar with that term – is it Australian?”
“SLA?” came the reply, “isn’t that fairly standard globally?”
“Um.” I respond nonchalantly -- I want to ensure I come off as internationally attentive to my new colleague, “say it again… the term is “essellays”?”
“Yes. S-L-A. Service Level Agreements.”
“Oh. S-L-A. Yep. I know that.”
“Uh-huh.”
These people think I’m an idiot.
Another day I went to meet with our finance person to discuss Melbourne accounting processes. I sat at her desk across from her – between us were papers, files, and other work. She pushed aside the papers and moved some folders and said,
“Here, let me clear you some farting room.”
“Excuse me?” I asked
“I just want to move my work so you have some farting room.”
“I’m sorry…some farting room?” I pronounce “farting” the way she did – more like “faah-ting”.
She nodded. “Don’t you fancy a bit of “faah-ting room”?”
“Um.” I look around as if I’m going to find an appropriate answer in the Xerox printer or the florescent lighting.
I grab a piece of paper and write the word, F-A-R-T-I-N-G and hand it to her.
“Are you saying, “farting”? You want me to have some farting room?”
I ask in my flat, nasally American accent.
Her head snaps back in laughter. Now her head nods forward. She pounds the desk (and my farting room) with her fist. She can’t speak. I look at her mutely. She gasps….more fist pounding… shaking her head she grabs the piece of paper and writes out:
F-I-G-H-T-I-N-G
“Fighting room? As in elbow room? That’s what you’re trying to say?”
She nods. Tears streaming down her delighted face.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Tassie Trip Tales
Australians call Tasmania “Tassie”, which rhymes with “lassie”, not “snazzy”. Linguists would likely refer to this construction as typical of the “Australian diminutive”. Other examples: they call breakfast “breakie”, Hells Angels are called “bikies”, men with a half set of teeth and diesel breath are “truckies”, and their back teeth are “chompies”. OK, I made up the last one.
But I digress. We have been either working, saying good bye, or relocating seven days a week for several months, and we realized the only way we would actually wind down was to take off for a couple days and get away from everything. After checking on the cheapest weekend flights anywhere in Australia, Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, clocked in at the cheapest and so that’s where we were off to. This is not our “Tasmania trip”. We heard you need a minimum of a week (in fact closer to 2-3 weeks) to see Tasmania and our experience definitely confirmed this advice. We just needed to get out of town and see a little of our new country.
Vacation starts early: we had to be up by 4:30 AM Saturday to get to the Skybus to the airport in time to catch our 6:45 flight. We flew Jetstar, which is Qantas’ low cost airline. Planes reminded me of Sun Country, right down to the leather seats and orange colors. Flight was uneventful for, oh, the first 10 minutes. Then a guy two rows behind us had a heart attack. While the crew and a doctor-passenger were attending to him, another passenger had a heart attack about 10 rows in front of us. There was running, screaming, and multiple oxygen tanks but no beverage/ food service. Despite hundreds of flights between us we have never experienced an in-flight medical emergency – but the odds decided to catch up all at once. The good thing about the flight to Hobart is it’s only 45 minutes in the air, so the fastest course of action was to keep flying. When we landed the EMTs came on, but everyone looked pretty casual and they let us off right away, so my guess is the two people are OK. In all honesty, hats off to Jetstar for handling it all so well.
One things every guidebook says to do in Hobart is go to the Salamanca Market on the harbor, which is held each Saturday morning. Lucky for us our hotel was right on Salamanca Place, so after dropping bags we were right there. The market was pretty cool – lots of local artwork, especially carved wood products. Flying over Tasmania the first thing you notice is how heavily forested it is, and at the market you realize they’ve figured out how to create beautiful everyday items out of all the different trees.
Guidebooks describe Salamanca Market as "funky". Presumably they say that because of the arts and crafts, although as we sat in an outdoor pub and watched the organic food stand yards away, the odors were not just of the apples and locally grown vegetables. Apparently the rejection of pesticides and caged fowl also involves the rejection of such capitalist tools as soap and combs.
We also tried a local specialty: curry scallop pies. Matt verdict: delicious! Marlys verdict: disgusting!
After a few hours at the market it was time for lunch so we took friends’ advice and went to the floating fish shops. In the harbor there are 6 boats tied up, each one with a walk up window and a menu for takeaway. We chose the one called “Flippers”. Marlys, a bit gun shy after the scallop pie episode, stayed with fish and chips. Matt went with the “Bag of Treats”: two each of scallop, crab, garlic prawn, prawn cutlet, calamari, and “seafood bites”, which as near as we can tell is a sort of aquatic mystery meat.
We needed to walk all the food so we went up to the Botanical Gardens, about a mile and half away. When I say up, I mean that literally – from harbor to garden that is the only direction. The gardens were so-so. There are some beautiful areas, but it is still early spring so a lot of blooms and flowers aren’t out yet. The tulips were gorgeous and there were great views of the Derwent River and ocean.
When it was time to leave, we were tired of walking so we went to catch the bus back to town. Interestingly, during the two hours spent at the garden they put up a sign at the bus stop saying, in effect, “This bus line shuts down forever at 5 PM today.” We were there at 4:55 and were a little concerned, as we were a little tired and didn’t relish the though of walking back to town with night falling and the temperatures dipping (despite being down hill). Luckily, the very last bus ever (they were quite clear about this) showed up and because we were the only ones on board, we had the honor of being the last two people to ride it. Ever. As his only passengers, the driver spent the whole ride looking back and talking to us as he careened back down to the harbor area. Helpful travel hint for those of you going to Hobart in the future: if your guidebook says take the #18 to or from the Botanical Gardens – it’s out of date.
Leaving the bus alive we decided to go to Australia’s oldest pub, the Hope and Anchor, which opened in 1807. A pub the guidebooks say is ‘not to be missed’. Well, we missed it. The Hope and Anchor is now without hope - there was a simple printed sign saying “closed” on every window. Disappointed, we walked a block to Montgomery Hotel for our pint (nb: In Australia there are hotels and there are hotels. I’ll explain the difference one of these days). While having our Cascade Premium (brewed in Hobart) someone came in and announced the Myers store was on fire.
Myers is the Australian equivalent to Macy’s. There is one downtown in every major city, and they are true department stores. The one in Hobart was in an 1836 building and apparently quite beautiful. I say “apparently” because the day we were there it burned to the ground. We never went closer than a few blocks to it, but could see the flames roaring above the (admittedly rather low-rise) Hobart skyline. It was still going the next morning.
That night we went to a fabulous Indian place called Annapurna for dinner. All the books said try it and they were right about this one.
To sum up: two heart attacks, one bus line closed down, the oldest pub in Australia shuttered, the Myers burned to the ground. All in all, a good first day in Tassie.
On Sunday we took a trip to Port Arthur, which is about 100km from Hobart down the Tasman peninsula. It was a gorgeous drive, although there was maybe 100m of straight highway. There were magnificent cliffs overlooking the Tasman Sea (next stop, New Zealand) and endless bays and wooded fjords.
Port Arthur was created to house two time convicts or reoffenders. If you were “transported” (which is what the Brits called being sentenced to Australia) and then committed further crimes once here, you were likely to be sent to Port Arthur. It is an absolutely beautiful location, and after it was abandoned in the late 1800s the bushfires burned a lot of the buildings, so now the site is mostly these ghostly ruins. You walk through a church or penitentiary with all of its walls but open to the skies.
We were there for about 5 hours and it was not enough time. The museum has an excellent program on transportation (in the British penal sense), and there are guides and plaques all over the place explaining the various remaining buildings and there purposes. The most chilling building (and there were a few contenders) was the “Secondary Prison”, which was a silent prison. No one could talk, guards included, the convicts had to wear masks over their faces so other prisoners could not see their faces or communicate, and the guards even wore felt shoes to dampen any noise. The chapel, where prisoners spent a few mandatory hours each Sunday, was constructed so prisoners were each in their own box seat and could not see anyone else except the minister. The amount of thought and engineering that went into creating the absolute sense isolation was considerable – and apparently a lot of inmates went insane from the solitude. We could understand why.
Second eeriest place was the island cemetery. When prisoners, guards, wardens, or their families died, they were rowed out to this tiny island about 100m from shore called “the isle of the dead”. The prisoners were almost all buried in unmarked graves, and the island is chock a block with gravesites. You can’t help but walk over them.
