A 12-hour tour

I think from now on, Friday will be the day I go on tours when I travel. Last year when I went to Mexico City, I took a tour to the pyramids on a Friday. This one was much longer, with more stops. 

Our tour guide Peter was delightful. Of course he spoke with an Australian accent which makes everyone sound delightful. There were 24 of us on a small bus. 

We started off going to the Brighton Beach Boxes. These were built starting in the 1860s so people would have a place to change. They do not have water or electricity. Now they are considered a status symbol. Peter asked me how much I thought one cost and I puffed out my chest and said "Well I do live in one of the most expensive cities in the states, so my point of reference is skewed. $10,000?" He informed me they cost half a million Australian dollars. Eek! 

We then went to the Moonlit Sanctuary. We saw koalas, wombats, wallabies, beautiful birds. I had a nice talk with a staff member named James who told me about trying to train a couple of Emu brothers, one appearing much smarter than the other. I suggested that perhaps the dumb-appearing Emu was actually too smart to fall for his antics. I'm not sure he appreciated my reframe.

These pictures are not in chronological order:

Pink Cockateels 

Drunk-looking koala 

It turns out they sleep 20 hours a day.

Emu

Wallaby

Echidna 

Some kind of owl

Wombat

Rainbow parrot

THE DINGO ATE YOUR BABY!

A green snake I don't remember the name of but it had "green" in the name.

Then we went to Nobbies, which is a lookout on the coastline of the Bass Strait. I took a bunch of panoramic shots. I am not sure how well they will show up here.

We then went to the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island. These are little fuzzy penguins that come out of the water at sundown, to gather and crawl into the beach. We were not permitted to take picture because flashes disturb the penguins (didn't stop some a-holes from trying,) but you can see pictures online. Unfortunately many of the penguins who did come out of the water, did so away from our bleachers. 

From there it took us two hours to get back to my hotel. 

Peter reminded us that today is Anzac Day, which is a holiday. So I will not be going to the market. I will likely be figuring out how to get to a museum outside the city. 

The tea with the fancy people

As I mentioned, I woke up at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep. I went back to the same cafe and brought my latest writing project. I like writing when I travel. For some reason I feel more productive. 

I walked to the Royal Botanic Garden. Yes, it's free. The most interesting thing about it was the birds. They have some real "I'll swallow your soul" energy. (Evil Dead 2 reference that probably only my brother will get.)

I think those were cockatoos. So pretty, so evil sounding. They had some other interesting birds. 

The landscape itself is really beautiful.

 This is the Yarra river.

I went back to the hotel where I had made reservations for their fancy high tea. Yes, I decided to do it. It was fancy. The tea was great but unfortunately, because I drank a lot of it without milk, it gave me a tummy ache.

There were also scones.

I laid low for the rest of the day, which is fine given I was sleep deprived and today I'm going on a lengthy tour to see animals and penguins (I know penguins are also animals, but they are a particular feature of the tour.) 

I hope to find out more information about why koalas always look stoned. 

So much for the sleep

I've been awake since about 2am. My current theory is that I didn't eat enough last night and that is why I only got about 4.5 hours.

But we're not there yet.

Have I mentioned that Australia is known for its coffee? The best coffee I ever had before now was in Bali. Maybe it's the same coffee, I don't know. It's freakin' good. I looked up the best coffee in Melbourne, looked for places nearby with food, and found myself at The League of Honest Coffee. On the 10 minute walk there, I passed probably eight other coffee places, some with lines, which are probably just as good. I got a ham and cheese croissant and a large cappuccino, which came to me in a small cereal bowl:

While we are talking about coffee shops, I have to say that I feel a little awkward in Australia. I think it's in part because they drive on the left side, but I get the impression I am always just a little bit off from the correct place to be. I feel in the way. A little later, I almost took out a child at the museum (don't worry, he lived.) I have a discomfort with the idea that I am drawing attention to myself, which has been with me since I was a child. I had said that, since this is the first place I have traveled to where English is the primary language, I would have less of a mental load of either speaking another language poorly, or more likely, knowing the people there were speaking English to accommodate me. That is still true, and I did still have a mental speed bump to get over acclimating to being in a new place, where I feel like I don't belong. 

I walked straight to Carlton Gardens and the Melbourne Museum. When I arrived I noticed busloads of schoolchildren approaching the entrance. I was assured they would be keeping to a particular section of the museum. That ended up not quite being the case, but I was not overcome by screaming hoards. 

It's a great museum, containing a great deal of information about the aboriginal people of Australia. 

They had a section for dinosaurs and insects:

After getting a snack, I returned to Laneway Street Art, which is a collection of streets and alleys. Two of the most famous are Hosier Lane and AC/DC Lane.

I just had to look up that AC/DC was Australian. I thought they were British.

I went to the Queen Victoria Night Market. I got there when it first opened, so it was not that crowded. There was a ton of food and interesting merchants. I almost got myself some earrings but the sellers were not able to tell me if there was any silver in them. I ate dumplings and a pork bun and went back to my hotel.

I used the hotel hair dryer and the hotel robe, like a grown up.

I read, drank wine, booked events for the next couple of days, and made plans with a friend of Tim's. 

It was a very good day followed by a less-good night of sleep. 

To be continued....