Some notes about my first weekend in Australia:
Friday I actually worked a full day. Mark, my coworker, picked me up and showed me the office where he then left me so that he could go to the jobsite. It turns out that transitioning from an office of 40 to an office of one is slightly difficult; I could not believe how quiet it was! Good thing Australian employee no. 3 will be starting in the office on Monday! Too bad we only have one power strip in the office (which is currently set-up for my desk/computer)...
After fueling up with brekky juice on Saturday, I went sight-seeing! First, I walked to the Queen Victoria Market, which is a fantastic flea/farmer's market. It is also the place from which all of you will be receiving Christmas presents I'm sure. I only spent about an hour here but now know that it deserves an entire Saturday probably at least once a month. From there, I walked down William Street and saw Flagstaff Gardens, the Royal Mint, the courts, the Stock Exchange, and the Melbourne observation deck. Although, the I did not actually go up the latter as the price is AUD14.50 and I decided to save that for when someone was with me.
After William Street, I saw the Yarra River for the first time from Batman Park and then I crossed over it to walk along the Southbank River Walk. Bridges and tunnels everywhere, oh my! I was looking for some coffee (which btw, there is no drip coffee, only espresso) and actually stumbled on the Crown casino. Not really my scene but potentially something to do when people visit?
Along southbank I saw prisoners, penguins, street performers, Federation Square and then onto St. Kilda Road and the arts precinct. From St. Kilda Road, I wandered through the Queen Victoria Gardens, saw the Music Bowl, the Shrine of Remembrance, and the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was here that I made my first friend in Australia. Granted he was a 50-something, slightly creepy old man, but he gave a fantastic tour of the gardens.
From there, I crossed back over the river and headed over towards the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. I noticed lots of people walking that way with me and questioned a parking attendant. It turns out that there was an internation cricket match (England v. South Africa maybe?) about to start, but unfortunately my sight-seeing attire was not formal enough to attend unless I could have passed for under 15...
From there, it started to rain and I trekked back through Fitzroy Gardens and Treasury Gardens to Exhibition Street. I found a pub and some footy and passed several hours before I knew what happened (the beer was good: James Squire Amber and my team was playing: Hawthorn Hawks). The rain had stopped and I continued up Exhibition Street to the Carlton Gardens. (Every neighborhood has their own gardens. Unfortunately not much is in bloom and not many people are out picnicing as it is winter. Although the weather in Melbourne that day was only 2 deg C below San Francisco, and I bet those parks were packed!)
From there, it was back home after a quick stop at a grocery store to avoid having to eat out again. Food is expensive! So is gas.
Some other notes: they turn right from the left! The taxi in this picture is actually turning right across the intersection, but first they pull far left and let all other traffic clear. As if driving on the left was not going to be hard enough...
Rather than simply stating calories, food items list the "energy" content in kJ. What a fantastic way to think about it. Rather than my fish and chips being 1000 calories, isn't it much better to think of them as providing me with 4000 kJ of energy?!?
Finally (and I wish I had my camera with me for this), there was a sign on the window of a bank that stated, "Do not leave children locked in your auto," which is good advice. It then continued to state, "during trading hours."! Banking hours never seemed so cruel...
Friday I actually worked a full day. Mark, my coworker, picked me up and showed me the office where he then left me so that he could go to the jobsite. It turns out that transitioning from an office of 40 to an office of one is slightly difficult; I could not believe how quiet it was! Good thing Australian employee no. 3 will be starting in the office on Monday! Too bad we only have one power strip in the office (which is currently set-up for my desk/computer)...
After fueling up with brekky juice on Saturday, I went sight-seeing! First, I walked to the Queen Victoria Market, which is a fantastic flea/farmer's market. It is also the place from which all of you will be receiving Christmas presents I'm sure. I only spent about an hour here but now know that it deserves an entire Saturday probably at least once a month. From there, I walked down William Street and saw Flagstaff Gardens, the Royal Mint, the courts, the Stock Exchange, and the Melbourne observation deck. Although, the I did not actually go up the latter as the price is AUD14.50 and I decided to save that for when someone was with me.After William Street, I saw the Yarra River for the first time from Batman Park and then I crossed over it to walk along the Southbank River Walk. Bridges and tunnels everywhere, oh my! I was looking for some coffee (which btw, there is no drip coffee, only espresso) and actually stumbled on the Crown casino. Not really my scene but potentially something to do when people visit?
Along southbank I saw prisoners, penguins, street performers, Federation Square and then onto St. Kilda Road and the arts precinct. From St. Kilda Road, I wandered through the Queen Victoria Gardens, saw the Music Bowl, the Shrine of Remembrance, and the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was here that I made my first friend in Australia. Granted he was a 50-something, slightly creepy old man, but he gave a fantastic tour of the gardens.From there, I crossed back over the river and headed over towards the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. I noticed lots of people walking that way with me and questioned a parking attendant. It turns out that there was an internation cricket match (England v. South Africa maybe?) about to start, but unfortunately my sight-seeing attire was not formal enough to attend unless I could have passed for under 15...
From there, it started to rain and I trekked back through Fitzroy Gardens and Treasury Gardens to Exhibition Street. I found a pub and some footy and passed several hours before I knew what happened (the beer was good: James Squire Amber and my team was playing: Hawthorn Hawks). The rain had stopped and I continued up Exhibition Street to the Carlton Gardens. (Every neighborhood has their own gardens. Unfortunately not much is in bloom and not many people are out picnicing as it is winter. Although the weather in Melbourne that day was only 2 deg C below San Francisco, and I bet those parks were packed!)
From there, it was back home after a quick stop at a grocery store to avoid having to eat out again. Food is expensive! So is gas.
Some other notes: they turn right from the left! The taxi in this picture is actually turning right across the intersection, but first they pull far left and let all other traffic clear. As if driving on the left was not going to be hard enough...Rather than simply stating calories, food items list the "energy" content in kJ. What a fantastic way to think about it. Rather than my fish and chips being 1000 calories, isn't it much better to think of them as providing me with 4000 kJ of energy?!?
Finally (and I wish I had my camera with me for this), there was a sign on the window of a bank that stated, "Do not leave children locked in your auto," which is good advice. It then continued to state, "during trading hours."! Banking hours never seemed so cruel...
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