While Port Arthur was shut down as a prison, it has still had a tragic history. In 1996, a lunatic showed up with several automatic rifles and killed 35 visitors and staff and wounded 37 others at the site. If you ever read a news report it is an absolutely chilling story. As a result, Australia went from some of the loosest to some of the most stringent gun control laws in the world. They have turned the café, where 20 of the people died, into a memorial garden. It is a very sobering place. There is almost nothing in the official brochures about the massacre (as everyone refers to it) other than to describe the location of the memorial garden and ask people not to query staff about the event – many of them lost friends or family that day. The web site does retell the story under history > 28 April 1996.
After retuning to Hobart we went to Mure’s. This harbor restaurant has great views and supposedly the best seafood in town. It did not disappoint. We ate some of the best fish we have ever had and, considering the quality and service, it was inexpensive too!
Monday was not such a good day. We found out about Lisa’s passing in the middle of the night, so neither of us felt especially excited to be on vacation. We went to the Tasmanian Museum to see their exhibit on Antarctica because most Australian research on the continent is done out of Tassie. Unfortunately, the exhibit was closed that day (see a theme to our trip?). Then it started to rain a bit and so we just spend a few hours sitting in a pub reading.
A flight, a skybus and we were back in bed by 9 that night.
A few final random notes about Hobart:
Cost: fairly cheap, especially when compared with Melbourne
Vibe: arty/organic/outdoorsy/nautical (Taos meets Sedona meets Boulder meets Mystic, CT)
Locals: very laid back and friendly
Definite to dos: boat chippies, Mure’s, Port Arthur, any of the countryside
But I digress. We have been either working, saying good bye, or relocating seven days a week for several months, and we realized the only way we would actually wind down was to take off for a couple days and get away from everything. After checking on the cheapest weekend flights anywhere in Australia, Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, clocked in at the cheapest and so that’s where we were off to. This is not our “Tasmania trip”. We heard you need a minimum of a week (in fact closer to 2-3 weeks) to see Tasmania and our experience definitely confirmed this advice. We just needed to get out of town and see a little of our new country.
Vacation starts early: we had to be up by 4:30 AM Saturday to get to the Skybus to the airport in time to catch our 6:45 flight. We flew Jetstar, which is Qantas’ low cost airline. Planes reminded me of Sun Country, right down to the leather seats and orange colors. Flight was uneventful for, oh, the first 10 minutes. Then a guy two rows behind us had a heart attack. While the crew and a doctor-passenger were attending to him, another passenger had a heart attack about 10 rows in front of us. There was running, screaming, and multiple oxygen tanks but no beverage/ food service. Despite hundreds of flights between us we have never experienced an in-flight medical emergency – but the odds decided to catch up all at once. The good thing about the flight to Hobart is it’s only 45 minutes in the air, so the fastest course of action was to keep flying. When we landed the EMTs came on, but everyone looked pretty casual and they let us off right away, so my guess is the two people are OK. In all honesty, hats off to Jetstar for handling it all so well.
One things every guidebook says to do in Hobart is go to the Salamanca Market on the harbor, which is held each Saturday morning. Lucky for us our hotel was right on Salamanca Place, so after dropping bags we were right there. The market was pretty cool – lots of local artwork, especially carved wood products. Flying over Tasmania the first thing you notice is how heavily forested it is, and at the market you realize they’ve figured out how to create beautiful everyday items out of all the different trees.
Guidebooks describe Salamanca Market as "funky". Presumably they say that because of the arts and crafts, although as we sat in an outdoor pub and watched the organic food stand yards away, the odors were not just of the apples and locally grown vegetables. Apparently the rejection of pesticides and caged fowl also involves the rejection of such capitalist tools as soap and combs.
We also tried a local specialty: curry scallop pies. Matt verdict: delicious! Marlys verdict: disgusting!
After a few hours at the market it was time for lunch so we took friends’ advice and went to the floating fish shops. In the harbor there are 6 boats tied up, each one with a walk up window and a menu for takeaway. We chose the one called “Flippers”. Marlys, a bit gun shy after the scallop pie episode, stayed with fish and chips. Matt went with the “Bag of Treats”: two each of scallop, crab, garlic prawn, prawn cutlet, calamari, and “seafood bites”, which as near as we can tell is a sort of aquatic mystery meat.
We needed to walk all the food so we went up to the Botanical Gardens, about a mile and half away. When I say up, I mean that literally – from harbor to garden that is the only direction. The gardens were so-so. There are some beautiful areas, but it is still early spring so a lot of blooms and flowers aren’t out yet. The tulips were gorgeous and there were great views of the Derwent River and ocean.
When it was time to leave, we were tired of walking so we went to catch the bus back to town. Interestingly, during the two hours spent at the garden they put up a sign at the bus stop saying, in effect, “This bus line shuts down forever at 5 PM today.” We were there at 4:55 and were a little concerned, as we were a little tired and didn’t relish the though of walking back to town with night falling and the temperatures dipping (despite being down hill). Luckily, the very last bus ever (they were quite clear about this) showed up and because we were the only ones on board, we had the honor of being the last two people to ride it. Ever. As his only passengers, the driver spent the whole ride looking back and talking to us as he careened back down to the harbor area. Helpful travel hint for those of you going to Hobart in the future: if your guidebook says take the #18 to or from the Botanical Gardens – it’s out of date.
Leaving the bus alive we decided to go to Australia’s oldest pub, the Hope and Anchor, which opened in 1807. A pub the guidebooks say is ‘not to be missed’. Well, we missed it. The Hope and Anchor is now without hope - there was a simple printed sign saying “closed” on every window. Disappointed, we walked a block to Montgomery Hotel for our pint (nb: In Australia there are hotels and there are hotels. I’ll explain the difference one of these days). While having our Cascade Premium (brewed in Hobart) someone came in and announced the Myers store was on fire.
Myers is the Australian equivalent to Macy’s. There is one downtown in every major city, and they are true department stores. The one in Hobart was in an 1836 building and apparently quite beautiful. I say “apparently” because the day we were there it burned to the ground. We never went closer than a few blocks to it, but could see the flames roaring above the (admittedly rather low-rise) Hobart skyline. It was still going the next morning.
That night we went to a fabulous Indian place called Annapurna for dinner. All the books said try it and they were right about this one.
To sum up: two heart attacks, one bus line closed down, the oldest pub in Australia shuttered, the Myers burned to the ground. All in all, a good first day in Tassie.
On Sunday we took a trip to Port Arthur, which is about 100km from Hobart down the Tasman peninsula. It was a gorgeous drive, although there was maybe 100m of straight highway. There were magnificent cliffs overlooking the Tasman Sea (next stop, New Zealand) and endless bays and wooded fjords.
Port Arthur was created to house two time convicts or reoffenders. If you were “transported” (which is what the Brits called being sentenced to Australia) and then committed further crimes once here, you were likely to be sent to Port Arthur. It is an absolutely beautiful location, and after it was abandoned in the late 1800s the bushfires burned a lot of the buildings, so now the site is mostly these ghostly ruins. You walk through a church or penitentiary with all of its walls but open to the skies.
We were there for about 5 hours and it was not enough time. The museum has an excellent program on transportation (in the British penal sense), and there are guides and plaques all over the place explaining the various remaining buildings and there purposes. The most chilling building (and there were a few contenders) was the “Secondary Prison”, which was a silent prison. No one could talk, guards included, the convicts had to wear masks over their faces so other prisoners could not see their faces or communicate, and the guards even wore felt shoes to dampen any noise. The chapel, where prisoners spent a few mandatory hours each Sunday, was constructed so prisoners were each in their own box seat and could not see anyone else except the minister. The amount of thought and engineering that went into creating the absolute sense isolation was considerable – and apparently a lot of inmates went insane from the solitude. We could understand why.
Second eeriest place was the island cemetery. When prisoners, guards, wardens, or their families died, they were rowed out to this tiny island about 100m from shore called “the isle of the dead”. The prisoners were almost all buried in unmarked graves, and the island is chock a block with gravesites. You can’t help but walk over them.
While Port Arthur was shut down as a prison, it has still had a tragic history. In 1996, a lunatic showed up with several automatic rifles and killed 35 visitors and staff and wounded 37 others at the site. If you ever read a news report it is an absolutely chilling story. As a result, Australia went from some of the loosest to some of the most stringent gun control laws in the world. They have turned the café, where 20 of the people died, into a memorial garden. It is a very sobering place. There is almost nothing in the official brochures about the massacre (as everyone refers to it) other than to describe the location of the memorial garden and ask people not to query staff about the event – many of them lost friends or family that day. The web site does retell the story under history > 28 April 1996.
