Food

            The food in Melbourne is quite nice.  Since many Italian and Greek immigrants came over after World War II, Australia has its share of excellent Italian and Greek food.  Food became excellent from the traditionally English cuisine (which is not that bad) with the addition of wine, pasta, coffee, olive oil, and eggplant from the influx of immigrants. The pizza is more of a thin crust, with multiple toppings.  Tazio is the perfect example of the excellent pizza.  I had the Porco Carne pizza; which included goat cheese with pork and veal meatballs.

Based on the easing of Asian immigration laws in the 1970s, Asian cuisine became a mainstay of what Australians eat.  Melbourne has a well-developed Chinatown that originally flourished with Chinese immigrants in search of gold in the 1852 Gold rush of Australia.  The Chinese immigrants were oppressed because of the increased jealousy and tension from the European immigrants.  Anyways, now one can experience all types of Asian food in Melbourne.  Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Thai can all be eaten within the city.  I even tried a Korean all-you-can-eat buffet, which had a fair amount of seafood and soups.  A Chinese restaurant that I ate at was Pacific Seafood BBQ.   There, I tried (and liked) grilled cheese with seafood on rice.  The seafood included shrimp, mussels, fish, and other seafood.

           

            Another unique part about Melbourne is the marketplace nearby my hostel.  It is known as the Queen Victoria Market.  The Queen Victoria Market had fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood.  What made this market so special is that the produce was cheap.  For one kilogram (2.2 pounds), I was able to get apples for a dollar. The processed meat was more expensive compared to the meats that were not as processed.  That is why seafood and fish were quite popular in Australia.  Seafood was not as popular in Melbourne, since the city does not have an ocean close by to fish from.    

Sports

Depending on the season, Melbourne pays attention to one main sport.  The summer sport of choice is Cricket, while the winter sport is Australian Rules football.  The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) hosts the cricket games.  It also is a historical building, in which the Australian National Sports Museum is housed at.  The MCG also has multiple statues of Australian Rules and Cricket players.  What also makes the MCG iconic is the Olympic plaque for the 1956 Olympics.

            Many remember the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.  Many do not know that was not the first Olympiad in Australia.  That right belongs to Melbourne, which hosted the 1956 Olympics.  The Olympic Park Stadium was under renovations, so that I could not enter that area.  The other sporting venues used for the Olympics include the Rod Laver Stadium and Hisense Arena, which is a part of the Melbourne Park.  The Rod Laver Stadium hosts the Australian Open, which kicks off the Grand Slam of Professional Tennis.

           

However, Australian Rules football reigns supreme in the winter.  I had the opportunity to see a game at the Etihad Stadium (which is also known as the Telstra Dome).  This fast paced game brings excitement and toughness in a sport.  Imagine if two no-huddle offenses in college football faced off against each other, and that exemplifies the amount of movement seen in Australian Rules football.  There are 18 players per team on an oval field, in which many of the players are tall (my height or taller) and are built for jumping and sprinting.  The goal is to advance the ball by kicking or punching the ball to teammates, so that a teammate would punt the ball through an upright.  I really enjoyed this game, especially two opposing players going up for a punted ball (for a mark, which gives the one who comes down with the ball a free kick), similar to a jump ball between a wide receiver and defensive back.

Arts and culture

When one goes to Melbourne, one would notice the unique architecture.  Words cannot describe the unique architecture of the buildings.  Federation square, in particular, had panels with ornate designs.  The churches are even grandiose, which adds to the skyline of Melbourne.  Even the bridges that cross the Yarra River have some sort of design that I have never came across before.

Another unique characteristic of Melbourne is the amount of art seen in this city.  Art from all over Australia and the world is on display.  At the National Art Gallery of Victoria, the main exhibit on display was about Napoleon.  The Arts Centre and Melbourne Exhibition Centre were both that had heaps of art, but was under renovations while spending my time in Melbourne.  Another portion of the arts typically seen is the theater arts.  The State Theatre and Her Majesty’s Theatre are the two major theaters where the majority of performances took place.  The final part of the arts commonly seen was the numerous street performers.  Anywhere from musicians to dancers to even magicians, these street performers were commonly seen at City Square.   

            The mix of cultures brings out the best of the city.  “Australian” culture cannot easily be defined.  However, it is a mixture of many cultures into one.  A predominate influence to Australian culture would be from England.  Australia was founded as a penal colony for the British Empire, so they tried to bring the British culture to a new continent.  Over the past 70 years or so, other cultures started to flourish in Australia.  Greek, Italian, and Asian immigrants bring a diverse mixture to the England standard.  It has become a melting pot of cultures to see. 

Each part of the Australian culture is seen:

Britain: Melbourne does have support for the British crown, since it is the capital of Victoria.  Queen Victoria allowed Australia become its own country in 1901, and especially liked the state of Victoria.  Over time, all types of arts were brought in from Britain.

Greek: Shops and restaurants along Lonsdale Street bring an infusion of Greek into the Australian culture.  It is one of the densest areas in the world (outside of Greece) with Greeks.

