2013.05.31 Party Cruise

One of the organizations at Swinburne offered a party cruise for students to go on in May, taking off from one of the harbors in Melbourne and traveling throughout the harbors and out into Port Phillip Bay over three hours.  I signed up to do this with many other friends and was sure to be fun.

On that Friday all exchange students had to attend a mandatory going-home orientation session about what needed to be done before leaving the school, making sure financial and academic records were settled, etc.  This ended around 5:30 pm, and directly afterwards we got together to kick off the festivities for the night.  The cruise was themed, and we were told to wear either boat-themed or geek-themed attire.

Anybody that had clothes to match the theme or had time to get some got changed in the hour before, and/or began drinking.  Unfortunately I had been hospitalized shortly prior to the party cruise (a now-recurring problem with my pancreas... long story) so I wasn't able to join my friends in drinking.  None the less, a quick hour flew by and we headed to the train to get to the harbor.

Above: Philippe and I

Getting off at Southern Cross station, we made the short walk around Etihad Stadium and boarded the boat.

The DJ was already playing music upstairs and in about 15 minutes the bar and food was made available downstairs.  Shortly after that, the boat disembarked and we were off.

After that, three hours of fun began!  Unfortunately the weather was terrible, switching between drizzling and raining all night.  Otherwise the night was perfect, with free food and very cheap drinks for anybody that wanted it.  Here are some pictures of the night : )

2013.05.24 The Great Ocean Road

Another one of Australia's national heritage listings is the great ocean road, a stretch of road along the southeast coast of Australia, beginning by Torquay, just a bit southwest of Melbourne.  The road is among the most famous coast-side roads in the world, hugging the coastline of the Surf Coast with nothing but a drop to the ocean below on one side, and steep hills and mountains on the other.  Additionally, there are several prominent landmarks that are accessible from the Great Ocean Road, including the Twelve Apostles and the London Arch, as well as beach towns such as Port Campbell and Apollo Bay.

Above: Aerial view of a section of the Great Ocean Road

The apartment complex I was living in was offering a subsidized one day tour of the Great Ocean Road for only $15, so of course I grabbed a seat on the trip along with a handful of other exchange students.  Granted, one day isn't enough to see all of the sites along the road but it would be enough to see several key landmarks.  The bus was due to leave at 7:30 from Melbourne Central that Friday, which meant we had to meet at 6:30 am on campus to leave for the city to have time to grab food, etc.  Once we were awake we walked to the train station and headed for Melbourne central.

On a side note, since I've been here there really hasn't been too much "Australian" food to experience.  I mean, outside of the kangaroo and emu burgers I tried, vegemite, and some chains like Boost there is more Asian food than anything else!  But there was one thing I'd seen but hadn't gotten a chance to try: meat pies.  They are very common hear, sold at sporting venues, stands, etc.  A bakery was one of the only things open so early at the station so I finally got around to getting one.

And it was good, sort of like a cheesesteak in a bite sized pie.

Anyway, shortly afterwards it was time to load onto the bus.  Enough people had signed up that there were actually two busses, we picked one and grabbed our seats.

The trip started with familiar highways and bridges leading out of Melbourne.  Even the highways taking us to Torquay was familiar, but once on the far side of Torquay the Great Ocean Road began.

1. Torquay, the beginning of the Great Ocean Road

Torquay is where the road begins, with a huge sign you can't miss to signal it's start.  We didn't actually stop in Torquay (I had been in Torquay before during a surf trip) but instead drove through.

From this point on most of the entire trip was on a road between the coast and a steep hill.  I was seated on the right side in an aisle seat, truly the worst spot I could get.  I didn't have a window, nor was I on the right side of the bus to face the ocean on the way out, I should have thought ahead when I sat down.  But I grabbed some of my friend's pictures from online to try to give you an idea of what the road looked like while driving along it.