After retuning to Hobart we went to Mure’s. This harbor restaurant has great views and supposedly the best seafood in town. It did not disappoint. We ate some of the best fish we have ever had and, considering the quality and service, it was inexpensive too!
Monday was not such a good day. We found out about Lisa’s passing in the middle of the night, so neither of us felt especially excited to be on vacation. We went to the Tasmanian Museum to see their exhibit on Antarctica because most Australian research on the continent is done out of Tassie. Unfortunately, the exhibit was closed that day (see a theme to our trip?). Then it started to rain a bit and so we just spend a few hours sitting in a pub reading.
A flight, a skybus and we were back in bed by 9 that night.
A few final random notes about Hobart:
Cost: fairly cheap, especially when compared with Melbourne
Vibe: arty/organic/outdoorsy/nautical (Taos meets Sedona meets Boulder meets Mystic, CT)
Locals: very laid back and friendly
Definite to dos: boat chippies, Mure’s, Port Arthur, any of the countryside
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
A Home of Our Own
We moved in to our new place this weekend. It’s a 2.5 bedroom apartment with a bit of an ocean view (Port Philip Bay). By that I mean we can see the bay from one of our windows, and have a million dollar view of sunsets over the bay if we walk out the front gate.
The move itself went well – we just filled up the Commodore and headed over. Unfortunately, we are still awaiting our furniture from the States, which apparently took a left turn at Vanuatu and is now arriving in late October. So we had to quickly buy a few pieces to tide us over until it arrives. Marlys made three trips to IKEA to secure a bed, table and four chairs. It was delivered on time, but then came the pleasure of putting it all together. True to its reputation, IKEA is a chore to assemble. After cursing IKEA, Sweden and Swedes (not you, Jean, or anyone <51% Swedish), the furniture was able to stand on its own. Add the delivery of refrigerator, washer/ dryer, microwave, TV, etc. and we have a semblance of a home.
Of course, any home is not without its quirks. In the first two days, the hot water went out twice. Looking on the positive side, this has given us the opportunity to meet the landlord/ owner/upstairs neighbor, Mick. Nice guy and 101% Aussie, so he is friendly and helpful. All seems well now, although Matt says a novena before every shower.
On a more entertaining note, the woman who lives downstairs wanted to play her music LOUD on Sunday night. We found this interesting especially as we were vetted for the apartment it was stressed that this was a quiet building and priority would be given to quiet tenants. Loud music wasn’t enough -- after playing the same song three times -- our neighbor decided she also wanted to "sing". At this point Matt reached for the earplugs. The music selection (which had a promising start) quickly took a downward spiral when she followed up Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire with the theme to ”St Elmo’s Fire”. Matt threw down his paper, pulled out the earplugs, and stomped off to introduce himself. Marlys heard Matt "knock", muffled talking, and then a considerable drop in decibels. Moments later a completely calm and even laughing Matt returned. Our neighbor - and Matt’s new friend - answered the door in a T-shirt and underwear (black). After promising to turn things down, she asked Matt to, "come on in and let's be mates". Her speech was a bit slurry, so Matt is giving her the benefit of the doubt and assuming she was using “mate” in the Australian sense, not the biological sense.
The next day we noticed our courtyard DOES look a little like the one on Melrose Place.
Matt has also been practicing his wrong side of the road driving. As yet, body count remains zero.
Yes, we know we have yet to post something on our Tasmania trip. We promise it is coming.
The move itself went well – we just filled up the Commodore and headed over. Unfortunately, we are still awaiting our furniture from the States, which apparently took a left turn at Vanuatu and is now arriving in late October. So we had to quickly buy a few pieces to tide us over until it arrives. Marlys made three trips to IKEA to secure a bed, table and four chairs. It was delivered on time, but then came the pleasure of putting it all together. True to its reputation, IKEA is a chore to assemble. After cursing IKEA, Sweden and Swedes (not you, Jean, or anyone <51% Swedish), the furniture was able to stand on its own. Add the delivery of refrigerator, washer/ dryer, microwave, TV, etc. and we have a semblance of a home.
Of course, any home is not without its quirks. In the first two days, the hot water went out twice. Looking on the positive side, this has given us the opportunity to meet the landlord/ owner/upstairs neighbor, Mick. Nice guy and 101% Aussie, so he is friendly and helpful. All seems well now, although Matt says a novena before every shower.
On a more entertaining note, the woman who lives downstairs wanted to play her music LOUD on Sunday night. We found this interesting especially as we were vetted for the apartment it was stressed that this was a quiet building and priority would be given to quiet tenants. Loud music wasn’t enough -- after playing the same song three times -- our neighbor decided she also wanted to "sing". At this point Matt reached for the earplugs. The music selection (which had a promising start) quickly took a downward spiral when she followed up Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire with the theme to ”St Elmo’s Fire”. Matt threw down his paper, pulled out the earplugs, and stomped off to introduce himself. Marlys heard Matt "knock", muffled talking, and then a considerable drop in decibels. Moments later a completely calm and even laughing Matt returned. Our neighbor - and Matt’s new friend - answered the door in a T-shirt and underwear (black). After promising to turn things down, she asked Matt to, "come on in and let's be mates". Her speech was a bit slurry, so Matt is giving her the benefit of the doubt and assuming she was using “mate” in the Australian sense, not the biological sense.
The next day we noticed our courtyard DOES look a little like the one on Melrose Place.
Matt has also been practicing his wrong side of the road driving. As yet, body count remains zero.
Yes, we know we have yet to post something on our Tasmania trip. We promise it is coming.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Sad News From a Distance
Friends and family –
With disbelieving minds and heavy hearts we announce the sudden and unexpected passing of our sister-in-law, Lisa. It is very early in our move to realize the consequences of being half the world away. We expected to miss happy hours, parties, birthdays, hockey games, school concerts, and reunions. We knew our nieces and nephews would lose baby teeth, learn to walk, and grow tall. We were not so naïve to know that we would miss funerals of loved ones...but we did not expect this....
Lisa was a wife, mother, sister, grandmother, sister-in-law, aunt, daughter-in-law, and daughter. She and Tim had a long and happy marriage and three amazing kids – now young adults. Lisa was thrilling at the fact that a second grandchild – due this December – was on the way. To Matt, she was a co-conspirator – a fellow “outlaw” – the two banded together during family reunions and laughed at the Aukee quirks. To Marlys she was a friend and confidant.
Many thanks to those who have reached across the miles with words of condolence and caring. Your messages have given us great comfort. We have conveyed your thoughts and words to Tim and family, and it has brought them some solace as well.
We will miss Lisa very much.
Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never ever the same.-- Flavia Weedn
With disbelieving minds and heavy hearts we announce the sudden and unexpected passing of our sister-in-law, Lisa. It is very early in our move to realize the consequences of being half the world away. We expected to miss happy hours, parties, birthdays, hockey games, school concerts, and reunions. We knew our nieces and nephews would lose baby teeth, learn to walk, and grow tall. We were not so naïve to know that we would miss funerals of loved ones...but we did not expect this....
Lisa was a wife, mother, sister, grandmother, sister-in-law, aunt, daughter-in-law, and daughter. She and Tim had a long and happy marriage and three amazing kids – now young adults. Lisa was thrilling at the fact that a second grandchild – due this December – was on the way. To Matt, she was a co-conspirator – a fellow “outlaw” – the two banded together during family reunions and laughed at the Aukee quirks. To Marlys she was a friend and confidant.
Many thanks to those who have reached across the miles with words of condolence and caring. Your messages have given us great comfort. We have conveyed your thoughts and words to Tim and family, and it has brought them some solace as well.
We will miss Lisa very much.
Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never ever the same.-- Flavia Weedn
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Clear The Roads
We now have a vehicle. Being two relatively well off, relatively young, childless, cultured, fun loving people, what kind of car do you think we bought?
If you guessed a used station wagon, you get a gold star.
Marlys and I are the proud owners of a 2001 Holden Commodore station wagon. We are taking unsexy transportation to a whole new level. The Commodore (or "Commode") is the highest selling car in Australia, and the term "basic transportation" springs to mind when viewing or driving it. On the upside, it has plenty of room for visitors and their luggage, is cheap to insure and operate, and can take a lot of incidental contact. The two points being critical when you haven't driven on left hand of the road since 1994.
