Return to Witch Mountain

I took a daytrip to the Dandenong mountains about an hour outside of Melbourne. I had heard a lot about the area. It’s amazing how different the foliage is even just an hour out of the city. The mountain area actually reminded me a lot of heading out to my house in Rogers, winding roads and the trees lining the path. It was really green and beautiful. Our first stop was to see the famous Puffing Billy – a train that goes through the mountains that used to be crowded with Victorians back during the gold rush times and such. We opted not to ride, but rather check it out and meet the train at a couple different points.

After meeting Puffing Billy, we went on to the top of the mountain to the observation area. Unfortunately, the weather was not participating back in the city. When we pulled up, I could see the city. But five minutes later, the city was hidden behind the rain and clouds, as was most of the area below (see boring pic below). So we just walked around; I made out with a totem pole; and then we left to see another lookout area.

I couldn’t figure out why Steve wanted to look at this valley, so I wasn’t really humoring him on the pics. I realize I look hairless with my cappie on, but it was a lot colder on that mountain than it looks.

I finally convinced Steve that I was hungry, despite our well planned out bad-for-us-snacks including sour cream & onion rice crackers, gummy worms, Cadbury chocolate, and ginger beer… so we stopped at a tavern and had some traditional pub grub like bangers and mash and a chicken parma.

From there, before we lost the sunlight, we did a small hike to Sherbrooke Falls. After getting my nice little shoes muddy (grrr!), we made it to the falls. They were cute. HA. Yeah, I said “cute.” They were the tiniest little falls, but it was a nice walk - would have been nicer if I had planned better and worn different shoes. Oh well.

We made it back in time to chill out. Then we griped about dinner or whether we should just continuing to eat the bad snacks – bad snacks won due to laziness. Then it was England v. Paraguay – a yawn of a game, but good on England for at least getting the points.

see pics HERE

Carnivale

Who loves the circus? I do! I went to the Ringling Barnum & Bailey Circus when I was a child. I loved the clowns. Most young girls want to walk the tightrope and do flips in the air, but heights and flexibility isn’t really my thing, and clowns always seem to have lots more fun. From this experience I joined a clown troupe at my church, had clowns all over my room, and I even researched the clown college in Florida. Alas, my days as a circus clown did not come to be, but I still love the circus! And lucky me, the circus is in town! So off to Circus Oz with Steffi I went. It was a mix of adult humor, clever music and stunts galore! Such a fun night. I got to eat “fairy floss” (aka cotton candy) and have a beer. Too funny. Me – a circus – and a beer?! That’s a grown-up circus experience for sure!

St. Elmo's Fire (cant upload pics for some reason)

I wandered the city by myself after meeting up with Steffi for some late brekkie at a well-known café called DeGraves, on DeGraves Lane – this funky little lane of small boutiques and street cafés. Melbourne is full of these little lanes and it’s great fun discovering the hidden yummies, cool togs and funky people wandering around in them.

After our excellent French Toast, I started to grab a tram at Flinders Street, but got sidetracked at Federation Square to see what the big crowd was about. SAVE VICTORIA’S FORESTS! Lots of green-friendly folks walking around with petitions while a great band got everyone dancing. There had been a guy living in a tree for a week on St. Kilda Road (a main road leading into town connecting St. Kilda and the city) to get interest in the event. I didn’t see him, but I saw the pic in the news.

Once I had jiggled my booty to a couple songs, I took off on the tram to Fitzroy Street and the Esplanade to check out the Sunday market of crafts. I was close to getting some art, but wanted to think more about it. So I kept walking and made my way to Luna Park, which I entered for the first time and saw, really and truly, for the first time a huge group of Aboriginal children. I can never decide if I think it’s rude to ask for a picture, or if I’m just shy about approaching strangers, but these kids had this dark skin; hair that nearly blended in with their skin color; wide, slightly flattened noses; and the biggest smiles. I have seen some here and there, but most have become slightly more European in appearance, but not this group. And they also weren’t dressed up like a tourist attraction. They were common day Aboriginal children. Just beautiful.

From Luna Park, I caught about 5 minutes of a street performer who was either American or Canadian from what I could hear of his accent before traipsing down to Acland Street to enter all the funky stores including a personal fave, Klein’s. My plan was to hang in St. Kilda and then grab a pastry from one of the awesome European bakery shops and watch the sunset on the beach, but I got called to Prahran by Bob for dinner and a movie.

So I grabbed a tram outside McDonald’s and made my way to Chapel Street where I met up with Bob and introduced him to my favorite Teppanyaki place – Kanpai! We had some chili, sizzling mussels and then a mixed teppanyaki with rice. Yum! Normally I crave them so much that I would just want to order a second plate, but I was pretty full. We went to the Jam Factory to check out what was showing and unfortunately, there’s just not much on right now. I don’t know how it’s possible that there are only like 6 movies playing in the big theatres right now. We grabbed tickets for Poseidon knowing full well it would likely be bad, but with Josh Lucas being easy on the eyes, ah, what’s a girl to do? But it was, indeed, not such a good flick – entertaining, but not good!

I rounded out my night by taking some the pastries and goodies I picked up on Acland Street to Steve. He had been studying hard for his exam, so I thought I would bring him something yummy to cheer him up. I finally made it home around midnight…

Overall, it’s funny sometimes how taking a day to get lost in this city by myself can really give me perspective on some things. Riding the tram in with the bay on one side and the city on the other, it makes me really happy. Wherever it is that I end up going next to make a life – I can see it having both of these things: water (bay, ocean, lake – if not the Thames) and a city full of life, culture, foods, people!

The Final Cut

We had one last editing session and got the final project cleaned up and ready for the big show. Here’s a look at the edit suite shenanigans…

Di doing the edits

The Hate

Dave and Dee showing their enthusiasm for the project.

Prison Break

Lately my life consists of showing people my room, trying to sell my furniture, packing my things, seeing what I can see near the city, and spending time with friends. Doesnt sound too bad, no? But the idleness is about to kill me. I feel like I'm just waiting around to go home. Plans for this month that I had got cancelled and since it was something making this month worthwhile to look forward to, I no longer have that... so it's just me. Yeah, yeah, whine whine whine. Ok, it's not all that bad. I have stuff I'm doing and want to do and again, I hate not having a car!!! Freedom is what I'm looking forward to when I get home. Then again, is it truly freedom I will get? I dont know. I feel like I'm 22 again, just graduating, and have NO clue what the next step is. I've found some really great jobs that I'm looking to apply for, but shall I hold my breath? No. And things are so spread out where I'm looking, geographically that is. I have focus and have 3 cities at the top of my list. Will any of these places make my family happy? Not really. But I wont share them til something materializes. What's the point? Save the knocking on wood. I need to do some traveling this summer to really check these places out to know if I really like them... two of the cities I've been to and the third I've only seen the airport. Lots to think about. I'm excited about the opportunities but I still feel so unprepared! I want so much in this life... and I want more than what I've already seen and had as far as jobs go. I want my dream. I know it can happen, but it's still going to take so much work to get there. But I guess, if I want it... that's what I'll do.

No other news. Like I said, I'm idle. Maybe I'll go take pictures somewhere this weekend.