Italian: Italian prisoners of war during WWII decided to come back after the war.  The areas that have this influence include Lygon and Brunswick Streets.  Italians brought not only their food, but also their fine arts and theater.  Small alleyways tend to be filled by cafes, pizzerias, and Italian clothing stores.

Asian: In the well-established Chinatown, multiple Asian countries show their cultures with pride.  The Chinese are the most visible with dragons and other Chinese artistic work.  Korean and Japanese are also represented in Chinatown.

Melbourne

            Melbourne was such a nice town.  I explored a good chunk of the area, but forgot to realize that there was a free shuttle for tourists through the main parts of town.  Despite that, I saw the sports capital of Australia that had plenty of arts to go with it.  In future blogs: I will create a few separate blogs for Melbourne:

1. The arts and culture of Melbourne
2. The sports capital of Australia, my experiences with sport
3. The food
4. Phillip Island

Wellington

As we arrived in Wellington for the night, we went to a lookout point to overlook the city.  Wellington lit up at night was incredible, but not too much lighting that viewing would not be a chore.  Also along the way up the mountain to this lookout point, there was a Lord of the Rings filming area.  In the Fellowship of the Ring, the four hobbits (Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin) escape Bag End and are being hunted by the Ringwraiths.  They hide in the base of a giant tree, and that is what we saw.

The city as a whole had plenty of nightlife.  This is not saying much, considering that the other places in New Zealand I went to was primarily countryside.  Bars were plentiful, along with clubs.  The group met at the bar for dinner and drinks, though I was just fine without alcohol.  The final night in Wellington before I left, the group bowled a couple of games.  For $25, it was two games with an alcoholic drink, multiple platters of appetizers, and heaps of fun. 

Wellington is New Zealand’s capital, so we saw the capital building known as the beehive.  This is where the executive portion of parliament was at.  Right next to it was the judicial courts.  A handful of the group went to take a cable car to the top of Wellington.  From there, we went through the botanical gardens.  Much of the city had ties to England in their structure and way of life, since New Zealand still highly regards the British monarch.

Te Papa was a free museum that talked all about New Zealand and their culture.  From earthquakes to colossal squid, and the Maori culture to New Zealand’s loyalty to the British government; this place was chock-full of information.  The bus driver, Craig, must have spent a significant amount of time here.  If one was to know every detail Craig knew about New Zealand, it would take weeks of going through this museum to obtain the knowledge that he shared with us.

Before my flight, I went to the WETA cave.  WETA cave does the special effects of many movies, including the Lord of The Rings series and James Cameron’s Avatar.  The weaponry and other props of the Lord of The Rings were displayed.  The craftsmanship and intricate designs made this place a must-see.  I came away very impressed and ready to fly to Melbourne.

Sky diving

While in Nelson, I had the opportunity to skydive.  I tandem skydived with James, a local and experienced jumper who knew the scenery of Abel Tasman National Park very well.  He skydived over 6,000 times before we jumped out of the plane from 16,500 feet in the air.  The nerves did not set in until I was at the edge of the plane ready to start the free fall.  The 75 seconds of free fall felt like an eternity full of adrenaline.  Floating down over Nelson and Abel Tasman National Park was exhilarating! 

Kaikoura and Nelson

In Kaikoura, a portion of the group did the Kaikoura Peninsula walkway.  The walk truly was a thing of beauty.  It reminded me of the Bar Harbor National Park in Maine.  The rolling hills, multiple cliff edges, lush vegetation and green grasses.  On top of the hills, there were pastures for cows to graze in. 

As for actual wildlife, seals and seagulls littered the land and skies, respectfully.  The seals were in matting season, where the males would fight to be “king of the rock” so that they could mate with the female of their choice.  What made it even more interesting was that the seals were on the shore by us.  Many were just lounging around in the parking lot, but some even by the bus (maybe 25 meters away).

On our way to Nelson, we had a mystery stop.  This stop did not only involve seals, but baby seals at that.  In a secluded area of the forest, there was a beautiful waterfall.  The waterfall had baby seals, acting as a nursery and shelter until the baby seals were mature enough to be out on their own.  It was a picturesque site.

Nelson had its own bag of surprises.  Though I did not go to the home of Ernest Rutherford (a famous chemist that worked on the first atomic bomb), this small and vibrant costal city was terrific.  After getting a kebab for lunch (it is an enjoyable wrap with meat, lettuce, onion, and tomato) we explored more of Nelson.  It offered many shops, a beautiful look into the Pacific Ocean, hiking to the center of New Zealand, and an all-around great time.  Abel Tasman National Park was also nearby Nelson, but I did not have the time to go.  Too bad, because I heard it was one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand.  The next day I skydived above Abel Tasman National Park.

The last dinner provided by Topdeck was fantastic.  It was a barbeque with steak and chicken, along with potatoes, bread, salad, along with other delicious food.  For dinner, there were four types of ice cream (all were delicious by the way, especially the flavors caramel and lime) along with boysenberry cheesecake.