(actually my classes are prettttty great. Berkeley, add some damn marine science classes.)
After a week packed with studying and more frisbee, Martha, Reina, and I went to Melbourne for a few days! We were seriously antsy for an adventure after spending the majority of the week in the library writing papers. Insane that it's already midterm season! SCARY that it's already midterm season! I'm in this weird limbo where I know I need to be studying but I also know I want to be out exploring more of Brisbane and Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast and doing fun things on the weekends...so where do we say OKAY ENOUGH let's give ourselves a break?
At Berkeley I think I've perfected giving myself breaks. I don't study on Fridays as a rule, and I have frisbee and Kol Hadov and Hillel to distract me. I also don't have as much of a drive to go out and do things because I'm always in Berkeley, I have time to go into San Francisco and around the bay forever, you know? But I'm only studying abroad in Australia once! I need to go see EVERYTHING! I'm trying to find the balance between working hard in my classes and seeing everything I want to while I'm here.
That's where Melbourne comes in, I guess.
Okay yeah. So Melbourne.
Thursday afternoon we flew into Melbourne. There was the most gorgeous sunset on the way in. Like, Lion King status.
Airports in Australia are SO CHILL compared to America. They didn't check our IDs once, or look at our boarding passes until we got on the plane, or make us take off our shoes and belts or ANYTHING. Crazy. Martha's taking a class on terrorism, and we were walking through the airport talking about her terrorism reader-in America, we would have been tackled and interrogated for even mentioning terrorists anywhere close to the airport. Interesting that Australia has much fewer incidences and interactions with terrorism then we do. Also-GUN CONTROL HERE. So few shootings. Compared to America, where shootings are becoming commonplace. Throwback to the one in the Vons parking lot of my hometown last month. Awful.
WOW what a tangent.
Anyway. Melbourne.
That night we checked in to our hostel, found a random Thai restaurant for dinner, and went to bed early in preparation for...
GREAT OCEAN ROAD.
Friday morning we got up suuuuper early and stepped outside the hostel to wait for the tour bus. There was a family waiting so we chatted with them for a bit. Soon a green bus pulled up and we stepped on behind our new friends. The driver mumbled something, aggressively waved us off the bus, and sped away. Confused, we stood there for a minute trying to figure out who to call or why we didn't get let on the bus, when a white bus pulls up. It seriously looked like a van your parents would tell you to watch out for on the street. The driver jumps out, names all of us correctly, and tells us to hop in.
We were still a little sketched out, especially since we were the first people on the bus, but once we drove through the city and picked up about 15 other people, the driver put on some great music and we were super excited about it all. The other people on our tour were from all over the world. Most had been traveling for an extended period, something I admire people for because I definitely don't feel like I will have the time for that in my life ever...but if my grandparents could see every state capitol and at least 127846217988 of the countries in the world, I can do it too! Starting with checking off Australia. Woot.
Our first stop was a Torquay Beach, where we had morning tea and spent a little while looking at the view.
We stopped a few other view points before heading inland to see koalas in the wild. I didn't get any pictures, because they're basically impossible to see up in the trees, but we did come across some birds who were NOT afraid of us at all...
After that we headed up to the highest point on the Great Ocean Road.
Then we went back inland for a short rainforest hike. We saw the oldest trees in the area, which I took pictures of but I don't remember anything about...sorry...
We also saw the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, and London Bridge.
SO AMAZING. I'm so glad we did a Great Ocean Road tour, because I have never seen such impressive views.
 |
| 12 Apostles |
 |
| "The Razor" |
 |
| London Bridge |
 |
| Loch Ard Gorge |
 |
| 12 Apostles |
 |
| 12 Apostles |
Saturday we spent in the city! Our hostel was right next to Carlton Gardens, which is a World Heritage Site and has the Melbourne museum and the Royal Exhibition Hall, as well as really pretty foliage.
Then we headed to Flinder's Lane, a tiny street lined with coffee shops and restaurants. There is a whole alley where artists can legally graffiti, and there was some pretty impressive art.
Next was Federation Square, lunch in South Bank, and the National Gallery of Victoria.
South Bank was awesome! There were so many street performers. We saw some like 7 year old kids singing and dancing like Dream Street, and a pair of guys dressed up like Transformers posing for pics.
 |
| Cool exhibit relating audio and drawing. |
We went to the art gallery!
I RECOGNIZED SO MANY NAMES
I GEEKED OUT OVER GLASS PIECES
WOW MUSEUMS. Thanks Grandma Grandpa Mom and Dad for making me/forcing me to appreciate museums when I was a kid.
Sunday morning we went to Queen Victoria Markets, a massive farmers and flea market in the middle of the city. I didn't snap any pics, but it was so crowded and crazy that I doubt they would have turned out anyway.
Then we got BAGELS. And we all realized we hadn't had a single bagel since we got here. What is that? A JEWISH GIRL NEEDS BAGELS IN HER LIFE.
Overall Melbourne was awesome. It's a very European city, with tons of cafes and outdoor dining and cool bars and restaurants and is just generally a cool city. Brisbane feels much more industrial in comparison.
We also ate reaaalllly well. Melbourne has AMAZING coffee. Thai food, Italian food, burgers...it was all delicious! The bar scene was fun too, but we did not last very long out because we were so exhausted from walking around all day.
So, that was the extent of our trip! It was a blast. I'll post more pictures once I get them from Reina and Martha! Love these girls to death. We had an awesome time together and I can't wait to travel with them again! Next stop: Sydney, over our mid-semester break. Counting downnnnnn
 |
| #tinywineglass |
No comments:
Post a Comment