Victoria: Downtown Melbourne & St Kilda

Its been almost a week since our return to the states, it still feel really odd. Being home has been an adjustment and it has been a bit disorienting, were still somewhat stuck on Australia time (at least i am) so getting to sleep has been a bit of a challenge. Keeping track of the days has also been a little difficult, living in a camper van for a month you stop keeping track of days so everything starts to blur together. Slowly were getting back into the swing of things and things about our trip begin to trickle into our minds to be processed. In the coming weeks i will be updating the blog with a lot of photos and observations, so i hope you're in somewhat of a reading mood. Australia is divided into 6 different states Victoria, New South Wales (NSW), Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territories. When we fist began planning our trip we were very ambitious and were going to drive all the way from Melbourne in Victoria into the outback in the Northern Territories and catch a flight to Pert in WA and then back to Melbourne for our flight home. As we planned more and more we came to the realization that it would be absolutely impossible especially when we realized that Australia is almost as big as the USA. So to go through with our plan would be utter suicide. The decision was made to only stick to the eastern coast and it was the right choice, so we moved on and after much waiting our trip had finally arrived and after a 15hr flight we found ourselves in melbourne. After what seems like forever we finally got through customs and were on our way to our hotel as we couldn't pick up our camper for 2 days. Obviously the biggest thing to hit us right away was driving on the left hand side of the road........it was weird even as a passenger in a bus. Furthermore the steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car and that was even weirder. Excited to get underway we checked into our hotel, i got my gear ready and off we went to explore the city. 2nd thing to hit us was that for a city Melbourne felt completely deserted! The was no one on the streets, it was really eerie. Part of it was that it was Christmas Eve and the feeling of no one on the streets only got worse on Christmas Day when there was literally no one out in the city. 3rd thing to really hit is was that for a city Melbourne felt tiny, when i hear "major city" i envision a sprawling urban landscape like NYC or Chicago. This was nothing like that, we were in downtown melbourne and it felt open, like you could breathe. Not like NYC were you are constantly surrounded by people and feel like a sardine. It was a nice surprise for us, everything felt really laid back and not stressful. Another thing that was nice was that there were people on a lot of the corners in bright colored shirts and their sole purpose was to give information to travelers. It was nice to just be able to ask questions and get some detailed info which is how we found a place to eat at 1st day. One of the challenges in going to another country is the language and slang, even in a country that speaks english. The lady that gave us info on where to find food told us to look for an arcade and look for the alleyway that has a bunch of restaurants. Well we heard arcade and I'm thinking a loud building full of teenagers playing video games. Turns out arcade for them is really more like a mall, or a place with a lot of shops. So we more or less stumbled upon our destination. We found this alley way that was full of grafity and more of a place that you would envision a mugging than a place to eat. But there it was little restaurants everywhere and full of activity, places like this were quite common actually as was the graffiti. Melbourne sees the graffiti more like art than a nuisance so theres quite a bit of it. Melbourne also has a central area called federation square, they hold all kinds of concerts and events here and there a major train station right across the street so getting to it was easy. Being christmas eve they televised a christmas eve special and there was tons of people there watching it. Our next day we went down to explore the St Kilda area, we were greeted by a nice surprise when we went to catch a trolley to St Kilda. We saw a sign that said "all public transportation free of charge today. Merry Christmas" Jen and i were astounded and had to ask an official just because we didn't think that it was true. Turns out it was, something like that is just unheard of here in the states i would almost expect to be charged more because its Christmas Day here. So with a little spring in our step we were off and began to explore. There was lots to see in St. Kilda, between the beach area to all the little desert shops to Luna Park which is home to the creepy Moon Man. We walked all over the place it was an amazing time. We also got caught in some freak thunderstorm, it would drizzle and then it would pour buckets of rain and then lightning and thunder then clear again. This cycle went on almost all day and it culminated in a beautiful sunset down by the pier where we waited out the storm while watching lots of australians celebrating Christmas by drinking and swimming naked in the ocean during a lightning storm. There you have it, that was our 1st couple of days in Australia. The next day we picked up our camper van, little did we know of what was in store for us. For the time being all we knew was that we had just had a great couple of days and we were already in love with Australia. I could write so much more but it would take forever to write down my observations and stories and no now wants to be here that long :) so heres some photos to go along with my babbling. ENJOY!!

