So begins orientation #2, Melbourne Welcome. We went all over the city (I'm now a navigation pro) and through all the secret little alleyways where some great cafes and bars are hidden. Melbourne has a great café culture, and you can hardly pass a corner without spotting 2 or 3 (as well as two or three pubs). In the city there’s fantastic shopping and phenomenal food of every cuisine. I’m in love.
First on the agenda was the Royal Botanical Gardens, and we went on an Aboriginal Heritage tour. We learned the various uses of native Australian flora (grass band-aids and fun laxatives), listened to a digeridoo, hugged a couple trees to connect with the spirit of the land and drank some lemon myrtle tea. We then wandered over to the Great Wars memorial where we got a great view of the city skyline despite being almost blown off the top of the monument due to gale force winds… Next was a tour of the Indigenous art gallery and an Indigenous food tasting session. Menu: Emu, kangaroo, crow's eggs, crocodile, duck and prawns. Kangaroo and emu were by far the best.
The next day we went up to the Eureka sky deck, which is the tallest building in the Southern hemisphere. Cool to see the city skyline, but a tall building is really just another tall building. Also on the agenda was a trip to the Melbourne Zoo where peacocks apparently just roam free. I saw all the animals my heart desired, with the koalas, tiger cubs, and baby elephants as the highlights. I have yet to see a platypus in real life though..
The final fun activity was that we all got free tickets to an Australian Rules Football game at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG). We chose our sides (Naturally, I went for the North Melbourne Kangaroos) and watched as the two teams duked it out on a circular pitch, kicking a rugby ball through what looked like Quidditch posts. I like to think it was all due to my excessive cheering, but the Kangaroos won the match, and we sludged home through the rain to our cramped apartments.
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