My Oh My Melbourne

Wow, what a great city. When I was living in Montreal during my "uni" days as they say here, I had some friends that studied abroad in Australia. I kept hearing how Melbourne was similar to Montreal, and I am happy to report that they were right. I loved living in Montreal, and I could seriously move to Melbourne.

From the moment I hit streets, I immediately felt the vibe of the city. It could have also been the fact that I had come from New Zealand with a significantly smaller population, but I'm attributing it to all the bustling restaurants and coffee shops spread out among the alleyways, and the hipsters in their skinny black jeans and Dunlop Volley sneakers.

This city breathes festivals and you can see how food and art are the topic of many. The major museums are free! I was there for two weeks in the Fall season, and witnessed the Next Wave Festival, Buddha Day, and the St. Kilda Film Festival. The Italian Festival was just after we left for Sydney and I could only imagine the great food dished out in the Italian neighborhood of Carlton. If this was the Fall, Summer must be one festival after another.

I was lucky to be staying in Southbank, just across the Yarra river, since there were great restaurants right on the water. I was also around the corner from the South Melbourne Market where I did my daily shopping for fresh foods. The Queen Victoria Market (or "Vic Market") is another spectacle. The largest market in they city, it was a must do for us on a Saturday, when it's the most packed with vendors selling everything from food to clothing. I ate the most amazing Turkish bread called "Boreks," stuffed with lamb and vegetables, and considering the huge line to get them, I figured it must be an institution.




So, I had a full nine days to enjoy the city before Julie arrived. I figured I could scope out the city and we could do all the fun stuff together. I stayed at a massive hostel complex in Southbank called Urban Central, that reminded me more of a university dorm than the traditional traveler's den. It was a five story building with a bar and endless number of rooms. Most people seemed to be long term residents with working visas, and living in the dorm. It was the last place I wanted to be for more than a week, but It worked out for me since it was low season and I had my own room. I should mention that even in low season there were more than a hundred people.



My good friend Dave put me in touch with his old flame named Brunka who was the best host. We walked around the cool neighborhood of Prahran, and went to an amazing house club that rivaled NYC and Montreal in the heyday of Stereo. I went to see live music at the famous ESPY in St. Kilda, and checked out the art and music scene in Fitzroy. The highlight of the week for me was a free day trip to visit the national park of Wilson's Promontory. Somehow the stars aligned and Bunyip Tours offered a couple free seats on their tour to the "Prom" as they were shooting a promotional video and brochure. Talk about a score. Normally the full day trip runs $110, but after going on the trip, I think it's worth the money if you are considering it. The Prom is located two hours southeast of Melbourne at the southernmost point of mainland Australia. We did two hikes, one up a hill to get a great view of the coast, and one along a beach, then topped it off with some animal viewings at sunset, the best time to see grey kangaroos, emus, and wombats.



Julie arrived on a Thursday and we painted the town red for four days before our flight out to Sydney. I said goodbye to the hostel life and we settled in with Steven and Natasha, our new friends. I should mention that they had never met us before, but our mutual friend Kareem put us in touch, and they were so gracious to let us stay in their home in Hawthorn East. So how did we do up Melbourne? We walked along the waterfront of the Yarra River, visited the botanical gardens, Federation square, the shopping areas in the CBD (central business district), took in day re-living our childhood at the Game On video game exhibit at the Australian Center for the Moving Image (best $5 I ever spent), ate really well from Natasha's cooking, and did a day wine tour of vineyards in the Yarra valley with our hosts.



The highlight of our wine tour was visiting the Yeringberg winery, which is only open two days a year. Their small stock usually goes to restaurants and wine enthusiasts like Steven. It is a family winery that has been around since the 1800's, and their $40 plus bottles were a treat to try. Corkmaster, do you have anything else to add about the tastings? I also got to see a "footy" match. The Australian Football League, also known as Aussie rules, is the sporting religion in the state of Victoria. I was lucky enough to see the defending champion Geelong Cats beat the Richmond Tigers at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, the site of the 1956 summer Olympics. I ran into some old friends John and Amit that I met in Fiji, who helped to cheer on Geelong.