On our first driving experience, we picked up the car at Jen and John's house on Friday night. John, who owns a car business, had made sure we didn't end up with a lemon and got us a very good deal. We had a couple drinks with them: champagne for Marlys to calm her nerves, water for Matt so he would be an alert driver. Suitably prepared, we headed to the car, where Jen then got on her knees and said a few prayers (wish we had a picture of that). Then off we go.
No problem. Driving on the left is actually fairly easy when there is traffic and you know where you are going. You just follow everyone else and plan your turns. Marlys and Jen had plotted a course to our apartment from their house on Melways, and we had a highlighted path with the fewest number of possible turns all laid out.
There is still entertainment value galore. The wipers and turn signal switches are reversed, so Marlys knows when Matt wants to turn left because he turns on wipers. And it took Matt quite a while to realize there is a rear view mirror up and to the left.
Of course, we couldn't have a totally uneventful trip. We did luck out and get caught up in a sobriety check point. Thanks his exhibition of caution earlier in the night, Matt passed with flying colors in his first encounter with Melbourne's finest. We finally parked the car at our apartment, from whence it has not subsequently moved, and immediately repaired to our new local pub for a nice big VB.
We're waiting for traffic to die down to nothing before venturing forth again. I think Saturday at 5 AM. I'm sure our neighbors think we are odd - we have a car in our parking space, but no gas, electricity, furniture or fixtures in our apartment. They have a mighty expensive parking plan, those Yanks.
Next up: trip to Tasmania.
If you guessed a used station wagon, you get a gold star.
Marlys and I are the proud owners of a 2001 Holden Commodore station wagon. We are taking unsexy transportation to a whole new level. The Commodore (or "Commode") is the highest selling car in Australia, and the term "basic transportation" springs to mind when viewing or driving it. On the upside, it has plenty of room for visitors and their luggage, is cheap to insure and operate, and can take a lot of incidental contact. The two points being critical when you haven't driven on left hand of the road since 1994.
On our first driving experience, we picked up the car at Jen and John's house on Friday night. John, who owns a car business, had made sure we didn't end up with a lemon and got us a very good deal. We had a couple drinks with them: champagne for Marlys to calm her nerves, water for Matt so he would be an alert driver. Suitably prepared, we headed to the car, where Jen then got on her knees and said a few prayers (wish we had a picture of that). Then off we go.
No problem. Driving on the left is actually fairly easy when there is traffic and you know where you are going. You just follow everyone else and plan your turns. Marlys and Jen had plotted a course to our apartment from their house on Melways, and we had a highlighted path with the fewest number of possible turns all laid out.
There is still entertainment value galore. The wipers and turn signal switches are reversed, so Marlys knows when Matt wants to turn left because he turns on wipers. And it took Matt quite a while to realize there is a rear view mirror up and to the left.
Of course, we couldn't have a totally uneventful trip. We did luck out and get caught up in a sobriety check point. Thanks his exhibition of caution earlier in the night, Matt passed with flying colors in his first encounter with Melbourne's finest. We finally parked the car at our apartment, from whence it has not subsequently moved, and immediately repaired to our new local pub for a nice big VB.
We're waiting for traffic to die down to nothing before venturing forth again. I think Saturday at 5 AM. I'm sure our neighbors think we are odd - we have a car in our parking space, but no gas, electricity, furniture or fixtures in our apartment. They have a mighty expensive parking plan, those Yanks.
Next up: trip to Tasmania.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Let's just give photos a try, shall we?
Number One complaint about our blog? No pictures. We do have a camera but there are issues for the moment. That said, the text only version is so 1995 so here are some pictures of Australian animals to tide everyone over. All pictures (c) our friend Lucy and her mum.
1. Denny the Wombat. They had a pet wombat for a year or so. He apparently wandered into their farm one day so they kept and fed him for a while. Eventually he re-introduced himself to the wild.
2. Lizard (duh). This one's for Jared.
3. The Cockatoo. Or "Cockies", as they call them.
1. Denny the Wombat. They had a pet wombat for a year or so. He apparently wandered into their farm one day so they kept and fed him for a while. Eventually he re-introduced himself to the wild.
2. Lizard (duh). This one's for Jared.
3. The Cockatoo. Or "Cockies", as they call them.
Monday, September 10, 2007
All Caught Up
Sorry to be so behind on what’s up down under. This should catch you up to the present date.
Last weekend (September 1 and 2) the Melbourne Angel (aka Jen from work) gave us a driving tour of a bunch of neighborhoods in Melbourne. We decided we want to live closer to the CBD (Central Business District = downtown) so we can rely on public transit most of the time and not spend a lot of time commuting. So the 3 hour tour (Matt was Gilligan, Marlys was Mary Ann) was intended to give us an idea of some different places to live. After that Jen and her husband John had us over to their (beautiful) house for appetizers, and then we went out to a Chinese restaurant (the Tea House on Burke) in Camberwell, which is the suburb where they live. There was a fantastic tasting menu at only A$50 per person and for entertainment there was a big Chinese group celebrating something and they were all doing horrid karaoke.
We started off our Sunday (Father’s Day in Australia) by heading to church at St. John’s Lutheran in Southgate, which as far as we can reckon is the closest Lutheran church. And were we in luck. Once a month they have music students from local colleges perform Bach cantatas, so instead of a sermon there was a half hour or so of chorale music. It was beautiful. Gladys and Martha, you would have been in heaven. The pastor at St John’s is originally from Saginaw, MI, although he’s lived in Oz for 30+ years. It’s funny, he still doesn’t have much of an Aussie accent, but his speech is all Australian in terms of phrases, slang, etc. Does that make sense?
We then went to the Queen Victoria Market, which is the other, bigger market in central Melbourne. It’s much more than a farmer’s market (although it has a huge “fruit & veg” section, including tons of organics), with lots of specialty foods, meats and fish, clothes, Australiana, etc. I can see we are going to head there a lot. Matt then spent a couple hours looking at apartments in the Docklands area, which served mainly to confirm we do not want to live there. Docklands is a redeveloped area just west of the CBD full of new high rise apartment buildings. While it’s very close to work, clean, new and full of trendy restaurants, it’s too impersonal for us and doesn’t feel like a neighborhood.
Monday was not a holiday because Australia’s Labor Day is in October. And even then we don’t get the day off. But it was a big day for us nevertheless. With our possessions on their way across the Pacific and the clock ticking down on our temp apartment, we intensified the quest for our new home. We searched all the advertisements online and from the weekend papers and on Monday made a ton of calls. Unfortunately, we started getting two answers from estate agents:
(1) apartment was already let .
(2) it would be available in October.
Because the market for apartments is very tight, agents don’t feel the need to work particularly hard. Most “inspections” or apartment viewings are once a week for 15 minutes. Imagine 70 people waiting to walk around a tiny apartment counting the electrical outlets, checking out the views, and flushing the toilet. We talked to one agent about setting up an inspection – they said we could view the apartment but we would have to go to her office in Elwood (southern suburb), leave a deposit, pick up the keys, turn around and go back to visit the apartment in Albert Park (which is halfway between the CBD and Elwood), let ourselves in, take a look, and then reverse the process. She couldn’t be bothered to meet us there so we took a pass.
The good news: we loved the first one we viewed on Monday. It is on Beaconsfield Parade, which runs along the beach in the neighborhoods of Albert Park and Middle Park. The building was built in the 1930s and is sort of a Chicago three flat with a beach feel, if that makes sense. The apartment has 2 bedrooms (room for you, dear reader!!), is spacious, and is in the back of the building so while we have the most minimal of ocean views, we don’t have the noise from traffic on the road. Apparently it can be busy in summer.
There is also great access to two tram lines so it is 15-25 minutes to work on the tram depending on traffic. At the further stop there is a neighborhood center with cafes, bike shop, grocery, etc. It reminds me of the Linden el stop from when we were kids. Don’t worry Rosy - the newsagent is a clean cut looking South Asian immigrant. Martha – don’t call in a raid!
Rick, the letting agent, was very patient with us, answering all our questions about renting in Australia, which were no doubt a little basic for him. We put in our application and waited for a response. On Wednesday, just as we were placing more calls to other agents, we got the good news: the place is ours! Our lease starts the 15th, although I think we will be more likely to move in towards the end of the month when our stuff arrives. So we have a few more weeks of room service in us. Such a tragedy.
