Friday, April 25, 2014

ANZAC day.


Yesterday we celebrated our first Anzac Day, which for the uninitiated (including us until yesterday) stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) and is a day to commemorate and remember all Australians and New Zealanders who currently and formerly served in the armed services and those who died in any war, conflict, or peacekeeping mission.  Initially I thought it would be a holiday similar to Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day in the US, and there are some similarities, except that the remembrance celebrations are not only held in every major city in Australia and New Zealand, they are also held in some locations around the world where Australians and New Zealanders died in significant battles during the first or second world war.  And although I am by no means a citizen and have no real connection with Australia or its history, I was inspired at the honor they bestow upon their veterans and fallen comrades through these ceremonies.
Shrine of Remembrance
To celebrate Anzac Day in Melbourne, there were three main ceremonies: 1) A dawn service, held at 6 AM at the beautiful Shrine of Remembrance, 2) A march of veterans, from the CBD to the Shrine of Remembrance, and 3) A commemorative service at 1 PM with a speech by the Governor of Melbourne and the laying of wreaths in honor of all those who have died in service.  Although the thought of attending a dawn service was intriguing, we decided to arrive later in the morning when we were told the crowds would be more manageable.  After a little 2 mile run from our apartment to the Victoria Gardens, we walked a few minutes to the Shrine of Remembrance, arriving just after 11 AM in the middle of the march of veterans.  As you can see, the march was filled with handmade banners representing all the different divisions or companies within each branch of the military that served Australia and New Zealand, as well as any surviving veterans from the respective company.  On a random note, the parade also featured a lot of veterans riding in classic Ford Mustangs. 


classic Ford Mustang
After watching the march for a while, we made our way home and turned on the TV to watch the remainder of the ceremony.  After flipping through the channels, all we could find was coverage of the dawn service in Gallipoli.  This piqued my curiosity, as I couldn’t figure out why there would be a dawn service in Gallipoli for Anzac Day.  So I opened up Wikipedia and read the following about the Gallipoli Campain: “The campaign is often considered as marking the birth of national consciousness in Australia and New Zealand and the date of the landing, 25 April, is known as Anzac Day.  It remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in those two countries, surpassing Remembrance Day.”  That’s pretty incredible, and it now makes perfect sense why having a service in Gallipoli would be so important.

Following the conclusion of the dawn service from Gallipoli, the news stations turned to a dawn service in Villers-Bretonneux, which is located in northern France.  Similar to Gallipoli, it is the site of a significant battle featuring the First Australian Imperial Force in the First World War.  I’d recommend reading the short Wikipedia entry, but to summarize it was a town that was lost to the Germans for a day before being recaptured by the First Australian Imperial Force at the cost of over 1200 Australian lives.  Today it is the site of a war memorial and the graves of over 770 Australian soldiers, a school that was rebuilt using donations from school children in Victoria, Australia, and an annual memorial on Anzac day to remember the Australians who lost their lives to recapture the town.  When the memorial was unveiled in 1919, the mayor of the town had this to say:

"The first inhabitants of Villers-Bretonneux to re-establish themselves in the ruins of what was once a flourishing little town have, by means of donations, shown a desire to thank the valorous Australian Armies, who with the spontaneous enthusiasm and characteristic dash of their race, in a few hours drove out an enemy ten times their number...They offer a memorial tablet, a gift which is but the least expression of their gratitude, compared with the brilliant feat which was accomplished by the sons of Australia...Soldiers of Australia, whose brothers lie here in French soil, be assured that your memory will always be kept alive, and that the burial places of your dead will always be respected and cared for..."

Although the holiday is not without its critics, my experience was that Anzac Day was a very solemn and gracious way to pay tribute to all those who have served Australia and New Zealand.  The importance of remembering those who have given their lives for their country is summarized by the slogan of Anzac Day: “Lest We Forget.”

BK


easter weekend, superheroes, and royals.

