Melbourne

The rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne dates back to the foundation of Australia. Though historically the debate was more around the settlement of the the capital city, nowadays the argument seems to mainly come down to culture, weather, and sport. Melbourne is characterized as a city more fashion-forward, full of character, and a dominant cafe culture, hence it is often described as “more European”. Sydney on the other hand is a little more showy and boisterous – it is home to the famous Harbor Bridge, the Opera House, and the many beaches. The dominant culture is surf culture (but with big city long work hours…go figure).

Having lived in Sydney for around 7 months, we have begun to develop a good sense of this city and it’s unique character. So, we took advantage of some cheap airfare and spent a weekend getting our first taste of Melbourne. We stayed with our friends Kate and Craig, who were the best type of hosts. They seamlessly integrated us into their weekend, an active, yet relaxing way to experience a local’s weekend in Melbourne.

We arrived on Saturday in time to pick up Kate and meet Craig down in the CBD for lunch. Our first experience with the laneways! These charming little pedestrian walkways are full of little boutiques and cafes. We ducked into a local chocolate shop for dessert following a tasty lunch at Hell’s Kitchen, followed up by coffee on the river.

That evening we went out for dinner to a great restaurant called Veggie Bar in the Fitzroy, a neighborhood with an independent vibe that reminded us a lot of Chicago’s Wickerpark/Bucktown.

After breakfast the next morning we headed out to the Dandenong Ranges National Park, just 30km east of Melbourne. We spent the first half of the day on the trails (Galen and Kate took off, and Craig was sweet enough to go a bit slower with me) and finished up the afternoon grabbing lunch and poking around the little towns in the area. That evening Kate and Craig invited some friends over and we had a bbq and played a lively, men vs women, game of Taboo. I probably don’t need to tell you who won, you can probably guess.

Well, it is confirmed, we loved Melbourne. I’ll refrain to adding any more foder to the Sydney vs Melbourne debate, but it is sufice to say I will be looking for any excuse to return – ASAP.

Nelson Bay

This past weekend Kristin and I met friends Kate and Craig in Nelson Bay.  Kate and Craig are friends from Melbourne who I originally met in Boulder during one of Kate’s marathon training stints a few years back.  (She is an Olympic marathoner and often visits Boulder for high altitude training stints).  We finally found an opportunity to meet up in Nelson’s Bay (about 3 hours north of Sydney), where she and Craig had already planned a weekend getaway.

We spent a wonderful weekend cooking together, going for trail runs in the hills, reading magazines, and walking on the beach.  The apartment we rented  had a BBQ and  beautiful views overlooking the bay so we were quite happy just relaxing in the apartment and taking a break from the city.  I BBQ’d my first whole fish bought from the local fish monger on the docks, and Kate made us our first pavlova – an Australian dessert comprised of a crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside meringue with fresh fruit topping.  It was an excellent weekend with good friends.

A couple “snaps” from the weekend here…

Room with a view

I’m still using the hand-me-down point n shoot camera my dad gave me (after my dslr camera got stolen with my car and my  point n shoot camera broke).  Despite its limitations, it has been invaluable in documenting some of our experiences here.  We love sitting out on our balcony in the evenings and watching the colors of the sky change behind the city and harbor.  Our favorite part is when the bats rise out of the botanical gardens (just after the sun goes down) and thousands of them swoop by our balcony on their way to their feeding grounds in Centennial Park.  Some of them are so close we could almost touch them.  The camera lense isn’t big enough to capture the bats during such low light conditions, so you’ll just have to imagine it in the photo above… it’s alsmost like a scene out of Batman.  Here’s a link to a YouTube video that gives you some indication…