I am home!!!

Two hour delay in Melbourne due to power outage, 50 kids from a performing company, two crying babies, 3 flights and 29 hours of traveling and I am home!

Since being home I have had about 8 hours sleep. Can anyone say 'running on fumes?' Please get my body clock back in sync.

Thankful to be home and thankful to see my family. Not thankful to come home to $4.00+ for gas, two failed financial firms and the wake of hurricane Ike. Ugh!

Interesting things I noticed in Australia

As you well know other countries are different from the US in regards to their culture and simply their every day life. I have been surprised by several things during my stay here. here are a few observations and I hope some of them make you laugh or intrigue you:

• They show naked backsides (men and women!) on the evening news. And not the 11 p.m. edition but the dinner time edition.


• Bongs are sold right next to children's toy stores. I have no idea if pot is legal here but this one store was dedicated to smoking. Pipes, rolling papers and bongs in the window. It was next door to a 'Hello Kitty' market.


• Not everyone says 'G'Day Mate'. However, they do say 'No worries' alot.


• I passed an Asian restaurant and it smelled of dead skunk. I am NOT kidding. I stopped quickly to look at menu but it was all in another language. Skunk HAD to be on there.


• Tipping for meals is not necessary and in some places frowned upon. They evidently make a decent wage. Unforunately, I noticed this impacts service a bit. (I don't think I would tip for the skunk....)
• There are no pennies in the Australian currency. They round down or up your total to the next 5 cents. There is a line on the receipts labeled 'rounding'.
• In Syndey, they pay construction workers $50k (AUS) per year and they have homeless people turning the jobs down because they make more on unemployment.
• Politicians are called 'polies' and they refer to Bill Clinton as Bubba Clinton. Evidently they don't ALWAYS refer to him this way but this one news show must have said it 10 times in 30 minutes. I did not realize he was so popular here.
• 'Gas Bagging' is chit chatting or gabbbing. I love that phrase!
• And finally, 'sledgeing' (not sure if I got the spelling right) is the same as trash talking. There is plenty of that in the footy and rugby games here...and I know Matthew ended up with a broken thumb after some sledgeing this summer!

Bye Melbourne. I have enjoyed it but I am ready to get home to South Kakilacky! : )

Churches

Since arriving in Melbourne I have been drawn to the various churches and their architecture. I am amazed at how old so many of them are and the history that you can literally feel when you walk in.

Sunday I spent most of the day wandering the big city visiting various churches.

This is St. Paul's Cathedral. It was my favorite today.

This church is really quite amazing. It was built in 1866 and is filled with so much history. The walls are literally covered with all types of plaques honoring or memorializing their past members. The plagues are brass and quite elaborate. I was in awe over the artwork.

I missed the morning service but got there shortly after it ended. The vestibule was buzzing with older people....serving coffee and visiting with each other. It was actually pretty loud. But as I progressed down the aisle a sense of calm came over me and the voices of the people fell to the background. I have not been very close to God lately, however, being in this church drew me in. I felt His presence. It was nice to have this sense of calm after the busy week and being sooo far from home. I took the picture below as I was leaving. I hope you can see the detailed dark wood in the archway. (I sure would hate to dust it! Can anyone say Swiffer?)

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Great specimen of Gothic architecture. Built in 1858. This church, in stark contrast, was VERY quiet. Very few people were here...maybe 5 others than myself in this massive structure.

I sat in a pew underneath a stained glass window. Today was a cloudy and VERY windy day but as I sat down the sun managed to break through and shine through the window. It gave the church a glow that I wish I had better words to describe. Ethereal perhaps?

A Japanese couple was out front with me and I offered to take their picture together so they would take mine. :)

I could go on and on about the others I visited today. I enjoyed seeing different religious 'houses.' Huh? As I am writing this it just dawned on me that I did not see any Muslim, Hindu or other religions represented today. Melbourne is a HUGE melting pot of nationalities. The culture shock is literally just that. Literally every day this week I have heard so many languages I honestly could not keep up. I felt like I was in an Asian country rather than Australia at times. I wonder where they worship??

Some time in the rolling hills of Australia

Saturday I took a tour bus to Healesville. It is two hours north of the city. Amazing how different it looks. Check out the pics.

