Making it in Melbs

Day 1

Wednesday was a but rough at first, i'll be honest. The trip here wasn't terrible (only 11 hours by bus) BUT we got here around 6 am and I couldn't check into the hostel till noon. So, I just had to chill for a while at Macca's until I could get in. Luckily they have free wifi so I just caught up on stuff and chatted with mi madre for a bit. Muy Bien! Also the guy at the front desk let me throw my bag down a bit early so I at least didn't have ot lug that around. Once I did get in though I IMMEDIATELY showered and slept. Buses unfortuantely are not the best places to catch up on sleep.

When I eventually woke up I wandered out with the intention of getting lunch and afterwards just kept going. I started off with the Melbourne Gaol and learning a bit more about the (in)famous Ned Kelly, passed by the Public Baths, and ended my evening at the Queen Victoria Market! I'll have to head back by there again in the next few days because the amount of food and fun thigns to buy was tooo enormous to take in in one go!

                                                  

                  

Day 2

A bit more refreshed I spent the day wandering to Fed Square, and exploring some of the art museums. And, I was able to get in touch with some friends who gave me tips on places to go and things to do around Melbs which was awesome! So after a day of simply taking in the city, I went to dinner at Shanghai Dumpling which is an amazingly cheap and DELICIOUS place in Chinatown. Definitely a perk of having a hostel right nearby. Also, because it's Chinese New Year, my friend and I were able to run outside and catch a dragon dance going on with a gajillion firecrackers to celebrate! There will be a parade later this week which we're pumped about=] then got to finish the night by grabbing a drink with a roommate at the bar downstairs. Definitely a successful day.

  

  

Day 3

By day three I had officially found my favorite hangout/internet spot: Project 219. It's a SUPER cute cafe nearby my hostel on Russell Street where you can grab a tea or coffee during the day, and then a beer at night. Everyone's super friendly and are amused at how often I come in. Ahh well. So it goes. After my normaal morning internet catch up, I headed over to Fed Square area to finish up some of the art museums. It's funny, I've always liked art, but never been all that into going to art museums on my own. But, after living with the incredible artistry of my girl SL for the past few years, and getting to wander through them with people who really care about it, i've found myself learning to appreciate different styles of art a lot more. I like finding art that moves somethign in me and makes me think about what is being said. The Melbourne Now exhibit at the NGV was an incredible example of modern art and representation of the city.

After checking out the art made from frosting, and the musical exhibit room (super sweet. Had way too much fun), I headed to the Moving Image Museum. OKAY GUYS DO THIS. But really, it goes through the history of the moving image from TV to cinema to internet. It was a really interactive museum where you could make a flipbook of yourself, or do one of those cool shots you see in like the matrix movies and stuff, as well as make a shadow  monster of yourself. yeah. I did all that. NBD. Plus, I love movies, so I was super nerding out. They had the car from Mad Max in there PLUS the replica of the windmill from Moulin Rouge!! And a few interviews with my fave director the wonderful Aussie Baz Luhrman=]

 

Finally, I finished off the day be heading to the Royal Botanical gardens and the Shrine of Rememberance (built to honor those who died in WWI). Day well spent=]

                          

Day 4

This was a glorious day. I started off by wandering around the South Bank chatting with my mum when suddenly I saw a couple people in Doctor Who shirts. I thought, "well that's cool". Then i started to see more and more. And then fezzes on people's heads, and scarves, and bow ties and WHAT?! IS THAT A CYBERMAN?! yeah. Apparently there was a Doctor Who Symphonic Orchestra Special thing going on. And so, my poor mother had to deal with me freaking out as she attempted to have a chat. Eventually I said goodbye and went to take picturew with a Weeping angel and cyberman and just generaally had a great time. Oh also, Peter Davison (the 5th Doctor and David Tennant's father in law) was also there. Yeah it's fine. 

                         

ANYWAYS, after that magic happened, I headed to Brighton Beach for the evening. Brighton is famous for these cute little beach boxes that are super colorful. Plus it has a lovely view of Melbourne's skyline. So a wonderful evening of wandering the peaceful beach. Such a good end to the day.

                                  

Day 5

Went to the Melbourne campus of Hillsong Church this morning. SO good. It was vision Sunday for Hillsong, so the Hills church (the original) streamed live to their campuses worldwide (they have campuses in 16 countries--london, NYC, Moscow, Paris, Copenhagen etc.). The service was aimed at just giving the church members a vision for what we wanted the year to be like. This year the idea was pioneering, and let me tell you it was just one of those services I NEEDED to be at. They sang the song Oceans, which, if you haven't heard it, you need to. For me, at least, it totally speaks to what I have been doing this year and taking chances, stepping forward and learning to trust without bounds.