On Friday 6 Sept, we went out to dinner at the Mail Order Office with Marlys’ boss, who was in from Hong Kong for meetings with the Australian teams. Going to the MOO (as it is called) is like going to a speakeasy: you go down this little alley, through a door without much of a sign, down some stairs, and suddenly you’re in the old postal vaults from the GPO next door. Great food (especially Matt’s quail cassoulet), a couple glasses of good Australian Shiraz, and we judged it an excellent evening.
One “fun” thing about Australian apartments: they do not come with all appliances. So Saturday we headed out to the discount appliance superstore to buy everything electric. Another co-worker, Maria, had volunteered to take us to a place in the suburbs. We bought a washer, dryer, refrigerator, TV, vacuum, microwave and a toaster. Whew. The funny part (clue: it wasn’t the final bill) was the guy who helped us: he had just returned from visiting friends in St. Paul! Small world. And just so you know we are observant: he too remarked on how much cheaper the beer is in Minnesota (see our post on September 3)
After the shopping we drove down to the coast, looking for an outdoor restaurant with a bay view, enjoying the gorgeous spring weather (70 degrees, bright sunshine) and a long bay front drive. Since we had been cooped up in the city for two weeks, it was just what the doctor ordered. We finally wandered into a place called the “Mordiallac Sporting Club”, which is a little sports (that means cricket and footy) club in a town called Mordiallac. You could become a member for the day (free) and eat on the verandah, which had a gorgeous view of Port Phillip Bay. Note to Jared: Marlys had the fish and chips, and the fish was called flake. Flake is shark meat! Yum!
Today we started out with breakfast at Muleta’s, which (DAVID PAY ATTENTION) consistently wins the award for the best pancakes in Melbourne. It is also right next to the Queen Victoria Market, where we did some fruit & veg shopping. We then walked through the CBD and across the Yarra to the National Gallery of Victoria (the NGV) to see the traveling Guggenheim exhibit. We ended up joining the NGV, which gets us into the Member’s Club (ooh – free tea and cookies!) and also gives us and guests (hint, hint) discounts or free entry into a lot of exhibits and museums throughout Victoria and Australia.
September is playoff month in Australia, with the footy finals and rugby finals both going on. Footy and rugby are far and away the most popular sports, so the newspapers are about 80% devoted to those sports, 10% to the racing form, and 10% other news (oh, was George Bush in Sydney for APEC?). Today there was a big game for each sport in Melbourne, so the streets were thronged with people in jerseys, scarves, face paint, etc.
After the NGV hunger was getting the best of us, and we were on our way to the temp apartment when we saw the Immigration Museum was having their annual German Fest. A museum providing knockwurst, German hash browns, and German beer? Culture is a wonderful thing!
Now a note to readers: you can leave a comment (just below) anytime. We check every day and love to hear what’s up with you!
Last weekend (September 1 and 2) the Melbourne Angel (aka Jen from work) gave us a driving tour of a bunch of neighborhoods in Melbourne. We decided we want to live closer to the CBD (Central Business District = downtown) so we can rely on public transit most of the time and not spend a lot of time commuting. So the 3 hour tour (Matt was Gilligan, Marlys was Mary Ann) was intended to give us an idea of some different places to live. After that Jen and her husband John had us over to their (beautiful) house for appetizers, and then we went out to a Chinese restaurant (the Tea House on Burke) in Camberwell, which is the suburb where they live. There was a fantastic tasting menu at only A$50 per person and for entertainment there was a big Chinese group celebrating something and they were all doing horrid karaoke.
We started off our Sunday (Father’s Day in Australia) by heading to church at St. John’s Lutheran in Southgate, which as far as we can reckon is the closest Lutheran church. And were we in luck. Once a month they have music students from local colleges perform Bach cantatas, so instead of a sermon there was a half hour or so of chorale music. It was beautiful. Gladys and Martha, you would have been in heaven. The pastor at St John’s is originally from Saginaw, MI, although he’s lived in Oz for 30+ years. It’s funny, he still doesn’t have much of an Aussie accent, but his speech is all Australian in terms of phrases, slang, etc. Does that make sense?
We then went to the Queen Victoria Market, which is the other, bigger market in central Melbourne. It’s much more than a farmer’s market (although it has a huge “fruit & veg” section, including tons of organics), with lots of specialty foods, meats and fish, clothes, Australiana, etc. I can see we are going to head there a lot. Matt then spent a couple hours looking at apartments in the Docklands area, which served mainly to confirm we do not want to live there. Docklands is a redeveloped area just west of the CBD full of new high rise apartment buildings. While it’s very close to work, clean, new and full of trendy restaurants, it’s too impersonal for us and doesn’t feel like a neighborhood.
Monday was not a holiday because Australia’s Labor Day is in October. And even then we don’t get the day off. But it was a big day for us nevertheless. With our possessions on their way across the Pacific and the clock ticking down on our temp apartment, we intensified the quest for our new home. We searched all the advertisements online and from the weekend papers and on Monday made a ton of calls. Unfortunately, we started getting two answers from estate agents:
(1) apartment was already let .
(2) it would be available in October.
Because the market for apartments is very tight, agents don’t feel the need to work particularly hard. Most “inspections” or apartment viewings are once a week for 15 minutes. Imagine 70 people waiting to walk around a tiny apartment counting the electrical outlets, checking out the views, and flushing the toilet. We talked to one agent about setting up an inspection – they said we could view the apartment but we would have to go to her office in Elwood (southern suburb), leave a deposit, pick up the keys, turn around and go back to visit the apartment in Albert Park (which is halfway between the CBD and Elwood), let ourselves in, take a look, and then reverse the process. She couldn’t be bothered to meet us there so we took a pass.
The good news: we loved the first one we viewed on Monday. It is on Beaconsfield Parade, which runs along the beach in the neighborhoods of Albert Park and Middle Park. The building was built in the 1930s and is sort of a Chicago three flat with a beach feel, if that makes sense. The apartment has 2 bedrooms (room for you, dear reader!!), is spacious, and is in the back of the building so while we have the most minimal of ocean views, we don’t have the noise from traffic on the road. Apparently it can be busy in summer.
There is also great access to two tram lines so it is 15-25 minutes to work on the tram depending on traffic. At the further stop there is a neighborhood center with cafes, bike shop, grocery, etc. It reminds me of the Linden el stop from when we were kids. Don’t worry Rosy - the newsagent is a clean cut looking South Asian immigrant. Martha – don’t call in a raid!
Rick, the letting agent, was very patient with us, answering all our questions about renting in Australia, which were no doubt a little basic for him. We put in our application and waited for a response. On Wednesday, just as we were placing more calls to other agents, we got the good news: the place is ours! Our lease starts the 15th, although I think we will be more likely to move in towards the end of the month when our stuff arrives. So we have a few more weeks of room service in us. Such a tragedy.
On Friday 6 Sept, we went out to dinner at the Mail Order Office with Marlys’ boss, who was in from Hong Kong for meetings with the Australian teams. Going to the MOO (as it is called) is like going to a speakeasy: you go down this little alley, through a door without much of a sign, down some stairs, and suddenly you’re in the old postal vaults from the GPO next door. Great food (especially Matt’s quail cassoulet), a couple glasses of good Australian Shiraz, and we judged it an excellent evening.
One “fun” thing about Australian apartments: they do not come with all appliances. So Saturday we headed out to the discount appliance superstore to buy everything electric. Another co-worker, Maria, had volunteered to take us to a place in the suburbs. We bought a washer, dryer, refrigerator, TV, vacuum, microwave and a toaster. Whew. The funny part (clue: it wasn’t the final bill) was the guy who helped us: he had just returned from visiting friends in St. Paul! Small world. And just so you know we are observant: he too remarked on how much cheaper the beer is in Minnesota (see our post on September 3)
After the shopping we drove down to the coast, looking for an outdoor restaurant with a bay view, enjoying the gorgeous spring weather (70 degrees, bright sunshine) and a long bay front drive. Since we had been cooped up in the city for two weeks, it was just what the doctor ordered. We finally wandered into a place called the “Mordiallac Sporting Club”, which is a little sports (that means cricket and footy) club in a town called Mordiallac. You could become a member for the day (free) and eat on the verandah, which had a gorgeous view of Port Phillip Bay. Note to Jared: Marlys had the fish and chips, and the fish was called flake. Flake is shark meat! Yum!