 Above: A picture inland just before reaching the ocean

 Above: You can see the road continuing along the cutout on the far hill

 Above: The road was constantly winding, hugging the hills along the coast.  The elevation was constantly changing as well, from running just along the beach to at least 150 m above the water.

 Above: The view of the left side of the bus from my seat

Above: A long stretch of the coast we had just driven along

Just about the entire day of driving was on the Great Ocean Road with these sites outside of the window the entire time.

2. Lorne

The first place we stopped at was Lorne, a beach town on the Louttit bay.  During out of season months it is quiet, but during the summer it can be a busy beach location.  For example, on New Years (remember, that is the middle of the summer for Australians) up to 12,000 people flock to Lourne.  Additionally, around the same time of the year it hosts the Pier to Pub swim, where 20,000 spectators watch the Guinness World Record's largest organized ocean swim in the world, with up to 4,000 competitors in it each year.  The town has cafe's, shops, etc. as well as fishing piers and docks.

During the middle of May while we were there, well into the fall season, it was quiet.  But we were glad to hop off the bus, stretch our legs and explore.

 Above: a section of the seaside shops in Lorne

Lorne was also filled with cockatoos and wild parrots, such as the one above.  They look neat, but their squawking becomes quite annoying over time.

After going in shops, walking through town and on the beach, we were called back to the bus to hit our next destination, Apollo bay.  On our way there, though, we stopped in an area that has many Eucalyptus trees and is known to be home to a good amount of wild Koalas.  The busses stopped and it took less than a minute to spot one.

Above: Wild koala bear along the Great Ocean Road, outside of Lorne

Although I had seen them a couple of times in zoos and pet one at a sanctuary, it was still neat to see wild ones just chillin in the trees along the road.  After some ooh-ing and ah-ing we got back on the bus at got to Apollo Bay.

3. Apollo Bay

Apollo Bay is another seaside town, very similar to Lorne.  It is considered quieter and less popular than Lorne, but it set up all-in-all set up very similarly.  It had a beach against a large open park area, with town shops and restaurants behind it.  Due to the considerable driving between each location and our stop at Lorne it was now lunch time, so we set off to explore as well as find food.

Apollo bay, similar to Lourne, hosts sporting events and music festivals, but not to the scale that Lorne does.

 Above: The beach at Apollo Bay was not nearly as nice as the one at Lourne for a beach day

After scoping out some places for food we settled on a small italian diner, the three of us that wanted to eat here grabbed their lunch special for the day.

Because it was later in the day it was a bit busier so we walked into town a bit more and continued to kill time before we were called back to the bus to head to the next location.

4. The Twelve Apostles

The Twelve Apostles is the most famous landmark we visited on the Great Ocean Road and the one I looked forward to most.  The Twelve Apostles is a famous collection of limestone formations off of the hill side, formed by erosion over millions of years.  As shown in the pictures below, they are in the form of large vertical rock formations set out into the water.  It is located just outside of the town Port Campbell, which had constructed walkways along the cliffside to take pictures of and see all of the apostles.  There was even a helicopter tour available if you wanted to pay for it.

Despite the deceiving name, there were only ever 9 limestone stacks to begin with, formed by the waves eroding the cliffside into caves, and then bridges, and ultimately collapsing into these stacks.  In 2005 one of the stacks collapsed, leaving 8 left.  They erode at a rate of 2 cm per year at the base, and eventually all will have collapsed.  But erosion into the cliffside may cause new ones to form over years and years.

From the parking lot we jumped out of the bus and headed down the walkway towards the cliffside.

Once we reached the cliff, there was a very long path to walk along and look at the Twelve Apostles and take pictures - here are some of the best ones. taken from various spots.

 Above: Some of the other exchange students I had signed up for the trip with

After time here and reading about the site at the information center it was onto out last major stop.

5. London Bridge

The London Bridge is another limestone formation, formed in the same way the Twelve Apostles were.  Remember how I said the apostles are formed by waves eroding the cliffside into caves, then a "bridge," and finally collapsing into these stacks?  Well the London Bridge is, obviously, in the bridge stage.  It wasn't much longer of a drive to this formation, and was another cool one to see.

The bridge was originally connected to the mainland on the left with a cafe running underneath similar to the cave you se above, to the right of the gap between the bridge and the mainland.  In 1990 that bridge collapsed, separating the London Bridge off the the side as an Island, as it is today.  Eventually, the London Bridge will collapse into two pieces and form stacks just like the ones at the Twelve Apostles.

When the arch connecting the London Bridge to the mainland collapsed, there were actually two people that had just walked across it and were then stuck on top of the London Bridge!  A helicopter had to rescue them, they must have felt lucky that they weren't standing on the section that collapsed when it did.

We made a few more stops after this into some towns, as well as visited another surf beach, but the spots above were the highlights of the trip.  Having left Melbourne at 7:30 we started our drive home by 5:30 pm to be able to make it back by 8:30.  It had been a long day and a good trip, one of my very last adventures in Australia.

2013.05.13 Sydney: Opera House Tour, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Luna Park

This was our final day in Sydney, so we started it by waking up a little earlier than normal, showering, and packing up all of our stuff.  We grabbed the things we would need throughout the day and put them in our backpacks, went down to reception, checked out, and gave them our bags to hold.  Our flight to depart Sydney wasn't until 8:00pm that night, so we still had the entire day to spend in the city. Like usual, we all had breakfast together in the small cafe in the back of the hostel.

Now, between the six of us we all had different things in mind for the day.  Some wanted it to spend it mostly in the shopping district, some wanted to simply relax and enjoy the harbour atmospheres.  Wilfrido and I wanted to tour the Sydney Opera House - I mean, it may be a very long time before I return here, or maybe never.  And I can't leave without seeing the inside of the Opera House.  We had contemplated getting some tickets to a smaller show for $35 dollars.  That way we'd be able to see an actual show (it was a ballet, actually), but if we did that we'd only be able to see one room.  We wanted to see it all, so we purchased tour tickets online for only $25 each.

Besides the tour, we had to fill up the rest of the day too.  Wilfrido and I decided that we wanted to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to be able to say that we've walked the length of one of the icons of Australia.  Also, there is a very identifiable theme park just on the other side of the bridge: Luna Park.

Above: Locations of Luna Park, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House

Our opera house tour tickets were good for any time, and we decided to start with that, so we headed back to the opera house.  One familiar free shuttle ride and we were there.  The start of the tour was in the garage-like tunnel beneath the opera house. The opera house was set on a podium with several staircases to climb it (mainly, there is a primary large staircase in the front).  If you did not climb the steps in front, and instead walked along the side, below the opera house, there was a large tunnel going directly beneath it.

Above: Use this picture to understand the path our tour took

Anyway, the tour was great, even better than I had hoped.  If you ever go to Sydney, take the tour.  The tour guide had a headset on with a wireless transmitter, and each of us were given headsets to wear as we walked around, letting us hear everything he was telling us without needing to be right next to him at all.  This also came in handy when we were inside performance halls and people were actually practicing, he could talk really quietly and we could all still hear him.  Once we had the headsets, we walked out from under the opera house and walked along the side of it as he gave us general information about it.

The tour was extremely informative, and of course I'm not going to give all of the information I can remember.  But I'll give you some really cool key facts.  The entire construction process began in the early 1950s, when a design competition was called for.  Architects submitted designs from over 30 countries, and the winning design that stands today was actually in the reject pile initially.  During the judging process, the design was rescued from the pile near the end, and declared the winner.

The opera house is actually two major buildings, that sit beside each other long-ways.  From many angles it looks like one building, but it is not.

