It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Today I'm coming home!!! Well, technically tomorrow. My flight leaves at 1am Melbourne time (almost 10pm now, yay!) and I'll be back in Toronto by noon on the 22nd. It's been such a fantastic three months and I'm sad to leave some good friends behind (I'm afraid I have more friends in Melbourne now than I do in Toronto) but I can't wait to get home and see everyone for the holidays.

I'm sure you didn't see this one coming, but KM and KM2 had me over last Sunday for Mexican night and Christmas Cookie Making. These two don't do anything halfway. They made their own tortillas. Yes, they own a tortilla press thingy. It was a feast. Cerviche, shrimp tacos, guacamole, margaritas (my contribution was squeezing the limes), and a great mango salsa. So good.

This is Kunoh (I know I spelled that wrong) - KM and KM2's cat and a very important family member 

 Then came the Christmas Cookie Making Spectacular. KM pulls the dough she's already made out of the fridge (apparently you have to chill dough so you can roll it better) and finds the special pastry rolling sheet and rolling pin (what don't these two have?) and then pulls out the cookie cutters. I was shocked. Their "Christmas Cookie Cutters" consist of bats, pumpkins, horses, a goose, a cactus, a palm tree, a lobster, a couple other barnyard animals, and - wait for it - one little Christmas tree. Well. There's nothing you can't turn into Christmas with a little Kris Kringle Spirit, and turn those animals and bats and dessert plants into Christmas we did! My personal favourite was turning the horse into a carousel horse. Somehow that seemed more festive. We brought the cookies to work and they were devoured in minutes.

This was how I felt about the lobster cookie cutter before I got in the Kris Kringle Spirit

Auckland, NZ

Kia Ora!!

That's Maori for G'day. The Maori are the native Polynesian people of New Zealand and their culture came through strongly on my brief (1.5 day) visit to Auckland last weekend. Why would I jet over to New Zealand right before I'm about to come home? Because I was about to overstay my three month welcome in Australia and had to get a short extension. The timing worked out great, however - my manager on my project, VN, is from Auckland and had just moved back. She happened to be free and was a fantastic tour guide / hostess.

I have to say that although the city is nice, it's not the most exciting place I've visited. I was really glad for VN's company and knowledge of the surrounding area. Friday late afternoon we met for drinks near my hotel (right on the water) and then I walked around and got to know the city a bit. Here are my highlights:

 On Saturday we met for lunch at a great restaurant called spqr where I had a fantastic seafood dish and a great glass of NZ pinot noir.

Then, we went for a drive up a volcano - Maungawhau to be exact!! Auckland actually has several volcanos all around and in it, caused by the Auckland volcanic field. The vents from the field have produced craters and cones over time. The Maori used to live on them and use them as fortifications. You could see where they had altered it to make a terrace on the volcano we went up. We had a great view of the city - it's really long and narrow.

Finally we headed to Piha beach, a 45 minute beautiful drive from the city. Black sands, great views, and most of the time great surfing. We poked around a bit, stood in the ocean, and enjoyed being outside. (Trekking would typically be in the cards, but if you hadn't noticed from the above picture VN is quite pregnant, so we did the low key version which was fine with me!)

As you can see it was a bit misty. The thing about Auckland this time of year is that it rains on and off constantly. Like every 10 minutes. Rain. Sun. Rain. Sun. And no one minds getting wet since they know they will dry!

After these wonderful adventures VN dropped me back off to my hotel and I enjoyed some fresh NZ lamb for dinner at a restaurant on the water before catching a really, really early Sunday morning flight back to Melbourne. Not bad for a day and a half, eh?

Yarra Valley, Redux

Last Saturday I made another trip out to the Yarra Valley. The usual suspects KM and KM2 met me out there, but I actually went with two new friends - a girl from HBS who I didn't actually know while I was at school (she is part of our Manilla office...also didn't know we had a Manilla office!), and another guy from work who is actually Canadian but lives in Shanghai. Quite the exciting group!

Our first stop was the Yarra Valley Dairy where we were in search of a fantastic goats milk Persian feta cheese. We found that and then some!! Quite the feast of cheese (as well as a combination of coffee and wine for me!!) It was a really cute place surrounded by beautiful scenery...but if you're looking for anything other than cheese, bread, coffee, and wine you're going to come up a little empty handed.

Next we headed down the road to Yering Farm winery - a small and beautiful winery that had a really great selection available for tasting and a unique vibe.