Then it was Chinese New Year Celebrations where I was staying ---in Chinatown!=]

                                    

                                                      

                                               

Wandered around parks and up to Fitzroy a bit. Really just a chill day.

Day 6--SUPER BOWL

Started the day by heading up to the  NGV art museum. I'll be honest. While it was cool, I was more interested in getting to the football game, so I didn't stay super long. Instead i rushed through it and headed to Fed Square where they were having a GIANT Super Bowl party. Complete with american food trucks, bleachers, touchdown banners and noisemakers. My favorite part however was that if you were simply looking at the area you would think it was less of a Super Bowl and more of a celebrate Murica party. There was a Statue of Liberty, and seriously any american jersey people could scrape up was being worn. I saw Packers, Nats (baseball?), 49ers, Celtics (yup bball too), and many many more. it was hilarious and wonderful. Anyways, I stayed there for the 2nd quarter then headed to a pub to meet an American friend I had met at the hostel. We had a great time watching there with some of the most enthusiastic Seahawk fans ever. haha While I unfortunately was the only one rooting for the Broncos, it was fun to watch them freak out and get excited as they pretty much dominated the game and won their first Super Bowl.=]

                                     

                                     

                                     

After the insanity, I packed up my stuff and headed for the train to go up to the Drennan's place! They are some amazing family friends from church who mmoved out here a few years back and were lovely enough to put e up for a few nights. They pastor a church in their town, and invited me to join in for a night where they serve a free meal to the community. It was really fun to see their church in action and just enjoy fellowship and chatting with those people who came to enjoy the food and company!

Day 7

Wandered around Fitzroy with my friend Southern. We didn't do too much but tried some AMAZING chocolate. a berry covered in white chocolate, along with a basil chocolate piece which was surprisingly refreshing.

Day 8

Great Ocean Road! Spent the day seeing all the sites along one of the world's must drive roads=]

                             

                         

           

                                 

Day 9

This was a lovely day in starting with a sweet skype sesh with my good friend Phillip, getting some work done, having FANTASTIC Vietnamese food with the Drennans and ending the night playing with baby wombats and a wallaby!=]

                                             

                              

Day 10

Was another chill day preparing for my trip to the outback tomorrow!!

Things i've learned:

1. A lot of Aussies don't use their dishwashers

2. Hanging clothes to dry is WAY more comon than actually using a dryer

3. butter on everything

4. ketchup is "sauce"

5. squeeze some lemon oon your pancakes and top with sugar--it's the aussie way

6. chicken potato chips are a thing

7.pavlova is THE BEST.

8. Shapes crackers are super good are in every Aussie's pantry

One Direction to Koalas and Kangaroos.

Saturday:

Well, today was interesting. Instead of getting up at 9am as planned (in order to get my body on the right schedule and catch up on sleep missed on the plane ride over) my body decided that 6:30 am was a good time. Honestly, this wasn't too bad. I got up, skyped my parents, packed up, grabbed breakfast and wandered over to my hostel by about 9:45ish. So productive! Then after checking in and getting settled, I decided I had two goals for the day: 1. visit the Doctor Who pop-up shop and 2. Hold a koala. So here's the run down of what happened.

1. Head towards Queen Street to find the bus station to take me to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

2. Can't find it to save my life and decide to keep walking til I find the pop-up shop. It happens to be in Fortitude Valley which is about 30 minutes from where the bus stop should have been.

3. Get to where the pop-up shop should be and initially can't find it. Which wouldn't be the worst thing ever, as these close up when they sell out, and ith the 50th anniversary coming up I had figured that was a possibility.

4. Turn the corner....BAM. DOCTOR WHO WONDERFULNESS! But actually, I couldn't stop smiling. I felt like a little kid. I wanted to buy everything, but (be impressed...) held back considering I had other things like, oh, travel to pay for. But, I did get pictures with the tardis. Real Life. Today already couldn't have gotten better.

                         

                      

5. Leave the Doctor Who shop and walk the mile or so back, determined to find the correct bus station.

6. Miraculously find the bus station. SIDE-NOTE: everyone was crowded around the entrance to the bus station and I couldn't figure out why until a girl right next to me jumps out of her place and in front of a guy while someone snaps her picture. He is not amused. In fact he just looked frustrated at everyone, poor guy. Not an angry frustration, just an exasperated, I just want to shop frustrated. OH. You're probably wondering who it is. It happened to be one of the gents from One Direction--Harry Styles specifically. I unfortunately didn'get his picture because I don't really care about 1D (in retrospect this wasa terrible   decision) and had to google the band in order to find out who it was. BUT, it did make me think of all the lovely Ohana girls who loved them. So, for you all, I apologize for not getting the pic=]

7. Anyways, I got onto the bus and headed to the sanctuary where I held an adorable koala (well except that part where he fondled me. Gotta watch out for inappropriate Koalas.) AND I got to pet baby kangaroos, and feed them. Honestly I think the second part was a bit more exciting. The kangaroos were so cute and happy and it was lovely.

