Steve’s Travel Blog

Hello all,

I know it has been a while since I updated you so here it is.

I am still in Melbourne and no I do not have a car yet but that is all going to change this week.  I have been very picky about the car and still have not found the right one.  I have now seen everything there is to see in Melbourne and it is definitely time to move on.  I also have travel mates for the first part on my drive and the would like to get going fairly soon as well.  My travel mates are Carlijn form the Netherlands (I met her in New Zealand while on the Stray bus, Meghan from Vancouver, yes the same Meghan that I traveled with in Tasmania and Julie a German girl that I met while in Melbourne.  We are all looking forward to getting on the road now I just need to do my part and get a car.  On that note, Norman and I are seeing a few in the morning and if nothing works out there we have another to see in the evening.

So what have I done for the past 2 weeks in Melbourne:

I was Good Friday the last time I blogged so here is the update:

On Saturday I had a awesome Skype conversation with all of my family.  For those of you who do not know what skype is, i can call anyone who has downloaded skype on their computer and the call is completely free.  Skype is also free to download and I have been using it to call a few friends backs home and for this call at Easter.  It was the first time in 6 months that i had  been able to see their faces and I loved it.  Everyone was there (except Nicholas), the kids were crazy as always and everyone looked great.  We talked for about 1 hour and got caught up with all that was going on.  I was on a high for the rest of the day and it was full of adventure.  I was in the downtown area real early to make the call so I toured around for a bit in the morning and then went to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for an afternoon tour and visited to Melbourne Sports Museum.  I was done that about 5pm and then tickets went on sale for the Aussie Rules Football game for that evening.  It cost me $20.60 for a ticket in the general admission seats where it is first come/first serve.  The seats were on the 4th level but I was able to get right up front.  The game was Essendon vs Carlton (the favorite) and I had some of both fans around me.  A group of older people (Essendon fans) were talking with me and took me under their wing and helped me with the rules and everything else I needed to know, like the tradition is to have a meat pie and a beer at the game.  The stadium holds around 90,000 people and it was pretty full with just over 70,000 in attendance.  I have never been in a stadium with so many and it was loud and awesome.  Essendon won the game in a big upset.  I could not have asked for a better day, one of my best so far.

On Sunday i went to Easter mass in the morning (the cathedral looked amazing), and then made my way to the Queen Victoria Market.  The market is the largest one in Melbourne and they have everything and anything someone might want (clothes, computers, hardware, food, etc…)  You get to barter for everything so now I am in my element. I didn’t need anything but food so that is where I went to work.  I worked over a meat vendor and got 5 burgers, 6 sausages, 4 steaks and 4 lamb chops for $8 (wow, i really did well there), then it was on the the produce vendors and I bought stuff from 3 different vendors and spent a total of $7.20 and came away with apples, grapes, peppers, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, plums.  Matt and I ate off all the stuff for a week.  This is also where I met Julie who is going to travel with me once I get the car.

On Monday i took the train out to Port Melbourne and toured around there and then walked along the beach to St. Kilda.  The beach in St. Kilda was really busy and I hung out there for a while and then went and booked myself into a backpackers.  I went back to the beach and watched the sunset and listened to a group of musicians that had set up there (they were very good).  I went back to the hostel and met my roommates for the night (a couple from England, Rich and Sarah) and we had supper together and a couple of drinks.  I was nice to have some new people to chat with again.  It was early to bed because the next morning was going to be early.

On Tuesday I was up a 6:00am and on my way to the pier for a fishing trip.  This is why I stayed in St. Kilda instead of Matts as I would have had to get up at about 4 to get there.  The fishing charter was bigger than what I wanted but it was the most reasonably priced ($75).  We had 20 people on board and it was a pretty big boat.  We were fed breakfast and lunch and they took really good care of us.  Now here is the problem, the fishing was not exactly great.  Of the entire group only 2 snapper were caught, none by me.  The rest of the fish that were caught were Flatheads.  the flatheads we caught were all very small and not worth keeping.  I caught 4 which was okay compared to some.  There were only 2 other people that caught more than me, and one was a grandma that out fished her son in law and her 4 grand children (they were so frustrated and all she did was laugh and catch more fish).  I had no fish to take home with me but over all it was a pretty god day.

