Life Down Under (Part 28): Melbourne, It's Been Good!

- November 9-20, 2022, Wednesday to Sunday.

- After a fantastic journey to the island-state of Tasmania, it has started to sink in that my days in Melbourne are numbered. (It sounds ominous, but allow me to be dramatic.) Because of who I am as a person, I spent the remaining days visiting the places I haven't, doing a ton of errands, and trying my best to meet up as many people as I could (I wasn't able to meet everyone, but if you're one of those I should've met but didn't, do know that I tried huhu.)

- I started my "countdown" by finally watching The Phantom of the Opera at the State Theatre in the Arts Precinct. As expected, it was a wonderful show! I avoided watching Phantom on stage for so long simply because I was sick and tired of it for a while (I saw the 2004 movie, talked about it in school, everyone talking about it as if it was the only musical that existed, you get the point.)

State Theatre.

The theatre itself looks perfect for Phantom!

I was bored.

Of course I had to! (And yes, the mask was expensive but I really wanted one huhu.)

Inside!

The chandelier.

After the show!

Yarra at night.

- The following day I visited The Lume Melbourne at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) (Tram 12, 29, or 160 to MCEC / Casino / or Clarendon stop). Opened in 2021, the Lume is the Southern Hemisphere's "first permanent digital arts experience" (according to its website here). It is a mix of a large-scale audio-visual presentation, an immersive experience, and an art workshop. The Lume features a different artist/set of artists after a certain time. When I went, they were featuring Money and his impressionist artist friends, as well as impressionist music.  

Entrance.

This was at the mezzanine level.

I think this is one of Monet's many water lily paintings.

An immersive experience, pretend you're part of Monet's water lily paintings.

Yes, I maximized my time there.

With Renoir's ladies.

Inside the main hall at the Lume.

Gold.

Feeling the cold of Monet's "The Magpie."

"The Water Lily Pond."

Apparently Monet had around 250 of these water lily paintings.

There was an area where people can learn how to make a simplified version of Monet's water lily pond with the Japanese bridge.

A small museum.

- After visiting the Lume I headed to the Museum of Chinese Australian History (also known as the Chinese Museum) (closest tram is Tram 86 or 96 to Russell Street / Bourke Street, then walk up to Cohen Place near Little Bourke Street). The museum has existed since 1985, but was renovated in 2010. Although small, the museum was comprehensive and it exceeded my expectations a lot. My favorite part of the museum was seeing the Millennium Dragon, the world's largest processional dragon in the world!

Museum entrance.

Qing-Dynasty garb.

Jade burial suit.

Of course, a terracotta warrior!

A peek into Melbourne's Gold-Rush-Era Chinese life.

A walk through the "streets."

Chinese opera.

The Millennium Dragon!!

- Just a short walk from the Chinese Museum is the Old Melbourne Gaol (Tram 12, 20, 35, 39 to Russell Street / La Trobe Street stop is the closest). The gaol (or "jail" in its modern spelling) was used from 1845 to 1924. The main mauseum/jail was not too big but definitely one of the creepiest I've ever visited. The actual area of the whole prison is big, but some buildings either don't exist anymore, or were repurposed by RMIT University.

It has this lingering....coldness that made me feel uneasy.

A prison cell.

Many of these cells also feature a famous prisoner in the gaol.

Gallow.

The upper levels gave a more unsettling feeling since there were less/no people.

At the courtyard.

- To shrug off the creepiness of the prison, I spent that evening and the following days meeting up with more people. The most special person I met that weekend was none other than Santa Claus! Myer Bourke Street opened Santaland to allow people to have a chance to meet and greet Santa Claus. Pre-bookings were highly encouraged, although they also took in walk-in customers. I made sure to dress up for Santa of course! Also, I think the last time I "met Santa" was when I was....5 maybe?....so it was nice to "see Santa again" this year!

Inside the "train ride" to see Santa.

I dressed as a good boy. (See my propeller hat?)

The "train" to see Santa. (The train doesn't actually move.)

- The day after my Santa visit, I also had a short visit to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGC) just so I can visit the Great Hall at the ground floor. I realized that I wasn't able to visit the Great Hall during my first visit to NGV in July. The Great Hall is known for its stained-glass ceilings. The hall serves as the museums' function hall, so there are times when museum visitors wouldn't be able to enter the hall. The museum staff told me that the hall is often used during weekends and evenings, so the best time to visit it is during weekday mornings.   

The Great Hall's ceiling.

It was a miracle I had the hall empty for a short while. There were lots of visitors that morning!

- On my last full day in Melbourne, I decided to go back to Footscray just so I can eat. I love how multicultural Footscray was and I wasn't able to maximize my time during my first visit there. I took the train to Footscray from Southern Cross Station and was in Footscray in 10 minutes. I had traditional Ethiopian food at Taste of Ethiopia at Nicholson Street, and later had Vietnamese food at Sapa Hills at Hopkins Street. I did walk around between meals, even getting myself another Ethiopian shirt while I was at it.

Wakanda Forever!

With my key wot (beef stew), injera, and Ethiopian coffee set. (I shared this with a colleague by the way.) 

Ethiopian coffee likes giving people the whole experience! Apart from the coffee in the pot, there is sugar, a bowl of popcorn as a snack, and the most surprising of all (at least to me as it was my fist time,) a pot with hot coal meant to burn incense.  

Ethiopian coffee anyone?

- I arrived in Manila on the 20th of November, after a stressful airport experience concerning my overweight luggage. How can you pack 4 months of your life in a single suitcase anyway? The overweight luggage charges were worth the money since I knew that I'd be taking home everything I had to. 

A final look at my room, my home for 4 months.

Mabuhay!

- 4 months in Australia was the longest time that I was away from home. I was glad that my academic work has allowed me to have this (sponsored!) once in a life opportunity. As much as it appears to be a 4-month vacation, it was not. A lot of hard work and frustrations were involved in my everyday non-touring life. (Of course I wouldn't show you photos of me looking miserable in front of a computer, right?) I was also happy to meet new people, and catch up with old friends from the Philippines. I guess this was a good "revenge travel" experience after the long lockdowns due to the pandemic. It will take a while to recover from this journey, but I just hope that life will get better from here. I really hope to visit Australia again one day, but for now, thank you Australia, and "cheers"! 

Life Down Under (Part 23): Great Ocean Road, Warratina Lavender Farm, and Diwali in Melbourne!

- October 24-30, 2022, Monday to Sunday.

- I can't believe I nearly missed this. I really cannot believe myself. The Great Ocean Road is one of the pride of the state of Victoria; it is highly recommended tour by everyone. I guess it wasn't something I was interested in while looking for places to go in Melbourne because it is more natural than it is cultural (and I prefer the latter,) and the tour of Great Ocean Road can only be done with a private car or through a group tour. After everyone recommended that I do the tour, I decided to do it - and boy did I almost miss out! I booked a tour on the 25th with Sightseeing Tours Australia (click here) since it was the most practical way for me to see the Great Ocean Road.

- The Great Ocean Road is literally a great road by the ocean. Australian soldiers who returned after World War I worked on a long road that would make some suburbs in western Victoria easier to access. Apart from easier access, it was also seen as a potential tourist activity due to the unusual rock formations and beautiful coasts that the road would pass by.

Bells Beach, perfect for swimming and surfing - just not on the day we saw it.

I'm glad I wore something warmer for the day.

The great archway that officially marks the start of the Great Ocean Road.

At Lorne, you can see a very very small lighthouse at the back near the shore. That's the Split Point Lighthouse from 1891. I realize that the fog made everything look like Silent Hill.

Saw koalas at Kennett River.

There were colorful parrots too!

Don't forget to try the famous scallop pie at Apollo Bay!

The perfect lunch for a cold foggy day, honestly.

Entrance to Apollo Bay.

Another wild koala at Maits Rest Rainforest Walk.

Maits Rest Rainforest has a ton of local Australian plants, many of which, like the ferns at my back, go back millions of years!

I feel like I'm in a science book.

The hold of this fallen tree is taller than me. I'm 5'8 by the way.

- The day-long tour passes by several places, but its most picturesque spot is the Twelve Apostles limestone stacks. They were made naturally by erosion, and because of that some of the "apostles" have collapsed through the years as their bases were constantly hit by the raging waves of the sea. The Twelve Apostles is part of the more than 100-kilometer long "Shipwreck Coast." As beautiful as the coastline might look because of its dramatic unevenness and land/rock formations, this has also allowed many ships (more than 600!) to sink. Sometimes ships were damaged because it was hard to calculate how far away from the shore the ship is due to the jagged coastline, or sometimes ships sank due to the unpredictable winds and waters by the coast. 

