2002-11-30 - 12:38 p.m.
We're in Melbourne for a short while. I'm starting to notice the kind of rushed feeling that you get traveling an itinerary that your guidebook suggests to do in a month (Sydney to Adelaide) in under a week. Plus, we had a bit of excitement, as one of the people in our group failed to get on his plane one day, and was delayed by another day because of technical difficulties. We were quite stressed, running around Sydney airport, trying to figure out why we couldn't find him when he had been supposed to arrive 3 hours ago. Finally we were able to get in touch with him and arrange to meet up in Melbourne; just got back from the airport for picking him up.
Like I said, we're in Melbourne for only a short while, but that should be alright. It seems, from what some people have told me, that this is more of a city with atmosphere, that you can enjoy and absorb over a weeks time or longer, and less of a place that you can tour around for a few hours and see particular attractions. Not that there aren't any, it's just that they're not as interesting as the general feeling of city life.
Thursday (Australia time) was spent in Canberra (pronounced Kenbra), which turned out to be much more interesting than I expected, largely due to having a good tour guide. He was able to lead us around the crazy-modern parliament house, embassy row, led us to a couple of hills for nice lookouts (and some kangaroos, as it turned out), and finished the day off with a lovely meal. The meal prices here are quite reasonably to someone coming from the Bay Area, as for only A$20-25 (US$12-15) you can get a delicious meal with a couple of drinks included. And that includes the tax (how civilized), and tips are not really required.
I'm already starting to think that it's going to be tough to get on to that plane in a couple of weeks time. My head is full of fantasies of giving up graduate school for a few months or a year and just touring around here all the while. Well, I shouldn't let myself get too carried away, I guess...
Now reading: Guns, Germs, and Steel (although not making much progress; it's not really a light vacation book, as it turns out).
end and beginning - 2003-03-04
the dogs must be crazy - 2003-03-03
strange thoughts on a train - 2003-02-28
movie madness - 2003-02-26
sense of community - 2003-02-25