We're still not used to the Australian way of driving on the left side of the road. It seems to be hardwired to our brain that you should primarily watch for cars coming from your left. Thanks to this, we have been at risk of getting hit by a car so many times already. Luckily we're not driving a car, so we're only a danger to ourselves. Instead, we usually use public transportation, except in Melbourne: we are actually cheap enough to go for exercise and walk everywhere, just to be able to avoid paying the expensive tickets in trams or buses.
We didn't really do much in Melbourne. Mostly we just hung out at one of our hostels (one night in King Street Backpackers, two in Lords Lodge and four in The Nunnery - all of them lovely). Especially our second hostel Lords Lodge had a great courtyard in which we spent many moments of complete relaxation, having a slow breakfast and listening to reggae. If I closed my eyes I could imagine I was at a Finnish festival on a perfect summer day. The difference in Australia is that instead the 5ish days like that you get in Finland in a year, here the number is hundreds.
One day we managed to get ourselves moving and went to visit the ACMI, that is, Australian Center of Moving Image. The museum was devoted to the history of movies, and had some fantastic displays. It also had some interactive bits: for instance, you could shoot a video of yourself in the Matrix style. We had a great time there. I would recommend anyone who finds themselves in Melbourne to go there. It's free.
We also went to see Alice in Wonderland one night. It was the first 3D movie experience for both of us. The movie itself wasn't that special, but I loved the visuals and the three-dimension thing. I really want to go see more movies in 3D, it really feels like you're there within the scene yourself.
Me and Inka are trying hard to drive each other crazy. She keeps citing some tips and warnings from her book about vitamins. I contribute to the being-annoying-contest by singing, which I absolutely cannot do. I'm sure all other Finns would also appreciate my version of Rolli, Thiliathalia or Hapsiaislaulu as much as Inka does... However, we know each other two well to get angry. If other people would understand when we talk to each other, they would imagine we're trying to imitate Donald Duck's nephews from the way we finish each others' sentences. It's mad!
Our reason to stay in Melbourne for a week was to attend the Formula 1 Grand Prix. We had bought 4-day passes, but ended up going only for Saturday and Sunday. I used to be a formula fan when I was a child, so it was exciting to see the cars, and the drivers in flesh. The sound of the cars could be heard from kilometers away - luckily we had had the sense to bring earplugs. One would think that it's stupid to watch a formula race live, because the cars fly by so fast that you only get a second's glimpse of them before they're already gone, and don't have any idea of what's going on without watching the screen. However, it was still as much fun as any sporting event, being part of the crowd cheering at Mark Webber or flinching when he missed up. We were also spotted by a group of Finnish men and went to hang out with them, waving our flags and laughing at the lack of success that Kovalainen (the Finnish driver) had.
Monday welcomed us with an early wake up call and a walk to the pick-up point of our next tour.
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti