Leisure Guide Down Under

As life trundles along, days turn into weeks, and suddenly five months have passed since we arrived in Melbourne. Besides work and the occasional trip, how have we been filling our time?

We’ve been spending a lot of time with a second pair of “blind date” friends – Brian and Meghan. Brian is a teacher with the same agency as me, and posted a message on the ANZUK website to see if anyone in Richmond was looking to go for drinks. So the four of us met up back at the start of September and we have been hanging with these Calgarians since.

One thing we quite enjoy is Pub Trivia. Trivia is huge here, with most pubs offering a trivia night once a week to bring in the punters. After a somewhat ghetto trivia night at the Great Britain Hotel, we’ve finally found a quiz night that is run efficiently and is a lot of fun. Mt. View Pub has QuizMeister’s Trivia, complete with some video clues, audio clues, and free jugs of beer to be won. We’ve created a successful team, White Rabbit, consisting of me and Brian and our two sets of blind date friends. It is good to have some international team members and some Aussies so that all corners of knowledge are covered! Last week we tied for second so we can only go up from here!

A few months ago, we participated in a very Aussie pastime – Lawn Bowling! A friend of a friend got a Groupon for group “barefoot bowls,” and invited us for the fun. And fun it was! Kind of a cross between Bocce and Curling. It was tricky to get the right weight behind your bowl, in addition to managing the curl of the ball! It was a very chilled atmosphere, people casually milling about, drinking beer, and walking back and forth along the green. A good afternoon pastime that I would like to try again before we leave.

Brian, Dean and Emma

Bowler extraordinaire!

In September and October, the Rugby World Cup occupied a lot of our time. After trying to be interested in Aussie Rules Footy and Rugby League, it was fantastic to watch some high quality Rugby Union matches that I genuinely liked. There were a lot of exciting games and we watched a lot of the tournament, both at home and at the pub. Watching the All Blacks never fails to impress, and their Haka was awesome. The players provided some good eye candy, too! 🙂 In the end, I was really happy that New Zealand won it, and was impressed with Canada’s efforts on this world stage.

We’ve tried to branch off from our Queen Vic Market Sunday shopping sessions with the occasional visit to the Richmond Market. Because this one is only on Saturday mornings, it just seems harder for us to get there regularly. When we do, however, we are happy with the selection of local produce at prices that rival those at the QVM. This market, however, has many more “locals” who are rather possessive and domineering, namely the Richmond European Grandmothers! These old biddies are forceful, pushy, and care not that they are cutting you off or ramming their shopping trollies into your heels. Ouch!

As spring weather slowly leads to summer sun, we’ve been trying to reinstate the Sunday Session. Last week we found an excellent venue! The Lucky Coq offers rooftop bevvies, music, and FREE BBQ on Sundays! Hello! We went last week, partaking in a couple of delicious snags (sausages). This week, we went down to St. Kilda to browse their Sunday Market (so many nice things that I want for my non-existent home!!). The sun was completely unexpected, and made for a nice evening on the patio of the Espy, where we enjoyed some dinner and drinks. Sunday Sessions are a great way to end the weekend, but give me a dangerous feeling like I just want to start another one. Especially when I might not have work on the following Monday…. Like this morning. Hmmm…. Another jug of Carlton, anyone?

Luna Park at St Kilda

Markets at St Kilda

St Kilda

The Espy

Thunder from Down Under

So, Melbourne has the reputation of being a city with very changeable weather. Many say that you can experience all four seasons in one day. While this might be a bit extreme, I have indeed noticed how much the weather seems to change here. What’s most shocking is the dramatic differences from day to day. We can have a hot, sunny, 30-degree day followed by a cooler 18-degree day, followed by a 30-degree rainy day. These changes are hard on the body, leaving me feeling a bit drained at times. The wind always seems to be blowing here, making a bike ride on a sunny day more of a challenging effort than the flat terrain might otherwise suggest!

What is most exciting about this changeable weather is the frequency of dramatic thunder and lightning storms. Since we’ve been living in Melbourne, we’ve witnessed countless turbulent storms, with thunder cracking what seems to be right above our house. The lightning brightens the whole sky, and rain pelts down heavily in a way that makes me forget I am in Australia. However, these storms usually pass as quickly as they come in, leaving the sky bright and blue with the sun shining hot as if no such storm ever darkened its skies. It makes for some exciting nights watching the sky as it changes from minute to minute. Maybe not the hot and sunny Australian weather that I fled Vancouver for, but a fun distraction until summer gets here 🙂

 

GRAMPIANS CHAMPIONS!!!

