I kept on waiting to see a Steve Singh sticker....
June 12, 2005St. Kilda, Melbourne, Australia
8:47
Tonight for dinner? Shrimps. Bahbie. Or was it a thin crust pizza with a nice Shiraz?
We are here. Actually we arrived last night late and stayed at a hotel er…motel near the airport. Ahh nothing like paying 120 bucks for eight hours. Yikes. But the sheets were clean and the air was dry. And not one antelope sized cockroach crawled across my frontal lobe. And yet still I could not sleep. What kind of fool am I.
So the flight went pretty well, all connections, including the two and half hour drive from Pac Harbour to Nadi, transitioned smoother than buttermilk poured from a saxophone. A nice man, very dark, very Indian, named Charlie (head strangely shaped like a bullet), drove us in a minivan. Hud and I once again drifted off and Steph kept Charlie company with random questions regarding the flora and fauna.
Nadi Airport is great, particularly the departure waiting area. Note to self: Lots and lots of twenty year old women, candy apple thongs and g-strings poking out the back of their low rider jeans, going to Rarotonga, one of the Cook Islands. Note to self: stop posting note to self’s so the whole world can read them.
Other random airport waiting thoughts? There is always one couple with a baby that is just going off like a steam ship whistle. And everyone in the waiting area is preying silently that this family does not sit next to him or her. You can see it on their faces. They look constipated. It’s funny. At least to me it is.
Hud was active on the flight, but never once tried to escape. Other parents just let their kids roam. They slip their headphones on and the let the “plane” take care of them. One toddler just roamed the aisles, half charming and half annoying everyone around him. I wanted to ding my warm, buttery roll off the father’s noggin, but that of course meant giving up the warm, buttery roll. Darling Hudson fell asleep two hours in and we had to wake him on arrival. This kid transitions so well. Perhaps he will grow up and be a gypsy. I sure hope so. Gypsies are cool.
We rented a car upon arrival. Some mid-sized beige jobby with the wheel on the wrong side. Steph nervously got us to our motel as she lost the first “who’s driving” coin flip. We checked in and I bought ten bucks worth of chips and water to stave off hunger. It was just after 12 so it didn’t take long for all of us to fall asleep.
A good old-fashioned successful travel day.
This morning we woke up and started driving to St. Kilda, a small suburb of Melbourne near the water . Our home for the next 2 days.
It was my turn to drive. I did ok minus some navigational mix-ups, and we were upgraded to a deluxe room cause they did not have a room to fit a cot for the Hud.
Before we left Toronto, Steph’s wonderful ex-company bought us a gift certificate for Luna Park, an amusement park here in St. Kilda. We went right after we arrived, as we were not able to check in right away.
What a blast! It was like the Ex, but not as big or greasy. They had about 10 rides of various height requirements, but Hud was able to go on his first roller coaster (with me yay!) and another ride where they take you up about 6 meters and let you drop (Hud and Steph did that one, I was a little afraid). Hud loved them and we went on them a bunch of times before plying him away with promises of lollypops. It was a great start for Hud and a great reward for being so darn flexible.
St. Kilda is lovely. It sits at the Southeast corner of Melbourne, right on the ocean. Our hotel is on the Esplanade in front of the beach and water. We were lucky to arrive on Sunday, as there was an arts and crafts market lined up all along the sidewalk right across from the hotel. I know what you are thinking…how lucky can I be to have an arts and crafts market right across the street! I mean everyone knows I like arts and crafts almost as much as I like macramé. Seriously though, it was an excellent way to get a feel for the people here in Melbourne. They are like St. Lawrence Market people early in the morning on Saturday, before the 905ers arrive. Good looking, urban granolas mixed with big sunglasses (Steph’s Gucci’s finally fit in). Nose rings and Ugs. Stylish men in their mid-forties with creamy leather jackets. All moving in a nice orderly fashion peaking their British noses in at booths with hand painted t-shirts and carved iron chess pieces. Steph bought Hud a shirt that says Cheeky Monkey on it. Good times.
For dinner we ventured down the road and strolled along what looked very much like Queen Street (east of Spadina 20 years ago, west of Bathurst now). Lots of little clubs and restaurants, café’s and shoe stores. The crowd was significantly younger at night, and we were lucky enough to snag a table at skinny restaurant with cheap draft and great thin crust pizza. Hud sucked spaghetti all over himself. Steph had seafood risotto that was too sticky. Tough to find the perfect risotto.
Bizarre writing that last sentence after spending the last three weeks in Fiji. It’s a little overwhelming and a lot familiar to be back in city the size of Melbourne, the size of Toronto. I am happy about it though. With the rain for our last week in Fiji it was just a waiting game until the Melbourne leg of the journey. We were stir crazy. Thank heaven for Gareth and Nicki and the girls, because at least we could see through the rain into each other’s lives. Made it less tedious.
So now we are here for two days. Then off to the Mornington Peninsula, to stay in a small seaside town called Sorrento, which everyone has told us is beautiful. It was 20 degrees today. Sunny. Beautiful. Winter. If this keeps up I may play golf over the next couple of weeks.
One needs to remind one self how bad he is at something every once in awhile.
Tomorrow. City stuff. Including getting a camera cord so we can post more pics.
Lots of pics of Hud.
Lots of Hud is great.
Love to all,
J.
posted by Jason @ 4:50 AM
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