Today we started out with breakfast at Muleta’s, which (DAVID PAY ATTENTION) consistently wins the award for the best pancakes in Melbourne. It is also right next to the Queen Victoria Market, where we did some fruit & veg shopping. We then walked through the CBD and across the Yarra to the National Gallery of Victoria (the NGV) to see the traveling Guggenheim exhibit. We ended up joining the NGV, which gets us into the Member’s Club (ooh – free tea and cookies!) and also gives us and guests (hint, hint) discounts or free entry into a lot of exhibits and museums throughout Victoria and Australia.
September is playoff month in Australia, with the footy finals and rugby finals both going on. Footy and rugby are far and away the most popular sports, so the newspapers are about 80% devoted to those sports, 10% to the racing form, and 10% other news (oh, was George Bush in Sydney for APEC?). Today there was a big game for each sport in Melbourne, so the streets were thronged with people in jerseys, scarves, face paint, etc.
After the NGV hunger was getting the best of us, and we were on our way to the temp apartment when we saw the Immigration Museum was having their annual German Fest. A museum providing knockwurst, German hash browns, and German beer? Culture is a wonderful thing!
Now a note to readers: you can leave a comment (just below) anytime. We check every day and love to hear what’s up with you!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Working it
So how was the first week at work I hear you ask?
First off, the entire staff is absolutely wonderful. They are obviously a tight knit team, but they welcome us with open arms and smiles. They are kind, funny, and patient with the new Yanks. They have volunteered to help us house hunt, give references, suggest restaurants, and discuss any and all aspects of Melbourne living – in short they take an active interest in seeing that we are settling in. They have also already learned to poke fun at out foibles (few that they are). In short – we feel right at home!
Here’s how the week went:
Monday: half the staff was at an off-site event for the day, so we were able to ease into things. After a spin around the office (10 minutes) and meeting the staff who were in (20 minutes), we got down to some actual work. Matt’s blackberry had been buzzing with a few minor disasters over the weekend so he was especially eager to respond to some pressing issues. There as a small welcoming lunch (Japanese, yum) and at the end of the day we all went over to the Crown Hotel for a happy hour.
The Crown Hotel is part of the Crown Casino complex, which is a Vegas like casino in the heart of Melbourne, just on the south side of the Yarra River (the river cuts through the southern part of the city the central business district is to the north). The happy hour was held in a special floor normally restricted to high rollers (someone know someone?) that had two story windows with 270 degree panoramic views. I never realized the amount of neon in Melbourne. Anyway, a few free drinks and some get to know you chat we took a cab back to the pied de terre and went to bed. We stayed awake until 8!
On Tuesday we attempted to get our visas stamped at immigration. After arriving at 1 PM, were given # B198. They were currently serving #B150. After 25 minutes they were on # B153 so we decided to bag it and try again on Friday.
Tuesday afternoon the office threw us a "Welcome Tea" towards the end of the day. The theme was an "Aussie Feast", which consisted of (American translation in parentheses):
Anthea (co-worker) - "Hi Marlys, do you want a piece of fairy bread?"
Marlys - "No thanks, Anthea, I just had a Tim Tam."
Perfectly normal in Australia, perfectly odd in the US.
Matt likes vegemite. No, he’s not just trying to fit in - he really does like it. He is now having it on his breakfast toast most mornings.
The people from the office seem to get together as a group fairly frequently. On Wednesday, Jen (who picked us up at the airport) had organized dinner and tickets for Phantom of the Opera. We went to European for dinner, whose cuisine was, as you might expect, European - Italian pasta, German schnitzel, French fois gras, etc. It was delicious. Aussies are great dinner companions. They are very outgoing and conversational, and opinions are to be shared, not held. It was just like dinner with Matt’s family.
"Phantom" was in a very old, recently restored theater – the Princess. Our seats were 4th row, dead center. Jen pulled a string or two I think. It was an excellent show, and Marlys screamed a very lady-like, "holy crap!" when the chandelier came down, which was Matt’s favorite part (he’d seen it before so knew it was coming).
Thursday – we collapsed into bed after work. No event. Very nice.
Friday we went to immigration the minute it opened. Took a grand total of 10 minutes. Timing is everything, even at the DAIC. Then with two rather plain looking visas in our passports we went to the bank to access our account. We had opened the account over the internet and deposited a nice sum there for our arrival, but couldn’t access the account until we could show our passport and visa. This 10 minute process took about an hour and a half. We were "helped" by a woman named Chitty and, you guessed it, we got Chitty service. Eventually we had an open account, but no checkbook, ATM card, etc yet. Ugh.
Did we go out and party Friday night? No, we made dinner, read and watched a little TV, and researched neighborhoods to start the apartment hunt the next day. Stay tuned….
Aussie phrase-of-the-day: "rug up" means "dress warmly". Lately it’s been chilly so we’ve had to rug up.
First off, the entire staff is absolutely wonderful. They are obviously a tight knit team, but they welcome us with open arms and smiles. They are kind, funny, and patient with the new Yanks. They have volunteered to help us house hunt, give references, suggest restaurants, and discuss any and all aspects of Melbourne living – in short they take an active interest in seeing that we are settling in. They have also already learned to poke fun at out foibles (few that they are). In short – we feel right at home!
Here’s how the week went:
Monday: half the staff was at an off-site event for the day, so we were able to ease into things. After a spin around the office (10 minutes) and meeting the staff who were in (20 minutes), we got down to some actual work. Matt’s blackberry had been buzzing with a few minor disasters over the weekend so he was especially eager to respond to some pressing issues. There as a small welcoming lunch (Japanese, yum) and at the end of the day we all went over to the Crown Hotel for a happy hour.
The Crown Hotel is part of the Crown Casino complex, which is a Vegas like casino in the heart of Melbourne, just on the south side of the Yarra River (the river cuts through the southern part of the city the central business district is to the north). The happy hour was held in a special floor normally restricted to high rollers (someone know someone?) that had two story windows with 270 degree panoramic views. I never realized the amount of neon in Melbourne. Anyway, a few free drinks and some get to know you chat we took a cab back to the pied de terre and went to bed. We stayed awake until 8!
On Tuesday we attempted to get our visas stamped at immigration. After arriving at 1 PM, were given # B198. They were currently serving #B150. After 25 minutes they were on # B153 so we decided to bag it and try again on Friday.
Tuesday afternoon the office threw us a "Welcome Tea" towards the end of the day. The theme was an "Aussie Feast", which consisted of (American translation in parentheses):
Fairy Bread (white bread with butter and colored sugar sprinkles on top). Kids love this!
Shrimp from the barbie (duh)
Vegemite on toast (brewer's yeast extract on toast)
Chicken skewers (self explanatory)
Spring rolls (ditto)
Tim Tams (really good cookies)
Meat pies (baby size pastys. Makes us long for the UP and a real pasty)
Champagne, beer and wine ("tea" to Australians after 4 PM)
Anthea (co-worker) - "Hi Marlys, do you want a piece of fairy bread?"
Marlys - "No thanks, Anthea, I just had a Tim Tam."
Perfectly normal in Australia, perfectly odd in the US.
Matt likes vegemite. No, he’s not just trying to fit in - he really does like it. He is now having it on his breakfast toast most mornings.
The people from the office seem to get together as a group fairly frequently. On Wednesday, Jen (who picked us up at the airport) had organized dinner and tickets for Phantom of the Opera. We went to European for dinner, whose cuisine was, as you might expect, European - Italian pasta, German schnitzel, French fois gras, etc. It was delicious. Aussies are great dinner companions. They are very outgoing and conversational, and opinions are to be shared, not held. It was just like dinner with Matt’s family.
"Phantom" was in a very old, recently restored theater – the Princess. Our seats were 4th row, dead center. Jen pulled a string or two I think. It was an excellent show, and Marlys screamed a very lady-like, "holy crap!" when the chandelier came down, which was Matt’s favorite part (he’d seen it before so knew it was coming).
Thursday – we collapsed into bed after work. No event. Very nice.
Friday we went to immigration the minute it opened. Took a grand total of 10 minutes. Timing is everything, even at the DAIC. Then with two rather plain looking visas in our passports we went to the bank to access our account. We had opened the account over the internet and deposited a nice sum there for our arrival, but couldn’t access the account until we could show our passport and visa. This 10 minute process took about an hour and a half. We were "helped" by a woman named Chitty and, you guessed it, we got Chitty service. Eventually we had an open account, but no checkbook, ATM card, etc yet. Ugh.
Did we go out and party Friday night? No, we made dinner, read and watched a little TV, and researched neighborhoods to start the apartment hunt the next day. Stay tuned….
