A Day at the Gym

Day 4: Fitness!

We started today the healthy way: a wild hair had us at the gym at 9 in the morning, at the local YMCA (admission, $14). I jogged on the treadmill while Caroline used the rowing machine, then we did weights for another half an hour. Mostly women and old, battered men. It felt good to exercise, and we after coming home, showering, and breakfast, we were motivated enough to drive to a close gym and sign up for a two month membership. Revolution Gym is rather awesome, as it should be for $100 bucks a month. Sign up involved a complete health survey and tomorrow we go back for the first of two private training sessions with a personal trainer. Dr. Denny would be proud! On top of that, we get to participate in unlimited group classes, which include boot camp (taught by a real police officer), pilates, fight classes and others. Caroline and I have high hopes!

After that, we went to Northland Shopping Center (a mall). I stopped by the post office to get stamps and one more postcard—only to realize I don’t know anyone’s address! So Melanie and Mom, I’m sorry but your postcards will get to you indirectly. We ate a late lunch at Pancake Parlor, where Caroline’s brother Chris’s wife (Tanya) works. Today is Pancake Day, a French tradition that celebrates pancakes. America celebrates pancakes everyday, so the concept was lost on me. *wink*

We bought groceries at Safeway, came home and made an impromptu casserole with noodles, chicken, tomatoes and chickpeas. Caroline is setting up her iPod; a purchase from today meant to help motivate her at the gym, and I’m downloading iTunes and Limewire to use with my iPod. I wish John were here to help!

No pics today; it was cloudy and no one wants to see a sweaty me-at-the-gym.

Day Three: Walking Melbourne

Day 3: In-depth Tour of Melbourne

With rain in the forecast, we decided to spend the day in the city. After a 20-minute train ride, we arrived at Flinders Street Station, in the heart of Melbourne. With no particular goal in mind, we just started walking.

The variety of shops blows my mind. There are clothing boutiques that Melanie would love, specialty chocolate stores that Dana and Tonya would love, book stores, electronic stores, souvenir stores, and tons of restaurants—mostly fast food including lots of Asian. Even the alleys are populated, mostly lined with cafes and coffee shops and bakeries. Office buildings tower overhead, the streets are busy with cars and busses and trams. There is no spare inch in Melbourne. If you can dream it up, there’s a place to buy it. The front window of a cigar shop was lined with bongs—an event that had Caroline and I baffled. But out of all that—only one Mexican restaurant!!

After wandering through the streets, we stopped for lunch and then went to the Parliament building. A free 45 minute tour explained the workings of the Australian government. The members of the tour group were as diversified as the representatives that would have sat in the rooms; people from Hong Kong, England, Ireland… nearly each person was from a different county and I the only from America. I don’t usually find government issues interesting, but I enjoyed the tour.

After that, we walked through some beautiful gardens and churches. The gardens are kept immaculate and well-groomed, with blooming shrub-sized flowers that are normally 12-inch tall annuals at home. And the magnolia trees! Mom would be so jealous. We came upon the St Patrick's cathedral and couldn’t resist going inside this huge, ancient building. The inside was just as majestic as the outside, with brilliant yellow sunlight filtering in through the stained glass windows down onto the pews. Back outside, fountains and more landscaping sparkled in the sun.

Making our way back into the city, it finally looked like it might rain so we decided to go to the Rialto Observation Deck. Up on the 55^th floor, we were able to see the entire city—but no rain! I snagged some postcards and we spent about an hour just soaking up the view.

Both of us were exhausted from a long day walking in the sun, so we headed for home. A quick 5-block walk back to the train station, then before we knew it, we were enjoying a fully-loaded salad in front of The Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance—the Australian versions, of course. ;)

Lots of pictures!

Landing In Australia

Day 2: Arrival in Australia

I made it!

The flights yesterday seemed to build to a slow crescendo. The flight from KC to Minneapolis lasted about two hours and was not full. It was uneventful and after a safe landing in Minneapolis, I let everyone know my progress. I called Caroline and we talked for about an hour as I waited for the flight to San Fran. They began boarding early, as the flight was packed and uncomfortable. I’ve come to the decision that Northwest flight attendants need to go on diets in order to fit down the isles. One can only tolerate getting bumped so many times.

In San Fran, I had to collect my bags and recheck them with Qantas. Wrestling them across the airport was the hardest part—once they were gone, it was smooth sailing. The only hitch was discovering my dead cell phone and worrying how to contact everyone so they wouldn’t worry. Is Kansas City the only airport with free wi-fi? I had to use a pay phone to call mom, figuring it was cheaper than the 6 bucks for half an hour of internet. Once I talked to her, I felt better. In the gate, I watched the crowd gathering, very few of them talking with an Australian accent. I’m not the only visitor!