                                                 

                         

                               

8. Headed back to the South Bank where I took a free ferry up the river then walked the rest of the way to my hostel. I then proceeded to chat with one of my roommates (Germans! ja Deutsch!), grab dinner and pass out for a few hours before deciding bed sounded best.

                                      

                                          Strolling the South Bank

                         

And so that is the story of the day in which I fulfilled my Doctor Who desires, held a koala, fed a kangaroo, took a ferry and saw a One Direction boy bander. Oh Australia, what else do you have in store?

Fun Fact: Angelina Jolie is currently shooting a movie in Brisbane, so while she has mostly avoided he media, it is inevitble that I will meet her too (I assume) hhaha.

Well, tomorrow I get to go to church in Brissie! So excited! 

Sunday--

 This was a pretty chill day. I headed to church just down the road this morning, after a quick breakfast at a local brunch place (i'm still in jet lag mode and getting up at like 6am every morning. curses). Church was WONDERFUL. I chatted the entire time with a young woman named Josie who I had seen doing a bible study at the barracks shopping center earlier in the morning. I also met an American woman worked at the church who could tell that I was American based on the dress I was wearing! haha She had gotten the same one from GAP last time she was in the states and immediately recognized it. The sermon was a good reminder of why i'm here and just generally trying to love those around me. So good job church people of Brisbane. Okay, well, good job God.

After church I grabbed some lunch at the hostel then headed out to the Queensland Museum, Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art. All of them were fun and interesting in their own ways but nothing overly exciting to report. The best part of the evening was when I eventually headed back to the hostel to make dinner and started chatting with a German girl at the hostel. We chatted all throughout the dinner making process, and for the next few hours =, both in German and English which was great! I should mention that about 90% of the backpackers at my current hostel are German. So, while only like 5 of them realize I speak German, only like 3 realize i can understand most of what theyré saying, which is kind of a fun "fly-on-the-wall" experience sometimes. 

Anyways, I digress, I really enjoyed talking to Julia and it was honestly such a blessing to find someone to really talk with for a while. Sunday was the first day I felt sort of lonely. To be fair, I have only been here 4 days. So, thhe longer I stay the more friends I will make, so i'm nowhere near freaking out. No worries. And, honestly, the fact that i'm NOT freaking out is a huge blessing. I generally do not deal well with feeling like no one around is interested in or cares about me, and don't like to be on my own that often. However, while, throughout the day I was VERY aware of how alone I was in this city, I also wasn't exactly lonely either. I can only say that God definitely was watching out for me, and has been giving me really great intereactions with people JUST when I need them to keep me from getting lonely. Well, until I make actual friends of course haha=]

Monday--

Today has been pretty much entirely dedicated to the Australia Zoo. I woke up around 8, got ready, grabbed some food, and headed to the train station to catch the train to Beerwah, where you can get a shuttle to the Zoo. I had such a good day! To be totally honest the zoo itself was rather small compared to our lovely (FREE) National Zoo, but it was set up in such a beautiful way, and i have never seen happier zookeepers. Granted, this is the Crocodile Hunter's Zoo, so perrhaps he just rubbed off on everyone, but everyone was so happy to talk to guests, and i spoke with a woman who was taking care of some rhinos, and then ran into several women walking different animals (a cheetah, wombat, and parrot..separately of course haha). The people who work at this zoo are truly dedicated to the prservation of the habitat s of these animals and it was just really fun to be in an environment with people so enthusiastic about what theyré doing. Plus, it was awsome to watch the Wildlife Warriors show in the famous Crocoseum, which is where Steve Irwin would often present his crocs. Now i'm just getting my ipad charged up and then heading back to the Hostel to make dinner. 

               

                                             

                                

                             Statue of the Irwin family who own the zoo. In memory of Steve=(

                                 

                                 

                                      can we just talk about how cute this baby rhino is?!

                           

                                                   

                                                Emus are pretty emotionally fragile birds.

Sidenote: The Australian accent is getting better. I'm starting to pick up more of the differences in the way they say things. Still slipping into a British accent ore often than not when I try it out, but progress people, PROGRESS.

Love you all!