melbourne-exchange

[melbourne-exchange]

Sunshine and surfing, dolphins, and gelato - Byron Bay.

Aka. the quintessential Aussie surf town. There is no option of not being in holiday mood here - the streets are filled with bare-foot and half naked people, street music is everywhere, the occasional whiff of weed waves through the hot air, the sun is shining brightly and every second shop is an ice cream parlour.

The beach is just a quick five minutes away, and this morning I woke up to the sound of the ocean waving in from the window. Amazing.

So! What is there to do in this place?

To go to the beach! The main beach, although Byron seems to be pretty popular, is not so crowded, and the baby-blue water is so inviting for swimming. After waking up, I headed straight into the water as if hypnotized and pulled by the sound of the waves. As the surf is pretty decent, there’s not much actual swimming being done, it’s more like a play with the waves - catching them, getting lift up and washed over by them. For me, the strength of the waves is still unfathomable, so I took my time to get acquainted with the ocean and did not go neck-deep straight away. It’s very playful, and the surf is full of happy people and joyful screeches when a particularly large wave topples everyone over. Kids are propped up on tiny surfboards and dash through people, catching their first waves - tiny Aussies in the making.

To go sea-kayaking with the dolphins! In terms of water-sports there is plenty here - from surfing to sea kayaking to paddle-boarding and so on and so on, there’s something for everyone. I’m still a bit of a scaredy-cat about surfing so I haven’t booked a lesson yet, but I did go kayaking on the sea. Even the idea of kayaking over the surf made me a bit antsy, and the tour that I had booked ended up being cancelled because of it - too much of a swell, strong winds and choppy waves. I was lucky though - on my last day in Byron I got a message at 7AM from someone from Go Sea Kayak saying that the conditions are extraordinary, that the sea is beautiful and that the tour is going to be amazing with one free spot left being held for me. And indeed, the sea was absolutely beautiful. Calm and still, with a thin layer of clouds blocking the scorching sun, and full of dolphins and turtles. Although the conditions were very calm, we did get our little adrenaline shot by accidentally kayaking into a current full of blue bottlenecks - little jellyfish you do not want to get stung by. They’re tiny, and can easily end up in the kayak, so we all very calmly paddled our way back to jellyfish-clear waters. Here’s a shout-out, by the way, to Go Sea Kayaks - their tours have the highest ECO certification meaning that they provide recreational and educational tours with minimal intervention and impact to nature. That also means that there is no paddling up to the dolphins, and no chasing them - something we saw some of the solo paddle-boarders do. When wildlife is spotted, the kayakers assemble together to wait, calmly, allowing the dolphins and turtles to come closer or not, trying to disturb and distress them as little as possible. Now the tour guides took it very seriously and with pride, and I’d say that they are setting a great example of how to co-exist with nature with respect and care, and with selflessness and love.

All above kayaking photos are the courtesy of the tour guides at Go Sea Kayaks.

Additionally to the dolphins, it’s also possible to see hump-back whales migrating past the coast. They come up north into the warmer waters to breed in June-July and head back down in October-November. I’m a bit sad I missed that. Oh well, another thing to add to my bucket list next to seeing the Aurora Borealis, conquering a decent mountaintop and sleeping in an iglu.

To go walk in the nature. A walk up to Byron’s lighthouse is pretty awesome and offers some very nice views. The sunrise is beautiful to watch, and it is a prime spot to welcome the first rays of light and watch the early surfers breaking the waves.

To go running. After a while, laying on the beach, swimming and living a schedule-free live might become too relaxed, in which case the same lighthouse track functions as an amazing running track and will offer even an experienced runner a challenge, leaving one drenched in sweat, breathless, and feeling super accomplished. 

As the most easterly point of mainland Australia, this is the treat you get after accomplishing the run up the cape - this view. From here, a sharp eye can make out the dark silhouettes of turtles, dolphins, sharks and in the right season - whales.

