So I have now completed two across the world trips... oh for the land down under. I never ever want to pack a suitcase again!! Maybe I can just learn how to pack light? Haha. I'm thinking that is never going to happen. Thus, I have packed my bag for what seems to be the millionth time, and I am now back in Australia. Welcome to the land of no worries, where the beer is plentiful. My flight from LAX to Melbourne wasn't too bad this time around. Before my flight even took off, I met up with the people from my program. They were all pretty cool, even with being exhausted! I managed to sleep for almost he entire 15 hour flight. Pretty amazing huh? I am so glad I got all of that sleep, because I definitely needed it for the following day!
Now I’ve made it to my arrival… My flight was delayed to begin with, so in addition to customs taking longer than it did the first time around, things continued to go south (no pun intended haha). The dog stopped at my bag, when I went through customs. Come to find out my nail polished had exploded in my bag, which they discovered after emptying my bag. No worries though, luckily my nail polish was in a zip lock bag! Whew. Saved – thank goodness. After making it through customs and meeting the woman who was picking us up, Prue, I tried to make a collect call home – failure, again.
We made it back to our hotel around noon, and we were given a half-hour to check into our rooms and clean up. We then met Jeff and another woman (but I cannot remember her name), but she is not all that important to my journey. Haha. She’s just the person in charge of the study abroad students at La Trobe University. Jeff and Prue are the ones that take us to where we need to be, and show us around.
Now that you’ve “met” just about everyone, I can continue. We met up after our half-hour, and got an introduction to Australia, so to speak, and what we were going to be doing for the day. Our day began with a walk through of Melbourne’s CBD (city business district), where we went to an Aborigines art museum and the Australian centre for the moving image (acmi). The ACMI is essentially just videos. I don’t get it, but is supposedly an Australian thing. The exhibit is only for June and July this year, so I am privileged to be privy to such excellence! After looking at the art we picked up snacks to hold us over until dinner. We actually went down the same street that Kamron, Penn, and I ate at, at my last night here – making me miss everyone from that trip even more (I will let y’all in on a little secret – I will see them soon)! Grabbing some chips (which is what they call fries), from Grill’d Healthy Burgers hit the spot. Next we went on the circle tram around the city – it was free. Oh yes, I’ve remembered something important! When we were getting “introduced” to Australia when we first arrived, they said that we MUST (absolutely, MUST) pay to ride the tram. HA! I laugh in the face of danger (what move?! Hehe).
Okay. Back on topic! Rambling Rachael fits me! So the circle tram… It was packed!! We head to let a few go by before the twenty of us could even get on, and then once we actually made it on, a million people got on a few stops later. The doors almost didn’t shut! I got to see about ten people almost face plant into the floor of the tram. And I also forgot to mention that we went to an ally filled with graffiti. They give the people of the city an ally for graffiti, which I thought was kind of cool. It’s a neat way to keep the graffiti at bay in the city. When we walked down the ally there were actually a few guys spray painting the wall!!
We eventually made it back to the hotel, where we were given about an hour to freshen up. I bought an Internet username and password, because I had yet to have the opportunity to contact home. Let me just tell you how expensive it was… 3$ for thirty consecutive minutes! FML. So I contacted home and messaged Kamron, so that we could somehow arrange to meet up during my one night stay in Melbourne. Unfortunately Kamron had to work, so we were going to have to play it by ear. I messaged him (he had already left for work), and I gave him directions to get to my hotel.
Dinner came, FINALLY. I was more than ready for some food. We walked around the block to the stellar Italian restaurant. I got mushroom orzo. Delish. I am falling in love with orzo. By this point in the night Jeff was getting a bit… well tipsy or domisvitch in Austrian!! He was a hoot. He is an older guy, and to give you a visual image of him, he wore a dress jacket, dress pants, and tennis shoes! Haha. What a champ!
Then we were given the chance to either go back to the hotel with Prue or got to a pub, James Squire. Of course I chose the pub – for two reasons: 1) who would pass up an option to drink, you can catch up on sleep from jet lag when you’re dead and 2) I needed anything to keep myself busy until Kamron got off of work. After a drink or two, a few of the students went back to the hotel, and the remainder of us picked up a game of pool – girls v. boys. We lost. Oh well. Then we decided to head back, where I had to entertain myself. I decided to read as my roommate went to bed, in order to keep myself wake until Kamron got off of work.
