Australia

I was unfortunately sick for most of Friday night and all of yesterday. But I'm pleased to report I am doing better now. I'd like to say that I took advantage of my day tucked up in bed and did some school work and uni reading or something, as that was sort of the plan, but that, of course, did not happen. I did, however, create myself as a Sim! She doesn't quite look like me...there's something off, but I just can't get it right. Well, there are at least some resemblances, certainly.

So that was fun even if not very productive.

Also, here are a few pictures that don't really fit anywhere in particular.

This is a bridge over a street near where I live. The train comes in from the city over that bridge, arriving at Balaclava Station, which is just a few metres to my right. On the bridge, you can see it says "Lady of St. Kilda" under the ship, and then there are mermaids and cool stuff.

This picture is of the Royal Mint downtown, which they have now turned into a restaurant.

This one is from Queen Victoria Market. It's the only picture I got. Oh well.

The weekend after Yarrawonga, André and I decided to check out the Melbourne Museum. On our way, we walked through the Carlton Gardens, as the museum is at the north end of them.

We approached the Royal Exhibition Building. It's where Australia's Parliament was held shortly after Federation. Strangely enough, it's also where I go to take my exams for uni.

More gardens and a wedding:

Almost there!

But first, two more shots of the Royal Exhibition Building.

Once inside, we looked around at all sort of interesting exhibits. André had his picture taken with Pharlap, a famous and much loved horse, while I opted to be photographed with a giant turtle.

And that was the museum. The end!

Good Friday morning, Pippi and I departed for Yarrawonga/Mulwala, where Pippi and her friends play their annual Easter Tennis Tournament. They're essentially the same town, but Yarrawonga is on the Victorian side while Mulwala is on the New South Wales side, so it's right up on the state border. The two towns are separated only by the Murray River and Lake Mulwala.

So yes. The trip began. Pippi drove us up, and as we were driving up the highway, I could not help but notice all of these "Stop. Revive. Survive" or "Fatigue Kills" signs. Well, when we pulled off at a rest stop, I discovered exactly what all of these signs were for. It turns out that the Victorian transport department has the coolest program ever. They have frequent rest stops that they entice you to with free drinks and cookies! I was so excited. So we stopped and revived. I then took a picture, because I felt rather out of the city and in the country.

The driving continued. We went further and further into the middle of nowhere until, suddenly, civilization! We had reached Yarrawonga! Hooray! We then crossed the Murray into Mulwala and went to our hotel where all of Pippi's friends were waiting. I met them all and got offered a drink about five times. Pippi tried to explain to them that despite being of age, I really wasn't much of a drinker. One of them was like, "Really? But you're going to be so...sober!" And I said that I supposed I would be. It was kind of funny.

The weather was gorgeous, so after a while I decided to go for a walk and explore the area. So off I went! I took pictures, too, of course.

View of Lake Mulwala from our hotel.

I next walked down a side rode beside the hotel and ran into trains!

Next to the trains was Club Mulwala, which was a nightclub/entertainment complex. They had a giant plane outside.

As well as various other war things.

There were also quite a lot of birds.

And water skiers.

Here is Mulwala's sign:

And here is a picture of the hotel we stayed at.

I then returned to the hotel room. We barbecued - fish of course - and then after a bit retired to our hotel rooms for the night.

Saturday morning, Pippi woke up with a horrible toothache, which would unfortunately plague her for the rest of the trip. So she slept in and missed her tennis

Meanwhile, as the weather was still gorgeous, I got up, put on my bathers, and read by the pool for a few hours. Pippi eventually got up and suggested we head into town for painkillers and lunch and general fun. So I got dressed and we drove over the bridge back to Yarrawonga and Victoria. We went to the Chemist were Pippi picked up some medicine and then we wandered around the shops for a bit. I picked up a fabulous black-and-white polka dotted dress that was on sale for only $15! Pippi approved. I took a picture, but it's of course blurry. Oh well. Here it is anyway:

After a bit we went to a Fish and Chip shop were I got a hamburger and chips, and then, as Pippi was feeling rather bad, we headed back to the hotel. I read for a few more hours, and then decided to do some more exploring.

Look, it's my shadow! It was a good day for shadows.

Here is the bridge! It will take me to Victoria.

I walked down the bridge a bit and then took a picture.

Then I turned to my left and took a picture. Hello, Lake Mulwala!

What's this? The police giving breathalisers to everyone who passes by?

No, no, sillies. It's Victoria! We're back! Hello, Victoria!

I walked around a bit more and found a historic site! So I took a picture.

A skatepark!

After a few minutes of watching people do really neat things in the air with their skateboards and bicyles, I decided to turn around and head back.

I checked myself for fruit and then proceeded.

Hello, New South Wales!

I made my way back to the hotel to check on Pippi, who was still feeling very yucky, so I spent my evening with her in the hotel room watching TV and reading. It was pretty fun.

This entry is long! Well, almost done. Sort of. Well, only half way done with the actual trip, but I think my descriptions of Sunday and Monday will be shorter. Let's see.

Well, when I woke up Sunday morning, I found that I had been visited by the Easter Bunny!

Hooray! But Pippi still felt really yucky, so we went to a walk-in clinic that was open for a few hours. She got some more medicine and started to feel a bit better. We then went to Yarrawonga Town Hall for the annual Easter Auction. But the auction got delayed and I wasn't that interested in it anyway, so I excused myself and went to Subway to get lunch. I wandered around for a bit and made some friends.

