2 Crazy Sheilas

You are probably all jumping out of your seats at the sight of my post because I have heard from a little bird that many of you have been waiting to hear about my spring break. Quite frankly I couldn’t blame you, it was great! Ok enough with the jokes and more of my break:

I’ll give you all a little timeline of my week, sound good? Hope so!

Monday: As said earlier Ian and I along with a few other friends (including Miranda) went to a footy game. The Essendon Bombers against the North Melbourne Kangaroos. Also, I am elated to tell all of you that yes, the Bombers won!!! Broke their streak of the 7 season loss! I was pretty excited to go. There was a group of 7 of us and unluckily enough the game sold out right in the middle of our group. But luckily enough the last four of us got standing seats, which almost prompted us to leave the game early. Good thing we stayed because we got to witness history! Sounds as if the Bombers are a pretty good team huh…well not so much considering this Sunday they lost to Geelong by 99 points. Bummer. Anyway on to Tuesday…

Tuesday: thinking, thinking….oh yeah! I almost forgot about what we did Tuesday! Yeah right, how could I forget So Tuesday we did A LOT of walking! Ian, Miranda, Shoes and I woke up early and visited the Queen Victoria Market. Oh and just a little fun fact for you all, I read that the market is on top of what used to be a cemetary. Supposedly there are around 9,000 people buried under the parking lot! Also, some of the first people to be executed in Melbourne are buried under the lot, freaky huh? I couldn’t believe how huge the market actually was. It sold everything from tennis shoes, to hopping kangaroo toys, to fruits, veggies, and meats. You think of it, its probably there. Yes it may be knock off brands, but hey they’ve got it! After we all enjoyed a little fruit and shopping we decided to take a walk to the skydeck.  The skydeck is in the 89th story of an apartment building (the tallest in the southern hemisphere) in the city center. We got a 360 degree view of the city center and its attractions. After we all got over our fear of heights (especially Miranda ) we headed to the Fitzroy Gardens.  The Fitzroy Garden is basically a big park with a conservatory and a ton of cool trees, plants, and blooming flowers. I read that the pathways in the park make out the design of the Union Jack (the United Kingdoms Flag design) which I thought was pretty cool, although I read later it was accidental! Tuesday night we went out to dinner at Flanagans and headed to bed, we had a busy day planned for Wednesday!

Wednesday: Wednesday the four of us (the Tuesday crew) headed to the Melbourne Zoo.  The zoo turned out to be really huge and full of really cool animals, 300 species to be exact (including lions and tigers and bears! oh my ) although it rained off and on much of the day, and decided to pour for quite some time in the afternoon.  After our wet visit to the zoo it was off the the Jack Johnson concert for us! For the people that do know Jack Johnson and like him you will be glad to hear that it may have been the best concert thus far in my life (besides last weeks of course) apart from the rain the first two hours. Lucky for us there wasn’t a performer to watch while it really rained and by the time Jack played it was clear skies for the rest of the night! The concert turned out to be a pretty late one, Ian and I rushed home to get some sleep before our wine tour on Thursday!

Thursday: Wow was it early to get up at 6 am and get to the city by 8 am for the wine tour! Especially when we didn’t get to bed until 2! I suppose all you elders are saying “you’re young!” but it was still a little early for me, I mean come on, it was still dark out! Although I found it to be completely worth it as the day progressed. First we made a stop in the Dandenong Ranges and fed some cockatoos, where some people got bit, and had tea and cake. Also, if you were brave enough you could have tried Vegemite (a yeast derived spred) and crackers (which I opted out of, that stuff is gross)! Then we head to the Puffing Billy steam engine train and got a little ride to out next stop about 20 minutes away. The first winery we went to, Fergusson, Ian, Miranda, Shoes, Matt and I decided to opt out of the 30 dollar dinner, eat some sandwiches, and get right into tasting the wine. We got our fare share, and Ian, Miranda and I decided to get in on a three bottles for $60 deal. Ian and I each bought a bottle of Shiraz and Miranda opted for a dessert Port. After the first place we went to anythor winery, I wish I could tell you the name but I am drawing a blank, although I do know it was one of the oldest in the Yarra Valley! While we were there we all expanded our knowlege of wine as well as my collection because I bought a bottle of chardonnay! On to the last winery, The Chandon, which is co-owned by the owners of Louis Vitton and Dior and such companies as that. They actually specialized in sparkling wines. We were able to tour the factory here and at the end we tasted some sparkling wine, and opened our pocketbooks again when the five of us decided to buy a few bottles to share! By this time were were wined ( ) out and tired as can be so we headed back to Melbourne and called it a day!