I HATE THAT IT'S THIS FOGGY....but I also kind of like it? For the mysterious effect maybe????

It'd be much, much nicer on a sunny day.

The view lasted for maybe a minute since our tour group arrived. Afterwards, just a blanket of white.

Sad.

- Apart from the 12 Apostles, another iconic landmark is the Razorback. It is named for its long and narrow shape, which frankly, looks more like a bacon strip to me. The Razorback is also around the area of the Loch Ard Gorge. The gorge was named after the clipper ship, Loch Ard, that sank near the area.

"Tom and Eva." Named after the two survivors of the Loch Ard shipwreck.

Razorback.

With my giant rocky bacon.

Loch Ard Gorge, you can see "London Bridge" at the back. It used to be connected to the land but the natural walkway fell some decades back.

Loch Ard Gorge.

With the limestone cave.

- We arrived back in Melbourne around early evening, after a long day on the road. While there were some situations like the fog you see in the photos above, as well as dealing with some obnoxiously inconsiderate tourists who were in our tour group, the tour itself was amazing. Maybe I'll consider going back some day and hopefully there won't be a fog to cover my view. 

- Tying in with the theme of nature in Australia, I also got to visit a small lavender field during the weekend, called Warratina Lavender Farm. Just take the Lilydale train to Lilydale station (terminal station), and take bus 683 to Quayle Road / Warburton Highway stop, then walk along Quayle Road until you reach the farm. I took an Uber from the station to the farm, but had to take the bus back since the farm is quite remote and the bus is the most reliable public transport that can take you back to Lilydale Station. The farm is open from Wednesdays to Sundays on a regular week, and is closed totally from June to August, as well as some national holidays. It is generally free entrance, except during some special events (check their website for more information: click here).

- Opened in 1991, this small lavender field is perhaps the most accessible lavender field via public transport. While I understand that there are bigger and prettier lavender fields in Victoria as well as other parts of Australia, Warratina Lavender Farm is still worth a visit (especially if you can only rely on public transportation in Melbourne.)

Yes they are.

I love my "summer in Europe" look. Also, it was neither summer nor was I in Europe. HAHA.

Since only one row had flowers, I had to make do and just play around with the camera angles.

The smell as good as they look!

Unfortunately I won't be around to see all of them in bloom huhu.

- I was the only person the whole morning in Warratina and I couldn't be happier. No one to photobomb my photos, and just peace and quiet. I was also alone at the cafe. I guess part of why there wasn't anyone there was because it was a Friday, and it was raining that morning. I was also lucky because even though it wasn't lavender season (usually December and January), there was at least one row of lavender bushes that had flowers. This is what Warratina promises - you will see some lavender no matter what time of the year, except on the months when the farm is closed. I can only imagine how it would look when all the bushes are in bloom with violet flowers!

Farming tools.

There was a lemon tree in the farm.

Some roses too.

Lavender flowers up close.

A lavender harvester.

My chamomile tea and lavender scones with kookaberry jam and clotted cream.

You'll see this sign along Quayle Road.

- Finally, I ended the week by celebrating a colorful Diwali festival at Federation Square with Melbourne's Indian community. It was a big celebration full of performances and food. It made me miss the countless Diwali celebrations I have attended back in Manila that were just as grand and colorful!

Jai Lakshmi, Jai Ganesh!

Bhangra in the afternoon.

I will miss this view when I go back to Manila.

A saree-draping competiton.

Evening performance. This one is a group Bharatanatyam performance.

Quite scared of the little fireworks.

Melbourne is pink!

Of course I had to wear something Indian too.

Bollywood dancing.

These three made me feel very anxious. Their whole performance was just them dancing on long wiggly (but secure) poles.

And of course, another bhangra performance to end the night!

- As a cherry on top, I got to meet my good friend and former college classmate, Lauren, and her boyfriend Steven. It was nice to catch up after so many years!

Thanks for meeting me!!

- That week ended with Melbourne feeling like it was back in mid-winter July - with strong winds and drizzles. I guess it was the perfect time for me to skedaddle and see another part of Australia once more!