The Beginning of an Adventure

I’ve just gotten back from a 2 week venture to Melbourne and New Zealand over the Australian Easter holidays. The trip was fantastic. We stayed in hostels and drove all around the North Island in New Zealand. I’ll try and sum up a few of the highlights over the next couple blog posts but I most definitely will not be able to get everything in. Another quick note, I am waiting on some necessary equipment to move some pictures onto my computer, so after that has happened I’ll update this with some relevant photos :)

Melbourne

Our trip started out with an early, 11 hour train ride from Adelaide to Melbourne. We figured that seeing the Australian landscape by train would be a good beginning to our adventure. We had a nice chat with the nun that we were sitting beside, and ran though the pouring rain to Spencer Backpackers where we’d spend the next few nights. 

Cool undulating roof design in the Melbourne train station 

I’m not sure if you guys are familiar with hostels, but this was my first ever encounter with them. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but I discovered that over the next couple of weeks I’d be staying in rooms filled with bunk beds, with huge common kitchens and tv rooms. Altogether not too bad, and a really great way to meet people. I would definitely consider hosteling for future voyages.

First hostel stay :)

The next day was mostly spent wandering around the city. We went to Federation Square, Flinders Station, hopped the free City Circle tram to the harbour to check out the People’s Flea Market and do some shopping at Harbour Town, then had dinner at Maccaroni, an amazing little Italian restaurant on Metcalfe, off Collins St. After a few drinks on our hostel’s patio with a Korean guy and a German guy, we set out for Sorry Grandma! A club on Little Bourke that likes to put googley eyes on paintings and has a popcorn maker in the upstairs bar. The club was pretty sweet and we met some really nice guys that ended up inviting us out to the footy game the next day.

Flinders Station

People's Flea Market at the Docklands. Entirely made of shipping containers.

Harbour town for some outlet shopping

Amazing dinner at Maccaroni

After Easter Mass, we made our way to the Etihad Stadium to watch the St. Kilda Saints beat the Gold Coast Suns. We all were starving after the game, so headed back with the guys for some left-over chinese food and a couple of drinking games. After several attempts at finding a good place to go out and a couple rounds of Kings, we decided to call it a night.

Little kids playing in the oval at halftime

Melbourne day 4 was spent doing a design walk of the city, at the Aquarium and up on the 88th floor of the Eureka tower, the tallest building in the Southern hemisphere.

Penguins at the Aquarium

Eureka Tower (Gold one!)

For our last night in Melbourne we decided to stay at Hotel Discovery, another backpacker’s place. It was a pretty big place, with murals in the common areas and a really cheap, really good cafe in the lobby.

For our last day we decided to start off at Victoria Market, where you can get local wares as well as fruits and veggies. It was huge and a really cool place to shop. Next we headed over the the NGV: Ian Potter building to check out some Australian art before we took a walk through the Botanical Gardens to see the massive War Memorial.

Climbing sculpture at the botanical gardens

Sit in the lawn chairs and play Pac-man on the big screen in Federation Square

War Memorial

It's gigantic

One of the guys we had met in Melbourne happened to be flying out around the same time as us, so we met up at the airport bar to kill some time, then parted our ways and headed off to continue our adventures in New Zealand.

Australianisms

arvo  ->  afternoon
bathers  ->  swimsuits
Bogans  ->  Australian hicks
bush tucker  ->  food from the bush (edible plants, etc.)
Chemist  ->  Pharmacist
chips  ->  fries (but potato chips are also chips)
crack on  ->  come onto, hit on
cuppa  ->  cup of tea
Esky  ->  travel cooler
fairy floss  ->  cotton candy
footy  ->  Australian Rules Football League (AFL)
fringe  ->  bangs (hair)gas  ->  propanegoon  ->  terrible cheap wine in a 1-2L box
heaps  ->  lots
hotel  ->  pub
How you going?  ->  How are you doing?
I reckon...  ->  I believe/think/feel...
ice block  ->  popsicle
jug  ->  pitcher
keen  ->  eager
kindie  ->  kindergarten
lollies  ->  candies
Macca's  ->  McD's
mate  ->  friend (everyone knows this, but yes, it is actually used all the time)
mozzie  ->  mosquito
op shop  ->  thrift shop/second-hand store
petrol  ->  gas
push bike  ->  bicycle
rock up  ->  show up, arrive
school  ->  high school
She'll be right  ->  It'll be alright
singlet  ->  tanktop, sleevless cotton undershirt (similar to a wifebeater, but not necessarily 
ribbed)
slab  ->  a two-four of beer/cider/etc.
sunnies  ->  sunglasses
surf life saver  ->  lifeguard
swag  ->  rolled up bedding, usually a foam mattress, sleeping bag, and pillow, in a single 
person canvas tent/bag for camping, though also extensively used as a spare bed when 
staying over at a friend's