Aussie phrase-of-the-day: "rug up" means "dress warmly". Lately it’s been chilly so we’ve had to rug up.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Rest of the Weekend
For all of you waiting on pins and needles for our next post (judging by the number of comments, that means Danny and Nancy), here’s a run down of what we’ve been up to.
When we last posted your intrepid travelers had safely arrived in the Paris of the South. After leaving the South Melbourne Market, we wandered back to our apartment via Federation Square, which is the sort of Times Square of the city, and also home to the main tourist bureau. After loading up with maps and other freebies for our visitors to use (hint, hint) we got on the Circle Tram.
[NOTICE: the following is original work and not written by Metlink] Melbourne has a fantastic public transit system. It is served by a huge network of trams and trains as well as busses. The tram network is the largest in the southern hemisphere and you have to get pretty far out to outrun the tram network. Of course, that’s where the regional train network still has service, and it costs the same to ride a train or tram, and you can switch from one to another on your trip at no cost. Very civilized. The Circle Tram is a free tram that circles the CBD (downtown to us Yanks), running in each direction and arriving every 10 minutes. It goes by almost all the major tourist draws. It rocks.
A quick trip on the Circle Tram took us back fairly close to our apartment, where we had a bite to eat and went to bed. At 6PM.
A bit about our temporary apartment. It is a one bedroom place and is a bit tight because we did bring six suitcases. But it is clean, has a big kitchen, is serviced 6 times a week, is close to work, and has windows on two sides for plenty of light. One real piece of bad news is the location: we are at what must be the highest point in Melbourne. That means we are always walking up hill to get home. Tiring, especially if you’re carrying something like groceries, suitcases, FedEx deliveries, coffee pots, etc. And because we are surrounded by office towers, there is no view like you’d normally have in such elevated circumstances. But all in all – a minor annoyance.
Sunday we were up at 4 AM, bright eyed and ready to go. Matt went for a run at 6 or so, dodging club goers who were definitely NOT on the way home yet. We did a little shopping (Matt’s riff on Australian retail to come) and decided to explore our temporary neighborhood that day. We found the nearest supermarket (Coles) for supplies. Just like a Lunds, except you can buy alcohol any day of the week (Score one, Melbourne), even if said alcohol is more expensive (Score one, Minnesota). Prices on food are about the same, although bananas are much more expensive for some reason.
At about 4 PM, already fading, we repaired to our pied a terre to rest for our first day of work. While resting, we learned about Australian TV. Let’s see: there was Aussie Rules Football (“footie” in Victoria), cricket, track and field, another footie match, rugby, a third footie match (this one took place yesterday but, hey, some people may have been in a coma so it’s new to them), soccer, and the news. If only there was some footie!
We made it until 7 PM - then it was lights out.
That’s the weekend. More to come….
When we last posted your intrepid travelers had safely arrived in the Paris of the South. After leaving the South Melbourne Market, we wandered back to our apartment via Federation Square, which is the sort of Times Square of the city, and also home to the main tourist bureau. After loading up with maps and other freebies for our visitors to use (hint, hint) we got on the Circle Tram.
[NOTICE: the following is original work and not written by Metlink] Melbourne has a fantastic public transit system. It is served by a huge network of trams and trains as well as busses. The tram network is the largest in the southern hemisphere and you have to get pretty far out to outrun the tram network. Of course, that’s where the regional train network still has service, and it costs the same to ride a train or tram, and you can switch from one to another on your trip at no cost. Very civilized. The Circle Tram is a free tram that circles the CBD (downtown to us Yanks), running in each direction and arriving every 10 minutes. It goes by almost all the major tourist draws. It rocks.
A quick trip on the Circle Tram took us back fairly close to our apartment, where we had a bite to eat and went to bed. At 6PM.
A bit about our temporary apartment. It is a one bedroom place and is a bit tight because we did bring six suitcases. But it is clean, has a big kitchen, is serviced 6 times a week, is close to work, and has windows on two sides for plenty of light. One real piece of bad news is the location: we are at what must be the highest point in Melbourne. That means we are always walking up hill to get home. Tiring, especially if you’re carrying something like groceries, suitcases, FedEx deliveries, coffee pots, etc. And because we are surrounded by office towers, there is no view like you’d normally have in such elevated circumstances. But all in all – a minor annoyance.
Sunday we were up at 4 AM, bright eyed and ready to go. Matt went for a run at 6 or so, dodging club goers who were definitely NOT on the way home yet. We did a little shopping (Matt’s riff on Australian retail to come) and decided to explore our temporary neighborhood that day. We found the nearest supermarket (Coles) for supplies. Just like a Lunds, except you can buy alcohol any day of the week (Score one, Melbourne), even if said alcohol is more expensive (Score one, Minnesota). Prices on food are about the same, although bananas are much more expensive for some reason.
At about 4 PM, already fading, we repaired to our pied a terre to rest for our first day of work. While resting, we learned about Australian TV. Let’s see: there was Aussie Rules Football (“footie” in Victoria), cricket, track and field, another footie match, rugby, a third footie match (this one took place yesterday but, hey, some people may have been in a coma so it’s new to them), soccer, and the news. If only there was some footie!
We made it until 7 PM - then it was lights out.
That’s the weekend. More to come….
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
23-25 August 2008 - The First Day
The flights from MSP to MEL were good. Matt slept almost 2 hours on the LA leg and we each got 6+ hour on the Melbourne leg. So we felt fairly rested when we arrived. The flight from LAX to Melbourne actually "wasn't excruciating" to use Marlys' term. With the sleep and an open seat next to us we could spread out and relax. Biggest letdown was we slept through dinner and drinks and so missed the first VB (our favorite Aussie beer, Victoria Bitter) opportunity! The oddest moment was about an hour from landing when we flew over the Dividing Range and saw snow. Not they way you think of Oz, even when you know it's winter.
While in LA we met our friend Anne and she took us out Hacienda Del Sol for a little Mexican (and I don't mean Speedy Gonzalez). We love HdS - fabulous food and a great way to break up the trip. And next time Matt will finally say to hell with long flights and have the garlic shrimp.
Walking out of customs, we were surprised by our new co-worker Jen at the airport. She drove us to our temporary housing and had thoughtfully stocked our fridge and cupboards for us! We then popped by the PDI office for a quick tour and then Jen dropped us at the South Melbourne Market (big farmers market) where we enjoyed breakfast and a sunny morning. Weather was warm and sunny like a crisp fall day in Minnesota, which felt wonderful after a day on planes. If only there were college football.....
With all the events, work and stress of moving (Thursday was more than a mite stressful) we really haven't had a chance to think about what we are doing for a long time. But somewhere over the South Pacific it started to hit us: this is not a vacation and we were not going to be back at home in a few weeks. A very introspective moment. We are nevertheless very excited about this unique opportunity and consider ourselves so fortunate to have this adventure.
While in LA we met our friend Anne and she took us out Hacienda Del Sol for a little Mexican (and I don't mean Speedy Gonzalez). We love HdS - fabulous food and a great way to break up the trip. And next time Matt will finally say to hell with long flights and have the garlic shrimp.
Walking out of customs, we were surprised by our new co-worker Jen at the airport. She drove us to our temporary housing and had thoughtfully stocked our fridge and cupboards for us! We then popped by the PDI office for a quick tour and then Jen dropped us at the South Melbourne Market (big farmers market) where we enjoyed breakfast and a sunny morning. Weather was warm and sunny like a crisp fall day in Minnesota, which felt wonderful after a day on planes. If only there were college football.....
With all the events, work and stress of moving (Thursday was more than a mite stressful) we really haven't had a chance to think about what we are doing for a long time. But somewhere over the South Pacific it started to hit us: this is not a vacation and we were not going to be back at home in a few weeks. A very introspective moment. We are nevertheless very excited about this unique opportunity and consider ourselves so fortunate to have this adventure.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Good Bye, Minnesota!
Tomorrow is the big day. Flight for LA leaves about 5, we arrive Saturday at about 8 AM, Qantas and Northwest willing.
Since we are leaving tomorrow, only have time for a short post. Marlys and I just want to say thanks to everyone who has helped us with the move, bid us farewell, or lent an ear and support over the last few months. You've made it both easier and harder to leave!
Specifically, we want to thank (in no particular order):
- Bill, Joe, and Dale for the design, transport and construction labor to create the Portland Avenue mini-storage facility.
- Anne Barton - for flying across country, getting us organized around what would stay and what would be shipped, and for all the packing, errands, etc.
