I've spent the past few days in Melbourne, the last stop on my tour of Australia, and really the last stop before I head back to the states. I have a day in Auckland to close out my empty bank account and try to jam all of the things that I've managed to accumulate during my travels (aka...the reason my bank account is empty) into precious little space.
Melbourne's a pretty fun city. The central business district is contained in a rectangle that, while rather large, is crisscrossed on almost every street by trams that run pretty frequently. Until, of course, you're trying to get home from a bar and realize that at that time of night, they only run once an hour. And you just missed the last one...oops.
There's lots of "stuff" going on in Melbourne. In addition to the standard museums and the like that you might expect to find in a city of this size, there's plenty else to amuse. This past weekend was the beginning of a jazz festival, so there were several places around the city where big bands played live music for everybody to enjoy. I'm not really a huge jazz afficionado (more of a jazz... un-afficionado) but it was pretty cool to just hang out with a book and enjoy the effort that everybody was putting in to create a nice atmosphere.
There was also a big photography convention, with all the major players in the photography industry showcasing photography things... But entrance wasn't cheap so I didn't actually go inside. But that was ok because outside of the convention hall, they had set up a big exhibition of some of the best photographs from the year for the rest of us (cheap, backpacking, hostel-staying) public to view and enjoy.
And then I went to an AFL game... The AFL is the Australian Football League, but it might as well be the "kick the stuffing out of the other guy" League. When people say that rugby is a violent sport, they clearly haven't been exposed to AFL. There are basically 3 rules in AFL... and I don't remember what they are, because I'm pretty sure that nobody followed them. I guess it's sort of like soccer, in that you try to put a ball through some posts. But when the ball goes down, it's like a 3rd grade soccer game, with 15 people scrambling around the ball, which bounces in all the unexpected directions (as oblong-shaped objects are generally wont to do) until it skitters out to some lucky guy standing around the outside. Then there's a lot of hitting, some slapping, probably some name calling (I was too far away to hear) and some more testosterone-fueled actions designed to prove superiority and machismo. In all reality, it was a bunch of fun to watch and if I had any clue about who was playing, I probably would gone crazy like the rest of the fans.
Everybody I know who has spent any major period of time in Melbin' really likes it. I know there's supposed to be great shopping here (despite my amazing boy scout skills, I DID manage to get utterly lost in a mall complex), I just missed the comedy festival, and they have lots of cool sports events. They recently had the world swimming championships here and the commonwealth games... so eat your heart out, sports fans. I just didn't have enough time to explore everything, but I guess you never do. So before long, I'll be home, eating lots of peanut butter (without getting wierd looks), my mom's home cooking, and heading back into summer! See you soon!
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