Last weekend, our friends Brian and Meghan invited us to join them for a weekend away to Victoria’s largest national park, The Grampians. They were going Friday to Monday, but since we were busy Friday and working Monday, we decided to take the train up to meet them for one night.

Saturday morning we were up at 6, packing lunches and heading to Southern Cross station to take the 2.5 hour train to Ararat. From there, we hopped on a coach to Stawell. Brian and Meghan met us at the station in their rental car and drove us back to the YHA hostel in Halls Gap. Meghan had picked a put a few hikes that interested them, and asked me to take a look. I immediately vetoed “Mt. Difficult,” purely due to its name. Flipping through the pamphlets, we agreed to tackle “Brigg’s Bluff.” Here is the blurb from the pamphlet:

BEEHIVE FALLS …spectacular after rain
Distance: 2.8 km return Time: 1 – 1½ hours
Elevation Change: 110 metres Grade: medium
A gently undulating walking track follows Mud Hut Creek upstream, to a series of rock steps and on to Beehive Falls (best after rain). Enjoy the pretty rock pools and ferns. The base of the falls makes a peaceful resting spot. Return by the same route.

BRIGGS BLUFF …grand views and a rich diversity of flora
Distance: 10.6 km return Time: 4½ – 5½ hours
Elevation Change: 419 metres Grade: hard
Start: Beehive Falls Carpark, Roses Gap Road
Warning: Do not embark on this walk on a misty day, when visibility near cliffs is poor.
This walk, suitable for fit and energetic walkers, can involve water crossings, slippery track surfaces, rock hopping and rock scrambling. Follow directions to Beehive Falls (see notes for Beehive Falls). From Beehive Falls, the track immediately becomes steeper. An unrelenting scramble over steep slopes and rock outcrops brings you to a plateau with splendid views. The track, flanked by low vegetation, then cuts a large arc across the plateau to the base of an imposing cliffline. Signs and track markers guide you on a steady climb through massive boulders and over windswept terraces to the summit. The view from the plummeting cliff edge is unrivalled. Return by the same route. (emphasis added)

Seemed like a good option at noon on a 30-degree day!

Once we’d filled up our water bottles, we headed straight to the mountains to get started on the hike.  A half hour drive along a gravel road finally brought is to the carpark in question, and we were off.

As the hike to Brigg’s Bluff begins with the Beehive Falls route, it began quite pleasantly. A wide path curved through some lovely Australian flora, eventually leading to the falls. Unfortunately, a heavy rain had not just fallen, and as such, the falls were far from spectacular! They were peaceful though, and a nice place to stop for some photos. It only took 20 minutes to get there, so the estimated time was a bit off. But these falls were not our goal and we had to press on!

From the falls, the hike immediately became more challenging. The rock scrambling had begun! We climbed up steep rocky outcrops, stopping to admire the view along the way. It was such a good feeling to be out in the wilderness, far from the hustle and bustle of Melbourne. We stopped for snacks and water breaks before pressing on. It was a long and arduous hike, compounded by the temperature and our limited water supply. We wished the waterfall had been a bit more robust, so that we could have topped up our bottles!

About halfway up, we reached a plateau that we had to follow for quite some time to make a loop around to the second summit. The good thing about this hike is that there were a lot of flat bits in between the extreme verticals. None were as long as this plateau, however, and once we had to go vertical again, our legs were getting a bit shaky!

Finally, we reached a junction that some hikers we met on their way down told us about. From here they said, we had to turn left and the bluff was another 20 minutes or so. Perhaps their estimate was a bit short, but we were close!

Just a little further!

Some last scrambling over the steep rocks and we reached the summit of Brigg’s Bluff! Woo hoo! We had beautiful views across the whole valley as we looked over the sheer drop of the cliff edge. It was a beautiful vista after the three gruelling hours spent climbing to reach it. We rested at the top for a while before returning via the same route. We were much faster on the descent, despite it being more awkward to scramble down the rocks than up them. Only our knees were a bit unhappy about it!

Brigg's Bluff

We finally arrived back at the carpark at 5:30ish, longing to refill our water bottles and craving some celebratory beer! Some quick showers at the hostel and then we were on our way, walking along the quiet road to the local pub. We saw HEAPS of kangaroos in the fields, some beautiful bright birds in the trees, and felt pretty good about our adventurous day in The Grampians! After a pub dinner, we walked back to the hostel to enjoy a rousing game of Balderdash over some more celebration brews. A winning combination to ensure a night of hilarity!

