Great Ocean Walk Day 3

Journal Entry: Tuesday 30/11/10

Another grueling day on the Great Ocean Walk. And unfortunately not as interesting as yesterday. During the night I got up to pee and the stars greeted me when I poked my head out of the tent. I’ve been yearning to see that many stars since I’ve been in Australia. It was too cold to stay out long, though, and I quickly reentered the warmth of my sleeping bag.

Not long after hitting the trail in the morning we found ourselves in the middle of an army patrol. They were hiking about the same speed as us so we trades places a few times. Apparently they were just out for a hike—a little training. If that’s what the army does, sign me up. When we hit the beach, however, we pretty much lost them for good.

It was a pristine beach—we were the first ones on it that day—and we took the obligatory footprints in the sand photos. It was fun to hike barefoot in the sand. From there we hiked some hilly sections, passing a grounds crew that was weedwhacking the trail. We dropped down near sea level again and crossed the Aire River by bridge, ~10 km into the day.

We ate lunch there but did not stay long because we still had to walk along Johanna Beach (there was no inland track) and high tide was coming up in the evening and we didn’t know how wide the beach was. From Aire River to Johanna Beach campsite was about 12.4 km and a lot of the hike was ups and downs and parts were hard to appreciate because we were so tired.

Eventually we descended to Johanna Beach where we stripped down for a quick swim. It was a beautiful beach, very wide and completely sandy with no rocks. The only thing was the current, which I could feel sucking me out as I dove under waves. The GOW campsite turned out to be ful so we had to hike back down to the campground and found a nice spot under some trees. Only it must have been the windiest spot for a mile in any direction. Inside the tent felt like Everest base camp. We also saw a couple pairs of hooded plovers today.

Great Ocean Walk Day 2

Journal Entry: Monday 29/11/10

We emerged from the tent pretty late this morning. Allen and Aiden were already up and we joined them in the shelter for brekkie. After packing up we left the campsite around 10:30. The hike before lunch was all inland through mostly open Eucalypt forest, with some patches that looked like temperate rain forest. Sytske and I swapped knowledge of the biota. We spotted a few birds but no large animals. We found out why when we caught up to a group of elderly hikers from Sydney tramping through the forest like the Elephant Brigade from the Jungle Book. Sytske got a chuckle out of that wisecrack. They said they saw a black wallaby a little ways back run off the trail. We made sure to pass them before they disturbed anymore of our wildlife.

After ~10 km we arrived at Blanket Bay, where we lunched. There were many dead birds on the beach and even a dead seal. I guess it must happen on more accessible beaches too, but on this remote one no one is there to clean it up. We stopped for a while and I took a short nap. At about 3 PM we pressed on, determined to make it to the Cape Otway campsite just past the lighthouse.

Not long after lunch we had to take our boots of to cross the 10-foot wide Parker Inlet. That was a little annoying. Then we had to climb Parker’s Hill. That was also a little annoying. Then when we got to the top I went to take a photo of the view and found that my lens cap was gone. I had to run all the way down the hill and found the cap where it fell out of my pocket as I was putting my boots back on then run all the way back up the 293 stone steps. That was really annoying.

But we continued on, needing to cover about 10 km of track just inland from the coast. One of the best parts of the hike so far is how the vegetation and environments change so dramatically so often. At one point we broke out onto a road and could see the lighthouse off in the distance, 4 km away. This was at about 5 PM. We pressed on and Sytske and I we re both getting cranky and tired. The trail continued just off to the side of a paved road and the flies were relentless, adding to our woes.

But then we spotted a koala, two black wallabies, and an echidna in short succession and those spotting definitely raised our spirits. We trudged on, past the lighthouse (which was already closed to the public because it was so late) and finally arrived at the campsite close to 7 PM. There was a group occupying the group site but that was it. We chose a site (we had 8 to choose from), set up the tent and made dinner, first 4-cheese pasta and then Mi Goreng.

For after-dinner entertainment a koala climbed right up a tree right in front of us, munching away on the tree’s few remaining leaves. As I write this now the stars are starting to come out. I’ll probably sit and enjoy them for a minute before I go to bed—it’s not too cold, although I realize I should have brought pants. We are now a third of the way through the hike, both in distance and time.

Great Ocean Walk Day 1

For the next six posts I am typing up the journal entries I wrote while on the Great Ocean Walk, with only minor edits.  I did the walk with one other person—Sytske, a fellow American—who I had met once before.  We had a mutual friend who was supposed to come with us but dropped out, leaving just her and me.  Here’s the first entry…

Journal Entry: Sunday 28/11/10

Woke up pretty early (~7:30 AM) to get to Southern Cross train station.  Met up with Sytske and took a train and a bus to Apollo Bay, and arrived around 12:45 PM.   After lunch we got on the trail (which was actually a sidewalk) and pretty soon lost the path, even though we were still in the town.  We eventually found we had gone down the wrong street and picked up the correct sidewalk again.  After walking through some developments we finally got onto the beach.

