Blog 9

August 22 - September 3

Still on the hunt for Australia's best beer. James Squire IPA still holds title so far.

Sunday the 22nd we ventured down (and by that I mean were lazy and rode trams) to the beach town of St. Kilda. This was my second time there, as it was the first place we went after getting off the plane back in July. A second, extended look proved to be worth it. We wandered around the main streets, their downtown I guess, peeking in and out of shops. The street was lined with bakeries, cafes, bars and miscellaneous shops all tightly packed between graffiti-filled alleys. Very cool. On our way back towards the trams, as a huge storm front hit, we walked along the beach. The bay was filled with windsurfers, some of whom were catching huge air (2o ft.) off the wind-driven waves. We walked out St. Kilda pier to find a small penguin sanctuary at the end. We managed to see two Little Penguins hiding among the boulders at the end of the pier (see pics). First time I'd seen a penguin in the wild I must say.

The following Friday our Arcadia guide/coordinator/cool Aussie dude Lyndon took a group of us on a wine tasting tour in the Yarra Valley, northeast of Melbourne. This proved to be a great experience. I increased my knowledge of wine about 50 fold, tasted some amazing wines from places like Domain Chandon and Yering Station (both good, I highly recommend them), and saw the process of actually making wine.


Midway through the day, we stopped for lunch in the town of Healesville, where I grabbed some dim sims and chilled with a couple kookaburras (yes they were sitting in gum trees).

The day ended with two more wineries, perfect timing since much of the group was getting drunk...all but three of us slept the whole van ride home.

The next week, on Thursday the 2nd, I rode a train up to Watsonia, a somewhat distant suburb north of Melbourne. Although I got no pictures, the fences and walls along the railroad were covered with various graffiti along the whole way. My destination was Gresswell Forest, a wildlife preserve a few minutes from the La Trobe University campus. I walked around looking for some plants for my botany class and ran into some forest inhabitants.


The next day, three of us took another train, this time heading east from Melbourne to Upper Ferntree Gully. Here we walked up into the Dandenong Ranges, a section of rainforest and foothills that resembles Jurrasic Park, as the pictures below show. I wish I would have taken some more on our hike up the Thousand Steps trail, which cuts straight through the heart of the rainforest gully and is surrounded by massive, prehistoric looking tree ferns, cockatoos and various parakeets.

After hiking around for awhile, we trained one more stop up to a small town at the foot of the mountains. Here we found a nice BYO pizza parlor decorated with US license plates, album covers and mob movie posters. Definitely the place. Enjoyed a bottle of Yellowtail Cab Sauv (incredible for $10) and a chicken & garlic 'za before heading home for the rest of the night.
Things you won't find in Australia:

1. cheap beer (there's shitty beer, but it's by no means cheap - I'd kill for a PBR)

2. biscuits & gravy

3. regular bacon

4. country fried steak

5. regular ketchup or worcestershire sauce (ketchup is 'tomato sauce' and tastes different, worcestershire sauce is watered down and more like soy sauce)

6. mexican food (there are 3 mexican restaurants in Melbourne, the first we tried was pitiful - someone please send me a box of chipotles or taco del mar or something)

7. bento (weird since we're closer to Asia...)

8. a frosty or blizzard

9. good bagels