This is a daffodil farm. Evidently the climate is perfect here for not only growing grapes but also for daffodils and tulips.


We stopped for lunch at one of the dozens of wineries in the area. Yummy lunch and of course yummy wine and you know I don't drink much wine!! I met people from Minnesota here on business and from Sidney and Perth, Australia. The grape vines have just been pruned back in preparation for Spring growth.


And now for my favorite part of the day. The Healesville Animal Sanctuary. Only animals from Australia are here. It was a completely natural area....NOT like a concrete jungle that some zoos are...pebble paths, indeginous plants... We had a very informative tour guide that really made it great. Unfortunately I was a bit misled - we were not able to pet ANY animal. It is not that kind of place. It is all about preserving the species here. Here are a few of my favorite pics.

Red Kangaroo. Very sleepy fellow....or gal. Even the tour guide says it is hard to tell. And the roo below was a totally cool cat. I am thinking it had to be a male as he had this look like 'I am a stud. I know it. Ladies come get me.' lol

Koala. These little guys sleep ALL the time...literally like 20 hours of the day. They eat the other 4 hours. Tour guide says they sleep in the eucalyptus tree and have very thick hineys so they can withstand sleeping on the hard branches for so many hours. Humm...do you think that is what they meant by having 'junk in the trunk??' ;)

I think this is some type of wallabee. Grrr..cannot remember. It was just in the wide open area. I could have touched him he was so close.

Shrine of Remembrance

This week has been so crazy I nearly forgot it was the anniversary of September 11th yesterday. Thankfully I did not know anyone personally that perished that day, however, I have friends that were impacted in some way.

This afternoon Ranjan drove me around Melbourne and we stopped at the Shrine of Remembrance. The Shrine was built in late 1920's in remembrance of the 114,000 'diggers' (veterans) of Victoria who died in the Great War of 1914-1918 - 89,100 of them served overseas and 19,000 did not return.

The outside is rather imposing and the eternal flame that stands at the bottom of the imposing steps of the Shrine actually gave me pause. That is when it hit me again about September 11th. It was nice after my busy week to take a few moments to think of those 'diggers' that honored America (as well as Australia) with their lives. (I cannot believe I did not get a picture of the front of it!!)


I was extremely lucky in that the Shrine itself was still open when I got to the top. (10 minutes later and I would have missed it.) There is a skylight high in the top of the Shrine. Each year on the winter solstice, a ray of sunlight passes through the box to light up the main chamber. This occurs at sunrise and lasts for only 17 minutes. The phenomenon occurs from December 19-23. A lottery is conducted each year allowing 20 people to see the shaft of light each morning. I can only imagine the chills this would bring witnessing this ray of light shine down on the Shrine. The picture below is the bottom of the shrine and the light would shine directly on it.



And this is the view from the very top of the Shrine looking out St. Kilda Road towards downtown Melbourne. You can barely see the eternal flame in the left hand side of the picture. Hopefully this gives you some idea of how large the Shrine is.

And finally, here is a one of several statues outside the Shrine. You can see the Shrine to the left of the statue.

This was a truly peaceful moment for me today. If Ranjan had not been waiting on me I think I could have stayed here for quite some time. There are certainly some magical aspects of this city. I witnessed a few today. :)

Aussie Co-workers

Ranjan and Sonya were such a great help this week. Both were a little camera shy but I convinced them to smile!

A Walk in Downtown Melbourne

My sleep patterns are still out of whack and I am a bit tired but I got out tonight for a walk in Downtown Melbourne. Here are some pics from my wanderings.

Another pic of that VERY cute flower shop. The aroma of the flowers tonight was incredible. I was almost like Bugs Bunny when he smells food and floats on air to get there...

This is a sculpture on the street corner of three men 'waiting on the tram'. I hope to get better pics in the day as the lighting was very poor tonight.

And finally this is the Flinders Street train station. It is very beautiful inside with lovely old dark 'timber.' It is a 'Heritage' building...basically a historically protected building. There is an old ballroom just above the archway but the floor is now rotten. There evidently has been talk of restoring it but nothing thus far.

Southern Indian Food

Okay....so I am a born and bred Southerner but somehow Southern Indian food is not completely my cup of tea.