So, after two weeks in Melbourne, we boarded a plane bound for Sydney. Australia has some super cheap low cost carriers. We flew Virgin Blue for $79 one way, and the bus was only $15 cheaper and takes 12 hours! There is also Jet Star, which is what we flew from Christchurch to Melbourne.

So, here we are in Sydney, about to head north along the coast in our new ride. I finally bought my first car. It's a pre-loved 1993 Holden Berlina station wagon with space in the back for the two of us to sleep. We have camping gear, my guitar, a new surfboard, a cook set, and the open road. What more could you ask for. Well, a job maybe? Yes, we need to find work at some point to help finance this pseudo-retirement.

Here are my photos from two weeks in Melbourne, and it looks like our blog found its way to the MSN.ca travel section, how cool is that.

Hasta Luego, South America

We hit the highlights of Patagonia during the second week of our two-week tour. Unfortunately, we had to skip the majestic FitzRoy mountains and could only stay for a short time in El Calafate, El Bolson, and Bariloche. But when Jared's sister Rachel got us two free tickets back to the states, we jumped at the chance to head home for a bit. (I was becoming more homesick by the day. When Jared vetoed Domino's pizza in Rio, I almost burst into tears.) Besides, after five months in South America, we were both ready for something new.

After leaving Torres del Paine, we crossed into Argentina for the fourth and final time. Just outside the Argentine border office was a huge sign that said "Las Malvinas son Argentinas," or "The Falkland Islands belong to Argentina." I had learned about the Falkland Islands War in school, but I was surprised to learn that Argentina still claims the tiny islands off the coast of Tierra del Fuego. The islands even grace the back of Argentina's brand new two peso coin. Apparently Great Britain is well aware of Argentina's claim on the islands, but it was certainly news to us.




No trip to Patagonia (even a whirlwind one) is complete without a visit to the majestic Perito Moreno glacier. At 180 feet tall, the glacier is a field of jagged blue ice that reminded me of planet Krypton in the Superman movies. Jared has hiked across several glaciers, but even he kept saying he'd never seen anything like this. Even small pebbles of ice echoed as they fell into the lake below. Imagine the thundering crash that sounded when a giant sheet of ice plunged from the glacier; the awesome noise sounded like an avalanche. The crash happened too quickly for us to get it on film; we could only stand and stare, completely in awe of the power of nature. Check out our video and photos of the glacier.



Aside from the glacier, there is not much going on in El Calafate, so we soon moved on to the tranquil town of El Bolson. In a rare treat, we flew from El Calafate to the city of Esquel, and then took a bus two hours from Esquel to El Bolson. (Interestingly, we flew on LADE, the airline of Argentina's air force.)

El Bolson is a sleepy little town in the shadow of the Andes. We met a cool American guy named Michael in our hostel; he and Jared went biking in the foothills of the mountains. We skipped the surprisingly pricey restaurants in town and instead Jared cooked us a feast of fresh trout. If you are in the area, don't miss El Bolson's artisan market, one of the best in the country. I gorged on homemade alfajores (like Argentine moon pies... yum) and Jared bought some microbrews while we stocked up on handmade gifts for our families.

From El Bolson we moved onto Bariloche in the Lakes District. I had heard so much about Bariloche, but I must say I was underwhelmed. We only had 24 hours in town, so maybe we just needed more time to take advantage of the national park that surrounds the city. Instead we went to the tiny Swiss Colony (Colonia Suiza), an hour outside of town. The trip to the Swiss Colony was worth it for the stunning lake views we saw on the bus, plus I scored a gorgeous pair of handmade earrings for $1 at the craft market. Before we left Bariloche, we made a pilgrimage to one of the town's most famous chocolate shops.



Next on our agenda was Mendoza, the capital of the Argentine wine industry. Several of our friends told us we would love Mendoza, and they were right. We instantly started plotting a way to move there. Maybe it was the leafy trees that shielded us from the desert sun. Maybe it was the proximity to the famous vineyards. Maybe it was that Mendoza was a smaller, cleaner, more manageable version of Buenos Aires. Whatever it was that made us love Mendoza, we wished we could have stayed longer than four days. Take a look at our photos of Bariloche and Mendoza.

Fortunately, we made the most of our brief time in Mendoza. Jared and I both took the plunge and went paragliding. We even managed to get our flights on video.