G'day!!!

Hi! How you going? That would be a typical Australian greeting, took a little getting used to but we got it down in the end. Australia continues to amaze us, its beauty is truly second to none and it is hard to believe that such places exist in the world. Our month here is quickly coming to an end, in some ways it feels like we have been here for years and that this is just home and were on some grand road trip. In other ways it feels like we just got here and it hast sunk in that we are on the other side of the planet, our time here has been some of the best times of our lives, the time we have spent together has brought us closer together. The people that we have met and befriended have changed our lives forever. One thing that i have really taken away from meeting other people from all corners of the world is that we as Americans complain way to much......about everything. Its amazing to hear how people view the US some bad but mostly good and that many still see it as a land of great wonder and opportunity. I for one feel truly blessed to live were we live and despite all the problems we face i think we have it pretty good. Another thing is "no worries", nothing seems to faze the Australian people. While they can be laid back to the point of frustration it is a motto that is rather freeing once you embrace it. I think such thinking comes from living in a place that is constantly changing and is incredibly unforgiving. Theres an understanding that things happen and you can either make the best of it or you can complain to no avail but in the end it all works out. I have not the words to adequately express the grandure and the wonder that is Australia, my pictures don't do it justice by any means. The memories and the emotions that our experiences evoke are forever burned in my mind and in my heart, the photos are really just the icing on the cake. This place, any place and its people really have to be experienced in person with a humble understanding that we are blessed for even being able to be there. Im sure that as the weeks go by and we can look back and reflect on our experiences here the impact of this adventure will become more clear and maybe then i will be able to more adequately convey to all of you our amazing time here. For now i hope that you can catch a glimpse through these photos. G'day mates!

Our Australian Adventure.....

The end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 are marked by a historic occasion for Jen and myself, we embarked on our greatest adventure and largest trip to date. We are in Australia for a month!!! We have been driving around this incredibly beautiful country in our little bright green and purple home on wheels. As we spent our 1st few days in Melbourne and drove the Great Ocean Road it became very apparent that a month here was not going to be nearly long enough. In fact i don't think that any amount of time would be enough to explore this amazing place, one could spend a life time exploring Australia and never run out of things to see. So far we've only made it from Melbourne to Sydney and already we have seen so many amazing things. From the incredible coastal beauty of the the great ocean road, to the grandure of the 12 apostles to the spectacle that is New Years in the beautiful city of Sydney it has been an amazing adventure. Then theres the wildlife!! Its everywhere!!! We have woken up to a field full of kangaroos, to walking around and seeing parrots and cockatoos flying free, a cool looking lizard just chilling on a rock at our campground, little furry night creatures and the list goes on and on. Australia's weather is a beast all its own, truly it is an incredible facet of this country and it changes by the second. Thats no lie either, it could be perfectly clear one minute then huge ominous clouds roll in and its completely cloudy. Next its huge downpours, then it clears up, sun shines through, its hot, rains again, lightning, clears again, gorgeous sunset angels sing........aaahhhhhh! Words, pictures, memories nothing absolutely nothing can adequately describe this place, you really must experience it for yourself. If at all possible share the experience with someone you love, as such adventures in fact all adventures should be shared. I am truly grateful to have Jen with me, this experience has stretched us for sure but it makes me realize how incredibly blessed I am to have her. She is my companion to hold as we take that deep breath in appreciation of something beautiful, the other perspective to our great adventure, my navigator, planner, fellow photographer, searcher of vital information, someone to vent to, someone to laugh with, someone to reflect on the days adventures with, our budgeter.............the list is endless. I may get the "pretty" pictures but without her none of this would be possible. Our time here continues, there will be many things that we will see and much more that we won't, some things will be photographed and others are meant to only be a beautiful memory.........until our next trip :) Until next time, there truly is nothing like Australia. G'day mates!!!