The magical land of OZ

Oh hello there!

I'm currently sitting at the State Library of Victoria in the Central Business District of Melbourne right now.  It's a pretty dope little place from what I can tell. My hostel is a little bit sketchy because it's above a bar and the reception area is also the bar area and the main desk person is also a bartender.  But I got a free beer when I checked in and it's in a nice centralized location so no worries.  I'm actually only staying there for one more night and then I'm off to another hostel in a little beachside town called St. Kilda, which is only a few miles outside the city.  The hostel there seems a lot nicer and more laid back.  Stay tuned if that's accurate or not. I'll be there for 2 nights then I'm leaving early Sunday morning for a 3-day guided bus tour of the Great Ocean Road. The tour takes you from Melbourne to Adelaide so I'll get to Adelaide on Tuesday night.  Still have to work out my accomodations there but basically I'll be there Tues and Wed night, then doing a 2 day tour of Kangaroo Island (google that for sure) on Thursday and Friday, followed by a day tour of the Barossa wine region on Monday where I'll sip vino and say stuff like "wow, I love the floral untertones of this one" and "this merlot has great legs!" and hope against hope that no one realizes that I have no idea what I'm actually talking about.  Apparently the Barossa region is one of the best wine-producing areas in the world, so maybe I'll actually learn what a tannin is and then become a total wine snob. 

I guess I got a little bit ahead of myself as I failed to even mention my last few days in Sydney.  Unfortunately, the weather was kind of crappy so I didn't get to go to Manly Beach or the northern suburbs as I had planned.  That's ok though because I did get to see the touristy sights and successfully completed the Coogee to Bondi beach walk on my last day.  So all in all, I'd consider my return trip to be a wonderful success.  For your viewing pleasure:

Super creepy fountain at the Botanical Gardens

The Orient Hotel.  This one is for Marie.  She's a mom now so I can't go into too much detail, but there is a story involving this bar, a bottle of Jack, and the McDonald's across the street.   You'll have to figure out the rest.

The Syney Opera House.  Maybe you've heard of it?

I feel like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should live here. 

Across the harbor is the entrance to Luna Park, an old time carnival that is protected by an oversized face.

If you have money to burn, you can walk on top of the Harbour Bridge for a few hundred bucks an hour.

Just some proof that me and my tongue were there.

Maybe it's because I'm from the Burgh, but I found thatI was much more intrigued by the Bridge than the Opera House.  Or maybe it's because I don't get along  well with divas.  Haha, just a little opera humor.

You'll find these signs indicating pedestrian walkways all around the city.  I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Michael Jackson was the model for the design.  Beat it.

Kangaroo Bakpak, my humble abode for the week.  Great place and great people.

Lovely view on the beach walk



And that, my friends, is the dreaded blue bottle a.k.a. Portuguese Man O War.  If you see any of these washed up on the beach, don't go in the water.  Unless you're into lots of pain and shortness of breath.



Surfers lining up for waves on Bondi

I can't figure out why this dumb thing won't let me rotate this picture, so you'll just have to crane your neck to see that this is a package of kangaroo filets at the local super market.  Tasty. 



So that's just a little taste of what I experienced in Sydney.  I took the train from my hostel to the airport yesterday and was lucky enough to sit in front of two ex-cons who were more than open about discussing their time spent in the slammer.  Both had been busted for drug dealing.  I didn't have the courage to turn around and see what they actually looked like, but the one guy was going on and on about how his house got raided and the police officers found 12 kilos of pot but only wrote him up for 10 kilos so they could use 2 kilos for themselves.  The other guy then retorted that the cops punched his mom in the face during the raid on his house.  Mom broke her nose, son spent 6 years in the slammer.  Pretty bad day.  
It rained a ton last night so I didn't get a chance to explore the area as much as I would have liked, but I did get out to the Queen Victoria Markets this morning to walk around and take in some local flavor (as well as some Tasmanian cherries which could quite possibly be the best cherries I've ever tasted).  My camera died so I was only able to get a few pics, but here you go:

Meats

Cheeses

Not sure if you can really tell what's going on here, but that lady is butchering goats and then hanging the remains on that meat hook behind her.  Good times.

Melbourne sells custom made tampons for Steeler fans! 

Whelp, that about wraps it up.  The voyage continues to be a smashing success and I find that I'm living in a constant state of excitement.  Excited about the things I've experienced so far and excited about the adventures that the future holds.  Whoever said that "the journey is the destination" was spot on.  Dig it.

Cheers!

P.S. After searching far and wide, I've finally found something that's cheaper in Australia than the US.  Soft serve cones from McDonald's.  They only set you back 50 cents here.  Ok bye.