Easter Break Part Uno

Wow! It’s been awhile! I must say I think it will take me a couple instalments here to get everything down. I can’t type that much and I’m sure you don’t want to read that much! It’s been a pretty great couple of weeks. Although I must admit I’m really starting to truly miss all of you. Yeah I’ve missed you, but not bad, now I’m wishing I could see you, although I kind of don’t want to leave this place. I love Australia and all that it is, truly and honestly. I can’t stop reminding myself how insane and incredible this is. I never could have imagined all that I’ve gone through the past couple months. It’s such a short time period for so much to happen. I think I’m already a changed person and can’t imagine what it will be like coming home. It feels weird that this is the only communication I have with a lot of you, that this is being a part of each other’s life, it’s nothing in comparison to being home. Anyway, I’ll get on with my story.

First, I’ll briefly talk about my week before Easter. It wasn’t too eventful, I was still trying to get over my ear infection and cold. I got to talk to Jess some which was really wonderful. I worked at getting my schedule figured out for next semester back home and that took some work, but I got it to work alright. I got some weird rash thing on my neck, looked a bit like a spider bite at first, one spot got really swollen and red, there were about 3 to start with. The next day there were about 10 spots. So I went to the nurse, also because I still wasn’t feeling too well, and she got me an appointment on Thursday with the doctor. He made me mad because he told me I wasn’t sick anymore and I really felt bad still. Also, he said he thought my spots were pimples! They weren’t at all!! It itched and spread and swelled up. But whatever, it went away after about 5 days, I’m not sure what it was, and my cold left in a couple days too so it’s all good. I had a presentation to do in my Australia Today class on Thursday, so I worked a little on that all week and did fine with it. Then I got my hair cut on Thursday night in time for break, I needed it though. It turned out really well, I love it. We watched a couple Australian movies that week as well, The Castle and The Dish. Both were really good, The Castle was really hilarious, dry humor, great. The Dish was based on a true story how Australia had the dish that caught video from Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, interesting! I recommend them. One night that week I got into a couple arguments with people and won. I was quite proud of myself for winning, it doesn’t often happen. The first was with Kwangu from Zimbabwe, he didn’t believe in love, it doesn’t exist to him. I am the complete opposite. So I made some good points, and he said, okay, yeah, you’re right. He still didn’t believe it could exist for us though, although I got him thinking about that too, we’re all different, who says there’s a certain age you can feel it? Anyway, the point is I got him to change his thoughts! Then the other one was about putting the toilet seat down. I’m pretty sure I won that one too, no matter what the guys said! That’s about all the exciting news from that week. We got Good Friday off so that’s when my break started!!!

Easter Break!! We’ll see how far I get this time and then I’ll pick up and continue in a later post. So Good Friday is a public holiday here and I forgot that, so I had to wait longer than I thought for the bus into town and the train into Melbourne. I got there later in the morning than I thought but it was alright, I met Mom at our hotel. We went to eat some lunch right away at a pizza place by out hotel. Then we headed over to the Aquarium! That was exciting. We saw all sorts of animals - crabs, seahorses, sea dragons, turtles, spiders, starfish, big fish, sea snakes, sting rays, sharks, and much more! There was this huge aquarium, I think they said it was the biggest in Australia, and there were three tunnels you could walk through so the fish were all right above you and around you. It was incredible. There were the biggest sting rays ever in there and they said the curved glass made them look even smaller than they really are! The sharks were pretty awesome as well. Mom and I went on a simulator ride there as well, it wasn’t that neat except for the whole “roller coaster” aspect of it. It felt like you were on one, but the graphics and story was pretty bad, going underwater and stuff. Anyway, that was fun. Then Mom and I went on a walk down across the Yarra River and down the South Bank by the Crown and over to Federation Square. It’s really nice down there, I like it. We looked at a bunch of the cafes there as well, not much else was open in town because of Good Friday. On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped to get some wine and Cruisers(my favorite drink here) and some fries from Lord Of The Fries, apparently the best fries you’ll ever eat. Mom wanted a little happy hour before dinner! So that’s what we did. The fries were tasty, but I don’t know about their claim, although I was a big fan of the name of the place! Anyway, we had our happy hour and decided what to do for dinner. We finally decided to go back down to the South Bank and eat at this one café we saw that sounded good. It was called Cervo and was right on the river, and at night the trees along the big walkway there were all lit up and the city lit up in front of us, it was a really cool little place. And the food was quite tasty! We stopped in the Crown Casino complex, in the mall, to get some ice cream for the walk back. Then it was sort of rest and relax and bed time, sort of boring, but every night sort of turned into this! I guess that’s good since we had to wake up early most the time.

Saturday we got up early and were on the hunt for donuts, but surprisingly the donut shop wasn’t open yet!! I was shocked and disappointed as I was thoroughly looking forward to one. We settled for McDonalds and walked over to Southern Cross station to catch an early train to Geelong!!! I was very excited to show off my home, as I am in love with it! We went to the bus station when we got in, but the next bus didn’t come for awhile, so we went to the mall to get a glimpse of “real” aussie life, not just the tourist stuff. Plus I wanted to buy some meds for my cold from the chemist! But I did show off Target and the supermarket in the mall. Then we went back to the bus stop and rode the bus to Deakin! We headed to my unit so I could show it off. I also needed to get ready and finish my packing for our trip. Then I gave a quick tour of the campus and hoped to make even more people fall in love with my uni here, it is quite wonderful. Then we caught the bus again and headed back into town for the day. We walked down to the waterfront right away and went to the Watershed Café for lunch. I hadn’t ever been there, it was quite delicious. I had fish and chips, the best yet! Fish and chips is by far my new favorite meal and I will miss the shops a lot when I come home. Then we continued walking along the waterfront area on the bay. It is gorgeous down there and the best part of town by far if you ask me, or most others. Mom and I went in to the Botanical Gardens as well. There was a lot dead since I’d been there, but a few things bloomed that I hadn’t seen! That was nice, I like it up there by Eastern Beach. So then we headed back into the middle of town and instead of waiting an hour for a bus we called a cab to go back to Deakin to pick up my suitcase. We did that and then had a little while before the next bus came. So I went to see my friend Nick who stayed here over break and just went on a few fishing charters. Mom got to meet him and was very excited. I hope he didn’t get too scared! Just kidding Mom! So back into town again one last time, then we walked over to the train station to catch the train back to Melbourne. It was pretty packed at first, but at every stop more and more people got on, all in their Geelong Cats outfits. That is our AFL (footy) team here, with blue and white stripes. Anyway, it was absolutely packed by the time we got to Melbourne!! Then everyone hurried off at once, it was crazy, a little scary actually! There were so many people, they were all going to the game at Telstra stadium in Melbourne I guess. That was pretty cool, although overwhelming trying to get through the crowd with my big huge heavy suitcase! Anyway, we got back to the hotel and had to decide on dinner. We just got some pizza, and I got Subway. I turned on a different footy game to watch, I actually like it quite a bit, though I don’t totally understand it yet. We did a lot of walking so it made for a relaxing night. Mom did some searching for a church for Easter the next morning. That was about it. That night I didn’t sleep too well and woke up feeling sick to my stomach. It wasn’t very good and I’m not totally sure why I felt so sick, but I was fine in the morning so I guess it wasn’t a big deal.

Easter morning we slept in a little bit and decided to go the St. Michael’s Uniting Church on Collins St. Mom and I got ready and walked over there looking pretty in our Easter outfits. It was nice to be with at least one family member and still go to church on Easter, it wasn’t totally like I was around the world! The service was really quite nice. It was strange because they had their little rituals that we didn’t really know what was going on. They turned off all the lights but a spotlight on the minister when he gave his sermon, and he gave it from high up on this separate part of the alter. But he gave a very nice sermon. It was a little strange not having any communion, but the service was still an hour and half. They had fellows which I didn’t really understand, and this staff - that was a bit different, and the hymns were different than I‘ve ever heard. I enjoyed it all though. Plus, the church was absolutely gorgeous! It was this old stone church with a steeple and bells ringing to start and finish, and cloisters(is that what it’s called?) outside around the side. There were two levels and beautiful stained glass windows. So we walked back and the Easter bunny had come and found me! Wow, how amazing. It was great to get some chocolate and coins, very exciting. We got ready and headed out to the Melbourne Zoo for the day! We took the tram out there. It was pretty good, but really a zoo is a zoo pretty much. They really didn’t have very many Australian animals, that was interesting. But then again I’ve seen a lot of them already. One they did have that I hadn’t seen were platypus, they were pretty cool! We got to see them feeding the tigers which was awesome. The mama was hungry! And she had three cubs that were quite adorable. The bears were pretty cool, they had giraffes and ostrich and a few monkeys and a big aviary. Another part I really liked was all the big cats, although not all of them were out. They are all so cool, I love them and wish I could take one home! There were also little penguins and seals and big turtles and a tree kangaroo, those are weird. It was fairly exciting overall. When we got back to the hotel we couldn’t decide on dinner so we just went back down to South Bank and the Crown casino complex, because again since it was Easter not much was open. We wandered around for quite a bit and ended up just eating in the food court, but it was honestly a really nice one. Then we walked back and relaxed and went to bed, see a pattern in the nights?

So I think I’ll end here for now, I know this wasn’t much, but I got a start. I’m tired and getting delusional and think that means I must need to get some sleep! There is much more to come, be excited! Honestly, this part of the trip wasn’t too exciting for me, I’ve been to Melbourne and all and could do that stuff anytime I’m here. It was still nice to show off my home here and finally get to spend some time with Mom!! But the wonderful, amazing, incredible, best part comes in the next post or two!!! Okay, giddy = too tired! Make me go. Now. I hope you all are well and this finds you in good health, good spirits, and good company. I miss you all and wish the best for you for today, right here and now. Before I forget, I’ll leave you with more quotes. Leave me comments if you want to make my day!


“Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” Michael Jordan

“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.” Napoleon Hill

LOVE, Alissa