To eat gelato in the best ice cream parlour of Byron - In The Pink. After the brutal and hot lighthouse run, having two towering scoops of gelato was pretty much the best thing I could treat myself to. As the scorching heat continued, the pavlova and Toblerone gelato melted faster than I could eat it, running down the cup, my clothes, my stomach, everywhere. The street was lined with people of all ages gobbling down their melting ice creams, trying to lick the cup to catch the streams, corners of the mouths all chocolate-brown or strawberry-pink. The gelatos are decadent, filled with bits of meringue or marshmellows or chocolate bars or sticky date or lemon cheesecake or fresh berries, depending on the type of ice cream. The gelato is one of many sweet stalls that align the streets - from locally made chocolates and rocky roads, to raw cakes and brownies, to pastries, to chocolate covered fruits, chocolate covered everything actually, there is more than enough to satisfy the sweet tooth.

To go to one of the many markets, or to all of them! There’s the Farmer’s Market with fresh and local produce, breakfast stalls and mellow Aussie country music on Thursday mornings; Night Market on Saturday evenings with arts and crafts, street food  - Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, etc - and live music; Sunday morning market to end the week and load up for the coming one; and more.

I heard, from the people next to me, that apparently in order to play the didgeridoo one must learn to inhale and exhale through the nose at the same time. This little boy had mastered the skill.

Summery markets, sunflowers and watermelon whizz-es.

Delicious street food made with love and diligence by some amazing people.

Pink in the night.

To go hunting for buskers! Every evening, Byron is filled with street performances and there is music everywhere. Buskers on street corners, in alleyways, on the beach, in parking lots, playing to happy bare-feet people sitting on the warm pavement that has soaked up the sun of the day. A young guy with long and tousled curls sings his songs every evening just under our window, the tunes of his vanilla-sweet indie songs now probably permanently fixed in my head, as are his stories of the girl fallen in love with, the dreaminess of the van-life lived and eventually the ticket and the airport and the goodbyes said, separating him from her... the bittersweet and the vanilla, the Aussie working-holiday romance story.

Surprise in an alleyway - no-one really understood where the music came from, although the streets were echoing with it. 

To go out! I’ve got nothing much to say about the eating out scene here, as I’ve been cooking my own in the hostel kitchen, but a drink out in one of the better known watering holes is a must. Filled with live music there as well, bars and pubs and spacious hotel terraces lined with fairy-lights are places to relax with a drink, dance, and meet some fellow-travellers. Or rent a pair of silent-disco earphones from the beach and go dancing with toes dipped in the warm night waves of the ocean.

Or, to get high, if you wish to do so - Nimbin. I don’t really have anything else to say about this place. A small village a bus-ride away from Byron, practicing permaculture, self-sustainability, and baking cookies.

To go walking in the beach in the evenings, listen to street music, and find an astronomer to look at the moon.

To eat fresh fruit, and enjoy their sun-warm ripe taste.

To make friends along the way, and get them to take pictures of you contemplating beautiful hilltop views.

With all of this bare-feet walking, the absent need to really dress up (a top and flip-flops will do), and all of the ice cream everywhere, I feel like a kid. There are all sorts of academic articles lined up that I should read ahead of the new semester, there are CV’s to be made in English and in Dutch for my job search in February, there are companies and projects to be found as I should start applying.. well, now, and so on. And I am doing none of these things, not this week. It’s usually pretty hard for me to stop planning and working ahead and devising plans and calculating outcomes, and so on and so on, but Byron makes it a bit easier to let go for a while.

Well, maybe I’m gonna do a little bit of work. :D But I’m going to slowww down.

Thank you for reading again and for being with me on my journey.

x

[melbourne-exchange]

Sydney - Bondi to Coogee, and Spit to Manly

Sydney is gorgeous. Had I known, had I perhaps chosen Sydney as my destination for exchange. I love Melbourne, but Sydney has whale migration, for example. From May to November, whales migrate past Sydney to the warm northern waters to breed. Reason enough.

On Saturday, I met up with an old friend from Estonia (oh my gosh that was so excitingg) and we walked from the famous Bondi beach to Coogee. It is a beautiful coastal walk, along beaches, rock-pools and stunning cliffs. To start the day off right we met up at renown ice cream parlour Anita La Mamma del Gelato and had two enormous scoops of gelato each. Anita’s is the first parlour whose pistachio gelato is as good as the best one I’ve ever tried in Nijmegen, Ice Cream Vincenzo. Yum.

It was a bit cooler in Sydney - 25 degrees and a cloudy sunshine. A welcomed change after Melbourne’s 40-degree heatwaves. Bondi-Coogee walk is recommended by every tourist guide, and is an easy pastime that can be done in flip-flops. A very nice way to spend the day - eat gelato, walk along the beautiful coast, catch a wave to cool down, and lay on the grass. Sydney, unlike Melbourne, is dotted with beaches to laze the day off.

