Melbourne
The day after Boxing Day we headed to Melbourne to visit our friends who used to live in Pittsburgh, Mark and Melissa. Mark and Melissa have a beautiful home and played wonderful hosts. We also got to meet their daughter, Sophie, who is adorable and has the biggest smile we've ever seen. We finally got our first taste of vegemite, which is a salty spread you put on bread or toast. I wouldn't say we will be taking it back home. To wash the salty taste away, Mel made scones with jam and cream (an English tradition that they love here in AU) which we liked a lot better.
We spent a day seeing the sights in Melbourne and rode on the trolley around town. During the day we experienced what Melbourne is known for...four seasons in one day. It started out hot then went to rainy then cold and back to warm. It is amazing that the two largest cities in a very isolated and relatively unpopulated country are so vastly different.
Sydney's beaches are primarily on the ocean - Melbourne's beaches are on the bay
Sydney's sport of choice is rugby - Melbourne's sport of choice is Aussie Football
Sydney's very southern California laid back - Melbourne is very European traditional
The thing that I think we both loved about the city was the very European feel to the city with the historic buildings, great shopping, sidewalk cafes, etc. During our tour around the city, we stopped at Brighton Beach, which is famous for their "beach huts". The huts are basically sheds that the rich built along the beach (to store their stuff in) and are painted in bright colors. They are no longer allowed to be built on the public land, so the demand for them is quite high (well over $100K for the ones on Brighton). Katie really liked St. Kilda too, which is a section of town right on the bay that is famous for their bake shops and cafes. Mark and Melissa also let us know that a few of the side streets are also famous for their late night activities as the world's oldest profession is legal there.
Jared and Mark went to day 3 of the cricket match. Summarized as follows... 4 hours in the sun, Australia bowled (pitched) the entire time and didn't get anyone out, both teams took more breaks than Federal/State employees, most excitement came when fans starting chanting "you are a wanker" to the security guards for taking the beach balls that they were hitting around.
Katie was much more successful as she got to do some shopping. The highlight being the trip with Mel to the US Food Store. A bit expensive, but I guess that is to be expected when they are supplying a small portion of the population's cravings. For Katie, it was in the form of $2.50 Reese Cups. For Jared, it was in the form of $3 Diet Dr. Pepper.
The highlight of the trip was our trek to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade. Phillip Island sort of reminds us of the Outer Banks only with better beaches, but a bit colder. By the time we arrived, the place was absolutely packed. The "game time" atmosphere was much like a Friday night football game in Western PA. A few thousand people, stadium lights, bleachers, blankets, hot chocolate, even a sky box. There was no photography allowed so no pictures of the Penguins but we attached the link.
http://www.penguins.org.au/
They are the little penguins just like the ones that live on the Manly wharf but there are hundreds of them. They swim up to shore in rafts (large groups) which look like a dark patch of water approaching the shore. Then they run or wadle across the beach to the bushland to find their burrows. You can get so close to them and they make a lot of noise...chirping. It was great because there were tons of baby penguins out to meet their parents when they returned from their day of fishing. The little ones are grey and fuzzy and really cute.
We also spent a day in Yarra Valley for some wine tasting. We went to some fantastic wineries and tasted some great wines... the best part of the day though was watching a bus of tourists pillage the wineries as if the fruit were there for the community. The grandma alone hauled away at least 30 plums from the one plum tree. It was a bit different than Napa Valley (maybe a little less developed and touristy) but beautiful as all wine country seems to be.
We stayed all the way through New Years Eve and had dinner at a great Greek restaurant downtown, then the fireworks. It was a good night except for the chaos afterwards trying to get the train home when everyone tried to smash into the same train. Luckily we didn't have to ride too far to Mark & Melissa's.
We spent a day seeing the sights in Melbourne and rode on the trolley around town. During the day we experienced what Melbourne is known for...four seasons in one day. It started out hot then went to rainy then cold and back to warm. It is amazing that the two largest cities in a very isolated and relatively unpopulated country are so vastly different.
Sydney's beaches are primarily on the ocean - Melbourne's beaches are on the bay
Sydney's sport of choice is rugby - Melbourne's sport of choice is Aussie Football
Sydney's very southern California laid back - Melbourne is very European traditional
The thing that I think we both loved about the city was the very European feel to the city with the historic buildings, great shopping, sidewalk cafes, etc. During our tour around the city, we stopped at Brighton Beach, which is famous for their "beach huts". The huts are basically sheds that the rich built along the beach (to store their stuff in) and are painted in bright colors. They are no longer allowed to be built on the public land, so the demand for them is quite high (well over $100K for the ones on Brighton). Katie really liked St. Kilda too, which is a section of town right on the bay that is famous for their bake shops and cafes. Mark and Melissa also let us know that a few of the side streets are also famous for their late night activities as the world's oldest profession is legal there.
Jared and Mark went to day 3 of the cricket match. Summarized as follows... 4 hours in the sun, Australia bowled (pitched) the entire time and didn't get anyone out, both teams took more breaks than Federal/State employees, most excitement came when fans starting chanting "you are a wanker" to the security guards for taking the beach balls that they were hitting around.
Katie was much more successful as she got to do some shopping. The highlight being the trip with Mel to the US Food Store. A bit expensive, but I guess that is to be expected when they are supplying a small portion of the population's cravings. For Katie, it was in the form of $2.50 Reese Cups. For Jared, it was in the form of $3 Diet Dr. Pepper.
The highlight of the trip was our trek to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade. Phillip Island sort of reminds us of the Outer Banks only with better beaches, but a bit colder. By the time we arrived, the place was absolutely packed. The "game time" atmosphere was much like a Friday night football game in Western PA. A few thousand people, stadium lights, bleachers, blankets, hot chocolate, even a sky box. There was no photography allowed so no pictures of the Penguins but we attached the link.
http://www.penguins.org.au/
They are the little penguins just like the ones that live on the Manly wharf but there are hundreds of them. They swim up to shore in rafts (large groups) which look like a dark patch of water approaching the shore. Then they run or wadle across the beach to the bushland to find their burrows. You can get so close to them and they make a lot of noise...chirping. It was great because there were tons of baby penguins out to meet their parents when they returned from their day of fishing. The little ones are grey and fuzzy and really cute.
We also spent a day in Yarra Valley for some wine tasting. We went to some fantastic wineries and tasted some great wines... the best part of the day though was watching a bus of tourists pillage the wineries as if the fruit were there for the community. The grandma alone hauled away at least 30 plums from the one plum tree. It was a bit different than Napa Valley (maybe a little less developed and touristy) but beautiful as all wine country seems to be.
We stayed all the way through New Years Eve and had dinner at a great Greek restaurant downtown, then the fireworks. It was a good night except for the chaos afterwards trying to get the train home when everyone tried to smash into the same train. Luckily we didn't have to ride too far to Mark & Melissa's.
Comments
I just can’t keep waiting to visit you…LOL
Let me know what your schedule is like…I found a flight from Feb. 26th – March 8th
I know it is kinda last minute so let me know if its not a good time
The stillers won!!!!! Goo Pittsburgh
Love you!!!
Lauren