For two of the last three years, W has co-led an Elon University course on Sustainability and Ecotourism in Australia. This is a half semester class in the fall, followed by a 23 day adventure in Melbourne, Tasmania, Geelong and more. Now that C is old enough to be left with family for some time (and I have a great job with a reasonable amount of vacation time), I finally get to accompany W on part of the trip. So I'm off to Oz for the 1st - 11th of January, with Gigi and GigiPop Kinkel spending time at our house with one small five year old and a little dog.
Losing time
We departed from Greensboro airport with our co-teacher and friend, Craig Schmidt. A brief hop to Atlanta and we were off to Los Angeles. We got in our exercise because we headed to the international terminal at LAX, then had to turn around and go back to the United Airlines terminal. We ate dinner at the Rolling Stone Bar & Grill, then met up with the class at our gate at about 6pm Pacific time. Craig and W reminded them of their assignments and then sent them on their way. It was a four hour wait to departure but we stretched, walked, people-watched (cheetah hair) and rested.
The United flight was on a new Dreamliner, probably the largest and quietest flight I have ever been on. The seats were three across times three and we were in the middle with one of the Elon students. Liftoff was quiet and quick, and dinner arrived fast. Free beer and wine are a nice plus on this journey. I fell asleep watching Spy and slept on and off for the next six hours or so. Upon waking to a very dark plane, I cleaned up, stretched, walked and then explored the entertainment options. I have never taken in that much uninterrupted entertainment at once.
We landed in Melbourne around 8:30am. After a long wait for luggage and customs, we hopped on a Murray's bus for Melbourne. Ibrahim, our driver, regaled us with his internet conspiracy theories while Craig and I tried to ask him about Melbourne and Australia.
Lodging - Hotel Ibis Little Bourke Simple, European style accommodations. Very narrow hallways and rooms with lights that only turn on with the key in the inside of the door. We had twin beds on the 9th floor!
First things first - a 2 mile run to try and get some exercise and find W a SIM card for his phone. We ran along the river, through shopping and tourist areas near Lonsdale Street. Clothing here is much more colorful, as is the hair fof both men and women. The post-run shower felt sooooo good. We met up with Craig again and headed to find food. Lunch was Rocket Burger in front of the train station, with fabulous fries. Then we booked it about 2 miles to Melbourne Cricket Grounds. The walk, while hurried, was beautiful. It was along the Yarra River in a park area, with lots of cyclists, families with strollers, street musicians and more.
Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG) was our first formal adventure in Australia. We met some of the students at 1:15, but about half showed up 25 minutes late. W and I went with the first group, hosted by our guide Mark, while Craig took on the stragglers with Richard. Our guides led us on about a two hour tour of MCG, including the Cricket Club area, Long Room, practice areas, turf and more while a women's big bash tournament was going on featuring the Melbourne Stars vs. the Melbourne Renegades. It appeared that about 400 people were in attendance at the free event, in a stadium that seats 96,000. The day before, the stadium had 90,000 people waiting hours to get in through security to watch the men's Big Bash. We learned all about cricket from Mark (though I had the student's understanding when I referenced the end of Bend it Like Beckam.) It is a nearly all day game, played by multinational teams.
After the tours, the students took off while we enjoyed a pint and watched more cricket. We then started walking and didn't stop for about two hours. We got W his SIM card, failed at getting sushi, then decided to head to Little Creatures brewery in a farther suburb. Funny surprise that we ran into our flight crew while walking alongside a skate park! Pizza and flights of beer at Little Creatures and then walking to get the free tram home. Total? 14 miles and over 26,000 steps. I fell asleep at 8:55pm!
No comments:
Post a Comment