Day 3: I now know what lions and elephants really sound like.

I don’t remember the last time I slept 12 hours but we both did last night – minus a few excursions to the bathroom for each of us. We think the livers and kidneys were also recovering from the flight and seemed to be working overtime. Not a big deal for a regular hotel but when you have to put your clothes on and walk down the hall and in my case, go downstairs because the men’s rooms on this floor are under renovation, it is a hassle! But anyway, we rested up and now we only feel about three hours ahead of things rather than 14 hours behind. I don’t really know how that works but that’s where our internal clocks are right now.

Today we decided to go check out the Melbourne zoo and Luna Park. The zoo was great! Supposedly it is quite old but it looked more kept up than a lot of US zoos we’ve been to. The animal enclosures were well thought out as far as keeping the animals happy but providing plenty of opportunities to see them. The elephant exhibit for instance was set up in multiple fields that were connected to each other by these Jurassic Park style gates that crossed the pedestrian paths. We went mainly to see the Australian animals and were happy to see kangaroos (sleepy), emus (very social and walked right up to us), wombats (also sleepy), pelicans (they were enormous), and koalas (anti social). They had a great aviary and butterfly house that both afforded lots of up close encounters with the animals and a platypusary with a lone platypus swimming gaily around his darkened tank. Strange animals those platypi. Not only do they have the duckbill, but they’re also nocturnal, venomous, electric, and they lay eggs. (see photos here on our Flickr page)

The primate exhibits were really fantastic too with lots of space and lots of stuff to climb on. One thing we thought was peculiar though was the baboon habitat, they were living in what looked like an urban playground. They seemed pretty well adjusted though as did the aerial monkeys that lived up in the trees. The walkway through that was elevated to the canopy level so you could see the monkeys cavorting around. They had a similar elevated pathway over the Lion’s den that provided a good view of the lions.

Speaking of lions, the animals at the Melbourne Zoo were quite vocal. Normally when I go to zoos I just hear children screaming everywhere but here both the elephants and the lions got my attention from significant distances so much that I actually jumped. Sitting in your living room watching a nature show is no equivalent, lemme tell ya. The monkeys also had quite a bit too say as well as did the birds.

Using vocal birds as a segue, let me say that the seagulls here are exactly like the ones in Finding Nemo, except for the ability to say “mine.” The seagulls back home are sweethearts with angelic voices compared to these flying devils. We ate lunch at the zoo café which only had outdoor seating. Even though we weren’t giving them any food we had quite a crowd around us squawking at us and some would hover uncomfortably near our faces as we ate. If they were just a bit bolder they probably would have tried to snatch the food out of our hands as we brought it to our mouths.

The next stop was Luna Park in the suburb of St. Kilda which was right on the coast. We didn’t spend any time down on the beach since it was quite cold here today but the area around was very cool. The park itself was small and a little grungy but the 1912 Scenic Railway (coaster number 209 for me and 94 for Kirsten) was worth the trip out. It was definitely built for smaller people though as we had zero leg room and maybe half of our behinds were actually on the seats. The train is also unique in that a brakeman has to ride along in the middle of the train and pull back on a big lever so that the train and passengers safely navigate the turns and the crests of the hills. It’s one of only a handful left in the world. Their other roller coaster, Metropolis, was fun and number 210 for me and that’s about it.

For dinner we went to a Mexican restaurant (strange, I know) in St. Kilda called Blue Corn but Kirsten has a finely tuned restaurant sixth sense and can pick out absurdly delicious places in the least expected of places so I went along. And it was delicious (crazy, I know)! We stopped in a bar along the way back to the train and got a beer. Just one though because the fine for public drunkenness in these parts is $13,000 and is heavily advertised via PSAs. I would rather buy a car, thank you.

Back at the hotel by eight though, we have a very early morning and long day ahead of us tomorrow.

Day 2: Melbourne Mosey

For the sake of convenience we’re saying that Day 2 starts when we landed at Melbourne.  We plodded through customs slowly but surely, without any problems, and caught the skybus into town.  The bus dropped us off at the Southern Cross railway station which was pretty cool.  From here we took the subway to our first hotel The Claremont Guest House out in the “suburb” of South Yarra.  It seems that in this part of the world they call the different neighborhoods suburbs.  I haven’t quite figured out where Melbourne proper ends and the American type suburbs begin. 

That’s the other thing, so far Melbourne seems to have a lot more in common with Toronto than London.  If it weren’t for the palm trees, the left hand driving, and the accents I would have thought I took a very long flight to Ontario.  Not that we’re complaining, we love Ontario.  It’s just that there has been no culture shock at all.  We’re quite at home here. . . except the left hand driving.

Anyhow, the hotel is quaint.  It’s very old and hostel-ey and the room is tiny with a hardwood floor, a bed and very little else.  The bathrooms are communal and we have to turn in the key when we leave.  But they serve breakfast and the location is pretty great.  The neighborhood seems pretty fun and the trains and trolleys, which they call trams, stop right outside.

