Longest bike ride ever

In search of an adventure, Brendan and I decided to take a bike ride around the city. Melbourne is pretty bike friendly so in addition to the regular bike lanes on the road there is a paved path that does a complete circle around the city (Capital City Trail). In the end, it was great fun and we saw a lot of cool things. BUT, when we started it was really really cold and we got lost several times, often ending up on busy roads or backtracking a bit. The entire trail was supposed to be 30km (almost 20 miles) but as I said we did some paths twice and we took a side path down to the beach so we estimated we did closer to 25-30 miles. It also took us 5.5 hrs included lunch. I'm still sore but glad I went!

Fully equipped for the ride. The trail took us along the Yarra river for most of the way. 

Sneaking into Bren's picture.

One of the things we passed was a children's petting zoo. We didn't stop to see all the animals but I did see this furry thing, sheep maybe?

A delicious picnic lunch: ham & swiss sammys, dorritos, pears, and cookies. 

Trying to figure out where we are. We had no idea. 

Our view of the city. 

Although none in this picture, we passed hundreds of working people presumably on their lunch breaks. The city seems pretty healthy as a whole, probably because most people walk everywhere. It was quite a site to see all the men in their suits or women in fancy dresses with tennis shoes getting their walk in.

Picture break in the middle of the city.

We made it to the water! I believe we were in St. Kilda

Oh, there are 2 cruise ships that go to Tazmania from Melbourne. Maybe I'll get on that one day... 

Had to mark my spot on the beach! 

On the way home we passed this lovely art piece. Its a cow in a tree.

Goals for Oz

Of the many fantastical things Tamar made me for my trip, one was an "Australian bingo." Essentially, she wrote out 36 things for me to try and accomplish while here. Some I'm still not sure what they mean and others I'm excited to try. Her rules were that I had to take pictures and get a signature of a witness for proof. I'll keep you posted on my progress. In no particular order they are:

1. Hold a Koala (bonus if the koala is a baby)
2. Go to a football [soccer] game and cheer for Aussies
3. Visit the Queen Victoria Market
4. Try 3 different types of Aussie amber fluid [bonus points if you like it]
5. Eat fairy bread
6. Walk on the Harbour Bridge
7. Play cricket
8. Visit an aboriginal art community
9. Make 5 new Aussie friends [bonus points for remembering their names]
10. Spent some time in a cave
11. Take a picture of a wallaby
12. Eat kangaroo
13. Speak with an Aussie accent all day
14. Go to an outdoor cinema
15. Visit the Great Barrier Reed (bonus points for diving down)
16. Put some shrimp on the barbie (prawns will do)
17. Drink in 5 different pubs
18. Pet a roo (bonus points for getting inside her pouch)
19. See a tassie devil (bonus points if it's in the wild)
20. Sit in front of a bush telly
21. Visit the Praire Hotel, the oldest pub in the country
22. Take a picture with the rock art on Shelly Beach
23. Go to Philip Island Nature Park
24. Ride a train
25. Catch a Sydney ferry from Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour to Darling Harbour and return
26. Go sandboarding
27. Have a barbie with friends on the beach
28. Visit the Sydney Opera House (bonus points for seeing an Opera)
29. Visit Kangaroo Island
30. Surf it up (bonus points for staying up more than 15 seconds)
31. Buy a bohemian purse
32. Visit the Royal Botanic Gardens
33. Do the Sydney Bridge climb
34. See then natives surf on Pebbly Beach
35. Spy a platapus in the wild
36. Run with the penguins

#3 Visit the Queen Victoria Market - check!

I saw it, but didn't buy it...scary. 

Ordering the most expensive noodles to make spaghetti. The woman did not understand what I meant by 'marinara' sauce. I looked later, none of the tomato sauces here are called marinara. 

In awe over something spectacular, I'm sure. 

The outdoor portion had a wide array of cheap clothes and goods to choose from as well. I thought these pants would be particularly suitable for you, Tamar.