- Dale, Jean, Britta, and Esko for many days of packing and moving assitance - running errands, helping with home projects, etc.
- Dad for painting.
- Mo and Steph for taking over the 1944 household.
- Haggs, Mids, Bri and Finbar for the going away party, with a special thanks to Haggs and Tanya for the legwork (a cold VB awaits).
- Beth and Cork for the going away pool party (in rain and cold!).
- The Beavers for the DVD player that will last the entire LAX-MEL flight.
- Dale and Jean for the family BBQ (in rain and cold! yes, there's a theme here...).
- The Beavers for lunch at Palomino (Kathy, don't leave early next time - wait long enough and Lisa will reach for her credit card!)
- Gladys and Henry for celebrating Thanksgiving in August! It was a fabulous feast with all the Turkey day trimmings! Thanks to Nancy, Paavo, Kristine, and Chuck for making the trek in from MI to join us.
- Bill for car storage.
- Haggs for the dump run and the brilliant idea to have Coneys when it was closed.
- Mom, Dad and Luba for last minute details and errands on the day we left. Otherwise we'd still be in St Paul!
- All the friends, family, nieces, and nephews for the last minute visits. Especially Elias for coming in from Denver; Laurie Singer in from PA; Anne in from LA; Auntie Lil from MI; and Kevin Kerns from Philadelphia.
- All of our family members for being at least a bit understanding about the fact we won't be around to help out and share laughs as much as we'd like
I'm sure I've missed a lot of people, so a big "I'm sorry" for the omission and a bigger "thanks!" for everything you did. Your room awaits you in Melbourne.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Twenty Questions
It seems the easiest way to begin our blog is with a little Q&A. These are all actual questions we've received, and are presented in no particular order:
1.Q: Why are you creating a blog? A: Marlys and I are moving to Melbourne, Australia, which is a long way from St. Paul. Almost literally on the other side of the world. So, thanks to the wonders of the world wide web, we're creating a blog as the most effective way to keep friends, family, and an as yet undetermined number of late night internet surfers current on our lives.
2. Q: Melbourne? Sounds Cool. A: Yes. It is cool in August, but hot in January. Sort of like Bizarro St Paul.
3. Q: When are you leaving? A: We're planning to go this summer. Exact time depends on the good graces of the US, Australian, Canadian and some local governments, as well as our ability to transition from our current jobs.
4. Q: Do you both have jobs awaiting you? A: Yes. Although the Australian dole does get high marks, they don't grant visas in the "shifty freeloader" category.
5. Q: What are you doing with your house? A: As of today (5 April 2007) we plan to rent it. But watch this space.
6. Q: What will your jobs be like? A: Pretty similar to the way they are now. Marlys will be the account executive for Melbourne, which includes western Oz. Matt will continue as corporate attorney supporting Asia-Pacific and corporate initiatives. The real change will be increased responsibility and working in a different culture.
7. Q: Can we visit? A: Yes. Although we ask visitors to bear in mind Oscar Wilde's comparison of guests and fish.
8. Q: When? A: Any time - rooms are first come, first served.
9. Q: Aren't you afraid of the box jelly fish, funnel spiders, king brown snakes, blue ringed octopi, etc. (thanks Jared and Corrina)? A: Only a little. These critters are rarely encountered in an office environment. But we'll heed Corrina's advice: "Watch out. They're deadly - and they can kill you too!"
10 Q: Why is your blog called "Alian Travels"? A: Title courtesy of our nephew Will. He was a bit nervous about Australia because when he was told it was full of Australians, he tuned out the first syllable. A few sleepless nights later, he was assured there is a real difference between "stralians" and "aliens". Although I think there is a lingering doubt there nonetheless. Fear not, Will! The only aliens in Australia will be resident aliens -- like us!
11. Q: Why Melbourne? Why not Sydney or somewhere else? A: Because that's where our work is. Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia, was settled by regular people (i.e, not convicts), is the sporting capital of Australia (and if you know Australians, that says a lot), and did you know it's thrice been voted "World's Most Livable City" by no less an authority than The Economist?
12. Q: How long will you be gone? A: We've committed to two years. After that......
13. Q: Won't you miss us? A: Terribly.
14. Q: Will you get a sexy Australian accent? A: One can only hope.
15. Q: When will you come back to visit? A: Yes, Mom, we'll be back for Christmas. And as often as we can otherwise.
16. Q: Where will you live there? A: TBD. We'll be in temporary housing to start and look for a place to rent. Right now the only criteria is that we are on the ocean (Port Phillip Bay actually). We've lived in the dead center of the continent so long that we've earned an ocean view.
17. Q: How is the food in Australia? A: Just like the TV commercials tell you. Blooming onions, shrimp on the barbie, and Fosters three times a day. Seriously.
18. Q: Does the toilet really swirl backwards when you flush in Australia? A: Yes. And if you flush when directly over the equator it creates a rift in the fabric of time and space. I know. I've done it.
19. Q: No pictures, no links, no video. Why is this blog so lame? A: Agreed. Will learn to do all of the forgoing.
20. Q: Just what is "fair dinkum"? A: Don't know, but we will find out!
1.Q: Why are you creating a blog? A: Marlys and I are moving to Melbourne, Australia, which is a long way from St. Paul. Almost literally on the other side of the world. So, thanks to the wonders of the world wide web, we're creating a blog as the most effective way to keep friends, family, and an as yet undetermined number of late night internet surfers current on our lives.
2. Q: Melbourne? Sounds Cool. A: Yes. It is cool in August, but hot in January. Sort of like Bizarro St Paul.
3. Q: When are you leaving? A: We're planning to go this summer. Exact time depends on the good graces of the US, Australian, Canadian and some local governments, as well as our ability to transition from our current jobs.
4. Q: Do you both have jobs awaiting you? A: Yes. Although the Australian dole does get high marks, they don't grant visas in the "shifty freeloader" category.
5. Q: What are you doing with your house? A: As of today (5 April 2007) we plan to rent it. But watch this space.
6. Q: What will your jobs be like? A: Pretty similar to the way they are now. Marlys will be the account executive for Melbourne, which includes western Oz. Matt will continue as corporate attorney supporting Asia-Pacific and corporate initiatives. The real change will be increased responsibility and working in a different culture.
7. Q: Can we visit? A: Yes. Although we ask visitors to bear in mind Oscar Wilde's comparison of guests and fish.
8. Q: When? A: Any time - rooms are first come, first served.
9. Q: Aren't you afraid of the box jelly fish, funnel spiders, king brown snakes, blue ringed octopi, etc. (thanks Jared and Corrina)? A: Only a little. These critters are rarely encountered in an office environment. But we'll heed Corrina's advice: "Watch out. They're deadly - and they can kill you too!"
10 Q: Why is your blog called "Alian Travels"? A: Title courtesy of our nephew Will. He was a bit nervous about Australia because when he was told it was full of Australians, he tuned out the first syllable. A few sleepless nights later, he was assured there is a real difference between "stralians" and "aliens". Although I think there is a lingering doubt there nonetheless. Fear not, Will! The only aliens in Australia will be resident aliens -- like us!
11. Q: Why Melbourne? Why not Sydney or somewhere else? A: Because that's where our work is. Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia, was settled by regular people (i.e, not convicts), is the sporting capital of Australia (and if you know Australians, that says a lot), and did you know it's thrice been voted "World's Most Livable City" by no less an authority than The Economist?
12. Q: How long will you be gone? A: We've committed to two years. After that......
13. Q: Won't you miss us? A: Terribly.
14. Q: Will you get a sexy Australian accent? A: One can only hope.
15. Q: When will you come back to visit? A: Yes, Mom, we'll be back for Christmas. And as often as we can otherwise.
16. Q: Where will you live there? A: TBD. We'll be in temporary housing to start and look for a place to rent. Right now the only criteria is that we are on the ocean (Port Phillip Bay actually). We've lived in the dead center of the continent so long that we've earned an ocean view.
17. Q: How is the food in Australia? A: Just like the TV commercials tell you. Blooming onions, shrimp on the barbie, and Fosters three times a day. Seriously.
18. Q: Does the toilet really swirl backwards when you flush in Australia? A: Yes. And if you flush when directly over the equator it creates a rift in the fabric of time and space. I know. I've done it.
19. Q: No pictures, no links, no video. Why is this blog so lame? A: Agreed. Will learn to do all of the forgoing.
20. Q: Just what is "fair dinkum"? A: Don't know, but we will find out!
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