Sunday morning, we were up early for breakfast. We wanted to fit in another hike before Bri and I had to catch the 2:30 shuttle from Halls Gap to Stawell and on to the Ararat train. After the hike we chose turned out to be down a closed road, we opted for the Clematis Falls hike. When we reached it in 15 minutes, we decided to carry on up to the Chatauqua Peak. The flora and scenery here seemed vastly different from that which we saw the day before, so it was a nice contrast. This hike was less than an hour round trip – just enough to keep our muscles from seizing up J. The views from the peak were gorgeous. Another beautiful day in the great outdoors! On the way back down, we spotted an echidna, capping off our good dose of Aussie flora and fauna this weekend! Heading into town with just enough time for an ice cream treat, we hopped on our 2:30 shuttle, saying goodbye to Brian and Meghan and getting ready for the journey back to Melbourne. Two good books made the journey fly for both of us, and soon we were back at home. An excellent and revitalizing weekend in the country!

At Clematis Falls

Chatauqua Peak

A Day at the Races!

So Australia is an interesting country in many ways. One way that the state of Victoria is unique is that they have a public holiday on November 1 for the Melbourne Cup, a horse race. Yes, you heard me: the whole state (except, of course, people whose employers don’t close on holidays) has the day off to watch a horse race! Now this isn’t just any race, it is Australia’s richest handicap race, and among the richest horse races in the world. This year’s race winnings were $6.175 million!

The Spring Racing Carnival is comprised of four major racing days: Victoria Derby Day, Melbourne Cup Day, Oaks Day, and Stakes Day. Well, as this was our first experience with the “celebration that stops a nation,” we decided to take part in the fun!

On Tuesday, Cup Day, we headed to the Crown Casino’s Carnival Live Site to watch the races. I thought it might provide more atmosphere and excitement than watching at home. Well, it was a good choice! We met fellow Canadians Brian and Meghan there, and enjoyed some beer and bubbly in the tented Live Site, surrounded by many who’d decided to dress as if they were AT the races, aka glammed out to the max! The tent itself was gorgeous, with flowers all along the outside, and a ceiling made to look like cherry blossom trees.

Finally our bets were placed and the main race of the day was set to begin. As the horses began to run, the excitement in the tent escalated as people stomped their feet, cheered, yelped and otherwise got into the race! The 3200m race was incredibly exciting, ending in a photo finish between Dunaden and Red Cadeaux. Finally, Dunaden was declared a winner and cheers erupted across the tent! We Canadians didn’t win anything, but it was sure more exhilarating than it would have been watching at home.

Saturday was Stakes Day, and we had bought tickets to attend at Flemington along with Brian and Meghan. Being in Melbourne during the Spring Racing Carnival, it seemed a shame not to participate in the celebration of excess! And excessive it was! Gorgeous dresses, dapper suits, hats, fascinators, and flowers were the order of the day. Brian donned his new suit, I affixed my fascinator, and off to the races we went. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be at the races – sunny and 30 degrees!

**Brian’s opinion of the heat might be a bit different than mine!

We arrived during the second race of the day and found a spot to set up our stuff for the day. I bought a race book so that we could make some informed bets throughout the day! It was fun: we would look up the horses for the upcoming race, go make our $5 bets, and then enjoy the race before repeating the process! The races were approximately 45 minutes apart, so plenty of time to make bets, but not too long to get boring. Brian and I did quite well, finishing the day about $8 up after a day of betting! Not huge winnings, but at least we made our betting money back and then earned a little on top of that!

Betting boys

The big race of the day was the Stakes, but the most anticipated was the Farm Classic, featuring the famous Black Caviar. She won her 16^th race in a row, easily running the 1200m sprint. There was a lot of excitement at the track for Black Caviar, with people waving flags and wearing masks bearing her name and peach and polka dot ensign. We didn’t bother betting on this race, as we were sure she would win, and betting on her rewarded you with only $1.06! Not worth it when our bets were only $5!

"Fascinating" ladies for Black Caviar!

All in all, it was a fun day in the sun, eating our picnic and cheering on horses trackside. Not sure if we would go again, given that you have to buy tickets just to attend, plus account for spending and betting money (going to Hastings racetrack in Van for free suddenly seems like an amazingly good deal!). But seeing some high calibre horses racing and participating in a Melbourne tradition was worth the money. I don’t think Black Caviar will be racing at Hastings anytime soon!