We hope everyone had a great spring holiday celebration last week! Ben and I finally returned to Melbourne a few days before Easter, and even though we've been enjoying our travel opportunities, it's good to be home again. 

Australia isn't a super religious country, so we were surprised to discover that Good Friday is a much more significant public holiday than Easter. Almost everything is closed on Good Friday, including the grocery store, so it's a great day to stay in with family. And eat hot cross buns, apparently. I always thought "hot cross buns" was just a simple tune for schoolchildren to butcher with their plastic recorders - but they're a real thing, and it's very traditional to have these on Good Friday in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Canada. They are heavily advertised at groceries for the occasion, so we decided to take some home to enjoy. They taste like raisin bread.

"one a penny two a penny..."
Easter in Australia is mostly celebrated with egg hunting activities for children, pretty chocolate treats sold at stores, and public areas decorated with spring-themed adornments (which is weird, because we're now heading into the autumn season). The Easter bunny is kind of a sore subject around here, though. Ironically, rabbits - which are not a native animal - are a serious pest in Australia, doing a lot of damage to the land. It all started in 1859, when English settler Thomas Austin released 24 of his imported rabbits onto his private property for hunting purposes. Others followed suit, thinking that a few rabbits couldn't do much harm, but they underestimated their furry friends. The Australian climate was perfect for breeding all year round, and nothing could control the increasing numbers - a decade later, even trapping 2 million a year hardly made a dent in the overall population. Aussies have tried all sorts of methods for reducing rabbits (even releasing a virus in the 50's), but they still remain an invasive species to this day. 

In the late 70's, Australians began attempting to replace the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby, an endangered Australian mammal - mostly to raise awareness about Australia's struggles with maintaining native wildlife. We haven't seen any chocolate Easter Bilbies, but I'm sure they're just as delicious.

Anyway, we're also heading into my favourite time of the year: superhero movie season! On a fun international note, one scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier includes a list of pop culture references that Steve Rogers missed out on during his frozen hibernation. The list is different in each country, so we got to see a few fun Australian references (including "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" and "Tim Tams"). And last week, we saw The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro - which hasn't even come out in the States yet! I feel soooo special. It was much better than the first of the reboot series, but still doesn't hold a candle to the original Spider-Man 2 movie (and I will reluctantly say that Andrew Garfield makes a better Spider-Man... BUT Tobey Maguire is a better Peter Parker, okay?).

Also, I'm way too excited for X-Men: Days of Future Past, and we just found out that our favourite Melbourne cinema is hosting the Australian premiere, which will be attended by THE Hugh Jackman himself..!! Ben thinks he'll be working out of town then, but I'm pretty sure this is something that I need to cross off my actual bucket list regardless. We'll see...

And finally, it's an exciting time to be down under, as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (aka Will and Kate) are currently wrapping up their official Royal Australian Tour! Unfortunately, Melbourne was not one of the lucky cities to welcome the royals, but every local news station has been frantically showing nonstop live footage of their daily activities (lots of hand-shaking, waving, stepping in and out of vehicles - very intense). I don't really keep up to date with the royal family, but it's fun to see how excited everyone is. And little Prince George, what an adorable baby!

CK

Thursday, April 17, 2014

buchan caves.

As you know from our recent entries, I’ve been working in Bairnsdale, Victoria for the past few weeks.  While the town itself isn’t exactly a place I would choose for a vacation getaway, it does have some really wonderful attractions within a short drive.  One of those that came highly recommended from some of my coworkers was Buchan Caves, located about an hour drive from Bairnsdale off the Great Alpine Road.  As I’ve never been to a proper cave before (something I hate to admit considering my profession), it was high time that I rectified this.


