Australian Canada Day

July 1, 2012:
Like Christmas without my family (which I wouldn't experience until later that year during my exchange), Canada Day outside of Canada was going to be strange. Thankfully, I was surrounded by so many Canadians! And I was comforted by the promise of going to a bar which was specifically celebrating Canada Day.

For anyone from outside of Canada, Canada Day marks the signing of our constitution in 1867 when we officially became a federation. It was over a hundred years (1982) until we signed the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which essentially marked our freedom from the United Kingdom (although the Americans attempted a few times to invade us and take over -- notably the War of 1812 where the Canadians burned down the White House and won the war in large part thanks to our Native allies). But all of this is just Canadian Pride... on with the story!

The "Star Spangled Banner" anthem in the USA is based on this war. Casually.

We decked ourselves out in dollar store tattoos I had gotten before I left and put on our red and white clothing.

 

At Shae's residence room, we had a lot of fun taking photos and singing the national anthem a few times. It was pouring rain so we weren't thrilled with the idea of going downtown so we just went a few stops on the tram to an amazing pizza place. I got an Aussie pizza (ironically) which had regular toppings in addition to ham and egg.

 

Overall, it was a bit disappointing as a Canada Day, but the blame lies with the weather rather than Australia itself. I understand why the Founders didn't sign the constitution in the middle of the Canadian Winter. It was still exciting to spend the day with people from different countries, all celebrating Canada!

 

July 2, 2012:

Our last day in Melbourne before the trip, we booked all of the tours and activities we were planning to do, finished packing and dropped off our extra baggage at Brittney's friends house. We were almost too excited to sleep because in a few hours we'd be leaving on our trip, and a few hours after that we'd be skydiving!!!!!!!!!!

The Great Ocean Road

June 30, 2012:
We woke up at 5am, did a short jog to the tram and missed it while waiting to cross the street. Typical. We sat to wait for the next one which came 15 minutes later, but in the meantime, a strange man came and sat down next to us and told us "If I wasn't awake before, I am now!" Whatever that was supposed to mean. We were too busy conserving our energy to think of a response. It was freezing. The tram ended up arriving at our destination at the time predicted for the original tram we planned to take, so we had plenty of time to find the Bunyip Tours office and about a half hour for some warm drinks and breakfast before we boarded the busses. At which point we waited an additional 30 minutes because a woman had mixed up the times. We were très annoyed that we missed out on potential sleep.

Our tour guide was a super upbeat energetic kind of guy (which kind of grates you when you wake up at the crack of dawn) and it seemed to us that being a tour guide was his life's calling. The "facts" he presented us with, however, started out a bit macabre... he told us first about the West Gate Bridge and how the construction had been slightly botched so when it was almost finished it collapsed and tons of workers died as a result. Next, we learned that Australia has the most dangerous animals on the planet - something like 19 out of 20 of the most deadly species of snake make their home there, for example. Then, he told us about a series of shipwrecks and love stories with unhappy endings. Finally, he told us the death toll that went into the construction of the Great Ocean Road. It was a great way to get us really pumped up and excited first thing in the morning. Not. The tour group was pretty unwilling to participate in any of his questions.

 

We stopped for snacks at a bird sanctuary and, to Caitlin's delight (my horror), we were swarmed by parrots. I was not as delighted. And if you remember my post about my trip to Barcelona (where a pidgeon relieved itself on my jacket in the park), I had good reason.

 

We even saw a kookaburra...



...which are apparently really violent. Does anyone else remember this song from Barney?

We visited a lighthouse in the pouring rain and I had the pleasure of accidentally walking in on two separate women in the portapotties there (they couldn't figure out how to close the doors apparently). Awkward.

Caitlin and I had a blast pretending we were on an African Lion Safari, taking photos of the brush that reminded us of the Lion King. We even insisted that we saw a marking in one of the rocks that looked like Rafiki's drawing of Simba.

Although, I'd be hard pressed to point it out to you now.

 

It looks like Africa right?? Maybe I should go there first before I start making wild generalisations about the brush there.

Finally, we made it to the really gorgeous section of the road, where the Twelve Apostles are located and all that jazz. It was stunning, even in the pouring rain.

 

 

It was a really great way to spend the day, and even better because Caitlin and I got along so well. Travelling with people you don't know very well can be a huge risk, but so far, I had high hopes for our big East Coast adventure.

Brighton Beach, Eureka Tower & the Asian Beer Cafe

June 27, 2012:
Brittney, Rachel and I couldn't have asked for better weather for our mini-trip to Brighton Beach. It was gorgeous and sunny and almost warm (June is winter in Australia). We walked a long ways along the beach, but I hadn't worn proper beach-walking shoes. I tried to avoid the sand and at one point, I got my feet stuck between two rocks, fell backwards into the sand (as gracefully as I could manage) and would have laughed a lot if my foot hadn't still been stuck. In a situation like that, it's best to just accept that you're going to fall and go with the flow. If you struggle, you end up getting hurt. I got my foot out unscathed, but sadly my shoes weren't so lucky. Which was tragic, considering I'd only bought them a few days before.

We took pictures with the famous beach huts and had a wonderful picnic on the beach. I managed to get a sunburn.

On our way back to LaTrobe, we decided not to pass up on the opportunity afforded to us by the weather and went to the Eureka Skydeck, which is the highest public vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere. I had gone up on my first trip to Australia in 2010 and taken the freaky box that has tinted glass and moves out over the city where the glass suddenly turns transparent. I decided not to do it again; the views from the observation areas were gorgeous enough.

It was fun to identify many of the landmarks I had visited already over the past few days.

When we returned to LaTrobe, we got ready for Ronnie's graduation/going away dinner which turned out to be a 'liquid dinner'; I had a bit too much to 'eat'. Everyone had a really good time; we went out to a bar in Melbourne called Billboards. On the way, we met these gentlemen on the metro:

Apparently they were rockstars. We were too busy taking funny-face photos to care too much, but they were kind of scary. Our first stop was a bubble tea restaurant to use the washroom:

And finally, we met a rocker on the side of the road while Shae went in to fill her Burger Jack's craving (or whatever the Australian version of Burger King was called). He was really talented, so we danced to his music in front of him and he let us take a photo with him!



Finally, we arrived at Billboard's. We got free champagne when we went in and I can't help comparing this night to Macklemore's song, "And We Danced"...

...with fewer incidences of sparkles and tight pants.

After spending my summer learning about intersectional feminism and lamenting Harper's policies, I couldn't help but discuss these issues with my fellow Canadians. Shae and I had some opposing views and Brittney was a bit worried that we weren't getting along, but I think Shae and I were on the same page that academic debates are just for the fun of debating and aren't personal. In any case, things changed when I got into the security van on the way back to LaTrobe.

The security van driver didn't give me enough time to put my seatbelt on before he left, so as he flew threw the streets on the way to the residence, I struggled to buckle up. Unfortunately, he rounded a corner really quickly before I'd figured everything out and I flew off the seat. This is not hyperbole. I mean this literally. One second I was in my seat fiddling with the seatbelt, the next I was in the air at the same level as my seat too shocked to react, and I finished in the same seated position on the floor with a thud. The driver didn't even blink. Shae forgot all about our opposing political positions (until now). I forgot all about the security van until the next morning...

June 28, 2012:
Brittney picked up Caitlin from the airport this morning, so I spent the morning attemping to recover from the previous evening's festivities. I had dreams about drinking bottles of water, I was so dehydrated. Caitlin's flight was late so I got ready to make Canadian breakfast-for-dinner and prepared myself mentally for the "Down Under" wax I had agreed to, considering all the time I was hoping to spend in a bathing suit for our East Coast tour. Jay and I met Brittney and Caitlin at the salon; Jay and Britt were brave enough to try getting Brazilian waxes (in France, there is a style of bikini wax called the "metro ticket" or the "American" which I stumbled across while trying to see about eyebrow waxing).

 

Brittney's roommates had taken turns cooking traditional meals from their home countries and it was Brittney's turn, so for Canadian breakfast-for-dinner we served maple-glazed back bacon, home fries and French toast with maple syrup. It was frantic trying to make sure everything was prepared at the same time for twelve people, but totally worth it. Dinner was followed by a game of King's Cup and then salsa lessons courtesy of Luis. It was the last party at LaTrobe for the year, but once we got in line, Brittney didn't feel so well, so her and I went home for the night (I was still recovering from the previous night) and left Caitlin to have some Australian fun and to get to know Jay.

June 29, 2012:

The day after the Ex party was a total write off. Caitlin and I decided to get our souvenir shopping out of the sway so we went to the Queen Victoria market downtown. I managed to find something for everyone, which was awesome. The Aboriginal art is the coolest.

You have to be careful to check that it's certified though, because there are a lot of look alikes where the money you spend doesn't go to the Aboriginal artists.

We went for dinner with Brittney to the Asian Beer Café at Melbourne Central for $4 small pizzas. We got five so we could mix and match the different types: pumpkin, barbecue, meat lovers, plain cheese, and curry. The curry turned out to be incredibly spicy but it was good once I got over the burning sensation in my mouth. Brittney and Caitlin were not as keen to eat it. I was skeptical about the pumpkin, but it was surprisingly really good. Australians seem to put pumpkin in and on everything! We did a short tour of the city, but Caitlin started crashing after her night out. She couldn't overcome the onset of jet lag so we went back to LaTrobe and got some rest before our mini-trip the next day to the Great Ocean Road.