I should mention all the way down from Melbourne it was raining off and on but when we started hiking it cleared to party cloudy—I got to wear my new hat, even though it threatened to blow off multiple times.  The trail switched between beach and inland and at a few decision points we chose to walk inland because the tide was on its way in.  Then we got to Decision Point 4, where the trail either turned way inland or went along a stretch of rock shore.

Inland section of the track.

It was about 3:45 and high tide was at 4:30 PM.  The safe choice would have been to take the inland route, but we were adventurous and skipped across the rocks.  It got tricky at times and a wave washed into my boot at least once.  Another time I had to wade barefoot because the water had reached the rock wall and covered the footholds.

The camp shelter/kitchen. One at every site.

But we made it up to the Elliot Ridge campsite without too much trouble.  It was deserted except for about eight people in the group site and father and son Allen and Aiden.  As we were setting up our tent we started to hear something that sounded like the oinking of a pig.  I was expecting a wild boar to crash through the underbrush at any moment but it turned out to be a koala up in a tree making the racket.  He is up there doing it now (mating call?) as I write this.  After dinner we played cards with Allen and Aiden.  I lost pretty badly in a version of Kings.  Sytske won.  Time for bed because it’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.

Parents Visit 3/3 - Great Ocean Road

I'll keep this post short since the visit was a while ago (November 12th?) and I have a bunch of posts coming up about my recent expedition: the Great Ocean Walk.  In fact, it was so long ago that I can't really remember anything notable that happened.  It took well over three hours to get to the road—way longer than I envisioned—as we started at the 12 Apostles and worked our way back along the coast.  The day was overcast but the crowds still turned up.

Parents and Apostles.

We made it to Apollo Bay at dinnertime and stopped to eat at Cafe 153.  As I recall the maître d’ vaguely resembled Michael Caine.  My mom and I both had the fish special—perhaps it was grouper—which was fresh and simple.  To drink I had a local microbrew that used rainwater from the region.

A good beer, as far as I can remember.

After the sun set on our way back we decided to cut inland thinking the road would be less windy and shorter, but for the first 50 km it was probably worse.  We eventually made it back to the city pretty late.

I just got back from the 6-day Great Ocean Walk, so over the next week I will post my journal entries from each day along with some of the photos I took (there are over 400 but I’ve already selected the 114 best...).  For the rest of my time here in Australia my internet access will probably be spotty so bear with me if there are long breaks between posts.

Parents Visit Part 2/3

Now that my exams are over I have ample free time to produce the posts about my parents’ visit.  First, though, a note about the exams here.  Most of them are in the 19th century Royal Exhibition Building, about 15 minutes from the campus.  It’s a huge, ornate building that has basically one gigantic room inside.  Lined up in endless rows are thousands and thousands of desks and there are multiple exams going on in both the mornings and afternoons.

Both times I walked to the building for an exam I started out with one person next to me.  At every stoplight, however, we joined up with more and more people as we got closer to the REB.  About one block from the building I was in a group about 50 deep and more students joined until it turned into a steady stream entering the building.  It was kind of like the beginning of the Drew Carey show, but without the singing or dancing. Or happiness.

But exams are over now and I have time to write about the Yarra Valley Wine Country.  It was my third vineyard/wine tasting day in Australia so I’m basically a pro now.  We drove to three vineyards sampling all varieties of wine along the way.  My parents bought a few bottles, one of which we enjoyed during our picnic lunch.  At one winery I learned that sparkling wines like champagne get the sparkles in the bottle when they put more yeast in and a second fermentation occurs.  Then they turn the bottle upside down until the yeast settles, freeze the neck, pop the yeast ice cube out, then top off the bottle.

Dandenong Ranges after the jump...

Out of the city, into the Grampians

“I want to get out of the city.”  Words spoken by my mom, about four hours after my parents arrived in Melbourne.  Maybe she jumped the gun a little bit, but she does have a point.  Melbourne is a great city, but it really could be anywhere.  Much of Australia’s uniqueness comes from the natural landscape (which was reinforced in my Biology of Australian Flora and Fauna exam this morning).

It got a little tight.

So the next day, early in the morning, we got out of the city and headed to Grampians National Park.  Around midday we arrived at Halls Gap, a town near the middle of the park that sounds like it belongs in Middle Earth.  We consulted with the information desk attendant and she pointed us to a number of sights we should see.  First up was a short hike through volcanic-like rocks—unfortunately not as interesting as the ones I visited a couple months ago—to a vista of the surrounding area.

After eating a little lunch we hiked back and drove on to the MacKenzie Falls.  We hiked down a bunch of stairs to get to the waterfall, and it turned out to be a good one.  The day had just started to get nice as well.  I took over 40 pictures of the falls and, even though it was really hard to pick, I’ll include only the best one here.