Today for lunch we went to a little place called Nila that specifically is authentic Southern Indian. We started out with Roti - a buttermilk based bread that is rolled flat - think crepe flat. It is served with 3 dips that were not too too spicy and rather tasty. That I could eat and would definitely eat again.

Ranjan ordered something called Kotthu Roti for me. It is the same bread chopped up finely with chicken, onions and who knows what else. It was what I call a slow burn. You taste a little spice the first few bites then it gradually has an after burn. Not too terribly hot but I knew my bland Southern girl tummy would not take too much of it so I stopped eating. It was an interesting combination of flavors but it was not for me. I felt bad that I left more than half my plate. Ranjan packed it up for his dogs. He said they would love it. They must have cast iron stomachs after eating curry in his house. Humm...I do not think my little Miss Sophie would fair too well on Southern Indian food.

I am certainly glad that I branched out and tasted it. Ranjan said that now he knows what NOT to order for me next time in Aussie land. lol Bring on the Roti but ditch the Kotthu! haha

Note: As we were paying Ranjan pointed out the buttermilk dough to me. Very sticky looking balls of dough. Guess where it was....underneath the stove just about 5 inches from the floor and not covered. That disturbed me a little.

The Streets of Melbourne

Just a few pics from my walk from the train station to the hotel tonight...which by the way took over an hour to get from the office to the hotel. A little farther than expected.

I passed this lovely flower stand. I would have fresh flowers in my home all the time if I passed this place every day after work. Can't you hear them say 'take me home!'? :) Shelly - I thought of you when I passed it. They had so many beautiful ones that I knew you would love to paint.


This is the art center. (The blue spire at the end of the street.) It is supposed to look like a ballerina and her tutu. The 'ballerina' towers very high into the Melbourne skyline. At night it lights up blue. I hope to get a better picture later this week. And this is what nearly every street in downtown Melbourne looks like....store after store after store mixed in with unique architecture like churches and museums, etc.

And finally this is the view from my balcony.

Aussie Food

So after a long day at work yesterday I come back to the hotel and ordered room service. Not much of a selection so I ordered a "burger and fries." The burger shows up with 6 slices of tomato, lettuce...thus far normal.....then here comes the interesting stuff......4 slices of beets, 2 slices of thick ham, a fried egg and the beef!! HUH? This is not a burger! Fuddrucker's doesn't even offer this. Turns out this is a traditional Aussie burger. Uhm....I did not eat it all. Note: If you want ketchup for the fries you have to ask for tomato sauce.

Today we ate lunch at a Turkish restaurant. Thinly sliced lamb and chicken marinated and grilled. CAN YOU SAY YUMMY? Plus two dips, a salad of your choosing and unlevened bread. The bread was warm, tasteful and out of this world good. My dips were hummus and cucumber and my salad was greek which was basically FRESH cucumbers, olive and mozzerella. The downside of all this yumminess? I would be the size of a house if I ate this every week.

Hopefully tomorrow night I will get away from the hotel and enjoy more Aussie treats. The hotel room service is lacking. I stopped at one of the dozen 7-11's nearby tonight and got yogurt for breakfast. Literally there is one every block.

Aussie Rules Football

My co-worker, Ranjan, and his wife Gay took me to an Aussie Rules Football game yesterday afternoon. (Same day I arrived and only 2 hours after I got to hotel. Reads as: Am I really up for this after 32 hours of travel?)

'Footy' is a BIG deal here. The playoffs started last week so I got to see a playoff between the ranked 1 and 4 teams. Geelong v. St. Kilda.

Let me say that Aussie Rules is football on steroids and drugs. A bright red football but not pigskin, round field, VERY different rules and point calculation and lots of action. I really enjoyed it. Tickets are much cheaper here so the crowds are large and full of spunk. The players are TOUGH - NO pads, definite injuries, no sleeves and short shorts during a winter sport!

The Geelong Cats kicked St. Kilda's back sides 119 - 61. 6 points for a goal, 1 point for a 'behind'. The main ref starts the quarter by literally spiking the football in the center of the field....almost like a tip off in a basketball game. This can also occur if there is a stand off during play....almost like a drop kick in soccer. And very interestingly the side ref can 'throw' the ball in from the side with his back turned to the players (VERY much like a bride turning her back to throw her bouquet the ref throws the football into the playing field). The pic below shows it. I hope you can see it clearly. And check out our seats! Stadium holds 100,000...I was tickled we had such awesome seats.

