Melbourne, Day 2

Tues Oct 7
14:25 Melbourne
At the State Library right now. What a gorgeous building! Lots of work stations, but internet looks to be only available to residents. I wouldn’t really want to surf the net in a library anyway; seems kinda wrong.

Spent most of yesterday ‘sightseeing’. I put that in quotes cuz it was raining, and so I didn’t do quite as much as I’d wanted to. It’s raining today, too, which is partially why I’m indoors. I would’ve come here anyway, but probably not sit down to blog.

Melbourne’s transit system is SO user friendly. Everything is integrated: bus, tram (light rail), and train/subway. It services all the suburbs a traveller would want to visit. Unlike Sydney, where all three forms (4 if you count the monorail) are on different tickets. Melbourne’s transit is by time, rather than distance. Similar to ours, in that sense, but you get 2 hours of travel, and there are only 2 zones. I got myself a day pass, and saw St. Kilda (beautiful waterfront), the city, and Williamstown (wild beach full of birds).

Went to the Shrine of Remembrance. Not as emotionally draining as the Peace Museum at Hiroshima, but still solemn. The Immigration Museum was interesting. They have a gallery that’s a remake of a ship cabin. Quite cool to wander through that. The dude there asked if I were a student, and when I showed him my UBC card, he considered me concession and I got in for free. I tried to make my way back to Cook’s Cottage, but got lost and ended up at the Docklands, where my camera went kaputz on the pavement and died. It’s had a good life: All over Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Australia…May it rest in peace. So yea. No more pictures from here on in, just thousands of words in print.

There’s this chain of fast food called Lord of the Fries. Come on, with a name like that, I had to give it a whirl. Got a cone of the Belgian, which is with European mayo. Not bad. It kept my hands warm as I wandered the Federation Square/Southgate area. Had pasta for lunch, Penne Sicilian. The eggplant was so freaking good! Oh, I gotta say that I am loving the lack of a need to tip. Seriously. Dining in Canada has so many hidden charges, with tax and tips tacked on later. Oh, and the notion of BYO amuses me. It just does.

Foodwise, I also went into the crepe place. Got a chicken pizza: lettuce, cucumber, corn, chicken, mayo and pizza sauce. Not bad, but I think I like sweet crepes better. May have one later today =P.

I have booked a flight to Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. Gonna be staying there 3 nights in a 12-share room. Good thing I have my earplugs, and I know exactly where they are. Going with Tiger Airways this time, cuz they’re cheaper than Virgin Blue (though after baggage charge and all that, not by much). $130 roundtrip, I think, was the final tally. Not bad, eh?

I can’t remember the cost of going from the airport at Taipei to the city, but it makes me wonder if Vancouver is one of the few cities that has public transit connecting the airport to the city on regular fares. It’s really damned cheap, compared to prices in Osaka, Sydney, Melbourne, and Toronto.

Spoke at length to Constance yesterday. Also met a new roomie, Cyrus (at least I think that’s her name. From Hong Kong). I think I can get good travel info from Constance on NZ and Germany, when I decide to go. Groovy Grape Getaways also does the Melbourne-Grampians-Great Ocean Road-Adelaide trip. Cheaper than the one I was looking at, but has fewer things.

I have not planned anything for Melbourne, since I’m leaving here tomorrow at noonish. The Philip Island tour is gonna hafta wait till I get back to Melbourne on Saturday.

I like the feel of Melbourne. At times, it reminds me of Victoria. At others, Winnipeg. Yet at others still, Montreal. Victoria for the slower pace of life. Winnipeg for the wide streets. Montreal for the liveliness.