BLOG FROM OZ: Day 11 and a half
Haven't blogged for a bit, so here's your catch up:
Christmas happened. We opened presents. Mum's most random offerings this year included; a heavy wooden foot massager (that no-one will be able to get back on the plane), a solar-powered rucksack(-actually, like last years' furry boots, i secretly love it- when not charging my phone or ipod it makes me feel like a proper international backpacker) and SQUATTER: 'Australia's Favourite Boardgame' (an overly complicated Monopoly-like thing to do with sheep-herding that no-one in Australia seems to have heard of). Spent the morning on the beach and the afternoon playing monopoly (yes actual monopoly) with my cousins. Dinner started at 5 and ended at midnight. There was prawns, sushi, lots of salads and things on sticks and my uncle cooked a huge turkey on the barbeque. It was a lovely day and absolutely nothing like Christmas. Aussies don't seem to go in for Christmas the way most of the world do: so there was less commercial frenzy but also just less magic, less joy and less of an event. Hardly anyone had decorations up other than the odd fairy lights- and when I got to Melbourne (a major urban capital - there was barely any sign that Christmas had happened at all.
Oh yeah and Em got stung by jellyfish (twice) but she was ok and she wouldn't let any of us pee on her.
Melbourne rocked. Trams, cafes, big arts/music/culture scene, unpredictable weather: wandering around Melbourne you forget you're in Australia because it feels so much like Europe. Actually although they joke that in Melbourne you can experience 4 seasons in 1 day, I think we must've taken the sunshine with us beacuse it was like glorious British Summertime the entire 3 days.
Spent day at cricket which was surprisingly pleasant. Sat in middle of Boony Army stand because Em said it had best view. Aussie supporters hardly made any noise at all whilst Barmy Army (on other side) were noisy and raucous throughout - although hard to get irritated by such commitment and intonation and co-ordination. They even had choreography. And a very good trumpeter. (Could improve diction - have instructed Flan accordingly). At one point some lads in our stand attempted Waltzing Matilda and it was a musical train-wreck. Is there something in Australian DNA that incapacitates them from singing in tune? Also Em and I gave Flan a dare to get one of his song lyrics into a Barmy Army chant for Sydney. Baring in mind he is not really in the clique that organises such things this could be something of a challenge, but I have faith in him...
Anyway, I supported the Aussies because:
a) They surrounded us
b) They had effectively already won
c) I wanted an inflatable giant finger. They said "GO AUSSIES" on them.
Yeah it was mostly C.
So my team won which was fun, and Shane Warne was really good and everything and it was a lovely day made even better by my sister's expert commentary to me of the things that really mattered in the game; eg. the supporters not letting the beach balls bounce near the policemen because they confiscate them. Emma switched (she is SO fickel) to support Australia in the last hour as well because if thay didn't bowl out the English team quickly then her mate Pete who is a cricket reporter wasn't going to be able to come to dinner with us. You will all be most impressed that my book didn't come out of my bag once.
Had the most fabulous gourmet 3-course meal at the Graham Hotel in Port Melbourne (way out in sticks) that would've certainly cost you £65 or £70 per head excluding drinks in England. We had 3 courses, a good deal of top wine and coffees for £35 each and the service was literally second-to-none.
At Melbourne Museum saw massive bugs, sharks' jaws, dinosaurs and boring history stuff (who wants to learn about that?) plus the Robinson's family kitchen (actual Neighbours set complete with Scott and Charlene's wedding cake if you looked inside the fridge.) Also went up Observation deck and saw sting-rays the size of a sofa at Melbourne Aquarium.
Met up with Flan and three of his little cricket buds (they were in reality quite tall and butch) for dinner. Had been in "Kate-the-international-backpacking-queen-with-actual-backpack mode all day without a trip back to hotel and looked totally gross, so was especially destraught to find all four looking smart for dinner and one incredibly good-looking. Felt like showing them all a picture of me the night before when I had made a huge effort for dinner and looked glam. Thankfully witheld this urge. We ate at St. Kilda which is by the beach and looked like a Spanish town. Toilets had pictures of cross-dressers on them making entering correct sex toilet a gamble. Not everyone was successful. Night ended in bizarre scenario of getting myself locked out of my hotel room and having to sleep on my parents' floor.
On arrival back in Perth I have traded in my sister for someone with more skirts. Sarah is now spending her first morning here and would like to share that her hair is doing a similar act to that Friends episode where Monica goes to Hawaii.
Signing off.
BUG COUNT: 1 more house cockroach which Sarah tried to save by putting it under a glass (clearly no scrabble was going to get played until it was dealt with) but to no avail - Dad trod on it as soon as he arrived home.
FRECKLE COUNT: Sarah is refusing to count them. Have peely shoulders.