It was a perfect sunny day, which made the drive really enjoyable, but wouldn’t have made any difference for our enjoyment of the cave.  I know what you’re thinking: “That’s because it’s a cave, Ben.  A completely enclosed, dark, bat-infested cave with absolutely no sunlight.”  Well, you’re right (except about the bats, there weren’t any in these caves).  But the real reason the weather didn’t matter is that we learned the caves are a pleasant 17 degrees Celsius (about 63 degrees Fahrenheit) all the time.  In summer when it’s 40 degrees or in winter when it’s below 0 outside, the caves are always 17 degrees.  That’s pretty awesome.  When we asked our guide how they regulate the caves to keep them at such a constant temperature, she responded that they don’t do anything.  It’s part of the natural state of the caves that they are able to maintain a constant temperature all year round.

the entrance to the caves.
just kidding. this is the real cave entrance.
The cave system of Buchan consists of two main caves, Royal Cave and Fairy Cave, with multiple guided tours each day (for a fee of course).  There is also a third cave, Federal Cave, that you can book a private tour of, but as it was more expensive than the other two caves combined, we decided to stick with the two main caves.  Both caves have narrow concrete pathways, and lighting throughout which highlight the areas with the most impressive stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and other features.  As we first entered each cave, our guide had us descend the path until we came to a larger open area.  Once the entire group was all huddled together in the dark, the guide turned on the lights in the chamber to reveal our first taste of the beauty of the cave.  As we continued to proceed through the various parts of each cave, we would walk until we reached a dark chamber, then the guide would turn on the next set of lights to reveal the next stage of our journey.  Real spelunking with hard hats and head lamps this was not, but it also made it really easy to enjoy the beauty of the caves, as you can see from our photos.

first view of the royal caves
calcite-rimmed pool

according to the tour guide, these caves are around 8 million years old. amazing.
fairy cave
crouching through caves is not for the claustrophobic!

bacon formations, aka sheets. 

I think my favorite part of the caves were the bacon formations (known to the educated as Sheets), the calcite-rimmed pools in Royal Cave, and the bones of a prehistoric kangaroo that was apparently larger than a horse (funny and random note – when searching around some websites, I found one that listed the bones as being from a wombat that was the size of a horse.  Now that would be a sight to see).  I found Royal Cave to be the more impressive of the two for a few reasons: 1) The pools were really beautiful, 2) It was the first cave we went in, so everything was new and exciting, and 3) It was taller than Fairy Cave so I didn’t have to crouch down the entire time (Candice, standing at a mighty five feet three inches, did bump her head a few times!).  So if you’re in the area and only have time for one tour, I’d recommend Royal Cave. 

But I’m just a geologist, so what would I know.



BK

Friday, April 11, 2014

raymond island.

Ben and I have been able to do so many cool things so far, we joke that our time in Australia has been like a long honeymoon - except he's working - so we call it a "working-moon." Because of Ben's occupational travel, we've been able to visit some really amazing places that we probably wouldn't have even heard of if we weren't in the area.

Like Raymond Island, an offhand suggestion made by one of Ben's coworkers.

A mere 6 km long and 2 km wide, Raymond Island is a residential area for a small community of people - but it's best known for its large koala population (around 300, according to one of the residents).
A teeny tiny ferry routinely runs from Paynesville to the island. Ben, who hails from a very large island frequented by massive ferries, found this watercraft to be highly amusing, because it only holds 10 cars and maybe 20 people. Apparently there has been some controversy surrounding the ferry, which is currently the only way to get to the island (aside from boating, and maybe swimming if you're desperate). Some have lobbied for a bridge to be built for easier access, but others argue that the ferry is a great way to reduce traffic and keep the island's human population down, and is also a convenient way to seek shelter from zombie attacks.
We were prepared with our nice camera, which came in handy because we saw SO MANY KOALAS and lots of them were awake and active and adorable! Here are some of my favourite koala shots:
sleeping peacefully.

staring contest starts... now.

this one reminded me of a little teddy bear.