tea  ->  dinner

thongs  ->  flip flops
torch  ->  flashlight
tomato sauce  ->  ketchup
uni  ->  university
Ute (you-te)  ->  Utility vehicle, pickup truck
yiros  ->  shawarma
your/my shout  ->  your/my treat, turn to buy

A Tea Party Video

Compliments of film genius Cameron Roberts, I give you "A Tea Party".





Original blog post about the Tea Party can be found here.


*Confession: I love this video to bits. I've watched it so many times and every time I break out in this ridiculous smile. This was such an awesome day. I should just pack all these guys up and bring them back to Canada to film my life.

Dinner and a Movie

Here's to another ridiculously long weekend.


To start off, the Clipsal races ran from Thursday to Sunday. Basically it's this whole slew of car races where several city streets are shut down. All the bogans (Aussie hicks) come out of the woodworks, and there is this incessant buzzing that can be heard throughout the CBD. At first it was intriguing, and the sound of the cars driving around the track was exciting, but after the first day, I was already getting sick of it.

Before I get in to all the events of this past weekend, let me just say that I have now been out 4 nights in a row. Once again I am exhausted. And naps have been my best friend lately. 


Thursday I was invited out to see a show at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. I hadn't been there yet, so I was quite excited. We went to The Garden of Unearthly Delights, about a 10 minute walk from my apartment. The garden is free to get into, but show tickets and food/drinks are extra. It is basically set up like a really quirky midway/circus. There are circus tents and salons as show venues, as well as a ferris wheel, and a double decker cocktail bus, where we spent a lot of time talking to the friendly bartender. We bought tickets to Sammy J & Randy which was hilarious, and really well done. I noticed there was an act called 3 Canadians, so I'll have to check that out sometime while I'm here as well. 
After the show we met up with Ali and Heather who had happened to find themselves with a Clipsal sponsorship team. So after a few drinks we headed home for the night. 


Friday was the date of our much anticipated Canadian dinner. We wanted to thank all the shack people for making us feel so welcome, so we invited them all over for some Canadian eats. Clearly poutine was a must. We couldn't find any cheese curds in the grocery, so regular cheese had to suffice. We weren't very surprised when nobody knew what poutine was, but we couldn't believe that no one had heard of perogies before. They may not be Canadian, but they are definitely readily available there. Perogies were then added to the dinner menu, but you can't get them here, so Ali had to use her grandmother's recipe and make them all by hand. We realized that most foods you associate with Canada are basically all consisting of starch, so we also threw in some baked veggies to round it out. 


We did the tacky thing and dressing in red and white, threw some of our photos from back home into a slide show (Tim Horton's was featured excessively), and made up a playlist of Canadian artists. Everyone loved the food, and then we introduced them to a few Canadian drinking games (Beer pong, Flip cup, Zumi zumi). Aisha ushered us all into some going out clothes and off we went to find some good music to dance off the rest of the night.
In the morning we made a typical Canadian breakfast for those who stayed over consisting of pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs, and buttery cinnamon sugar apples all completely drowned in syrup.

Saturday the there was an outdoor cinema set up at the shack. They hired a projector and set up a whole screening area to show friends and family some of the short videos they've put together. What those guys have managed to do is pretty incredible. Afterwards we all hung out at the shack and us Canadians thought it was about time we taught the Australians Slap Jack. I believe it was well received.

