the End of an Era...

Its the end of an era. Melbourne is nearing a close. We've had our fill. Sydney is next on the agenda. It will be a five day event. Recently, our days have been filled with sports, art, entertainment, and treats. We've managed to attend an Aussie rules football game, an Australian contemporary art exhibition, a full round of golf, breast strokes at the aquatic centre followed by soaking in the not so hot tub, afternoons of thrift shopping, work shifts of eating delicious chocolate pieces, and viewing the entire city that provided all this from the top of its highest building lookout. That was the last place my camera was witness to. Unfortunately, for my camera it truly is the end of an era. She is officially broken. It happened a week ago. Fortunately, she was looking at this in her last flashes of light.

Its been nearly a month since my last blog, who would've thought we'd have accomplished so much!

We've been witness to the Australian/ New Zealand public holiday, Anzac Day.... similar to our Remembrance Day, however, they celebrate that as well. There's been thunder and lightning storms, homeless men with indescribable stench on the tram and 2 day endeavours of seeing the National Gallery of Victoria. Just down the street from where I've been working they were shooting a Nicholas Cage movie on one of the rooftops. Unfortunately, he did not personally come in for a coffee, but his apparent make-up artist did... she was an unarguably "enhanced" women!

I've learned that Aussie's often say, "Ta!", instead of "thank you" or "goodbye." They don't really celebrate Halloween; it seems the whole idea strikes them as a little odd, "Everyone just dresses up on that day? Hmm?" I have to remind myself not to say "loonie" or "twonie", instead its "one dollar coin" or "two dollar coin." If you don't, you'll receive a confused, blank stare. They don't have drip coffee here... just espresso drinks.... in other words, you couldn't just order "a coffee", thats not specific enough. The television shows are basically American but instead its Australian Idol, Australian Big Brother, Australia's Got Talent, Australian So You Think You Can Dance, and even Australian Gladiator.

These were taken at the Australian art exhibit. They showcase 100 galleries and over 1000 Australian and international artists. A tour of the entire exhibit took about 4 hours. This was the first time Conrad was witness to such a large number of works. He was a good sport... with endurance!!

We're both still a little sore from yesterday. We went to one of the golf courses here and played 18 holes. This time it was a test on my endurance. Its was a full course but casual; 18 holes is a lot! It helped that there was a break between 9 holes... in my mind, that was one of the few things keeping me going! By the time we were out for the second 9 holes the weather turned and it slowly started to DOWN POUR! We got soaked, but ironically, that was when I enjoyed myself the most! Conrad played really well. He was a good teacher and his pupil managed not to get frustrated when he offered advice. Right now, I can't decide whether or not I like the sport...

This is the view from our balcony window. If you look closely... can you see the tallest building?... that's where we took the aerial photos of Melbourne... that's where my poor camera took her last photos.

Its been nice staying in Melbourne. The city has "heaps" to offer [something else I've picked up from the Aussies.] But it will be nice to get back home. Its been fall since we've been in Melbourne. The leaves have all been falling and the wind has a definite chill. Its been a shock to the system next to tropical Queensland. I'm hoping the weather will be a little more summer-like back home. Conrad and I are both getting homesick. We've been reminiscing about some of the first things we will do when we get back... soaking in a HOT tub, eating Acme sushi, drinking ceasar's, cuddling the puffy cat (Boots!!), wearing clothes other than the 10 outfits we've been travelling with, and, of course, reuniting with friends and family. Frankly, we miss you and can't wait to get back!