From there we drove to a nature walk.  Before we even got there my dad spotted an echidna on the side of the road.  By the time we pulled over it had shuffled off the road and stuck its head inside a pile of sticks—a much tamer encounter with wildlife than I had at the beginning of the semester.  The echidna is a monotreme, which means its closest relative is the platypus.  They are the only egg-laying mammals in the world.  To those of you interested, the echidna has a four-headed penis, but only uses two of them during intercourse.  They also form mating trains, with one female in the front followed by several males.  You can pick up some funny facts while studying for exams.

Maybe you can't see me, but I can see you.

But the echidna was just the first course.  Hmm, poor choice of metaphor?  Anyway, at the nature walk we saw many more animals, including but not limited to...

Couldn't miss the Melbourne Cup

It seems like I update this blog in waves, and I think another one of those waves is coming.  My parents visited me in Melbourne for the past few days so I have plenty of activities to blog about.  First, though, I should write about the Melbourne Cup.

It’s described here as “The race that stops a nation” and it at least stops the Melbourne area because there is a public holiday on race day.  I wasn’t planning on going until the night before, but I figured that I shouldn’t miss such a spectacle.  I hopped on the computer and bought a ticket online for $58.

Front row standing room.

Sure enough it was quite a scene.  I think I arrived sometime between noon and one o’clock and the stands and grounds were packed.  The Australians I showed up with were all members of the track (there are some pretty well-off people at the residential college where I live) and I tried to get into the members section with them, but I couldn’t sneak in.  Rather than risk getting kicked out, I found some fellow Americans and took my place on the grass right next to the track with the rest of the plebs.  My account of the race is after the jump.

Strategy to Get My Blog Out There

So I'm still procrastinating.  In light of my last post, I thought I would try something to see if I could get more people to read my blog.  I googled "how to get more readers" and this web site called technorati came up.  I'm not exactly sure what it does, but I have to verify that this blog is mine, so I need to include this code in a post:
6CQVMHV4G5MG
We'll see how this little experiment goes.  I think people type in keywords to the technorati site and if they match with keywords that I use to describe my blog then they link to my blog?  Something like that maybe.  Just thought I'd give it a try.

Procrastination. And a Tale of Conflict Mitigation.

I have a final paper due on Tuesday so I’ve been procrastinating a lot lately.  One thing I stumbled on during my endless surfing of the Internet is the “stats” for this very blog.  As a reader of this blog, I thought you might be interested in these statistics so as a way to further procrastinate I will outline a couple of the more interesting numbers.

• 1,723: Total pageviews.  This number is probably skewed, however, because I just found out how to not track my own pageviews.  So the total should probably be halved.
• 639: Pageviews during my busiest month, August.  It only went down slightly to 617 in September, but then plummeted to 384 in October.
• 44: Number of referrals I have gotten from Edacious Eatings.  "Have gotten" must be terrible English.
• 26: Number of pageviews from South Korea, the most of any country besides Australia and the United States.  Russia is catching up, though, with 13 in the last month (24 all time).
• 104: Views of my most clicked-on post, “My First Blog Post. Ever.”  In second with 63 views is my first post about Australian Rules Football.  Looks like I peaked early.

Alright I should get back to writing.  My parents arrive in Melbourne on Tuesday, so I have to get a lot of work done before they get here.  I just signed up for Google Ads too, so when those go online feel free to click on a couple.  But don’t tell anyone I said that.

The story of the Gravy Fiasco is after the jump...

A Paying Gig

A few weeks ago at Ormond, my residential college, we had one of our college-wide events/parties.  For the first hour a jazz combo—half of which were Ormond students—played jazz standards for the slowly growing crowd.  A few drinks deep, I struck up a conversation with the clarinetist and told him I played the tenor sax back home.  He pointed to a case at the back of the stage and asked if I wanted to play a little.  “What the hell,” I said to myself and jumped onstage and grabbed the axe.

They were in the middle of a tune so I yelled back at the pianist “What key are we in?” and I think he said, “G.”  I wasn’t sure if I heard right or whether he was talking about concert pitch, so I just started playing.  For not touching the sax for about six months I think I sounded all right.  I played on a couple songs (don’t know what they were) and took a couple solos, and the next day I got a number of compliments, so it couldn’t been too bad.  And it was good enough for the clarinetist a couple days later to ask me to fill in on a gig for him.  He said there was $30 involved so I was in.

At least I look like I'm good, right?

The group was a full big band made up mostly of Uni students with some older players thrown in.  I made it to the last rehearsal before the concert/gig and sight-read through about half the charts and managed to keep up on most of them.  The show was last week, on Thursday, at the Penny Black, a bar with a small stage for live music that we all crammed onto.  My account of the performance after the jump...