My 2014 Adventure: Travels to Singapore, Australia & New Zealand: Exploring Melbourne

This week has been fun getting to know the city of Melbourne. It's the second most populated city in Australia, at around four million, and the capital of the state of Victoria. When we last left off I was getting ready to go to the Queen Victoria Market, which was amazing! I met my friend Tessa, who lives here and attends Melbourne University. We had some delicious food (masala dosa, Korean spiral potato with chicken salt, cronuts, candied almonds) and listened to an American-style folk band.

Yesterday I woke up in time for the daily free walking tour of the city. We left from the State Library and ended by the Yarra River. Some of my favorite history tidbits are as follows: Ned Kelly was a bushranger who was quite controversial here in Australia. Similar to Bonnie and Clyde, he and his gang robbed banks for a living and were sometimes known to burn mortgage papers. Finally captured in a shootout with police, he was sentenced and hung in the old Melbourne jail; his last words were, "such is life." Another interesting thing you'll see around the city are plastic bands on most trees in city parks. This is because opossums are a big problem here. They climb the trees and eat new leaf shoots, eventually killing European tree varieties. The plastic bands, while looking very silly, prevent the critters from climbing up. As a result, the ground is littered with opossums at nightfall because they have no trees to climb.

There is also a huge street art scene here in Melbourne. Street art is different from graffiti because it is done in permitted areas with great artistic care. Graffiti is just for someone to publicize their name and deface property. Below I've shown some of my favorites. Also, there are many beautiful structures in Melbourne dating back to the 19th century including the Royal Exhibition Hall and State Library of Victoria. The Royal Exhibition Hall was very close to being torn down; luckily it was saved by one vote and preserved.

I've really become comfortable with the city, and am able to get around using the trams or even walking. It's fun to explore the different neighborhoods. Yesterday I walked along Brunswick St in Fitzroy where there are a lot of vintage shops, cafes, and bars. I've gotten to try different Aussie brews such as Little Creatures (pilsner, Rogers amber ale) White Rabbit (white ale, dark ale), and Mountain Goat (steam ale). I'd highly suggest them all! Looking forward to the weekend including a winery visit and White Night (annual all-night, city-wide arts festival).