Once Jared and I were back on solid ground, we rented bikes to explore Mendoza's wineries. Though we had a great time riding crookedly from one winery to the next, we both agreed that we prefer the wineries of Cafayate. (Cafayate, we both agree, is one of our favorite places in South America.) Whereas Mendoza's bodegas are an hour out of town, there are several within walking distance of Cafayate's quaint town square. If you are going to be in the Northwest part of Argentina, take a bus three hours from Salta to Cafayate and sip on their famous Torrontes wine.

We took our last overnight bus from Mendoza to Buenos Aires and caught an overnight flight from Buenos Aires to Houston. More details on our North American leg are coming up soon. Until then, safe travels.

From Northwest to Southeast Argentina: Our trip to Buenos Aires

After a quick two days in San Pedro de Atacama, we decided it was time to leave Chile and head for our garden of eden...Argentina. After all the stories we´ve read of New Yorkers moving to Argentina, we both had high hopes for the country, and wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

From San Pedro, we took a bus across the Northwest of Argentina, to the provincial capital city of Salta. The drive was absolutely stunning. The scenery changed from a high dry desert, to mountains with cacti everywhere. It was straight out of a John Wayne Western movie. Salta was a nice introduction to the country. We basically spent two days eating all of our favorite foods. It´s funny the things you miss when traveling. We miss peanut butter, sushi, and a good slice of NYC pizza, but I really missed some good cheese, chorizo, and wine. Thank goodness Argentina has such an European influence. The food here is amazing.



We had almost passed up visiting Cafayate, and I´m glad we decided to extend our trip South by a couple of days. Cafayate is about 3 hours south of Salta, and is the other famous wine producing region in Argentina after Mendoza. Cafayate is a small little town, with a main square, and everything shuts for siesta from 1-6pm. The town is surrounded by vineyards, and we spent 3 amazing days riding bikes from winery to winery, getting tours and a little tipsy at the same time. My father would be so proud. When I am old, and I want to live a simple life, this is where I am going to come. I should also mention that Cafayate is surrounded by the Quebrada de Cafayate, which is a beautiful canyon, similar to what you would see in the Southwest of Utah. We did a day tour visiting unbelievable rock formations. I think pictures are the only thing that can do this place justice. Here are our photos of Cafayate and the Quebrada.



With our of fill of wine in Cafayate, we took a bus south to the city of Cordoba. Cordoba is situated in the Central Sierras, and is sometimes referred to as the heart of Argentina, since it´s in the center of the country. We spent four days in Cordoba, walking the colonial streets and enjoying the culture. The city reminded me a lot of Montreal or Boston, since it has the highest number of university students in the country, it´s a party city, and the architecture was old and beautiful. We also did a day trip to Alta Gracia and went to the Che Guevara museum in his childhood home. Alta Gracia is worth checking out if you make it to Cordoba.



I should mention that I had my first experience with an Argentine hospital in Cordoba, and I´m happy to report that it was clean, safe, and more efficient that the U.S. or Canada. Unfortunately, I had an allergic reaction to something, and ended up in the emergency room at 1 am on a Saturday night. After a quick 30 minute wait, an injection of medicine, and a bill for $30 I was on my way. This would never be so easy back home, or so cheap! The only downside was that was my Saturday night, while everyone else was out on the town.



After Cordoba, we made our way to Rosario on the shores of the Rio Parana, where we are right now. Rosario is another small city, with a good student population, and it´s only four hours from Buenos Aires, where we are headed tomorrow morning. Similar to Cordoba, Rosario has great pedestrian streets with shops and restaurants. Although, Rosario actually has a beach. The beach is small, and it´s on the river, but there is sand and water, and we enjoyed sunning ourselves after about a month in the mountains and desert. Here are our photos of Cordoba and Rosario.



Well, I´m happy to say that after a couple of weeks in Argentina, we couldn´t be happier. I´ve stuffed myself with more steak and red wine than I probably should have, and Julie is eating too much dulce de leche ice cream. The life here is like Europe, but cheaper. I wouldn´t be surprised if we end up moving here some day. Tomorrow we go to Buenos Aires for a couple days, then it´s off to the beaches of Punta del Este of Uruguay for New Years, to spend the 31st with our friends Pablo and Christina.

Wishing you all a great New Years wherever you are, and the best for 2008.