Sweet setup

Speeches to start off the night

No one can resist a good game of Slap Jack

Sunday was supposed to be a relaxing day so I re-dyed my hair (it's gone bleach blond in about a month), and had a nap. I was then invited out to the Adelaide Festival at Barrio. I was still pretty awake from my nap, so I headed out. Barrio was pretty cool. They took over an open area with a big sculpture and lots of concrete pillars that are the perfect height for tables or chairs. The entrance was the word BARRIO entirely lit up. You had to walk through one of the R's to get in. The event was free but you had to give an offering to Barrio to gain entrance. I wasn't aware of that, so they gave me a little disco ball to offer up. Inside they had divided the whole area up into sections so that it was almost maze-like. There were several bars all with different themes (desert, ski lodge, candy bar, etc.), a band set-up, a free tropical fruit stand, a dj, some guy setting up a rube-golberg machine, and some free arcade games. The whole thing was pretty cool but unfortunately there wasn't enough light for me to get any good pictures.

Entrance at Barrio

Our relaxing day was pushed back to Monday. Class in the morning, and dinner and sunset watching at Glenelg Beach in the evening. I needed that.

School: Week 1

We've just concluded our first week of school here in Australia. My week started on Tuesday with Ceramic Production Techniques and Textiles: Print & Dye. I was originally signed up for a glass forming class, but that was unfortunately cancelled, so they put me into ceramics.


Now, when I was in high school, I was definitely into all the artsy stuff, and I thought that these sort of crafts courses would be fun, plus we don't exactly offer them back at Carleton. Typically, the first classes of any course will be highly boring, as we all know, since everyone has to read out all that legislative stuff. These classes however were particularly painful. It made me realize that ID has made me take a more practical approach to a lot of things, because these classes just felt like fluff. 


I don't exactly want to bash these courses, since these things can be fun on their own time, but it's not something that I really want to be studying in university. So far I've dropped the textiles class. I was more opposed to waiting for cloth to dye for hours than I was to actually making things with my hands. I still have the ceramics class for now, but I should be getting into a furniture for manufacture class with the help of my studio prof. With this at least I'll get a chance to go work in the workshops.


Studio class was a completely different story. Our prof seems really engaging and the project he presented to us seemed challenging. We were supposed to design something to help nurses with the process of dry wound dressing (when they change and clean up bandages). This was set up much like the toy design project I did last semester at Carleton, where it spans the entire semester from research done through site visits and nurse interviews, to the final concept and presentation. 


Friday was the day we were supposed to go visit the hospital. That never happened. Unfortunately there were too many barriers involved with us visiting even the staged, educational wing of the hospital as it was reserved for studying nurses. The school is going to try again to run this project next year, but in the meantime, this year they've decided to run two projects in parallel.


From what I understand, these projects will be separate, but we'll be working on both during the semester. Since we have two studio periods each week, one day will be dedicated to the first project and the other day will be dedicated to the second project.


Only one project has been introduced so far. We'll be redesigning a mobile projection unit. Basically it's a self contained laptop/projector/sound station that lecturers can use for their classes. The current one looks like a mobile metal box until it's unlocked, and pre-fab parts line the inside with cables everywhere. Its nickname: the dalek. Our job is to turn it into an R2D2.


(Pictures of studio to come)

Grange Beach Video

Lisa found a video that the university made about the international students' visit to Grange beach. If you watch you can see some familiar faces having a race running through the water ;)

Fringe Opening & A Tea Party

We got home Friday night exhausted and ready for bed, but the night wasn't quite over. We came home to FINALLY having our internet installed and a new, working fridge! I missed cold food. We hooked up the internet then headed out to check out the opening night of the Fringe Festival. 


The Fringe is a really big festival here in Adelaide. It includes lots of arty shows and acts, and Friday there was a big parade for the opening day. We could hear the commotion from our apartment, so decided to go check it out despite realllllly wanting to hop into bed. The idea of stopping by Hungry Jack's for some quick food was also pretty appealing since after being away for 2 days, and not having a working fridge, we didn't really have any food to speak of. 


When we got down to the streets, it was sheer chaos. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but the number of people who had all gathered really surprising. It felt a bit like I was in the middle of Times Square. In the end we actually had missed the parade, but we were so tired that just walking amongst the crowd was enough excitement for the night, so off we went to bed.

