Melbourne Take Two: Benny and the Roos

We stayed in a quaint little house south of Melbourne’s city center.  Mark had just stayed two nights at the Westin in the middle of it all and dined at lavish restaurants with coworkers.  Now he was movin’ on down to the burbs with the fam and hitting the Coles supermarket as soon as we walked in the door for the necessities: milk, eggs, cheese, bread, peanut butter, bubbly water, and wine. 

Melbourne, Victoria is referred to as the “cultural capital of Australia.”  There are a myriad of art, film, and dance institutions, and more than 100 galleries showcasing not only art, but music, comedy, dance, theater, theater, and more theater.  We of course saw none of this, nor experienced culture of any kind.  We did go to a really cool park though! 

I’m being dramatic; we did see a bit of culture.  On our first day we took the tram to Federation Square in the scorching heat and arrived to find some art students walking their Imperial Walkers through the square.  Not really, but they reminded me of Imperial Walkers. 

Federation Square

Next it was on to find ACDC Lane; yes, you read that correctly, ACDC Lane.  Contributing to Melbourne’s culture are their narrow lanes, originally built as the result of the grid-like structure of the city center.  During the Victorian era the lanes evolved as service laneways for horses and carts.  Today they have become notable because of their urban art.  Some of the art we saw in the lanes was quite impressive.    

 
 

That's me, the artist, doing some tagging (Adri style).

So, in addition to the creative art displayed in the lanes we received word that Melbourne housed an ACDC Lane that pays homage to the much-celebrated Australian rock-n-roll band, so we set out to take a picture of the lane sign for Uncle Dave.  We cruised up and down the street ACDC Lane supposedly intersected, but could not find it.  Between Parker’s complaints that it was too hot and his feet hurt, we consulted our phones and found ACDC Lane. 

Mark and Parker giving the ACDC signature hand gesture of the devil. 

After that remarkable feat we were on to look for a place to eat lunch.  Searching for a restaurant is like trying to catch a fly with chopsticks (Mr. Miagi style), somehow it's always a challenge for the Abramowitz clan.  It always turns into tears and whines instigated by low blood sugar I’m sure; by me included.  So we wandered and wandered.  Parker’s sweaty little hand enclosed in mine, he wouldn’t let go, not even for a minute, so we could wipe the wet away, he held on tight allowing my forward motion to carry his pitiful, dragging body; the drama is strong in this one.  Finally we came across a burger place and Parker was instantly revived when he realized he could eat his favorite food, burgers!  Reid took over the dramatics where Parker left off.  With his eyes pinched shut and his head thrown back Reid screamed and cried, complete with throwing himself on the ground, throughout lunch.  We of course pretended like nothing was happening and ignored him while we enjoyed our lunch. (Not sure ‘enjoyed’ is the correct word here, but whatever.)  We then hopped on the tram back to, “rental house Melbourne,” and ladies and gentlemen, that was the extent of our visit to the city of Melbourne.  Culture galore!

Once home the boys, all 3 of them, took naps.  I went to the Lululemon Outlet store.  The only one in the Southern Hemisphere!  I had fun.

That afternoon we went for a BBQ at the Shaul’s; friends of ours from Marin.  The Shaul’s moved to Melbourne 5 years ago.  Their daughter Noa was a student of mine my first year teaching.  Noa was 8 when she was my student, and her little brother Itai was 5.  Seeing them at 15 and 12 was such a thrill.  Their parents Yael and Avi are wonderful and we had such an amazing evening.  An added bonus, on top of seeing the Shaul’s, was that Parker and Reid were thoroughly entertained by Noa and Itai, and Mark and I actually got to sit down, enjoy a drink, and have nearly uninterrupted adult conversation.  Now we were on vacation!      

Reid and Itai

Reid after eating a popsicle

Steph and Yael

The next day we jumped in the rental car and headed about an hour northeast to the town of Healesville to visit the Healesville Sanctuary, a zoo that specializes in Australian animals.  On the drive Mark and I were taken aback by the surrounding countryside; it looked exactly like California wine country!  Rolling hills, vineyards, scattered clouds that add texture to the scene; it was gorgeous, but it didn’t make us long for “home,” it made us want to explore more, and perhaps taste the wine that comes from them hills!

The Healesville Sanctuary was quiet and sparsely crowded.  It’s such a pleasure to go to a public place, even on a weekend, and not fight the masses.  In a country with only 20 million people, and the size of the United States, you’re bound to have some space to move about.  There are 6.4 people per square mile in Australia, whereas there are 76-79 people per square mile in the US.  The US population of 300 million is 15 times that of Australia.  Granted, there is some uninhabited open space in Australia, but nonetheless, it’s pleasant experiencing Australia’s version of crowded, which in the US would mean almost deserted.  

The Healesville Sanctuary is set in a bushland environment; dirt walkways, indigenous flora and fauna, and is filled with all the Australian animals you can imagine: kangaroos, wombats, (although we didn’t see any – sorry Sarah!) koalas, platypus, dingoes, Tasmanian devils, (didn’t see any of them either), birds galore, and even some non-native animals like the tree-kangaroo from New Guinea – who knew there was a kangaroo that climbed trees?!  All was silent in the wombat and Tasmanian devil enclosures; no little bats or devils were milling about, most likely because it was over 100 degrees.  

Reid watching the dingoes.

Dingoes, made us miss Bodi.

Roos!

We paid a bit extra to get up close and personal with Benny the koala only to have him sleep during the encounter.  Apparently, koalas sleep about 20 hours a day.  In other interesting koala trivia; their closest relative is the wombat, and there is no relation to the bear.  Early English settlers called the animal a bear due to its similarity in appearance to bears, but there is no relation.  (Dumb English settlers messing stuff up centuries later.)  Koalas are marsupials and survive solely on eucalyptus leaves.

Benny's girlfriend; she's prego.  

Up close and personal with Benny the koala.

And we learned the Tasmanian devil living at Healesville Sanctuary’s name was Lucifer.  We found this quite funny. 

          

Upon entering the Sanctuary we saw several signs like the one on the right.

A little confused we carried on to see more signs that read, “Do you have a guilt free bum?”  Well, we came to learn that their message is about using recycled toilet paper to save the environment, and they’re taking this campaign very seriously.  Parker has joined the bandwagon!

Our last day in Melbourne was quite insignificant.  Mark had to work all day and the skies decided to cool down the sweating Melburnians via downpour.  It didn’t stop raining ALL day.  So, what do you do with 2 boys when it’s pouring outside?  Well the first thing you do is hunt down High Tech Burrito!

High Tech Burrito was our local burrito joint in Mill Valley.  Every Sunday at the Abramowitz household was burrito night.  During our last run to High Tech Burrito before our move Down Under I mentioned our adventure to our friendly High Tech Burrito employees, cause they knew us there, and they told us there is a High Tech Burrito somewhere in Australia!  I of course went home, got on their website, and found that High Tech Burrito was in Melbourne.  So our entire morning’s adventure was getting into the car in the torrential downpour, navigating our way across Melbourne to find High Tech Burrito.  Turns out the guy that runs it is from Marin.  We had a good time comparing stories and talking about Aussie vs. American cultures. 

The rest of the afternoon consisted of Reid sleeping, Parker playing games on the iPad, and me watching the Oscars – Mother of the Year, right here!  Everyday can’t be art projects and singing Kumbaya, right?!  We did play some games and do a few puzzles though when Reid woke up. 

The next morning we were on our way back to Sydney.  This time Mark flew with us, and he took the aisle seat next to the boys in the middle and window seats.  Yours truly got to read her book. 

First vacation while Down Under – check!