The fun just kept coming as on Wednesday I was up early again and into the city for a wine tour. I only had 3 others on the tour with me but it made it for a great day.  We started off with a 1 hour drive to the Yarra valley region and a winery called Debartoli.  It was a good start and we got about 8 different tastings.  I bought a bottle of 2004 shiraz ($40) that tasted awesome (way over my budget but what the hell).  We then went to a winery called Train Trak, it is fairly new and we did about 6 tastings here and then we got lunch.  They gave us so much food and it ws all incredible.  We had a little extra time after lunch so I did some more tastings and bought a little bottle ($14) of the Merlot.  Our 3rd winery was Yerling and we got at least another 8 tastings here and the picture below is of the magnum of wine i wanted to buy, but it was $180 so I went for a $26 normal bottle.  Our last stop was for champagne and some Sparkling wines that were okay but not great.  I got back to Matts at about 7pm and pretty much went to bed for the night.

Thursday was a relax day and went to the mall for a bit.  It is really cooling of here and I have had to buy a pair of jeans (which were to long but I hemmed them myself by hand) but I got a great deal (regular $70 and I paid $20).  On Friday I relaxed in the morning and then went into the city in the afternoon and evening.  I toured along the river where there were tons of people around on a Friday night.  I ended up at the Melbourne Casino (there are only 12 casinos in all of Australia) and walked around there for a while.  I had some supper and then decided that it was time to do some gambling.  I found a slot machine that had a beaver and a Canadian flag on it and figured it was meant to be.  I put $10 into it and it was all gone in about 5 minutes.  Then I looked around some more and found another machine that had fish on it and said what the hell.  I put $10 into it and again it was gone in about 10 minutes, I did not give up on this machine and put another $10 in and now it was time to get paid.  I ended up with $49 out of the machine which ends up been a profit of $19, big winner if you ask me.  I took my money and headed for the exit.  I was walking back to the train station and past where the Comedy Festival is happening.  I got stopped by this female comic that had a show that was starting in about 1 hour and she was trying to get people to go.  As that finished I was walking away and a lady said that she had a free ticket for the show that was starting in the main theater. I was on it like a fat kid on a smarty and in I went.  The seat was fairly close to the stage and the comedian was Arj Barker. It was a 2 hour show and the actual ticket price was $35 (a real winner today).  The show was great and I headed home after.

Over he past week everything has been pretty slow, I have been hunting for the car and touring around some local areas.  I even listened to the Flames game on my computer the other day.  Nice to see they have themselves back in the series. I have been keeping up with the playoffs and yes my Bruins kicked the shit out of the Habs!!!  I am also keeping an eye on the WHL playoffs and the Hitmen as well as Baseball and what ever other sports I can find.  I have had some Facebook conversations with friends and family which is always nice.

On Friday Carlijn made it to Melbourne and we spent Friday and Saturday together roaming the city.  On Saturday it was ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Armed Corps) Day, which would be like Remembrance day in Canada.  They had a parade of all the veterans on the main street to the “Shrine of Remembrance” and then a ceremony after that.  It took about 2 1/2 hours for the parade and had marching bands as well.  It was good to see but I was disappointed with one part.  All the different countries that have fought with Australia were recognized as well and there own place in the parade.  THe US, Turkey, Italy, Netherlands, etc… with lots of soldiers form those countries, but when it came to Canada their was only a cardboard sign and no soldiers at all.  It was not cool and we should have had some representation there.  I plan to send a letter to the government of Canada and express my disappointment.  The rest of the time was great and Carlijn and I are ready to head out of Melbourne once I get the car (you getting the theme yet)(damn I need a car!!!)

Well that is it for now, and I will let you all know when I get my ass out of Melbourne.

Take care all, now time to find that car!!!

Steve

Happy Birthday to my sister Cathleen and cousin Linda both on the 25th, Matthews birthday was on the 17th and I sent him a note already, Uncle Richards was on the 20th and he got a note too, and mom’s is coming soon, I gotta make sure I don’t miss that.

Hello all and Happy Easter!!!

