Melbourne: Old Friends in New Places

Welcome Back!

Before leaving the continent, we had one last hurrah in store for us: seeing good friends Lisa and Ed who hail from the very distinguished days of Wolfson College, B42 Solidarity, South Sandwich Fracture Zone, and of course the unsinkable Empress of Blandings. Given the fact that only two or three people in the world know what I am talking about now, I will move on to more comprehensible matters: platypuses. Four days should be enough to find a platypus, but despite our meanest efforts, we fell a bit short of the mark. We did learn how to pick them up by their tails on Youtube though. Anyway, our spirits were not damped in the least, and considering the number of other wonderful moments a platypus-less trip can hardly be bemoaned.

Our wonderful hosts in Melbourne, Victoria, had enlisted the assistance of Felix (their trusty neighborhood Flexicar) to drive us to some truly astounding locations. Our first drive took us South down to the Great Ocean Road (which was great, and there was an ocean too) where we picnicked on the beach and then trekked through the gum trees above the clear blue waters of the Tasman Sea. On our way back down the trail, Lisa spotted a wild Koala (which is not actually a bear) who actually summoned enough energy to wake up and look at us, which we greatly appreciated after learning that Koala are known to sleep up to 22 hours a day.

The next day we headed to the lesser-known Werribee Gorge State Park which turned out to be a very rewarding choice. The trail was challenging and dropped us steeply into the gorge where we skirted a very picturesque Werribee River and then climbed back onto the opposite side of the valley from which we could see all the way back to downtown Melbourne. It was a glorious hike, and we only got ourselves lost once or twice which gave us the impression of really being 'in the bush'. Dinner that night was a very unique dining experience at Lentil as Anything, a not-for-profit drop-in restaurant run by volunteers at a local convent that provides gourmet meals in a cafeteria-style environment. Diners are asked only to donate "what they feel their meal and experience is worth" and "according to their own financial ability". The food was exceptional, and we ate until stuffed (a stipulation of the management also enforced by the signage on the walls).

A little exploration also took Carol and I into the Melbourne city and Central Business District (CBD) where we became familiar with travel on the tram lines and certain aspects of local creativity like Yarnbombing. One morning we joined Lisa on a running tour from her residence to her place of work (nearly at the top of one of the taller skyscrapers in Melbourne) where we got to enjoy a panoramic view of the entire city and surrounding countryside. The rest of the day was spent wandering down to the seaside and eating cake on Acland Street.

Most important of all, we got to spend time with our friends, and catch up on a lot of time spent living on opposite sides of the world. After several years of closely knit friendships and shared not-to-be-believed experiences in Cambridge (a world apart), we have all discovered the challenges of establishing new lives and 'growing up' in a world that can often take life too seriously, and at other times fall short of offering the deep sense of fulfillment that we crave. Conversations about space-time and quantum mechanics, singing and clapping along to the Happy song in the car, and confronting together the deep challenges of relationship in this present life were all ways of reestablishing a bond of friendship across continents. If we hadn't left so early in the morning, there would have been tears in our eyes as we said goodbye and hopped in a cab for the airport and our final destination...

In all Seriousness,

Joe