Arrived in Melbourne on my birthday
I arrived in Melbourne on my 28th birthday, and
thanks to the help of a family friend managed to see a part of Australia that I
would have missed.
My flight to Melbourne was to leave this morning,
however all the shuttles to the airport from the motel was full. I could have
caught a shuttle two and a half hours early, but decided to just take a cab.
When I arrived in the lobby I ended up catching a cab with a man who I overheard
was going to domestic terminal. Granted it was a short ride to the airport, but
in that time I was able to find out that this man used to work on farms in
Australia until he decided he didn't enjoy his job and wanted to get into
winemaking. He left Australia to get a masters in viticulture at UC Davis, and
the a doctorate her in Australia. He currently was the owner of the largest
wine producing conglomerates in Australia. And according to him, they don't
sell a drop in Australia. Where does it all go?
China.
I arrived at the domestic terminal only to find out that I was catching the domestic leg of an International flight, so in fact I was in the wrong terminal. Problem was that the International terminal was not close to the domestic. The lady at check in told me not to worry, and due to how early was I could just catch a bus and she would take care of my bags for me. There really isn't that much to say. I ended up getting an exit row which is always nice at 6'3. The flight was uneventful, which is unusual for me. And short of some strange cross wind when we hit the ground, I arrived in Melbourne without any problems.
Oh did I mention it was my Birthday. And let me just tell you what a great way to spend your birthday. yes, I won't be with loved ones, and there will be no presents, but I am arriving in a city that I have never travelled to in my life. I am traveling on my own, completely independent, setting my own schedule, and with no real plans in site. This is an experience that I have never had. It so far its wonderful.
My plan was to spend a couple days with the Ansermino's in Melbourne. Steve Ansermino is the son of my mom's lifelong best friend. We have seen each other probably about two or three times in our lives but our mothers are so close that in one way or another we are more like distant family than anything else. Unfortunately by the time I got in touch with Steve to tell him when I was coming I found out was going to be out of town. Steve still offered the invitation to come stay at his place while his wife would be there with their 18 month old daughter. As the days came closer to my arrival Steve informed me that his wife would actually be leaving town the day after I arrived, but he still offered me their house to stay in while I was in town. Also at that time I found out that they didn't exactly live in Melbourne either. They lived about an hour outside of Melbourne but when you are talking about it from the perspective of the US its easier to just say he lived in Melbourne. The town Steve and Judy lived in was called Frankston. It was on down the bay shore from Melbourne.
When I arrived in Melbourne, I caught a bus to Frankston where Judy met me. As it turned out Judy and I shared the 27th as our birthday. So it was decided that I would tag along for her dinner with a friend that night. Due to my noon arrival into Frankston Judy graciously gave me tour of the area. We had lunch in Mornington, which as it turned out was Bill Brison's favorite town in Australia. (If you have not read Bill Brison's "In a Sunburnt Country" or as its known outside of the US as "Down Under" go read it, it is one of the reason I was so captivated by Australia before I came last year) We met up with one of Judy's friends and had a great lunch.
Afterwards Judy took me on a trip along the coast of Port Philip Bay all the way out the Ocean looking out into Bass Strait that lies between Australia and Tasmania and runs between the Tasman Sea and the Southern Ocean. However before we made our way out there we passed by the beach at where Australia lost one of its Prime Ministers. No, seriously they really lost him, he went for a swim one day and was never seen again. No body, no clothes, no nothing, other than one man who claims to have found his fins. The funny thing was that this was one of the calmest looking beaches you could imagine. Still that story would most definitely cut back on the swimming crowd. From there we travelled on to the other side of the peninsula to look out on to a much rougher open ocean. This was the first I had seen the ocean since I left the Doubtful Sound in New Zealand. It was beautiful.
(The photos don't really show how big the waves were that day)
From the Beach Judy took me to the top of Arthur's Seat that looked out on the whole area. It gave great vantage of the whole are and the bay. There used to be a chair lift that went to the top of Arthur's Seat, however when one of the towers collapsed in use sending people plummeting to the ground, they decided to retire the run down operation.
We were running out of time at this point due to the fact that Judy had to pick up their daughter Victoria at day care. Judy had been worried that Victoria was not going to be happy when we picked her up, but she was all smiles by the time Judy brought her back to the car. She got a real kick out of the new stranger sitting in the front seat. The three of us headed back to the house where I took a few snap shots to send Victoria's grandmother.
