Melbourne: First Impressions, Southbank, and Colonial Tramcar

I finally made it to Melbourne, Australia, after numerous people raved about how great it was. Final summation? It’s overhyped – and Sydney is still my favorite – but still pretty cool. It is renowned for having lots of good restaurants, so I attempted to try some new things for dinner while making breakfast and lunch in the apartment to stay on-budget. That’s why there are lots of food pictures (which normally I don’t take!) and mentions. There is also quite a bit of cool architecture and lots of art around the city.

We tried out a Taiwanese street kitchen place on the evening we arrived. My noodles were very tasty.

Taiwanese stir fry noodles

Taiwanese lemon chicken

The next day turned out to be Queen’s Birthday, a public holiday, so we decided to postpone our trip to the Melbourne Museum (it was packed with kids). Instead we walked around the city and over to Southbank, along the waterfront, before having dinner on the colonial tramcar restaurant. This was a gift that had been prebooked, and it was a nice, fun way to have dinner and see some of the city’s neighborhoods at night (there were also unlimited drinks). 

Roasted red pepper and cream cheese dip and hummus
Beef, potatoes, and veggies; chicken, potatoes, and broad beans

Chocolate mousse cake
Vanilla panna cotta with poached ruby quince
(i.e., jiggly white sugary thing with tart red thing)

 

Nelson City

Nelson itself also had quite a lot to do. We stopped at a little fruit and veggie store on our walk downtown and I picked up blueberries and peaches. The Saturday market had a surprisingly large number of vendors, and I found some art and a book to buy. I also picked up a carton of fresh strawberries while D picked up a delicious garlic sourdough loaf.

There was some nice architecture and a very weird store window that I took a picture of. You find the weirdest things out and about sometimes.

The Nelson Provincial Museum was small but good. I really enjoyed the Women of WWI exhibit which featured a whole room full of mannequins dressed up in styles of the time. But what was interesting was the stories on all of these amazing women who pushed and persevered to serve their country and those in need during the turbulent war years and beyond. It really inspired me.

not that long ago, when Britain still ruled the world...

Nelson's cathedral

weird shop window with bat iphone things and a baby horde

Guy Fawkes, Dunedin, and Moeraki Boulders

A lot of the past month has been spent on two journal articles and conferences. These activities have taken more time than I anticipated, although they have been really good learning experiences. With everything now done and "summer break" beginning, I am hoping to recommit to my thesis and get a lot written, since there won't be many distracting seminars or things going on at the university.

Guy Fawkes Day (November 5th) was fun as usual. We took two friends out to New Brighton, a suburb on the coast, to watch the official fireworks display, then came home and lit off some of our own fireworks. We bought extra to keep us going throughout the year and for New Year's. :)

I picked up a sweet find of science fiction and feminism books at a garage sale for $5.

The weather has been off and on hot and cold. They're predicting it to be a really hot summer, so we'll see.

We hosted a PhD student from Australia and requested he bring some Kraft Mac 'N Cheese for D to enjoy, and he brought three boxes as well as a bottle of wine! Very nice. We bought a Christmas tree and put it up along with some outdoor lights. I think we're the only house in the whole neighborhood to have any lights up, and they are solar-powered so don't last very long if it's a cloudy day. It still doesn't feel like a holiday season with the hot weather and lack of spirit. It is strange to not be bombarded by all of the Christmas atmosphere like in the U.S.

One of my conferences was in Dunedin (about 5-hour drive south of Christchurch) and the weather was unusually hot and sunny, so I went on several walks around the city in the evening because it stays light until like 8:30pm now. The architecture there is nice and there was some cool street art. Other cities are so much more alive than Christchurch -- it's disappointing not to have a functioning city center here.

On the drive back to Christchurch, we stopped at the Moeraki Boulders which were beautiful and mysterious. There's a good description of them at NewZealand.com -- here's my paraphrase: boulders weigh several tons and are calcite concretions from about 65 millions years ago. They are gradually being revealed as the soft mudstone washes away. In Maori legend, the boulders are gourds that have come ashore from the voyaging canoe Araiteuru when it wrecked on land.

Bought this in Dunedin. Really makes you rethink how we see the world!