Each of the two buildings hold a major performance hall: the larger one (on the right, pictured above) holds the concert hall, where orchestras and other musical events are performed.  The concert hall seats nearly 2,700 people.  Directly beneath the concert hall are three much smaller venues.  Despite being directly below, the rooms are acoustically separated, and you cannot even hear a full orchestra while they play in the concert hall directly above you.  In the other building is the theater, with a stage more suited for performances such as plays and ballets, holding a total of over 1,500 people.  The floor of the stage is a large elevator, ideal for changing sets, moving equipment in and out for performances, etc.

Additionally, each building is really a building within a building.  For example, imagine the opera house, which is a traditional rectangularly shaped room.  On top of this building are then the outer shells, there for aesthetics and design.  The inner buildings are designed to be acoustically ideal for the types of performances they are holding, the majority of the concert hall being constructed of Australian woods for this reason as well as the decor.  The outer shells, on the other hand, are structurally separate, and covered with Swedish panels that self-clean in the rain.  In fact, since it's construction, the exterior has been cleaned only once (excluding the glass, which is cleaned regularly).  From a distance the outer shells appear uniformly white, but the tiles are in fact smaller and patterned.

Above: A close up picture I took of the opera house's exterior tiles

The building is also fantastically lit up for many events, in fact was going to be covered in a light pattern the very next weekend!  It's too bad we didn't visit Sydney a week later!  Here are some examples of ways they have displayed the opera house at night for past events.

When the tour started I asked about what the shapes of the outer shells were meant to be.  He said that he's heard several interpretations: sea shells, the opening of a whales mouth from the front, fins, waves, etc.  The tour guide said that there's not exactly one answer, but that the architect meant to reference water in the shape, which it does.  When you look at the building, you most likely think of something water-related first.  He noted that even the glass uses the water around it.  Several portions of the exterior glass is angled to show the water around the opera house when you look at it.

With all of that said, we started the tour by entering the larger building first, and going into one of the smaller studios directly below the concert hall called the Studio.

This room he described as an extremely multi-purpose room.  Seating arrangements and stages are frequently altered drastically.  Lighting equipment is able to change the atmosphere drastically, as well as a great deal of equipment to accommodate hanging equipment or even people.  He said that events for children or elementary schools are held in here sometimes, or expletive/mature shows.  The tour guide gave some interesting examples of shows that are performed in here that involve drag queens, nudity and profanity.

We were explicitly told not to take any pictures in any of these rooms.  So I did my best to hide that I was definitely taking pictures.  For that reason they're not the best quality.

Above: Sorry for the blurriness!  I had to hide that I was taking the pictures.

After this, we headed back out the way we came and continued walking along the base of the patio towards the rear of the building, to the point furthest out into the water.  Here there was a smaller set of stairs heading up to where we would enter the main building.

Note we entered around this back entrance.  You can also enter either building by going up the main staircase at the front and going past the restaurant, or you can even go under the tunnel where our tour started, enter doors and come up from underneath the opera house.

After climbing the steps we entered into this large room.

Sometimes professional events are held in this room itself.  By taking staircases up from here you may access the upper level seating of the concert hall.  Or, you can take some staircases down from here to enter the concert hall at lower levels.  Additionally, there is a bar located here as well.  This was the first time I had entered the opera house, and the interior was just as impressive as the exterior, if not more.  The exterior of the building was almost always glass, with the interior using smooth wood paneling.

 Above: Wilfrido listening to the tour guide with the bar in the background

 Above: Stairs leading up to a concert hall entrance

Above: A view of the other building

After more information on the building we headed up and into the concert hall itself.  I really wanted to take a nice picture here, but he was watching me like a hawk.  So this is the best picture I could grab without him noticing.

When we entered, a full orchestra was actually practicing!  We were able to stay in the room for a few minutes and just listen to the orchestra play various parts of their act, cut, repeat, etc.  It really was amazing.  We were very lucky to tour at the very time a few orchestra was playing, and listen to them.  I can now say I have heard an orchestra perform in the Sydney Opera House.

Here is a picture of the opera house I have found online, so you can get a better idea of how amazing it is.