First impressions and early adventures

As you might expect, we've been doing a lot since we arrived. I mentioned in the previous post that we woke up at 4am on our first day here and started to explore the city. We were staying downtown so the city "woke-up" shortly after we did. We've been consistently waking up around 6:30 (which should be a huge surprise for anyone who knows Brendan or myself) and wandering around. We're staying a little north of the central business district (CBD) so we've gotten a taste of a different part of town as well.

Our 5:00am breakfast - Chai tea and a ham and cheese toastie (or breaki sandwich, I can't remember). 

Chinatown, before it woke up.

An important building and a fun fountain, I'm not exactly sure the names.

Some green space! I was very excited to see grass amongst all the buildings.

The biggest cupcake I've ever seen.

Mt. Dew is not common! Actually, Pepsi products as a whole are not common and Mt. Dew is even harder to come by. They only have this 'energized' version which tastes about the same.

Lunch: cous cous, shredded lamb & chicken (for Bren) and chicken/avacado sandwich (for me).

As far as first impressions go, here's what I've found:

1. Crazy weather. It's winter here so in general it is cold. However, Melbourne has this weird pattern of weather where it will be mid 50s in the morning, with overcast and rain, then brighten up for an hour, then bring in a rain flurry that will drench you in about 5 minutes. Needless to say, we always wear jackets, scarfs, and bring an umbrella.

2. Very diverse. I've seen quite a mix of cultures here, mostly represented in the food selections. I would guess that almost half of the population is Asian (which makes sense, given the location). Tamar will be very excited to have her choice of Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, Indian, Thai, Turkish (I'll try some for you, Grant), and a handful of European options. I have yet to see anyone that resembles a Latin or African culture, again probably the location.

3. Expensive. Everything is very expensive here. Each meal is at least $10 AUD/person (about $10.60) and that is pretty cheap. We have gone to the grocery store a couple times to try and save money but even there things are pricey! I almost bought a $5 gallon of milk. Almost. We will be drinking water.

4. Friendly. Everyone here is quite friendly. Even in the rush of the big city store keepers and restaurant owners seem to be genuinely nice. This also extends to everyone we've met so far, including potential roommates in my search for a place to live. (More on this later).

Day 1: Planes, trains, and automobiles

I'm a bit behind but things have been a little busy for us thus far. I wanted to hurry up and post about the traveling because so many of you have asked already. I left Jacksonville around 3pm on Monday and went first to Houston and then on to Los Angeles. Bren met me in LA at around 8ish Pacific time and we went to the United Club (a fancy room for people who have United credit card - which Brendan does). We boarded the international flight around 10 and were quite tired by that point (it was now 1am EST). The international plane was a double-decker and we hit the jackpot when our third row mate changed seats and we got the entire row to ourselves! We stayed up for dinner and then passed out around 2am. We were able to sleep for about 8 hours off-and-on but probably woke up every 2 hrs to switch positions. The benefits of being short were reaped again when I was able to lay flat across all the seats. When we woke up we watched a few movies, I did a few logic puzzles, and then ate breakfast. We arrived in Sydney around 6:30am on Wednesday (about 4:30pm Tuesday US time) and had to get off and back on before heading to Melbourne. once in Melbourne we had to get our bags and go through customs. Given all the hubbub about my visa Brendan was convinced that they would ask me several questions but they didn't ask a single one. We took the Skybus to our hotel and decided to walk around for a bit. At around 3pm I was feeling a bit tired so we decided to take a nap. That nap turned into our evening sleep and we didn't wake up until 4am the next morning. We've been busy since then, most posts to come!

Our pre-14 hour flight picture. 

Tamar made me a personalized crossword. I was able to figure out a little more than 1/2 but some things still stumped me. I'll keep working!

Breakfast (Breaki) on the plane. French toast, a sausage, some fruit and a croissant. Not bad!

Brendan intimately involved with the movies being shown. 

Post-27 hours of travel on the Skybus headed to the hotel. Still looking good if I do say so myself!

Graduation at last

Ok, so obviously that last post was published a bit later than I intended. I did write it in advance, however. The newest update is of course graduation. After my class on Thursday (and by after I mean immediately after) Brendan and I went out for drinks and then met up with several of our friends for more drinks and dinner. My family arrived on Friday evening, so we went out for more drinks (obviously). Saturday morning was graduation. Because I had to arrive early for the ceremony, Brendan graciously dropped everyone off. I'm sure he and Tamar were a big help to my family as they said "who's that?" "why are they doing that?"  Walking out in the processional finally made graduation feel real - I guess I'm a sucker for ceremonies. After the ceremony we all went out to eat at the Butt Hutt - a very classy local BBQ place. The rest of the time we just hung out, relaxed, and watched the Olympics. Tamar, who has been my right hand for the past week, was also able to join us for most of the visiting, which was really nice. My family had heard so much about her that they wanted to tell her how much they appreciated her. It was really nice to have so much of my family in town, I guess by missing Thanksgiving and Christmas I won't have a get-together like that for a while. I'm at the Jacksonville airport now, planning to get on my first plane in about an hour or so. I will keep posting as I get further in my travels!

Tamar, Brendan, and myself looking at a photo album of pictures Tamar got me for graduation.

 Brendan and I doing what we do best...

making silly faces!

 Tamar and Jimmy at our celebration dinner

Tamar and Natale

Time for real happy faces

Much of the usual gang (from left to right): Jimmy, Tamar, Natale, Me, Brendan, Courtney, and Andy

My advisors, Anne and Janet, right before the graduation ceremony.

Anne and Janet "hooding" me - the time old tradition of getting your hood put on when you earn your PhD

My cousin Sandi and her husband, Tom. It's hard to get everyone looking the same way when there are 5 cameras flashing.

The immediate family, such a happy bunch.

More silly faces at lunch.

A few more family members enjoying lunch.

Moving!

The past 3 weeks have been absolutely crazy. I have been packing up my house, packing up Brendan's house, moving to a temporary new house, finishing up teaching and taking a class, getting a new visa (long story), getting federal and state background checks, making trips to Goodwill, etc. etc. Today, however, should be the very last day of work for me. I am one presentation away from completing my degree (actually this class doesn't count toward my degree, I just took it anyway for masochistic purposes) and hopefully by 4pm, the party begins. Tonight I am going to dinner with many of my friends and then tomorrow I get to hang out with Tamar to do fun stuff. The family comes into town tomorrow afternoon as well, so hopefully we can all get some drinks and start to relax. Graduation is Saturday, I leave for FL on Sunday, and leave for Australia on Monday.

In other news, Charlie has found a good temporary home. A girl named Kate emailed me saying she was interested and after a few meetings I think she'll be a great fit. She isn't me, which is of course the gold standard, but she's a great girl who I know will love Charlie. I haven't been still enough to process it yet but I know Brendan is going to have an emotional travel companion on Monday.

Kids visit

As you know from a previous post the kids were with me for the past week or so. Grant came first, for a few days, then both of them stayed this past week. We did a lot of fun things - went for a hike, went kayaking, went to the pool, played charades, got school clothes - and ate some unique food for them - Indian, Thai, and Mexican. Tamar is my best chef friend so she also came over and made some delicious meals as well. She made saucy asian meatballs with rice, tostados, chocolate covered pretzel bites, and baked french toast (my absolute favorite!).

Natalie also enjoyed coming to class with me for a few days. She sat right in front and took notes during mine and Tamar's lectures (Tamar was a guest speaker this week). Natalie then wrote a nice essay summarizing the information. I tell you, she did a better job than most of the students in my class could have. Hopefully she will send it to me soon so I can post it.

Grant started writing a novel. He has read several zombie books and watched all sorts of thriller/horror movies so of course the book is about zombies. Hopefully when he finishes it I can post some of it here too. Today they went back to Jax and I cannot wait to get some sleep!

Natalie helping Tamar in the kitchen

Grant working on his novel.

Gonna be A LOT of saucy asian meatballs...

Yum!

The final plate, garnished and all.

These are pretzels with p-nut butter and brown sugar in between and then dipped in chocolate. SO GOOD

Dinner for the second night - shrimp tostadas.