Saturday we were invited to a tea party for Cameron and Aisha's birthdays. We all donned some floral outfits and took the train out to meet Justin on the way to the shack. They had put together a bunch of picnic tables, made some oversized toadstools, and had pretty tea sets and cake stands everywhere. There was even a sword fighting ring to one side. It was really well done and reminded me of all the themed parties we used to have back home. The big difference is that we were constantly on film haha. I'm used to photographers being around (hi Jon, hi Jen), but Justin's friends veer more towards videography. I've seen some of their stuff, so I'm sure it'll turn out brilliant. 

The tea party was really sweet, but we were all dying of heat on the 40 degree day, so we eventually abandoned the tea in favour of a dip in the river. The river was followed by pies for dinner (Australia has the best meat pastries. I never knew there were so many different types), which was followed by strobe lights and dancing, a night dip in the river, a warm up in the bath, and then a crash wherever you could find a place to sleep. 

Everyone had told me that if I left for Australia, I might not make it back home. I expected to have a good time, but I didn't quite understand the not leaving part. I could never quite see living in another place feeling like it's home. Australia still isn't home, but I've definitely fallen in love. It's so different here, and yet so much the same. This place is pretty amazing.

Canoe the Coorong

I am sore. And I am exhausted. And I could really go for a massage about now. So basically, it was a good weekend.


On Thursday Ali went to tea to meet her extended family here in Adelaide. Unsure of whether or not she needed to eat before her 7pm tea date, she decided to munch a bit before. Apparently tea here is supper, or dinner, or whatever you want to call it. Completely different from the tea and cakes we were expecting. After she got back Justin chauffeured us off to the shack so we could get an early start to canoe the Coorong the next morning. 

The Shack

Stairs from the back of the shack to the river 

Justin's friend Brenton is owner and tour guide for Canoe the Coorong, so Thursday morning the group of us shipped out on the hour and a half drive to Goolwa. We waited on the beach and learned the cockle dance while some of the guys went to fetch the boats. 

Doing the cockle dance (Photo by Heather)

The first stop was to one of the locks where a few new zealand furs seals have been hanging out recently. They were adorable. They were sunbathing and swimming up near the kayaks. I had only ever seen wild seals from a distance, so being within a few feet was pretty amazing. We then stopped at a bakery in Goolwa for a quick lunch before continuing on.

New zealand fur seal sunbathing

Ali in the locks (Photos by Heather)

As we kayaked to our camp site Ali and Heather sang songs the whole way. The site is right on the edge of the water, so we would wake up on the beach. Brilliant. We took a quick swim, set up camp, and strolled over to the nearest sand dune for some sandsurfing.

I have never before gone sandsurfing and I was definitely a little nervous looking down the steep hill of sand that I was about to slide down headfirst on a wakeboard. First attempt was a dud. Instant wipeout haha. At least the second time I actually got down the hill! Actually it was really fun, I guess I'm just not as graceful as I'd like to be haha. Oh well, Dave's wipeout later completely overshadowed mine, so's all good. As much fun as it is to surf down the dunes into the water, the trek back up that stupid hill is hell.

My terrible first attempt, as filmed by Heather

Later on the group split up, half of us went fishing in the mouth (where the Murray River meets the ocean), and the other half went for a seaside stroll down the beach, chasing pelicans, attempting to catch fish with our bare hands, and just generally wrecking havoc on nature.

(Photo by Ali)

(Photo by Dave)

The night ended with a dinner of sausages, lamb chops, and fresh fish. Drinks were had around the fire, and a stupid game of There's a Moon in My Bowl was played (yes Justin, it's a stupid game).


The perfect way to wake up is a morning swim in the river. Especially when it's only a few steps away from your bed. After breakfast we all marched over to the other side of the island to try our luck at body surfing in the ocean. There was no way to really stay on shore very long since it was so hot out, so we all mucked about in the ocean for a few hours and passed around a bag of water to keep hydrated.

(Photo by Heather)

After the not so ideal results of our last beach excursion, we all religiously reapplied our sunscreen every hour to ward of the strong sun rays.


Packing up was a chore (as always) peppered with some more swim breaks since it was so ridiculously hot. We had a slight detour on the way back due to some misdirection, but made it to the main land intact and very happy. Then someone had the brilliant idea of going for ice cream before taking the winding route through the hills back to the city.

Heather and Justin on the car ride home

*Thanks Heather and Ali for your photos, since I mostly left my camera in my bag...