The majority of the entire concert hall is made of a few Australian woods - even the seat themselves and armrests are made of it.  In the wall above and behind the stage you can see the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ - the largest mechanical tracker action organ in the world... whatever that means.  It consists of over 10,000 pipes, the smallest of which is smaller than the last section of your pinky.

The tour guide told us the incredible span of events that take place in here.  Of course there are orchestras and concerts, but he also told us of movie viewings that take place in here.  For example, the tour guide attended a showing of The Lord of the Rings.  Except they remove the music from the movie, and a live orchestra plays the music to each of the scenes live.  I would love to see that.

After a few minutes in here, we exited, headed down a flight of steps and exited the entire building into the area between the two opera house buildings.

Above: The tour guide called this "the cleavage"

We walked right in between the two buildings and entered the other.  The interior of this building was similar but a bit less grand - I seemed to have taken few photos in here!  We entered the theater though where I did grab a picture from where we sat.

The tour guide gave us some information about this room, including that you can see shows in here for $35 from the area I was sitting just then.  This is also the theater that has the elevator-floor for quickly and discreetly changing sets behind a curtain.  While we were here, dancers were practicing for a ballet performance that would be showing that night.

Above: A better picture of the theater found on Google

After exiting this room we were taken outside to watch a video (giving information most of which I already covered) before concluding the tour and exiting the front of the building, onto the main steps by the restaurant.  The tour was perfect, and I was really glad I had gotten to go inside the Sydney Opera House.

It had only been a 30-45 minute tour, so we were still ready to hit the other destinations we had in mind.  Right after the tour, Wilfrido and I made our way around the harbour and onto the road leading to the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the opposing side of the harbour.

The bridge has a walkway that spans its length, so we were able to walk across the entire bridge.  Near the start of the walk across, though, there was an area that offered a perfect place to take pictures of the harbour and opera house.

We continued on, crossing the entire bridge.

While we were crossing the bridge, we got some more pictures of the harbour and opera house.  Remember the picture I posted a bit earlier on this post, that showed where the tour started, where we entered the building, etc.?  I had taken that picture from the bridge.

 Above: The Sydney Harbour as seen from the bridge.  The opera house would be off to the left of this photo

Above: The Sydney Opera House taken from the bridge.  That green/yellow boat is the ferry we had taken to Manly beach the previous day

When we finally crossed the bridge, we took a flight of stairs off of it and immediately made a large left u-turn, heading to Luna Park.  See the second photo in this post for an idea of where we were heading.

While heading to Luna Park, we were given perfect views of the bridge we had just crossed.

Finally, walking back down to the water on this side of the bridge landed us right at the entrance of Luna Park, to the very identifiable large mouth opening.

Above: Me standing at the entrance to Luna Park

The theme park was open but entirely dead on this Monday.  It was a little eerie, but we still walked throughout it to check it out.  Nothing really outstanding, but a theme park none-the-less.  For those of you that don't know, Luna Park is a name shared by several parks around the globe.  There is even a Luna Park in Melbourne, Coney Island, and Los Angeles.  I'd look up information on if they're owned by the same company and such, but I'm far too tired of typing at this point.

The theme park was right on the water, and we had been walking for a really long time to cross the bridge, so we took a break here, watching the boats and looking at schools of fish in the water below.

After a really nice, long break we started the walk back to the south side of the bridge.

It was now the end of our trip - Wilfrido and I needed to meet up with the others and get ready to head back to the airport.  So we did just that, we made our way across the bridge, got a shuttle back to Hyde Park, and met with the others.  We grabbed a bite to eat, got our bags out from the hostel's storage room, called a cab, yada yada.

Ultimately this was another one of the best trips I had while in Australia, and finished my major bucket list items of things to do while here.  I was able to see a ton of the city, hear an orchestra perform in the opera house, cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge, visit both Manly Beach and Bondi Beach, party at Kings Cross, go to the top of the Sydney Tower, and more.  It was an incredibly successful trip!