Friday: Ian, Miranda and I woke up early and headed to the airport to pick up our rental car and head to the Great Ocean Road for our little weekend get-a-way! We headed through Geelong and made a lunch stop in Torguay and did some window shopping. We then headed down the way, with a few pit stops, a picture stop to snap some shots of koalas in the trees along the road, Erskine Falls (a 30 meter waterfall in the Ottway National Park), a light house on the coast, and Bells Beach (where we caught the tail end of packing-up from the Rip Curl Pro, the biggest surfing competition in Australia) and finally stopped at Apollo Bay and stayed the night. That night we went out to eat and to a bar and listened to some live music and watched footy on the tv. Then off to bed for us, as Saturday was the real sight seeing day!

Saturday: We woke up early and headed right out (after breakfast of course) to see the sights of the Great Ocean Road. I wish I could explain how picturesque the southern coast of Victoria really is. We made tons of stops along the way, including tourist spots like The Twelve Apostles and London Bridge, as well as other places such as The Grotto, The Razorback and Bay of Islands. We then went through Warnambool and made a stop at Tower Hill, which is an unactive volcano. We climbed to the top and took some really cool pictures and on the way down we got some see some real Aussie wildlife! We saw a kangaroo and a joey, and an echidna (its like a porcupine, but native to Aussie) and a ton of emus! After our little hike we decided to stay in Port Fairy, a small town along the coast. We had some dinner, drinks, and a good sleep in our rental House .

Sunday ended up being a really lazy day with an afternoon of driving home along the Princess Highway back to the big city,  followed by a night of footy on the tv, some packing from Ian and unpacking from me. Monday morning marked the end of Ians trip and I say my good-byes and mourned the end of my break as I headed to class and realized the large amount of homework I had for the week ahead, which I am still trying to finish. All in all it was an AWESOME break and I wish Ian could have stayed longer. Although it was nice that he could come for a week, not long enough to see the whole of Aussie but long enough for him to understand why I don’t want to come home!  Wow I hope you all are satisfied, it has probably taken you a long time to read this massive entry (but not as long to write it ) and I hope you enjoyed hearing about my break! Back to homework as I said I have a lot to do and not enough time (hence the homework break to write this I am at a loss for time now) Wish me luck and productiveness as I now have some catching up to do!

Over and out

~Claire

Hey guys! So, hate to tell you again but this is going to be a short one! Ian’s here and I’ve got to do some packing for tomorrow because we (Ian, Miranda, and I) are heading out on a little road trip down the Great Ocean Road tomorrow! Its going to be another early morning seeing as we woke up at six a.m. for a wine tour today in the Yarra Valley! I promise to tell you ALL about that when my break is over and I have time to procrastinate on homework, and hence, fill you in on my break! Other than that, a big group of us went to a Jack Johnson and Matt Costa concert at the Sidney Meyer Music Bowl in Melbourne City last night (Wednesday night) and during the day we went to the Melbourne Zoo! Tuesday we went to the Victoria market, the Skydeck, and Fitzroy Gardens. Monday I took Ian to his first footy game in the city. It was my team, the Essendon Bombers, against the North Melbourne Kangaroos, and just to make you hold on to your seats a little I’ll fill you in on a little fact. In the past seven seasons the Bombers have lost to the Kangaroos, who do you think won??? I’ll take bets as soon as you are ready to make them, then I’ll let you know . As I said earlier though I will fill you in completely on the facts and adventures of these places at a later date! Until then wish me luck on my packing and I will be looking forward to your comments Tata for now!

~Claire

This is going to be a really quick post because I have to go pick up Ian from the airport! But to all who actually read this Happy Easter! I hope it is a great day for all! Just a quick recap on what I have been up to lately. I went to an O.A.R. concert in the city a few days ago and it was almost the best concert I have been to thus far in my life. This is probably because O.A.R. is not a known band in Aussie (it was their first concert on the continent) and, that there were about a hundred people there. We got to stand in the front row!! Even better than being in the front row was that we didnt have to fight to get there! To give you all a picture of how popular this band is in the US compared to Aussie is that in the US they played at Madison Square Garden, and in Aussie they opened for another two bands! So in that case I consider myself lucky!! In other news, Miranda and I went to the city the past two days and shopped, drank a little wine, and had ourselves a really yummy easter dinner (but not as good as my moms ). Well like I said this was going to be a really quick post and I’ve got to go pick up Ian. I hope he’s not jet lagged, as two hours after he lands we’re leaving for a footy (Aussie rules football) game in the city! I hope he’s ready for Melbourne…and his sister
Thats all for now! Ill write TONS later….