we saw this guy leaping from branches like a ninja.
We came across a precious little echidna waddling around and poking its nose into the ground. There were also a few rainbow lorikeets flying about, and other winged creatures we weren't able to identify but looked fascinating. And yes, we still love watching those pelicans.




rainbow lorikeets
pelican taking off
I know that oohing and aahing over all the Australian wildlife is probably akin to tourists photographing squirrels back in the States, but still - we had a great time on the island, and highly recommend it to anyone passing through East Gippsland. Koala-watching on Raymond Island sounds like something that should be on a bucket list, so I've started making a reverse-bucket-list: amazing things we've experienced that we weren't aware of before, but will definitely be reminiscing about for a long time.

CK

Thursday, April 10, 2014

meet me in metung.

Ben is still working in Bairnsdale, but we weren't able to extend our hotel stay at Lakes Entrance - so we decided to relocate to a new area of East Gippsland for a change of scenery. 


Metung is a small town tucked in between Bancroft Bay and Lake King. The main strip includes a post office, convenience store, a couple of boutique shops, a few restaurants, and many docking areas for boats. There are a few walking trails that look beautiful from the outside - but because we're a bit deeper in the country (at least, compared to Melbourne), I'm absolutely certain they're filled with bird-eating snakes and snake-eating spiders, so I haven't ventured too far into the woods yet...








one road to rule them all.


To be honest, by the end of our stay I was starting to get a bit stir-crazy. Our hotel was lovely and had a beautiful view of the bay, but there wasn't much to do in the tiny town - and we were here for almost ten days. With Ben working long hours six days a week, I spent the majority of the time alone. My phone barely got reception, the internet situation was pretty terrible, and there were a few significant power outages throughout the week. Needless to say, Metung was the perfect place to get away from it all, even if it wasn't necessarily by choice! No complaints here though - when it isn't pouring rain, it's a beautiful spot.







CK

Friday, April 4, 2014

lakes entrance.

Although Ben's job site is in Bairnsdale, it's a really small city - so we decided to stay in the nearby township of Lakes Entrance for a week.



Originally known as Cunninghame up until 1915, Lakes Entrance is a really cool spot. Part tourist resort, part fishing port, it's a popular place for watersports, recreational fishing, and camping in caravan parks. The beautiful Cunninghame Arm Footbridge runs from the town to the ocean beach, and was built primarily due to the tourism industry. The bridge officially opened in 1937, began falling apart beyond use in the 60's, and was redone with concrete in 2009.




view from the bridge just before sunrise




The weather forecast for the entire week was a bit rainy but mild, and I was able to go on some lovely runs along the waterfront, all the way to the surf beach.


lookout tower







Because we're in the off-season, there weren't many people around during the weekdays, so it was a lovely place for solitary walks and exploration. However, my adventures ended abruptly when I began noticing a plethora of signs warning the public about "VENOMOUS BLACK TIGER SNAKES." I didn't see any, but it sounds like if I had, I wouldn't have lived long enough to tell about it...?

let me just sprint back to the hotel now.
We're still super intrigued by all the wildlife here, as it's all still very new and "exotic" to us. There were plenty of black swans and pelicans hanging out in the water, and I was fascinated to see quite a few jellyfish floating around. I know we have jellyfish in the States too, but I've never been in a public area where these fascinating creatures are very easy to see in the water, and pretty large, too. There were a few baby jellies in the shallow parts of the water, and even a playful one that did some acrobatic headstands.

"the only person standing in your way is you."


swimming around in plain sight, nbd.


The waterfront shopping area is home to some beach-themed boutiques, high-quality (and very friendly) cafes, and a bunch of "Op Shops" - short for "opportunity shops," which are what Australians call thrift stores. There are a series of beautiful wooden war memorials along the main street, and a sea shell museum that looks pretty cool from the outside.


tempting.
opportunity indeed.
memorials.



I love exploring new places on my own, but my favourite part of the week is showing Ben all the best spots.


yeah that's cold.

CK