Mellow Melbourne

As Geoff had never been to Melbourne before, we made sure to check out at least a little bit of the city while we were there.  

We met our walking tour mid-afternoon (perhaps not the smartest time considering the 35 degree temperature) at Federation Square, the major meeting place in Melbourne.  The Square, like many of the other landmarks and walkways in the city, was designed to reflect the city's cultural diversity.  The Square’s design, however, has been controversial, coming in well-above the budgeted price tag and generating mixed reviews about final look (which we felt looked a little too much like the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Berlin, a beautiful building but certainly not one which was meant to feel inviting and comfortable).  Nonetheless, Melbourne make great use of the Square, with lots of people out watching the tennis matches playing on a big screen.

Melbourne is known for its active sports and arts scenes.  There are stadiums, sports grounds and big parks all around the city and there are several galleries and nightly music/band options all over town.  A unique part of Melbourne is the alley culture, with lots of little hidden streets sporting hip and funky restaurants and bars.  Some of these alleys have actually been turned into pedestrian streets and are lined with all types of restaurants and coffee shops.

Embracing its promotion of the arts, many of these alleys showcase "street art" (different than graffiti because it is allowed/encouraged/commissioned), where local talents can come and design.  The street art changes frequently as new people come to make their mark. 

Melbourne, similar to Canada, is a diverse city, made up primarily of immigrants.  And similar to Canada, Melbourne has embraced the great parts of these different cultures into all aspects, and considers this blend of ethnicities to be its city's culture.  Perhaps this explains why they are known as one of the friendliest cities in the world…   

Neon Lights

There was a definite and unexpected wardrobe trend for all Nike-sponsored tennis players  – neon yellow and pink.  Some people took the neon too far….

Aussie Awesomeness...

You would never have guessed it was just the first week of the Australian Open.  People were playing to win.  Even unseeded players forced the top ranked players to perform their best.  

Maria Sharapova went to the 7 games and 3 sets to beat countrywoman Panova, Federer took 4 sets to beat his opponent in Round 2, and Kohlschreiber went down to hometown favourite, Tomic.   Canadians Bouchard and Raonic powered through their rounds, with Bouchard winning her second round match in less than an hour and Raonic playing serves in the high 220km/hr range.  

Our new tennis fave, Goran Ivansevic, took on the role of coach for Malek Taziri when he learned on the IPTL tour that Taziri was ranked 70^th in the world but didn’t have a coach and didn’t even train because there were no facilities in his home country of Tunisia.  With Goran’s main pupil, Marin Cilic, out of the tournament with an injury, Goran decided to stick around and work with Taziri.  Although he lost to local fan favourite Kyrgios in the third round, he played remarkably competitively – where this guy could go with some formal training!

The unexpected match for us, however, was Roger Federer versus Italian player, Seppi.  We thought it was going to be an easy match for Federer but after 3 hours playing in the blazing heat, Seppi won the game in four sets.  Federer, ever the sportsman, actually clapped for his competitor after a dramatic and thrilling tournament.

It was 50 hours of travel to get to Australia for just a four day stopover but the awesome tennis was totally worth it!

There was even a spot of controversy as the post-game interviewer demonstrated the cultural and gender sensitivity that Australians are famous for by asking the men about their tactics and strategy used to win their matches, while asking the women to twirl and show off their wardrobes. 

An Australian Fly By?

We have learned during our travels that we are real "enablers" of each other.  When sending in our ticket applications for Wimbledon just days before the deadline, we all of a sudden realized that the Australian Open was starting in January and wondered if we would have time to swing by quickly to see a few matches en route back to Dubai.  Normal people would have determined this to be a ridiculous idea – 50 hours of flying and a 19 hour time change just to see some tennis was simply ludicrous.  But, once one of us suggested it, the other jumped right on board and before we knew it we were looking into flights and hotels and how to get tickets.