That night Judy and I met up with her friend at a resturant that I believe was called the Rocks. I had some incredible seafood, and discovered a new variation on my favorite drink. Screwdriver with blood orange juice. Very tasty. I pretty much called it a night, and thanked Judy for being such a great tour guide.
I arrived at the domestic terminal only to find out that I was catching the domestic leg of an International flight, so in fact I was in the wrong terminal. Problem was that the International terminal was not close to the domestic. The lady at check in told me not to worry, and due to how early was I could just catch a bus and she would take care of my bags for me. There really isn't that much to say. I ended up getting an exit row which is always nice at 6'3. The flight was uneventful, which is unusual for me. And short of some strange cross wind when we hit the ground, I arrived in Melbourne without any problems.
Oh did I mention it was my Birthday. And let me just tell you what a great way to spend your birthday. yes, I won't be with loved ones, and there will be no presents, but I am arriving in a city that I have never travelled to in my life. I am traveling on my own, completely independent, setting my own schedule, and with no real plans in site. This is an experience that I have never had. It so far its wonderful.
My plan was to spend a couple days with the Ansermino's in Melbourne. Steve Ansermino is the son of my mom's lifelong best friend. We have seen each other probably about two or three times in our lives but our mothers are so close that in one way or another we are more like distant family than anything else. Unfortunately by the time I got in touch with Steve to tell him when I was coming I found out was going to be out of town. Steve still offered the invitation to come stay at his place while his wife would be there with their 18 month old daughter. As the days came closer to my arrival Steve informed me that his wife would actually be leaving town the day after I arrived, but he still offered me their house to stay in while I was in town. Also at that time I found out that they didn't exactly live in Melbourne either. They lived about an hour outside of Melbourne but when you are talking about it from the perspective of the US its easier to just say he lived in Melbourne. The town Steve and Judy lived in was called Frankston. It was on down the bay shore from Melbourne.
When I arrived in Melbourne, I caught a bus to Frankston where Judy met me. As it turned out Judy and I shared the 27th as our birthday. So it was decided that I would tag along for her dinner with a friend that night. Due to my noon arrival into Frankston Judy graciously gave me tour of the area. We had lunch in Mornington, which as it turned out was Bill Brison's favorite town in Australia. (If you have not read Bill Brison's "In a Sunburnt Country" or as its known outside of the US as "Down Under" go read it, it is one of the reason I was so captivated by Australia before I came last year) We met up with one of Judy's friends and had a great lunch.
Afterwards Judy took me on a trip along the coast of Port Philip Bay all the way out the Ocean looking out into Bass Strait that lies between Australia and Tasmania and runs between the Tasman Sea and the Southern Ocean. However before we made our way out there we passed by the beach at where Australia lost one of its Prime Ministers. No, seriously they really lost him, he went for a swim one day and was never seen again. No body, no clothes, no nothing, other than one man who claims to have found his fins. The funny thing was that this was one of the calmest looking beaches you could imagine. Still that story would most definitely cut back on the swimming crowd. From there we travelled on to the other side of the peninsula to look out on to a much rougher open ocean. This was the first I had seen the ocean since I left the Doubtful Sound in New Zealand. It was beautiful.
(The photos don't really show how big the waves were that day)
From the Beach Judy took me to the top of Arthur's Seat that looked out on the whole area. It gave great vantage of the whole are and the bay. There used to be a chair lift that went to the top of Arthur's Seat, however when one of the towers collapsed in use sending people plummeting to the ground, they decided to retire the run down operation.
We were running out of time at this point due to the fact that Judy had to pick up their daughter Victoria at day care. Judy had been worried that Victoria was not going to be happy when we picked her up, but she was all smiles by the time Judy brought her back to the car. She got a real kick out of the new stranger sitting in the front seat. The three of us headed back to the house where I took a few snap shots to send Victoria's grandmother.
That night Judy and I met up with her friend at a resturant that I believe was called the Rocks. I had some incredible seafood, and discovered a new variation on my favorite drink. Screwdriver with blood orange juice. Very tasty. I pretty much called it a night, and thanked Judy for being such a great tour guide.
Posted: Thu - August 28, 2003 at 12:53 AM
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Published On: Aug 01, 2004 11:38 PM
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Published On: Aug 01, 2004 11:38 PM