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.