Sunday I went on the Spit to Manly walk. That was already one demanding shoes, not flip-flops, and covered 10 km of riverside from the Spit bridge to Manly. As the walk took me to the center of Manly only, I added another few kilometers exploring the cape with its lush nature, an old military complex and breath-taking views.

And lots and lots of Golden Orb Spiders.

The worst first. I discovered them when I was in the bush and happened to look up. My heart nearly stopped and I almost peed myself instantaneously. These guys were everywhere, just a look up away.

Sydney’s riverside is very nice and lush, with houses no taller than treetops, with rises and slopes.

And with spacey rock formations.

Sydney CBD on the far right. These grand landscapes make me really sad that I have a mediocre camera on my phone.

A local hit, an Acai Bowl, for a well-deserved lunch. So refreshing and light on a warm day.

Just so cute.

The ferry ride back is a must. It offers the million-dollar view on the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house.

I ended the day with a dinner with my Couchsurfing host, Matt. I had been waiting forward to it as he’s such a kind, hospitable and funny guy, and he made me feel at home in his suburb, Newtown, by showing me around and introducing the life around there. Matt’s the kind of guy who walks along the street and greets everyone, pops his head into restaurants and falafel stands on the way to chat with buddies, and has a friendly rant with everyone willing to. For dinner, we went to Lentil As Anything, a concept-restaurant run by volunteers and served on pay-as-you-will basis. I’ve been to the one in Melbourne, situated in the beautiful Abbotsford Convent, where I spilled a sauce covered hot bao bun all over myself. This one in Newtown was on a bustling and booming main street - as Newtown is a very hip and upcoming neighbourhood - and filled to the brim with customers. We had a lovely dinner and a nice chat with a guy opposite us on the controversial topic of Vegemite. I ended the evening in a pretty rad-looking metal bar Mary’s with a cucumber ale, listened to some street reggae-soul while sitting on the warm stone stairs of St. Stephens Church, and was grateful that I ended up here of all the options.

I don’t have any pictures of any of these places, as I tend to forget that I have a blog for which I could take them. But there is one of me spilling the bao bun all over myself. Hope this is entertaining enough :D

Thanks for reading!

[melbourne-exchange]

Natureee!

And hikingg, yay! But first, I promised to write about Canberra.

Everyone told me not to stop there (for context, I’m taking a hop-on-hop-off bus from Melbourne to Brisbane and can hop off where and as often as I want to).

I stopped there.

Canberra was built to be a capital city, in 1913, as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne both wanting to serve as seats of the government. Canberra is essentially a diffusion of a sharp rivalry. The entire city looks like it was poured out of concrete in one go. It is thoroughly planned, annoyingly geometrical, even the lake is designed. The architecture is all modern, and as it was all built around the same time, the buildings all strike a chord with each other. Peculiar. It is also pretty brutalist - monumental, aggressive, heavy, and the concrete is the choice of material for everything. Many of the buildings, like for example the National Gallery of Australia, hide the fact that anything is going on inside at all. The New Parliament is only partly above the ground - a major part of its “facade” is the Capitol Hill, and the building itself is buried under it.

The National Gallery. (Photo by By Thennicke - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62136852)

Flagpole of the Capitol Hill through. A planned view, one of many.

The city planning has also been inspired by the garden movement, meaning that there is an abundance of vast green areas, filled to the brim with sculptures, monuments, installations, fountains and what have you. I have never seen so much public art per capita.

The city itself was empty. Fair enough, I arrived at 6AM, but during my 5-hour walk, I mostly saw wide, empty roads, red lights blinking for no-one, and empty parks filled with sculptures and monuments with no-one looking at them. Peculiar.

I did go into the National Gallery, which was a delight. My favourite part, as was in the NGV in Melbourne, was the international exhibitions. I saw a wonderful Miró I hadn’t seen before. I saw an abstract expressionist painting from Mark Rothko, who I hand’t seen before, that struck a deep chord in me. I saw a funny little piece by Dalí, enjoyed some Art Nouveau graphic art by Alphonse Mucha whom I love and saw, for the first time, a collection of Tiffany lamps! But enough about Europe. The gallery featured an impressive collection of aboriginal art, and I have been so glad to see that the platforms for it are ever more abundant and used. The elaborate, colourful, and intricate artworks in a range of media, from leaf paintings to sculpture, from the numerous Indigenous and Saint Torres Islander people were an awe to see. The gallery was really a delight.