We spent the afternoon wandering around the downtown area.  We had lunch at an Asian place called Krakatoa which was pretty good and had dinner at another Asian place called Chocolate Buddha which was even better.  It was situated in Federation Square which was a really cool urban space set right on the Yarra River bank.  We also saw a lot of other sights downtown such as St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Melbourne Museum but did not get to go inside them due to closures or crowds.  We did have fun walking through the Victorian shopping arcades that criss-cross the downtown streets.  Some of them were very ornate and beautiful.

So far we really like Melbourne and are looking forward to the next day but for now we are back at the hotel ready to call it a night.

Pictures to follow tomorrow, we're too tired to do any more uploading!

Day 1: Flying Forever and Ever

5pm EDT

There is something wrong with this picture:  Kyle’s carry on is bursting at the seams and weighs a metric ton while his actual checked luggage is half full and tips the scales at under ten pounds.  We’ve brought a lot with us to keep us occupied for the impending 20 hour flight.  Perhaps too much?

The trip out to JFK wasn’t eventful aside from a VERY full A train and a glut of confused tourists at the Airtrain station.  Terminal 7 is nice but small as seems to be the case at JFK.  Terminal 7 is one of the original 9 but has been recently renovated so it looks new and gleaming.  We’re really digging the retro collection of chairs they have accumulated in the airside waiting areas! They also paged someone named Christian Buns over the loudspeaker which is a great name.

Somewhere over Wichita

Man, 747s are big!  It really hit me when I was on the jetway looking at the size of the engines and the wing.  It’s no C-5 Galaxy but it’s certainly big!  The flight to Los Angeles went well.  We ended up sitting next to the same guy who deeply offended Kirsten at the McDonalds in Terminal 7 at JFK for not bussing his table (“Aussie culture” sez my Australian expert friend, Spuhler), pretty small world, right?  Anyway, we found that pretty funny and he was polite enough on the flight.  In fact I think we were probably annoying him watching the Australian television shows that are shown on demand in the Qantas seatback screens.  Everybody should check out Thank God You’re Here if you happen to be a Whose Line Is It Anyway fan.  I was laughing so hard that I was crying at times.

The meal was decent and there was plenty to eat.  Kirsten had the beef thing and I had the spinach cannelloni thing.  We also had a Greek salad, cheese and crackers, and carrot cake.  I also had some wine with my meal.  I also went back for a beer on my bathroom break (yes, first time using a bathroom in a plane!  They’re so small and efficient!).  They gave me a choice between a few Australian beers and a Heineken.  I tried something called James Squire which was good but made me gassy.  I won’t get it again on a flight.  Burping loudly is fun and all but the tail end of a 747 is no place for things that are that fun.

10:30 PDT

So this is also my first time in California as I’m writing from our layover in LAX.  The landing was pretty cool as the lights of LA go on forever until they hit the mountains which are dark except for the wildfires that are blazing in areas.  They’re really bright!  We were quite surprised how big and bright they were.

The terminal here is so bland.  I used to think that Atlanta was a bland airport but LAX is blander.  It’s Blandy McBlanderson Blanding his Blander with a Blandifier if you get my drift.

Somewhere over the Pacific

Alright, this is the longest night ever.  We took off from Los Angeles hours ago and I’ve even been sleeping for some time and it’s still pitch black out.  Looking out the window I can see nothing but blackness and I’m reminded of Stephen King’s short story The Langoliers where somehow an airliner flies through a hole in the time continuum and find out what happens to the past.  Without giving away too many details, at the end of the story the plane is just flying through black nothingness.

But it isn’t quite nothing, as I stare out the window the stars start to come into focus and I can immediately pick out the southern cross.  It’s much smaller than I figured it would be but it still reminded me of that Crosby Stills and Nash (and Young?) song.

Earlier we were served dinner number two.  We had a choice of chicken or fish (Leslie Nielson had the lasagna).  I went with the salmon which was served in a japanese sort of way with soy sauce, rice, and scrambled eggs – yeah I don’t know either.  Afterwards I sipped on a glass of very heavy shiraz while I watched an Australian mockumentary called Kenny about the port-a-john industry.  I made it all the way through before nodding off which brings us to now.  And I’m going back to sleep.

Later

The sun finally caught up to us again at 4:00am Melbourne time and they began serving breakfast.  Spinach quiche with ham, sausage, and tator tots, a mystery muffin that was quite good but we couldn’t figure out the flavor, and multiple mugs of tea and coffee.

Preparations Day 0

Welcome to our blog!

We are less than 18 hours until we make (con)trails for Australia for our honeymoon! Now we aren't promising anything but we're going to try our darnedest to keep this thing updated with beautiful, sunny photos and flowery, expressive prose detailing all of our adventures and activities for all the friends and family back home.

The bags are packed except for essentials and the boarding passes are printed. The guidebooks are bookmarked or in Kirsten's case - dismembered to just the important bits. Kyle blames Rick Steves. We've got new swimsuits, backpacks, collapsable toothbrushes, and walking shoes that we've already broken in. Plenty of reading material and movies to watch. All that's left to do is load up the ipod and get a good night's sleep.

Then in the morning, Kyle will be off to abandon Bernie the Trusty Toyota in the wilds of Brooklyn where he won't need to be exercised once a week to avoid a ticket. Not to worry, I'll make sure he's in a spot with lots of other cars to play with. After that comes lunch and we will make our way to JFK.

See you all there.