The Qantas plane was a Boeing 747—double-decker monster that seated 10 across. Again, I had the isle seat, but this time there was one empty seat next to me and that turned out to be a huge saving grace as the hours wore on. I finished the book I’d started between KC and Minneapolis, and after a decent microwave style dinner, I spent the rest of the night trying to sleep. After a long night of changing position every half hour or so, morning came and we were fed breakfast. Soon after that, we landed in Sydney and I still had over half the iPod battery left. J

In Sydney, we had to transfer to another aircraft to continue on to Melbourne, which included another trip through security just to get back on the same type of airplane. This time though, the plane was virtually empty and I got the entire row of seats to myself. I took advantage of it too—but the trip was only an hour long. Too bad—I was finally getting the hang of sleeping on planes!

In Melbourne, we left the plane and went through the customs line, where you had to ‘declare’ food or medicine or weapons. The agent stamped your card and sent you on to collect your bags. After grabbing mine, I changed all my money into Australian currency then dragged my bags through customs—where they looked at my card and sent me to the exit. I’m not complaining, but what is the purpose of declaring anything? Once through the exit, I immediately found Caroline waiting for me and walking out with her was like we’d never been apart.

Outside, it is hot and green. Lots of blooming flowers, people out and about, lots of traffic. It wasn’t till about now when it really hit that I was in a different country.

Caroline brought me to her house and gave me the grand tour. After showering, charging the phone and calling mom, eating lunch and watching a bit of TV, we headed to the Melbourne Pet and Animal Expo.

We wandered through the booths both inside and out. The Expo is held in a racetrack and while the schedule included lots of agility, herding and obedience, we only got to see some rather immature flyball teams. It was fun to walk the gallery of breeds, and then wander the petting zoos. I could very easily make a day of petting animals, so needless to say I had fun.

After that, we drove to Newport Spit and walked the rocky shore. Lots of men were trying to fish even as boats cruised up and down and dogs retrieved tennis balls. Flocks of seagulls hunted for food. The sky was sunless but without it, the temperature was near perfect. After a quick stop at Williamstown, we were back on the road.

A quick tour of Melbourne left my mind spinning—the streets were packed with people and small, local, independent shops line the sidewalks. Traffic is insane, even discounting the wrong-side-of-the-road thing. There are some wonderful riverfront streets that reminded me of Virginia, but the inner city reminded me of Chicago or New York. There are bakeries and cafes and boutiques and pie bars and pizza bars and Chinatown and convenience stores that advertise free internet access. And drive-through liquor stores!

The day out ended with gelati by the bay, then we came home for a real dinner and to watch TV. Tomorrow, more exploring!

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February First--Day of Departure

Today I leave for Australia.

In a few hours mom will come by and take me to the airport. The itinerary looks like this:
1:53p leave MCI to Minneapolis (MSP) via Northwest
3:18 land in Minneapolis
5:25 leave MSP to San Francisco (SFO) via Northwest
7:26 land in San Francisco
10:30 leave San Francisco to Melbourne via Qantas flight QF74
17 hours and 45 minutes later…
11:15 am Sunday (Australian time) land in Melbourne


I'll be staying with Caroline for the next 8 weeks. We've been planning this vacation for a while now--or rather, I've been letter her find stuff for us to do--and I'm excited about visiting all the parks and beaches and festivals and just relaxing. This blog is where I will record all my experiences, including lots of pictures, so that all my friends and family at home in Missouri can see what I'm up to. (hint--use the 'comment' feature, guys!)

Yesterday concluded a week-long goodbye; Melanie made cupcakes, Cindy brought breakfast, Tonya let me use her couch and TV for one more night of Supernatural on the big screen. I've said goodbye to Annette and Christy, to Dana and Christie, to Bones and Freya. I even said goodbye to Steve on the phone as he chofuered celebrities to the Superbowl in Phoenix. I really appreciate everyone who went out of their way to wish me well--it's been a great week!

This morning I've been packing, trying not to let Crash and Lucky know what's going on--although I think the suitcases are a giveaway. I hope they settle into the routine at mom's house quickly. They are spoiled, used to jumping on furniture and sleeping under the covers and using the dog door at their own will. It will be hard for them to calm down, I'm sure, but if they're lucky, they'll find a lap to curl up in. I might miss the dogs the most.

Everything is packed, as much as I can. The laptop is charging, the cell phone is charged, and I've got half my wardrobe in two suitcases. The cable is turned off, the internet will be turned off at any moment, the bills are paid and the credit card companies have been notified. Now all that's left is to wait--only a couple hours now. I'm excited, and nervous, but looking forward to this very much.

One last goodbye to everyone--I'll miss you all!! See you in two months!