At Sea/Melbourne

March 19-20
At Sea/Melbourne

So I’m a week late writing this, I remember nothing from the sea day, so we’ll skip that. Melbourne was nice though, so I’ll give you that story…
I’ve actually been looking forward to Melbourne for quite some time because I have a friend from Chicago land who is studying abroad there. My friend, Steph, is one of my students’ sister, and we’ve been talking back and forth since before I left about meeting in Melbourne. Today was meant to be the big day where months of talks were meant to culminate into some epic meeting…and I overslept our meeting time.
We’d been emailing back and forth pretty recently and I recommended meeting at the ship at 9 am, that she’d take me to her 11:00 class, and then we’d figure out something from there. Well, my alarm didn’t go off, my roommate’s alarm didn’t go, and I finally came to my senses at 10:50, way later than I’d expected. So I wake up freaking out (sort of) that I totally just messed up the plan and got on my computer as soon as possible to check for any emails about what’s going on. Luckily, Steph had sent me an email that morning informing me that she was feeling ill and wasn’t going to be at the ship to meet me, and that if I wanted to meet up somewhere I should take the tram into the city and meet her at the university. This made me feel better knowing that she wasn’t outside the ship all morning waiting for me and I quickly got my things together and left the ship.
In the process of figuring out the situation I did make one air headed mistake…I left my ear buds (headphones) on the chair where I was working on my computer. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I’d left them and I was back within 10 minutes to pick them up, however, they’d already been stolen. This didn’t exactly lighten my day seeing as these headphones cost me about $100, but on the bright side, I’ve had them for almost 2 years and the left sheathing was cracked above the ear, meaning the wire was exposed and offered a really uncomfortable scratching sensation. This sensation was then only heightened by the scotch tape I’d applied to remedy the situation. So really, I did need new earphones, I just didn’t want to expedite the process via the present situation. But oh well, I took a deep breath and made a point to step off the ship with a smile, I wanted to have a good day :)
I figured out my way into the city and found my way onto the right set of trams to drop me off at the front door of Steph’s dorm. And after finding a payphone for a phone call (because reception was of no help), we were soon up in her room getting ready to head out to the beach.
We met up with a couple of Steph’s friends on the beach and everyone just hung out tanning. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to lay in the sun when there’s a whole unexplored city behind me, so I left for lunch (fish and chips), checked back for a minute, and then left the group to catch a tram back into the downtown area.
Now starting to run low on time, I picked the one area of the city that was closest and most interesting, leading me into a nice museum/art gallery, a wonderful walk over some bridges and through Federation Square, a artsy downtown area known as “Melbourne’s meeting place”. I had a great time just walking around taking in the sites for what they were, and slowly made my way back to the tram that would eventually take me back to the ship.
The tram back to the ship was an experience in itself. Seeing as I was running low on time, I took the latest tram possible for my all aboard time, which was anything but an original idea. When the tram had finally gotten to my stop (10 minutes late) I had to literally push my way into the car, and turned facing the doors, my nose might well have been pressed against the windows…that’s how packed this tram was with people all trying to get back to the ship. It dropped us off right at the all aboard time, and after a good run down the pier to try to get on the ship in time to not get in trouble, me and a number of friends made a successful return.
The city itself has been one of my favorites. It feels similar to Chicago, is a little less busy, a little more green (more trees), and has some wonderful architecture. I would have loved more time in the city and hope to return sometime for a longer stay. Thanks for reading!