I really enjoyed the game despite the crazy Melbourne weather. In the course of three hours it went from sunshine and warm to steady rain to sunshine to rain again. I was actually thankful for the rain as it kept me awake!!!

Amazingly enough in today's paper there was a nice pull-out on Aussie Rules Football starting in the U.S. There are already 45 clubs in 26 states which have all evidently been started by Aussie migrants. I could see this taking off in some areas of the states. I would definitely go to a game again.

P.S. On a side note, the Carolina Panthers game is on tv tonight. Who would have thought that Aussies would be interested in the Panthers???!?!?

I made it!

Flight to Dallas: On time and Excellent
Flight to LAX: On time and Excellent
Flight to Melbourne: On time until last hour when we Diverted to Sidney due to 'fog.' (I got about 6 hrs sleep in total and was more rested than I expected.)
Flight BACK to Sidney: Not quite on time but Excellent

Landed in Melbourne two hours later than originally planned. Got to hotel around noon AUS time. I need a calculator to figure out total flight time. lol

My bags showed up! Woo Hoo. No issues with customs but immigration did not have my middle name on file so that had to be changed. No worries!

Hotel is great except I cannot get the temp down to something more pleasant.

More to come later (along with pics) but wanted to let you know I am here safe and sound. =)

Check....

Geeze! Do I have everything?

Passport - check
Visa - check (not like Visa/Mastercard!!)
Travel adapter - check
Travel converter - nope!
Rain coat - check
Cool weather clothes - check (I hope so! They keep saying how 'cold' it is there and to bring warm clothes but is 55 degrees really THAT cold?)
Medicine - check
Crossword book - check
Luggage - Humm. Where is my large suitcase?? I guess I better get into the attic tonight. I have a feeling it is covered in cat hair as Chip Shot loves to abscond my luggage for his personal napping area.

You would think packing would be easy but I have this anxiety that I will forget something. Well, evidently there is a Target and a Safeway nearby. = )

Four Days and Counting

I leave for Melbourne in four days.

Thankfully I just checked my itinerary (I would have eventually!) and I leave in the afternoon..NOT in the morning. Good. That gives me more time to rest. It is 21 hours of actual flight time....but when you start from when I leave the house to landing in Melbourne it is close to 30 hours. LOL

Oh my!! Close to a 6 hour layover in LAX. Humm....Do you think they show movies at the airport?

Trip Down Under

I am headed to the land Down Under! Melbourne, Australia for nearly 10 days in September for my new job.

Basically it takes 2 days to get there due to flight time and time change. I leave Friday and arrive Sunday. How odd is that going to feel? Anyone ever done that?

I promise to take my web cam and camera and post some pics. I will be there over a weekend so I will definitely have some sight seeing time!

What is the farthest away you have traveled? To date Amsterdam is mine but clearly Melbourne will beat that.

Long Road Trip

I just got back from a five day road trip to see my best friend, Shelly, and her family in Ohio and some of my guild friends in Michigan. 1600+ miles, 7 states, lots of Starbucks African Bush hot tea (Heather - I put that gift card to good use!) and great tunes.

Nothing like seeing good friends and having a good time!

Here is an odd conglomeration of what I passed on the road. Amazing what is out there. I missed a bunch of course...Hey! I needed to drive not take pics. : ) Some of them you will need to click on the pic to see the detail.



Anna, Indiana (I think). So nice of them to name a town after my WoW toon! lol

My old Kentucky Home! This is for Des and his love of golf! See Des, I still think of golf...it is beckoning me back....

This was in Lima, Ohio. Not a town I really want to drive through again. I missed a turn and GPS had me go down some very questionable streets. I got behind this cop and followed him out of town!!!

Funny. I did not realize London was in the middle of Tennessee...or was this Kentucky? Indiana?
A business erected this cross right next to......

this place. At first I thought it was a church but knew a church and a XXX shop could not be next door to each other...especially in rural Tennessee. This was the business man's way I think of disagreeing with this week's sales items. ;) (Click on the pic to make it bigger.)