Oklahoma Downunder

I came across a softball game on a lazy Sunday afternoon. If the name of the baseball diamond wasn't so poetic, I would have swore I was somewhere in the midwest.

Camping over Xmas

Christmas is a strange time in Australia. While the commerical and religious overtones are evident everywhere, it is also the official start of the summer holidays with the kids being off for the next two months. Like the May Two-Four weekend in Ontario, everyone can't wait to get the hell out of the city, with camping being the main activity. So when in Rome...

We went to a national park strangely named Wilson's Promontory. It is the southern most point in continental Australia and one of the most popular spot for Melbournian caravan set. Thankfully we decided to hike in overnight than to assemble in the trailer park reminisent of a tent city you see in a disaster zone.

We did a walking loop starting on the 23rd, camping at three hike-in only beaches. On the way we braved brilliant sunshine, 70km wind gusts, swarms of flies, cold steely rain, balls-clenching cold water, and a pack that increasing got heavily as Shirley's gradually got lighter.

Our first night was at the Sealer's Cove campground, a former outpost for seal hunters. If there are see seals around, so they say, get outta the water because there's probably a couple of sharks lurking around.


Christmas dinner (and lunch and all other meals for that matter) consists of tuna in a pouch and instant pasta. I did manage to pack in some turkey salami, but an overzealous crow made of with it while I was not looking.

Our holiday home away from home, complete with a kitchen with a view and a pet crow that loves salami.

The view from the trail between Sealer's Cove and Refuge Cove, one of the nicest trail I've been on.

Hiking above Refuge Cove, probably the best campsite we never stayed at.

Instead of bears, campers have to worry about wombats, which are like raccoons on steroids and likes to check out tent for hidden caches of food.

Waterloo Bay, another one of the hiker campground. The sand is of brilliant white. Too bad the sky was a matching grey. This was out last campsite before we head inland and back to the car.

Did I say we braved swarms of flies? I'm not kidding. Apparently there are 40 billions flies in the country. They like places that are warm, dark and moist, like your nostrils and mouth.

For more pictures click here:Christmas in Wilson Prom

34 degrees Xmas Day

Well the weather is hot, school's out, everyone is off on their summer holidays. It must be Christmas time. It is 34 degrees Celcius (over 100F). People are out Christmas shopping and I'm wearing shorts and sandals. Last thing on my mind is shopping. (I hear it's a snowy winter in the northern hemisphere this year).

Cubist Cow

Melbourne Cup Day

The first weekend of November is the Melbourne Cup, a four-day public holiday in celebration of a horse race of all things. It is a huge event here, kinda like Thanksgiving meet the Kentucky Derby.



We went to an off-track betting shop where I learn the difference between fillies and turkeys. In the end I did win $20 bucks which I promply blew on a round of beers.

Meet the Gramps

We went on a camping trip in the Grampians, famous for their unusual rock formations. We had a surprisingly sunny weekend (rare for Melbourne). We car camped and went on various day hikes in the area.
















It is nice to see that the Park Services still allows dumb tourists to venture out into dangerous situations just to pose for a photo to show folks back home.



















This is called the Disappearing Falls. We thought it meant it disappears if it is not raining at the time. In an unexplainable trick of alchemy, the water is turned not into wine but into a pile of rocks.



















Kangaroos are like deer back home, meaning they are quite common and can be seen in most rural areas. We turn this curious guy into breakfast sausage and 'roo steaks the next morning.

Picnic at Hanging Rock

We went to the Hanging Rock one sunny afternoon. You may have heard of it because of the Peter Weir film in the 70's in which a bunch of school girl mysteriously disappeared during a picnic outing. Many people here still thinks the film depicted real events but was really a work of fiction, or so the ranger told us. Note the gremlin looking rock formation eyeing Shirley. Unfortunately the infamous "Hanging Rock" look none too threatening.

Aussie Rule Footy Final

This state is totally footy mad, so when the team formerly known as the South Melbourne Swans won the AFL championship, our whole neighbourhood was coloured red and white. No one seemed to mentioned that the team had moved to Sydney over fifteen years ago.

Aussie Flavours

Burger King in Australia is called Hungry Jack's. A small take-away shop had the rights to the name and no amount of corporate donations can convince the judicial system otherwise.


McDonald's is still called McDonald's. They have a McOz burger on the menu. Hoping that it would be made from exotic local game such as kangaroo or emu, I was disappointed to find out the only difference is the addition of a slice of pickled beet. I guess Australia loves pickled beets.

Art in the City

Melbourne considers itself the arts and culture capital
of Australia. This is especially true if you consider
the amount of graffiti all over the city. Here are some
masterful installations.





















Even the ACCA (Australian Centre of Comtemporary Art) cannot
escape the creative juices of local artists.



Yet you can eat off of the highway underpasses...

Local Sights

We live just south of city, sandwiched between the Melbourne Botanical Garden, the Shrine of Remeberance, and a city highway which I have to dodge across every morning to get to work.

The very rare Aussie Red and Aussie Blue tree at the Botanical Gardens. The Aussie White is extinct as I understand it.

We are about a 15 miunte walk south of the bridge that takes you into the city. It has one of the best view of the river and it's a pre-requsite for tourist photos.

So like any good tourist, I took one too...

Flat Down Under

This is our two bedroom flat in Melbourne. We are on the 7th floor of a modern glass box . Perhaps a bit generic, it is very large and comfortable. The best part is that it is only a ten minute walk to the office!

Every morning I wake up to a phallic view of the tallest residential building in the world (you can tell by the crane on top that it is still being erected).














Shirley is showing off our impressive collection of home furnishing courtesy of a tasteful but characterless swedish retailer.