Week9: March 23-29

I forgot to mention in my last entry that Sunday night for dinner we enjoyed the fresh catch that Mitchell & Jeff brought in from their fishing day trip. Tuesday of this week Katy & I finally got the ball rolling on our travel plans after much investigation, and talk with locals aka the experts. It is weird to think that in such a short amount of time Katy & I will be closing our chapters here and heading out on our own for some serious adventure in Queensland & New Zealand. We are learning so much through this process of planning and also leaving room for the unplanned. Dr. Matthews gave me some more advice this week, he told me that I am going to go home with so many experiences & that I will want to share it all-but… and that everyone won’t be able to understand it all. However, I can rest in knowing that they’re part of my story, my experiences and memories to own forever.
Jeff was away in Adelaide for a night this week so Lou came over for dinner, we had Moroccan lamb chops, yum! Wednesday Jenni & I had a fun experience at the bank- we got chased down to the car- all for a signature- it was classic. I watched Farmers with the gang Wednesday as well. Afterwards we went back to Tash & Amy’s to watch a documentary on the show Underbelly (about gangs in Melbourne.) The whole group got to meet mom, dad, Daniel, & Chewy via the Mac. They LOVED meeting the fam and the fam loved meeting them- it was so special. Paul kept sneaking into the kitchen ‘pretending’ to fix a drink so he could hear Daniel talk... he thought Daniel sounded like Kings of Leon boys from Nashville- his fav. Band! Paul also showed me some of the Australian Stars tonight, so weird the we look to different stars- I saw the Southern Cross & the Shopping Cart. It was cool.
Thursday was a beautiful day, so nice- sunny & warm. I had another evening with the McCoy family. I went to their house for tea. We had Tuna Mornay & Satay chicken Kabobs. It was just as good as the last time when we had Chicken Kiev. The McCoys had a full table of the usual guests. I helped Kay put together light bulbs afterwards- quite an experience, her husband Bruce is an electrician. I plan to see them again when they come for a visit in January. So Auf Wiedersehen to them!
On the weekend I ventured into Melbourne. Jeff dropped me off and I had the day to myself to wander in the city. I loved this, something I had wanted to do. I started in the morning at the Victoria Street Market and zig zagged my way down to South Bank by late afternoon.
I did a lot of people watching, browsing through shops, sitting, and enjoying things like sushi & a smoothie. I was excited to find a little cobblestone alley with lots of cafes called Hardware Lane- I was recommended to find this spot by a guy I met couple weeks ago named Christian. He actually lived in Buckhead Atlanta for a bit and he is from Melbourne- He wanted to lead me to a place in the city with the good stuff- somewhere you wouldn’t necessarily stumble upon. Glad I found it! I rested in the sun at Federation Square and I also went up to the highest vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere, the Eureka Tower. The family hooked me up with free tickets to check this out. The Eureka Tower has something called the Edge, it is a glass cube that extends out from the top of the building and spits you out over the city with nothing but 4 see through glass walls around you. Scary stuff!! II wasn’t scared at first but once I was ejected over the city with nothing but clear glass beneath the hospital slippers they made me wear I was pretty shaky. I even sat down on the glass floor bottom- really freaky but I am so glad I did it. They gave me a rubber bracelet that says, “ I survived the Edge.” Great view. It was quite the solo day but good for me.

Jeff picked me up late afternoon and we headed to the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Grounds)- this venue seats about 100,000. The Melbourne Olympics took place here in the 50’s and now it is a prized place for Victorians- a top place to watch both the footy and cricket. Jeff & I enjoyed a soulvlaki & beer, and waited for Jenni, Mitchell, & Kenz to arrive via train. We watched the Geelong Cats beat Hawthorne (Hawthorne is a Melbourne team that has a lot of Tasmania supporters) this was a big win. I loved watching the footy! So fast pace, it was great. The fans are quite intense, reminded me of a GA football game- everyone was decked out. I even wore a Geelong scarf that Jenni bought me! Geelong is known for it’s footy team. They won the Grande Final in ’07 & made it again undefeated to the final in ’08 but lost to Hawthorne! It took about 2 hours for us to get home from the game. Melbourne was crazy this weekend because it was also the Grande Prix races!! We nearly fell into bed once we got home quarter til 2.

Madison turned 31 this weekend, I have yet to send his Birthday card but I emailed- hope ya got it Bro! Tash took me to see a Gold Star Move on Saturday. it was amazing! Gold star cinemas have recliners as the seats and you’re able to be waited on during the movie. It was heaven. We saw Confessions of a Shopaholiic We had coffees and gummi worms brought to us in a martini cup thirty minutes into the movie. In the afternoon we met up with the guys and I learned how to properly kick the footy. We also got ice-cream.
Jeanine, Chris, & the girls came over for a Barbie Sat night- we had a good time. Allie & Kenz danced the night a way and made me a precious card & farewell gift! The gang picked me up Sat after dinner and we went to a couples’ house to watch the movie Twilight. We went to the Barwon Club Hotel to see some of Paul’s friends play around midnight, we bumped into Lou there-
Sunday was church & I went on a little road trip to Melbourne with Lou, Jesse, & Kato. We did some shopping at DFO (Direct Factory Outlet). I came home empty handed but it was nice afternoon adventure & girl time. Thought of you Marc because we drove home listening to John Butler Trio & Jack Johnson. Lou got a new car so she loved spinning her fresh wheels.