melbourne zoo

Our friends Owen and Jen are having a party this weekend. They are going to roast a whole pig! They asked Hugh for a bottle of whiskey to use in roasting the sucker, so I dropped it off at Owen's work yesterday. And guess where he works? The zoo! I got to see the tigers and the seals and the lions and the meercats! But the cutest of all, of course, were the otters. The ones at the zoo are littler than the ones in Seattle, and one of them kept making this adorable squeaking noise. So cute!

  

TRESemmé, for the well-groomed tiger.

1000 Steps

I joined a hiking club! Can you believe that? First softball, now hiking. You'd almost get the impression that I like being active.

I joined my first hike on Monday. It was in the Dandenongs, a little mountain range on the outer edges of the greater Melbourne area. (I think. Don't quote me on that information.) I caught a commuter train to the start of the hike and met up with the rest of the group. We were climbing a track called The 1000 Steps, though the others informed me that it's really only about 750 steps.

I quite like hiking, compared to jogging or running, which I passionately despise. But I'm out of shape, and it wasn't long before the rest of the group had disappeared and left me huffing and puffing at a snail's pace up those 750 steps. Meanwhile, lithe young ladies in exercise gear jogged past me.

When we reached the top, there was an option to hike back down and go home, or continue on a longer track for the next several hours. I was the only one to choose home. It's important to know one's limits! And it did afford me a nice walk through peaceful woods.

Well, somewhat peaceful. Now and again, a branch would creak threateningly. A few weeks ago, when we were in Adelaide, I had dinner with my friend and her new man. Her man carried a pager, a satellite phone, and a iPhone which all kept bleeping at him. It seems he is a weekend volunteer for tree-clearing services, and there were some felled branches that needed attention. I commented that I found that odd, given the weather. It had rained very heavily the previous day, but there hadn't been any wind to speak of. Was the rain causing branches to fall? They explained to me that gum trees drop their branches willy-nilly, whenever they want. Tree-clearing services operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. So yeah, good information to know as you walk through a forest of eucalyptus trees...

A little bit of research tells me that these trees are giant mountain ash trees, or eucalyptus regnans. The tallest living tree of this species is the third tallest (living) tree in the world, but historical records indicate that there used to be an even taller one, giving the species the potential to be the tallest in the world. Hard to say for sure, but it certainly competes with the redwoods and other western U.S. giants.

Autumn is here!

Autumn has arrived in Melbourne, and it's time I stopped fighting it. The weather here is very changeable, and while I've lived in similar conditions for most of my life, I've been spoiled by 9 months in Adelaide. In the past couple weeks, I've had to re-learn how to dress. Just because it's balmy and sunny right now doesn't mean it won't be raining and freezing cold in ten minutes. Don't leave home without a coat and a hat! I had to quickly knit myself a pair of hand warmers the other day cuz I realised I didn't have any gloves!

Monday was my first day of freedom (read: unemployment). The plan was to go to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). I left the house in a t-shirt and light sweater, but just as I got into town, it started chucking with rain. I ducked into Melbourne Central, a posh and trendy shopping centre on top of a train station. There was a belt I'd been thinking about buying for the past two months, and I decided to just go for it! My pretty rose print jeans are constantly sliding down and revealing a bit more of my behind than I'm comfortable with, so I did actually need the belt.

While at Melbourne Central, I also returned some books to the Little Library, a volunteer library where you can take books as you please. I love the idea, so I've been borrowing and returning, and also donating books I'm finished with. Sadly, most of the stuff on the three tall shelves is pretty crap, but I'm trying to do my part to add good books.

I ventured back outside and found that the rain had mostly abated, but had caused the temperature to drop significantly. I started walking towards ACMI, but fat raindrops started falling again just as I reached Bourke St. I took this as a sign that I should forget about ACMI, and instead pop into the nearby yarn store, Morris and Sons. They have beautiful, basic, soft wool. I usually buy strange and interesting wool, then struggle to figure out what to make with it. I need to learn to appreciate basics, because they are the foundation of most of the knitting projects I admire.

Anyway, as tempted as I was, the prices were a little steep for my cheapskate sensibilities, so I didn't purchase anything. Yet.

stars in the pavement

Exploring Prahran

It is Saturday, and I have the day off! Amazing! Hugh has the day off, too, but he needed to study for his upcoming distiller certification test (nerd alert!) so I left him alone to go explore this great city.

The poster is from the BEST PUBLIC SERVICE AD CAMPAIGN EVER! There's a video and a song that go with it, all to remind Melbournians to be careful around trains and trams. Go watch the video!!

I saw a thing on Twitter saying Australian American Apparel are giving away pairs of mesh leggings. I'm not one to pass up a freebie, so even though the closest AA is clear on the other side of town, requiring two train rides and about an hour to get there, I made the trek. But hey, it was an opportunity to explore. A coworker recommended I check out nearby Greville St for hipsterish-ness. I was not disappointed.

There was a great magazine store, Mag Nation, with lots of exciting stationery and gifty things. I was not impressed, however, that knitting magazines were $15-$20. Sure, they're imported from the US and UK, but really!

There's was also a trinkets boutique that had cute vases and ceramics. As my wonderful boyfriend recently bought me roses, we need a vase, but I think his antique cocktail mixer will work a bit longer.

In a clothing boutique, I bought a swingy, sparkly skirt for $29. What a steal! I've decided lately that I need more sparkle in my wardrobe.

Then on to American Apparel, where I picked out some navy blue leggings (it was that or hot pink and I had to chose under pressure!) I also bought a totally impractical but adorable strappy, knit crop top. (Hugh told me to buy anything cute that I saw.) Yay, fun times! But can you see how exploring the city is not cheap? This definitely does not qualify as a Free Melbourne adventure.

A new mission

I was just writing a letter RR, and expounding on something that has been worrying me a bit. I haven't been able to explore Melbourne much because I've been working so much, so I'm excited for lots of free time coming up. But...I won't have any money. Not having money can make it hard to explore a city. When you're out and about, you get hungry. And you have to pay to go into certain buildings. And you see pretty things that need to be bought! Okay, I'm not even convincing myself.

Anyway, I need to make it my mission to explore Free Melbourne. So, yeah. Monday, 13 May, check this space. I think I'll start by returning to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, which we visited when we first visited Melbourne for Hugh's interview. While we were there, I spent ages in the gift shop (sidenote: I LOVE gift shops! Why do people always rush you past them and complain about museums emptying into them? They're the best bit after all that boring culture!) The gift shop had these journals from a company called Compendium which I quite liked, but couldn't quite afford. But I wrote down the name and eugoogled them when I got home, and did you know? They're only $12.50 and delivery was free! So I bought two, one for myself, and one for Hugh's sister.

When they arrived, the box was full of other little goodies with the Compendium brand: a mechanical pencil, some stickers, and little inspirational quote cards. One of them said, "Compendium, Seattle, WA." Can you believe that? I come all the way from Seattle to Australia to buy a journal that came all the way from Seattle to Australia. Just think of the carbon footprint involved in that! But I've been writing almost every day, so that's good, eh? It almost justifies me buying a brand new journal from work tomorrow...