The 25 hour commute from San Diego to Melbourne went by remarkably quickly.  We arrived at the hotel too early for our room to be ready but the Hotel Lindrum staff kindly allowed us to use the staff shower (with its pesky broken door) to freshen up.  Feeling surprisingly energetic, we headed out to get some lunch and wander around the city.  In fact, we were obviously so excited to be in Melbourne that we headed over to the Australian Open to see if we could get some last minute tickets to the matches that evening.

That evening, sitting in Margaret Court Arena, we saw two awesome matches.  The first match was admittedly less competitive with Serena Williams dominating her competitor.  But just seeing her in action was awesome - she is so powerful!  The second match was anything but a cake walk.  Fan favourite, Gael Monfils, was taking on fellow French newcomer, Lucas Pouille (who the crowd joyfully called “Pooey”) and lost the first two sets.  Perhaps because of the supportive crowd and because he “promised his parents he would play well this year”, Monfils fought back and won the last three sets to take the match.  This started what was going to be an incredible few days of tennis…

Equilibrium

Having picked up a few warmer clothes pieces for San Diego's cooler climate (and Dubai's oncoming winter season), we made a quick stop at the Salvation Army to donate some of our other pieces.   Our strict “one in, one out” policy is actually become a bit easier and Beth even embraced a “one in, TWO out” policy on this leg of the trip! (ED: this was by necessity as it was only through last minute bag rearranging of taking Beth's heavier items and stuffing them in Geoff's underweight suitcase that Beth was able to fly from Thailand to Dubai)

Guiding Lights

For our final free day in San Diego, we hiked over to Banker’s Hill for lunch and then headed up to Point Loma in search of whales. 

The southern tip of San Diego is part of the migration route for blue whales as they make their way south from Alaska and it is not unusual to see whales swimming through the water at this time of year.

 

Although we did not manage to spot any whales, we took the chance while we were up there to see the Cabrillo National Monument.   This statue commemorates the landing of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542, the head of the first European expedition that had set foot on the West Coast of the US.    Interestingly, there are no real records of exactly where the expedition landed but historical research pins this as the most likely spot!

Near the monument is the Old Point Loma Lighthouse. The lighthouse was commissioned just 19 days after California became a state in 1850.  Its position at the highest peak of Point Loma, however, proved to be a challenge as the lighthouse was so high that it could not be seen by boats on foggy days.  As such, several years later a new lighthouse was commissioned on a lower plot of land.

The Lighthouse now stands as a museum highlighting the history of Point Loma and showcasing once again the role that women played in San Diego and beyond.  The Museum explained that managing lighthouses was one of the first leadership roles for women in the government.

Surprisingly, it was the drive to Point Loma that really made an impression.  The panoramic views stretched far and wide, allowing us to see not only Coronado Island from above but also Tijuana, Mexico, and beyond.  On the drive up, we also saw a number of military installations, such as coastal artillery batteries, as well as thousands of military graves covering the surrounding plains.  Reminiscent of Arlington Cemetery, the simple but elegant tombstones  run in precise rows, surrounded by beautiful gardens and the rushing water below.  A calm and peaceful resting place for those who served.

Haunted

As San Diego’s nightlife in mid-January was a little quiet, we decided to spruce things up one evening and take The Original Haunted San Diego Ghost Tour.

With fairly low expectations, we arrived at the tour departure point to find our tour guide dressed up as an 19^th century maid and wondered if we should quietly sneak away before the tour got started.

As we set off, however, to see "America’s Most Haunted House" and several other spooky properties around town, our tour guide masterfully wove puns and anecdotes into her ghost stories, making for an incredibly entertaining evening. We thought that Beth would have had her fill of wit and charm from her travelling companion, but she demonstrated a never-ending appetite as the most appreciative consumer of all the jokes that the tour guide could dole out.

Although we will never remember all the stories and details she told us, we will likely never forget how passionate our fellow tour mates were about the afterlife and just how many shows there are on television about ghost hunters.  Truly scary!