After much reminding from Claire that this is 2 crazy sheilas and not one I decided I better put up a post Claire covers everything we do pretty well and I don’t really have a big event to blog about at the moment so I’ll just write about the great city of Melbourne.  Melbourne is a beautiful and diverse city.  You can see a man with dread locks down to his knees (which we have!) next to a woman wearing a middle eastern veil.  There are people of all nationalities walking past you speaking in all different languages. People are always friendly striking up a conversation with you even if you’re just waiting to use the restroom (which they call toilets).  The scenery of the city changes from street to street.  One minute you’re looking at graffiti and closed shops and the next you’re looking longingly in the window of an expensive clothing store.  There are little touches of art here and there that always catch your eye.

The past two days Claire and I have taken a tram into the downtown area of the city to Bourke St.  There were musicians of all sorts up and down the road.  There was a little boy playing Beethoven on his keyboard in front of Target and a man playing a guitar and didgeridoo (a wooden aboriginal instrument) next to the tram stop.  As we walked we came upon horse-drawn carriage rides, a circle surrounding guys who were breakdancing, and my favorite: a 75 year old Asian man dressed as a clown on stilts doing the hoolihoop (may I be as in shape as he is at that age).

Our first day downtown Claire and I decided to stop for a glass of wine at this little restaurant hidden in an alleyway that you would probably miss if you weren’t paying much attention.  It was relaxing as we sat in this little nook watching people pass. Soon the sun was going below the huge buildings and the city lights were coming on.  Claire and I finished our night by going to an English pub called The Elephant and the Wheelbarrow and watched a band play before we had to catch the last tram.  Our second day downtown we decided to treat ourselves to an Easter lunch at a restaurant in the heart of the city and along the Yarra River.  The view was amazing watching boats pass on the river in front of the skyscraping buildings resting in a line.  It was hard being away from our families on a holiday but it was a lovely way to spend the day walking along the city on a nice sunny day

Wow have I been busy! Oh where to begin?

Well I guess I’ll start off by saying that I went on a weekend trip to Cathedral Ranges National Park in Victoria with the La Trobe Mountaineering Club. The weekend trip consisted of picking three activities of the four offered. I chose to take part in mountain biking, rock climbing and white-water rafting, and chose to miss out on the bushwalk (which I heard was a really cool one). So Friday night we (6 friends from college and I) packed up our things and met the group of 40 people in the carpark. The supposedly two hour ride (which turned into a four hour ride due to some map reading inabilities by the passenger of the car) up to the park was a little more stressful and tiring than I had thought it would be. All in all the car and its passengers made it to the park in one piece, aside from almost hitting a kangaroo that was in the road, which I found to be pretty cool due to the fact that it was my first kangaroo sighting! Once I arrived the Chisholm College (my dorm) group and I decided to sleep under the stars, where I also had another first time experience during this little adventure, I saw the Southern Cross, which is a constellation only seen in the southern hemisphere! I woke up at dawn the next morning only to be dissapointed because I heard that a pack of kangaroos came through camp during the night to eat our food and I slept through the entire thing! My friend said she woke to see one hopping right next to her head! I was pretty bummed that I missed it and surprised that I had slept through it!

Saturday I took part in mountain biking and rock climbing. Mountain biking ended up being a really awesome experience. I have never actually gone up and down off-road hills on a bike like that before. I also have never ridden a bike where the brakes were switched, the front break and the back breaks were on the opposite sides from bikes in the states. When I did find out I felt lucky because the leader told me it was fortunate that I didn’t fly over the handlebars using the front brakes going down the steep hills! The break for lunch was an interesting one as I got my lunch stolen out of my hand by a kookaburra! It just swooped in and grabbed my sandwich and bit my finger along the way, which was very unexpected and ended up being pretty entertaining to some apparently! In the afternoon I went rock climbing which was my favorite activity of the weekend. The bushwalk up to the rock seemed to be more rock climbing than I have ever done before and I’ll tell you it made me nervous for the actual rock climbing! One of the leaders told me that the rock was 35 meters high and once I got to the top of the line I could tell because the view was incredible! I ended up climbing four of the five paths and I also belayed for my leader that ended up being almost twice my weight. When he was coming back down I went flying into the air and somebody had to hold onto my harness! Rock climbing was my favorite part, especially because I didn’t think I would do as good as I did! I’m hoping to do another rick climbing trip the the club. After dinner and a sleep under the stars I woke Sunday morning and headed for my third and final activity. Rafting was a good experience aside from the fact that I expected the rapids to be bigger, but the cold water was really refreshing in the 100 degree heat! Although I had expected greater rapids and faster moving water it was a fun morning. We played games on the rafts which ended up with all of us in the water every time, but as I said I didn’t protest! After rafting we packed up camp and headed back to the city. An end to a great weekend, possibly the best since I have arrived in Melboure, or it may seem like it because it was full of new and exciting experiences!