I bought (which I didn’t actually have to buy, because I only had a fifty and the hotel attendant didn’t make me pay) an Internet card to get in touch with Kamron when I knew he would be off work. Kamron and I were finally able to get together. He got off at 10, got back to his room by 10:30, and left to see me shortly after. When he got there at 11:30 (mind you I have not slept in… well a very long time and then there is jetlag), we went out for beer. I decided to run back to the hotel, and spend the night with Kamron. I was a good roomie, and I left a note.
When Kamron and I got to his apartment, I got to see Josef and Penn!! Harry was asleep, so oh well! It was so good to see everyone again – and especially Kamron, of course! Kamron and I are working on him coming up to Mildura before he flies back to the States. The timing worked out kind of perfectly. I will be getting back from our weeklong field trip the same day he will be getting back from Sydney, so maybeee time is on our sides!
In the morning, Kamron went back with me to the city, and we grabbed breakfast and a coffee. YUM! Parting is such great sorrows… Kamron walked me back to my hotel, and I made it back to my room to check out. I didn’t realize that Kamron still had my kindle, so unfortunately I will not be able to read any of the cool books I downloaded. Excellent.
After checking out we started our journey from Melbourne to Mildura. It was a long ride, and I was naturally tired. I didn’t sleep on the ride though, because I wanted to be able to sleep through the night. On our trip we made a few stops: Castlemaine and Beechworth Bakery in Bendigo. We ate lunch at the bakery, and I had my first meat pie – steak and potato pie. It tasted a lot like shepherds pie, which made me think of Meredith’s dining hall. Haha. What a place to think of while you are in a different country. We checked into our hostel later that night, and a bunch of us made a run to the grocery store, because we were starving by the time we rolled into town. We picked up some things for dinner, and some things to pack a lunch for the next day. It’s wayyyy cheaper to pack a lunch to eat on campus, than to go out.
I hit the sheets early that night, because I was exhausted from being a rebel the night before! I actually slept through most of the night, and we didn’t have to be ready until 9am, so I slept pretty good considering. We got up and left for a tour of the city with Jeff. He took us around the Murray River, which separates Victoria (which is where Mildura is) and New South Wales. We then made it to the Homestead, and I am not to sure what that is. I wasn’t paying attention, go figure. Haha. After that we headed to the University, where Neil gave us a break down of out itinerary – I looveeee knowing what we are doing – the compulsive side of me coming out!
After that, we went over the requirements of the course, and we got our journals. We are required to keep a journal during our stay. It is really cool. It’s all about getting the creative juices flowing! There are no rules, except do it! I am pretty excited about it, but I am worried about doing that and keeping a blog. We will see how it goes.
Next we headed back to our hostel, and got ready for our formal dinner at Stephanos. It had to be five star! We also got to try his wine and beer. Of course, I was like sign me up! It was free, and we were planning on going out afterwards, which wouldn’t be free. Thus, I was pre-gaming in a sense. During dinner we introduced ourselves, and listened to a few speakers. As they were speaking, I realized that I had no idea what they were talking about, because I hadn’t been listening. HAHA. I blame it on the alcohol.
At least I listen when it is important. I have been listening to all of my lectures today, which is a good thing because I know nothing about photography. I’ve learned more about a camera in the past few hours, than I’ve known from an entire lifetime of being a tourist photo shooter! I’ve also learned a lot about how to process images too! Very exciting!
After dinner, we went to a local pub, where I got a few beers with some of the students and some of the professors. How cool is it that we get to go out with our professors?! Awesome. The. End.
Well, time is of the essence, and I am finally caught up on this blog. We are at lunch right now, and it is almost over! EEK! I do not have Internet at the hostel, so the only time I can get on the internet is at the university, and it’s only for a little bit. Usually I get time during lunch, so bare with me. It may take me forever to keep y’all posted. We go to the Mungo National Park tomorrow, so stay tuned!
I send loads of loveeee!
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