I have been in Melbourne for just over a week and I have seen lots of sights. I got into Melbourne last Thursday and Matt picked me up from the airport. Matt is a friend that I met in Calgary while he was doing renovations on my brothers house. He is letting me stay at his place while I am in Melbourne. He has a house in an outer suburb called Watsonia. I have my own room and it has been great to stay somewhere other than a hostel. It is definitely helping with keeping me on budget. I have been over budget lately, my daily average in February was $85 and March went up to $112 before that I was around $70.

I have been taking the train into the city or where ever I have wanted to go. The train network here is huge with about 10 different lines going in all directions. It costs 9.90 for an all day ticket but you can get absolutely everywhere. Matt also introduced me to his uncle Norman and he is helping me source out a vehicle to drive around the rest of Oz. He has been very helpful and we have seen a few cars so far but nothing that Norman has been happy with. He figures more stuff will be available after the Easter break. I am also checking out the assorted hostels for vehicles and people that are looking for travel mates. I will try to find some people to tag along with me from place to place. I have a friend in Perth (Alain) that may jump in with me when I get that far.

I have joined Matt twice in going out with some of his friends. We had a birthday party last Saturday, it was at a really nice house and a bunch of his long term friends. It was a good time and they feed us and gave me beer as well. Most were intrigued with my story and it was fun talking with others. On Wednesday we were invited out for supper in the Ivanhoe district and met with 6 others for pizza and wine. This was in a restaurant and it was BYO Booze. There are a lot of restaurants that let you bring in your own wine or beer, which is not that common in Calgary.

Most of my time has been spent in the city center or CBD. The first few days were right in the heart searching out assorted hostels and areas like chinatown and the greek district. I also spent some time at the State library where there is free internet. I went to the state parliament building and they were starting a tour so I went along. We were allowed to sit in the speakers chair which I don’t think happens in a lot of other places.

The building was really old and was once used as the federal parliament when Melbourne was the capital back in the 1800’s. I went to St. Patricks Cathedral and it was an amazing church. It is huge and there is no way to fit it into one pic. Everything was set up for the Easter masses and looked awesome. Again there were at least 6 alters like in Sydney. They have 3 masses daily and go no stop over the Easter season.

From there is went to the Fitzroy Gardens and the Treasury Gardens. It seems that NZ and Oz have a lot more of this green space than what is in Canada and especially Calgary. All these garden areas are huge and right in the middle of the city. They are great places for people to relax and take in some sun. On another day I went to the Melbourne Zoo. They do a great job of presenting the animal in a natural habitat and my favorite were all the different types of apes and monkeys. They were by far the most active animals and would come right up to us and hang from the window checking us out. The elephants and zebras were pretty cool as well. I would still say that the Calgary Zoo is the best I have ever seen, we really kick ass there.

At the Southbank part of the city is the Queen Victoria park and the Kings Domain which has an open air concert hall dug into the ground. I spent some time in the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) and it had some really cool paintings, drawings and 2 really old cars. THe next area was what they call “the shrine of remembrance” or cenotaph. This is the biggest area i have ever seen that is to commemorate fallen soldiers, I was very impressed. They even have a small opening in the ceiling that was put in that exact spot so that on Nov 11th at 11am it will shine in on the memorial in the floor. They call Nov 11th ANZAC Day which stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps.

I also spent some time at the Royal Botanic Gardens. It was very impressive but I am sure it would be really cool in spring and summer as there was not much in bloom but still really cool to see.

Most stores and attractions are still closed on holidays in Oz so I am making Good Friday a chill day to catch up on things and do some laundry. I am hoping that I will be able to get a vehicle in the next week or so or else I may run out of things to see and do. I am going to a Aussie Rules Football game on Saturday and then the Queen Victoria market on Sunday. After that I plan to see the beach on Monday (Bells Beach) where there is an international surfing event going on. Tuesday is set up for a fishing charter and Wednesday is going to be a wine tour. After that everything is open and will figure out later.

I hope everyone has a great Easter holiday with friends and family. I will be thinking about you all and hopefully all your snow goes away soon, It is golf season.

Love ya all,

Steve

PS: Good luck to my godchild Nadean and her trip to London England. I just know that see is going to become a traveller and probably see me on the road somewhere in this world.

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