After my awesome weekend I though all Melbourne fun was over, nothing could top “The Big Weekend”, that is, until St Patty’s Day rivaled:

Yesterday was St. Pattys day and it was also two of my friends birthdays so a group of us went out and celebrated! We all went to an irish pub (my favorite of the city so far) named Father Flanagans and drank lots of Guinness and green drinks! There was also a really good Irish band playing which added to the fun! Although it wasn’t like being in Grant County with the family it did end up being a really fun holiday!

First off I’ll start by saying sorry for the delay I have had a very busy few days. I have heard that many of you have been checking this and have been dissapointed by the fact that nothing new was up! Well behold another entry:

I’m going to get it out of my system very quickly….its hot as a desert here today! Considering I live on the third floor of my dorm and that my room faces the sun for the second half of the day its becomes a home made sauna in here! Outside the sun is strong, the clouds nonexistant and the breeze perfect, so in saying that, its perfect outside! About 95 degrees today, or at least it feels like it
I haven’t got much to say about Mondays, first day of classes for the week are so far so good. My weekend was semi-eventfull. Saturday I went with some friends to a festival (called Moombah I believe???) in the Melbourne city center. It was basically a county fair of bigger proportion with kiddie rides and games. One cool thing is that it was on the Yarra River (which runs through the city center) and they were holding water skiing and wakeboarding competitions throughout the weekend. When we were at the fair there was a ski jumping competition which proved to be interesting, especially because the first jumper crashed and the announcer compared it to falling from a building! Then we headed to a beer garden and a few other pubs and ended up on Brunswick Street. Brunswick street is basically 3rd street in La Crosse, being that there is a ton of shopping and equal number of bars. Pretty fun day turned into a pretty fun (and late) night! Sunday I played in an intercollege softball tournament in which I ended up being only one of two American girls on our Aussie team, and not only that, I was the only one with actual softball playing experience! All I have to say about that is it was the most interesting game of softball I have ever witnessed, being that softball is not an Aussie sport it was a first for many! My fellow Americans, knowing how much softball and baseball is part of America, it was interesting to have to explain the game and watch the Aussies play it! Quite entertaining actually!

I haven’t got much planned for the day, except for some homework and the purchase of a fan! Will put up some pictures with this entry and tell you a little about the friends I have made here so when I do write further you will know who I am talking about when I refer to somebody! Other than my weekend, which was pretty fun, things are great here and I will continue to tell you all about my Aussie fun!

Just a picture of the girls and I! Miranda, on the far left is from Fennimore! Anne, in the middle, is from Oslo Norway and is doing her undergraduate at La Trobe in Australia. It is her first year at Uni (university) studying internalional relations, and she has proven to be a very fun girl and a great friend!

 These are the boys that I have befriended in Australia. From the left, Sjoerd a.k.a. Shoes is from the Netherlands and is in the same program as I am, he is a third year study abroad student from Tilburg University in the Netherlands and is studying information managment. Second in, Keesjan a.k.a. K is also from the same college as Shoes and the same study abroad program. K is a graduate student in the Law program and plans to be a D.A. in the Netherlands. Sam, who is second from the right, is an Aussie native from Darwin (Northern Territory) in his third year as an international business student. He also takes on the role os our tour guide when in the city and the area and far right is Matt. Matt is from UW-La Crosse and is also in the program as I am. He’s studying business and plans to graduate in the winter at home. I find it funny to meet a friend from home across the world!

Well thats all for now as I am off to buy a fan! The heat is not so invuting when it comes time to go to bed so I am looking forward to a fan! Will write again later!

Hey all! So I finally have my blog going after 3 long weeks of waiting! Things in Melbourne are great, Australia is a pretty cool country! I have had a lot going on since I arrived, like getting used to the city and getting used to the classes. Some pretty cool things I have done so far include going to my first footy (Australian Rules Football) game. It was really hard to learn about the rules, its like American football and soccer in one sport, with a few twists! We got to spend some days downtown in Melbourne (as my LaTrobe campus is 3/4 hour tram ride to the city center) and I have a huge weekend list of places I want to go and things I want to do. So as I complete my list I will fill you in! Otherwise I can’t write much now as I am meeting my Norweigen friend, Anne, and Miranda for coffee in the campus agora (which is kind of like the center with cafe’s and eaterys and stores)! Will write more later and fill you all in on my adventures, but until then….