Then I found a used bookstore, so that was happy. I bought a Jean Plaidy book to read and then headed back to the auction. That was interesting to watch for a while. Pippi won two brass giraffes!

But then I got bored with the auction, so I went outside to read my lovely book. An hour or so later, the auction was done and Pippi was again feeling kind of bad, so we went back to the hotel and I played Nurse Kate again.

Easter Monday was our last day there. We packed up, left the hotel, and then drove to one of Pippi's friends houses for lunch. She really did live in the middle of no where. We had to take a series of one way dirt roads to get there. I should have taken pictures, as it was seriously farmy and middle-of-nowhereish. Oh well. Lunch was good! And after lunch we drove home.

So yes. Thus concludes Yarrawonga.

So the next Saturday, March 31, was Stacey's baby shower. I'm sorry to say I do not have a single picture from this. So I guess I'll just tell you about it. It was at Nikki? I don't know how she spells her name. I'll go with Nikki for now, that looks right for some reason. Her house. She's my cousin Mark's girlfriend. Mark being James' brother, James being father of the twins. I do have a lot of family members, so if you are keeping them straight, have a cookie or other prize of your choice.

Anyway, a few of Stacey's friends as well as myself, Eloise, and Aunts Roz, Pippi, and Susan were there. We ate yummy food and played baby shower games and ate more yummy food including some incredibly pretty cupcakes. I almost didn't want to eat them, but then I did. And then we had presents which was very cute! Because baby stuff is cute. So, yes. That was good. And in another week and a day, I will have baby twin cousins. I'm very excited to find out what they will be (boys, girls, one of each?), and I will definitely let you all know when I do!

The next day, Sunday April 1, I decided that I really ought to do some work, as I had 3 papers due in the next week.

So I took some pictures. I realise that it probably would have been better to have Baby Shower pictures than Kate-procrastinates-from-work-by-photographing-work pictures, but I guess you'll just have to take what you can get.

My work area.

My desktop. Hi, friends!

My pig.

A book I was using to help me write.

Yes, so then I wrote my papers and turned them in as Monday-Thursday happened, and then it was Good Friday! And the start of my Yarrawonga adventure. For more on that, stay tuned...

On my way home from uni on Wednesday, March 21, 2007, I decided to give you a bit of a tour of where I live. So, here are some pictures!

Turning onto my street!

After the turn. Walking down the street.

But then I crossed the road, so I could take a picture of the house from the other side. So here's the other side of the street.

My shadow.

We made it! Number 9.

The front of the house.

The back of the house.

Lovely laundry.

Then I went inside and planned on continuing the adventure, but I did not. So the inside tour will have to be for another time.

After dinner, I tried to do some work. But then I procrastinated. Do I look like a ballerina?

Well, that is the end of that day. But then, that Friday I took some more pictures! So I shall share them.

Danger in the library?

Look who's invaded our bookstores:

A pretty church.

The next day, I went baby shower shopping with Pippi for the twins! Which are due May 8, so that's quite exciting. I am definitely looking forward to having baby twin cousins. And shopping for them has already proven to be quite fun, and they aren't even born yet, hehe! So I thought I would post what I got, since baby stuff is cute.




The end! But more coming very soon, of course.

Before I begin, I want to announce that I have a new goal. I want to be in the studio audience for a game show. I've just recently realized that they film SO MANY in Melbourne. Pretty much every Australian game show I've ever seen or heard of is filmed here. And since I'm in university and have large gaps of free time during the day, going to game shows seems like a fantastic way to fill the time. Maybe one day I can even try to be a contestant?

In other news, there are only five (!!) weeks of term left. One of which will be spent on school placement, so only four weeks of classes and such. Where did the semester go??

Well, to answer that question, we shall have to go back in time...back to...March 11, 2007. Actually, I don't think anything much happened that day. Let's try for...the 12th, Monday!

Wednesday the 14th was Labour day, but everyone got Monday off for it so we'd all have a three day weekend. Everyone, that is, except Melbourne Uni. For some reason my uni never closes for Labour Day. All the other unis do, and everyone gets the day off work! So I went to my morning classes, but then said "Grr to university!" and skipped my afternoon lecture. Then I met up with Pippi to check out Moomba, which is an annual festival here. Moomba is supposed to be Aboriginal for "Let's get together and have some fun," but it's, well, not. We had a guest lecuture the other day at uni whose Aboriginal, and he explained to us what it really means. The story goes that in 1950s, there was this Aboriginal and he was pretty prominent among the Aboriginal activists and also pretty mad at how they were being treated. So when the Melbourne government came to him asking what would be a cool thing to name their festival, he told them, "Moomba." When asked what that meant, he told them it meant getting together and having fun. But, of course, it doesn't. But the name has stuck. And if you're curious about what Moomba really means, I'm sure you can find it online hehe. But anyway.

On to Moomba. I didn't actually take that many pictures. So I've stolen other pictures that people took from the festivities this year and in previous years, so you can still feel as if you were there. But one of the pictures is actually mine

The parade:

The rides:

The fireworks:

Other cool stuff:

And, of course, the waterfest! Pippi's favorite part:

The next significant day I can recall was Friday, March 16th. That was the day that André and I went to go buy fishies! 6 zebra fish...or so we thought! The store clerk accidentally gave us 7, which is sort of understandable considering how quickly they swim around. So we named them Splish, Splash, Spot, Soren, Susanna, Sam, and Surprise. Yes, Susanna, we named a fish after you. So feel special. They live in André's kitchen and I can visit them when I'm at his place. I tried to take pictures of them, but it didn't really work, because they swim really fast! But here are my attempts anyway: