Here is my best friend Stephanie in front of a convent in Abbotsford (yes, Abbotsford). Within the convent were a few cafes and bakeries, including a vegetarian "pay-what-you-feel" restaurant, which was delicious and awesome. They even make free coffee!
On the weekend I stayed with my friend Cali (Canadian) and her man David (Australian). They lived in Frankston, which is about an hour outside of Melbourne. On the weekend, we went to Luna Park in St. Kilda, which is home to the largest wooden roller coaster in the world.
Me at the the "mouth" of Luna Park.
The historic Luna Park carousel, built in 1913.
The Pharoah's Curse, which I did not ride, but Cali and David are on it. I don't like going completely upside down.
The roller coaster ("Scenic Railway") looks right over the beach and it was a gorgeous sunny day. The view was spectacular. Unfortunately I couldn't take my camera with me on the roller coaster!
This is Lolly, who was my room-mate for the weekend (she's Cali's flatmate's dog).
We took a walk down St. Kilda pier, which was quite pretty, even if the sky looked pretty ominous. It definitely reminded me of Vancouver.
You could definitely tell which way the wind was blowing.
The best part was definitely seeing the little penguins live and in the wild. The video isn't very good, but I can assure you, they were very cute.
I took a trip to the ACCA, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and checked out their Beckett-inspired exhibit, which was sparse but still gave me a smile. It was a cool building, too, and right beside the Malthouse Theatre (which was, not shockingly, once a malthouse).
Since that was only a few blocks away from the Shrine of Remembrance, I decided to head on over to get a better look.
From one side:
And from another:
There were plenty of other beautiful monuments dedicated to the Australian soldiers, like this one:
The Shrine of Remembrance is located right by the beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens.
The next week I stayed with Kaye, mum's good friend, and spent my days either with Steph and/or Cali, seeing the sights. There was an amazing exhibit at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, which I couldn't take pictures of, called Dreams Come True, which was all artwork from Disney movies, including cells and concept art from the best princess movies. It was magical! Here are some photos of Federation Square, where the ACMI is located.
from Fed Square, looking at St. Paul's Cathedral.
Steph and I in Fed Square.
Cali and I in Fed Square.
A cool church on Sydney Road, in Brunswick.
A cool building in Chinatown.
The Immigration Museum, which I didn't get a chance to visit last year. Very informative, all about how immigrants from all over the world came to Australia, particularly Victoria.
Rats immigrated, too!
This is the MCG, the Mebourne Cricket Ground. Didn't get much closer. Not a fan of cricket (but don't tell the Australians!!)
This is me with the Spirit Of The Square Wishing Penguin in Federation Square. He's a magical penguin who grants wishes at Christmas. Hurray!
I'm splitting this trip into two blog entries - I just have so many more pictures. So stay tuned, I'll be posting those in the new year... you know, probably tomorrow.
Happy New Year, everybody!