ALCOHOL UNITS CONSUMED: mehnee mehnee mehnee
Christmas happened. We opened presents. Mum's most random offerings this year included; a heavy wooden foot massager (that no-one will be able to get back on the plane), a solar-powered rucksack(-actually, like last years' furry boots, i secretly love it- when not charging my phone or ipod it makes me feel like a proper international backpacker) and SQUATTER: 'Australia's Favourite Boardgame' (an overly complicated Monopoly-like thing to do with sheep-herding that no-one in Australia seems to have heard of). Spent the morning on the beach and the afternoon playing monopoly (yes actual monopoly) with my cousins. Dinner started at 5 and ended at midnight. There was prawns, sushi, lots of salads and things on sticks and my uncle cooked a huge turkey on the barbeque. It was a lovely day and absolutely nothing like Christmas. Aussies don't seem to go in for Christmas the way most of the world do: so there was less commercial frenzy but also just less magic, less joy and less of an event. Hardly anyone had decorations up other than the odd fairy lights- and when I got to Melbourne (a major urban capital - there was barely any sign that Christmas had happened at all.
Oh yeah and Em got stung by jellyfish (twice) but she was ok and she wouldn't let any of us pee on her.
Melbourne rocked. Trams, cafes, big arts/music/culture scene, unpredictable weather: wandering around Melbourne you forget you're in Australia because it feels so much like Europe. Actually although they joke that in Melbourne you can experience 4 seasons in 1 day, I think we must've taken the sunshine with us beacuse it was like glorious British Summertime the entire 3 days.
Spent day at cricket which was surprisingly pleasant. Sat in middle of Boony Army stand because Em said it had best view. Aussie supporters hardly made any noise at all whilst Barmy Army (on other side) were noisy and raucous throughout - although hard to get irritated by such commitment and intonation and co-ordination. They even had choreography. And a very good trumpeter. (Could improve diction - have instructed Flan accordingly). At one point some lads in our stand attempted Waltzing Matilda and it was a musical train-wreck. Is there something in Australian DNA that incapacitates them from singing in tune? Also Em and I gave Flan a dare to get one of his song lyrics into a Barmy Army chant for Sydney. Baring in mind he is not really in the clique that organises such things this could be something of a challenge, but I have faith in him...
Anyway, I supported the Aussies because:
a) They surrounded us
b) They had effectively already won
c) I wanted an inflatable giant finger. They said "GO AUSSIES" on them.
Yeah it was mostly C.
So my team won which was fun, and Shane Warne was really good and everything and it was a lovely day made even better by my sister's expert commentary to me of the things that really mattered in the game; eg. the supporters not letting the beach balls bounce near the policemen because they confiscate them. Emma switched (she is SO fickel) to support Australia in the last hour as well because if thay didn't bowl out the English team quickly then her mate Pete who is a cricket reporter wasn't going to be able to come to dinner with us. You will all be most impressed that my book didn't come out of my bag once.
Had the most fabulous gourmet 3-course meal at the Graham Hotel in Port Melbourne (way out in sticks) that would've certainly cost you £65 or £70 per head excluding drinks in England. We had 3 courses, a good deal of top wine and coffees for £35 each and the service was literally second-to-none.
At Melbourne Museum saw massive bugs, sharks' jaws, dinosaurs and boring history stuff (who wants to learn about that?) plus the Robinson's family kitchen (actual Neighbours set complete with Scott and Charlene's wedding cake if you looked inside the fridge.) Also went up Observation deck and saw sting-rays the size of a sofa at Melbourne Aquarium.
Met up with Flan and three of his little cricket buds (they were in reality quite tall and butch) for dinner. Had been in "Kate-the-international-backpacking-queen-with-actual-backpack mode all day without a trip back to hotel and looked totally gross, so was especially destraught to find all four looking smart for dinner and one incredibly good-looking. Felt like showing them all a picture of me the night before when I had made a huge effort for dinner and looked glam. Thankfully witheld this urge. We ate at St. Kilda which is by the beach and looked like a Spanish town. Toilets had pictures of cross-dressers on them making entering correct sex toilet a gamble. Not everyone was successful. Night ended in bizarre scenario of getting myself locked out of my hotel room and having to sleep on my parents' floor.
On arrival back in Perth I have traded in my sister for someone with more skirts. Sarah is now spending her first morning here and would like to share that her hair is doing a similar act to that Friends episode where Monica goes to Hawaii.
Signing off.
BUG COUNT: 1 more house cockroach which Sarah tried to save by putting it under a glass (clearly no scrabble was going to get played until it was dealt with) but to no avail - Dad trod on it as soon as he arrived home.
FRECKLE COUNT: Sarah is refusing to count them. Have peely shoulders.
ALCOHOL UNITS CONSUMED: mehnee mehnee mehnee
posted by Kate John @ 5:46 PM
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