So spent a long weekend (sat- tues am) in Melbourne. it is a very European city with small streets and lanes. It is known for its food- which was totally amazing as I splurged (I am a foodie). On Sunday I went out on the great ocean road. This road was built originally by WWI vets years ago. Over time it has had to been moved on the western portion. You can see why in photo of the Apostles. Years ago, there were 12. 2 years ago 9 and today 8. They are always forming due to the soft nature of the continent there. I believe they mentioned it was sandstone with a mix of a harder rock. The sandstone wears away, leaving the hard rock as an apostle, but it still can not stand up to the Southern Ocean.
Monday morning was a free morning. I toured around the CBD. took a ton of pictures of the cbd including flinders street station (their main train sta), st paul's church, the skyline, the garderns, anzac memorial and the mcg. The garden's were amazing- supposedly one of the best in the world and I have to agree. The MCG is the big sports arena- its called the melbourne cricket ground, but Aussie Rules Football plays there.
Monday afternoon I went to Phillip's Island to see the little penguin parade. These birds are no more than 1 foot and 1 Kg. Every night some return from the ocean and parade on the beach up to their burrows- they due this to avoid their predators during the day. You are not allowed to take photos as the flash can blind them. It is an amazing site, as hundreds of birds walk up the beach. There are pathways made by years of this march in the grass (past the beach). They are a very social bird at night-with a ton of calls.
This week: some work with med students....going to Newcastle and Uluru!