Finally we drove to the Healesville Sanctuary where it was rumored we could pet kangaroos! Unfortunately all of the "Magical Moments" tickets were sold out, but we were still able to get really close to a bunch of kangaroos. I also saw my first dingo (really just a cute puppy, can't imagine it stealing anyone's baby), and they had a nice platypus selection. The Tasmanian devils and wallabies were not to be found but the kangaroo selection was better than the Sydney and Melbourne zoos combined!! There were also these massive bats in the aviary which I found really nasty!

 

The day was rounded out with a fantastic dinner at top-rater Culter & Co and watching Love Never Dies (Phantom part II) - a good show in a very spacious and elaborate theatre.

I think there are a dozen reasons to love Melbourne just in this one blog!!

Thankful for Good Friends

Two weekends ago KM and KM2 had me over for (US) Thanksgiving dinner. I am so lucky to be able to count them as friends; they've gone out of their way many times over to make me feel at home here, and they are wonderful, fun people to boot!

And, they are fantastic cooks.

We had a Thanksgiving dinner with all of the fixings - turkey with stuffing (best stuffing I have ever had - going to make it for Christmas dinner in Toronto), mashed potatoes, cranberries, salad from their garden, gravy, and of course pumpkin pie (with the pumpkin coming all the way from the US) and real whipped cream. And a fantastic collection of wine from their cellar, each bottle coming with a story of where they got it.

Here are a few pictures from this really lovely evening:

Odds and Ends

The countdown to heading back home (and CHRISTMAS!!) has started! I'm still having such a fantastic time here - better than even an optimist like I would have predicted - but I'm ready to go home, cold weather and all. With just two weeks to go I figured it was time to post about all the little odds and ends I've been saving up for you. Sorry if I've already mentioned one or two of these - but I think they should all be new for you!!

A Family Visit
This is a really old one - I actually have family in Australia and they have been incredibly welcoming and helpful in getting me on my feet here. I joined them for a birthday celebration awhile ago and really enjoyed reconnecting with relatives I haven't seen in years. Bit of an issue that people and heads are cut out, but it's the best I have - we had to set a timer!

My Home in Melbourne
Unlike my home in Geelong, my home in Melbourne is fantastic - the Park Hyatt. Most weekends I'm lucky enough to get a room with a view of this beautiful cathedral (picture actually taken from my room!):

The only bad part about it is that there are about 15 weddings here each weekend. I've seen so many hotel weddings that I'm swearing right here and now that I will never get married in a hotel. It's hard to argue with the lobby though - it's beautiful:

And finally a view from the entrance. This may seem excessive to you, but this is where I live and it must be documented!!!

Vic Market
There's a fantastic market here that I occasionally frequent on weekends for a snack or just a destination. It's a huge farmers' market meets the crap that is sold in the Asian markets....except the crap is really pretty bad. Here are some pictures from my last trip there! (Note the knockoff Ugg boots!)

Entrance to Vic Market 

Amazing deli section

More deli!

So many vegetables. If only I had a kitchen!

This is apparently a tradition of the market. When KM took me the first time we had to reward ourselves for all the good shopping we did with doughnuts

The start of the crap

Who wants fake "Made in Australia" Uggs?

Fantastic Art Galleries

A couple of weeks ago I ventured into the National Gallery of Victoria, just a 10 minute walk from my hotel. There are actually two art galleries - the closest one houses Australian artists, both Native and Colonial and is located in Federation Square, a very interesting building:

 I also really enjoyed the Aboriginal art. At first it just looks like a bunch of dots, but I joined a free guided tour (actually, the entire experience was free - the whole gallery is free - so nice to be able to drop in and drop out over the course of a few weekends!!) and learned that they actually represent at a minimum maps, often focused on water holes, and often have things like snakes painted into them and tell their stories. Here are a couple examples I found online - I quite like it.

Just down the road from this gallery is the other part of the National Gallery, housing (arguably) the best collection of International art in the Southern Hemisphere. There was an exhibit featuring German Modernism when I was there....overall not as interesting as the Australian art.

Lawn Bowling
Even older than anything else on here - one of my first Fridays in Melbourne the office had a lawn bowling social event. Despite the bad weather it was pretty fun (note the beer in the second picture) - and I surprised myself with my bowling skills. Nothing like regular bowling at all (luckily for me, because I'm terrible at that!) Apparently this is actually a relatively trendy past time for young people in Australia....I find it hard to believe.....not the most exciting of sports!

Phew!! I have been busy!! I have a couple more tidbits for you but I'll save them for next time!!