Australia

February 15-July 1 2005

April 1:

My parents and I visited three different wineries in the Yarra Valley: Warramatta (a mom and pop style hole-in-the-wall of a family winery), Domain Chandon (big expensive winery known for their sparkling wine), and Coldstream Hill (somewhere in between the other two ; they specialize in Pinot Noir).

We ate lunch at Domain Chandon in a big open room that overlooked the vines and the mountain range in the distance. I washed my food down with the best apple juice I've ever had. No exaggeration!

April 2:

Today I attended my first Australian Rules Football ("Footy") game: the Western Bulldogs vs. the Melbourne Demons. My parents and I didn't really know what was going on but it appears to be a combination of American football and rugby. I am now officially a Demons fan. (All the American students have picked their respective footy teams to cheer for and they are all different.)

In the middle of watching the game, I had a bird land in my ponytail.

April 3:

With the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in full swing, I decided to take the 'rents to a show. A musical comedy trio called Tripod did a little show on campus at that was really good, so we went to see their full-length show called Lady Robots. They talked a lot about what big nerds they were. It was histerical.

We grabbed dinner after the show and then my parents headed to the airport. Their vacation was up and I headed back to campus. I spent the rest of the night watching the Comedy Festival Gala in the kitchen with my floormates. It was a good night, as most nights here are.

April 5:

Along with three of my American friends, I went to see Ben Folds! Phenomenal piano player. It was a great show. Afterwards, we ended up running, full tilt, through downtown Melbourne in order to catch the last tram back to campus and since I was the shortest of the four of us by half a foot, it was tough keeping up.

April 7:

A group of us wanted to go see the Andy Warhol exhibit at a gallery downtown but we didn't get there in time, so we went to this coffee shop along the river that sells really good iced mochas and chatted. We spent most of our time talking about books and being nerds.

Afterwards, we went to the Realto Tower for the Observation Deck. It was beautiful. We got to stand out on the balcony, the wind whipping in our faces and I was struck by how quiet it was despite the fact that I was in the middle of a bustling city inhabited by millions of people.

April 8:

Today was my Aussie friend, Stu's, 21st birthday. Even though by this time Australians are of legal drinking age, the 21st birthday sticks out as a big party. I don't know why, that's just the way it is. We all hung out in the common room and played fooseball, pool, and Eucher and had an all-around good time.

April 9:

My New Zealand girls and I took the two and a half hour tram ride to the town of St. Kilda to get our tatoos! Brooke got Kangaroo tracks, Becky got the outline of a horse, and I got a swirly pattern on my left ankle.

It really hurt getting the parts in the soft tissue done. Sadly, because we were getting our tatoos, we missed the first inter-college footy game. I hear it was a good one. We worked our way back to campus and everyone was eager to see what we got. I've lost track of how many times my Aussie friend Caleb has asked me "Hey Bryce? Did that hurt?" He asks me every frickin day! And Yes! It did hurt! It hurt a lot!