If ever in Canberra, the botanical gardens were supposed to be very nice, too.

And now, back to...

...I loove nature! It is so primal, so powerful, so meditative. And, of course, it is the first time for me to experience nature like this. 

I’m at the Blue Mountains, couchsurfing an awesome little house near Katoomba, and I just finished my second day of hiking. The pedometer has measured - 32,587 steps, 23,5 km and 6:40 hours for today; 30,421 steps, 22,2 km and 6:54 hours for yesterday. Decent.

It’s my first experience with such a descent from a clifftop to a rainforest. The climate change is abrupt - the scorching heat is quickly substituted with a cool air and a humid shade. The screeches of high-flying Cockatoos are muffled, and instead there is the soft rustling of numerous Crimson Rosellas in the bushes. The vegetation is so lush - all sorts and shades of green ferns cover the ground densely under the high Sassafras trees, water drips and oozes from everywhere, the forest floor is covered with fallen leaves in various stages of degradation, and walking tracks are often transformed into a mushy, muddy mess.

I haven’t seen as much wildlife around here as I saw in the various national parks in Victoria. There’s certainly much more tiny lizards - these guys are everywhere - but not a single Ekidna nor Wallaby. I saw two big lizards and stumbled upon a napping, curled-up black snake who did not seem very happy about having to wake up and slither away from its warm sunny spot in between the rocks.

Spot 2 lizards! Masters of camouflage.

Met this guy on the way, said his name was Tarzan, asked me to take a picture of him in a cave. Hilarious.

So, so many beautiful waterfalls.

The biggest minus of travelling solo is that you can’t share it, the immediate part of it. The raw emotions that you get from these places, be it symbolic or sacred or sublime or fun, or even the frustration and muscle pain gotten from taking thousands of steps up an down the cliffs.

Here’s one more tribute to the Blue Mountains, a bit more visceral pleasure, allow me to share this with you.

Thanks!

x

[melbourne-exchange]

A continuation of the last post.

Get in the car, put this on, drum along with your fingers on the wheel, and go. Here’s to the road.

[melbourne-exchange]

On the road again.

It’s awesome to be on the road, but it’s not so awesome to be on it just for the sake of it. So I have tried to take stock, and I still am, while squatting on my upper level bunk bed in a pretty dirty and smelly hostel room in Sydney. Next to a cockroach. But about that later.

Soon I am about to return to Amsterdam to finish my degree. I have decided that 2019 will be the year of finishing stuff. Finishing this chapter that has lasted for as long as I’ve pursued my Bachelor’s. Possibly finishing my stay in Amsterdam, my life as a student, and an entire stage of my life characterized and driven by mindsets and motivations that now have served their time and need to give way to new ones.

In a nutshell:

My drive to pursue a degree abroad was because: a) I still wanted to undergo the path of tertiary education, partly because of family instilled values, partly because of societal pressures, partly because of career prospects, and mostly because I wanted to belong to the same group as all of my amazing friends with their amazing degrees. (Don’t get me wrong - I’m very ambitious in terms of personal and professional development, I don’t just necessarily believe that an institutionalized, governmental tertiary education is the only or the best way to go.) b) I wanted to do it abroad partly because the degree programs are more diverse, partly because I was inspired by my peers who flung themselves all over the planet to study, and mostly because I can’t stay put in a jar and thought it a clever way to combine and maximize education, experience and travel. All about efficiency here.

During these last two-three years I have learned (finally!) to think and eventually to say out loud and believe that I am: a) courageous - I am not afraid to take risks for what I believe in; b) hard-working - I am more than willing to bust my arse off for something I believe in; c) resourceful - I have found ways where there seemed to be no way, taken risks, and gotten forward; d) strong - I have pulled myself together in ways I would not have imagined, and I have learned to stand up for my values.

Finally, I see myself as yes, faulty like we all, but at the same time as strong. Before, I have been perhaps saying it to myself like a mantra, but now, for the first time, I believe it.

In conclusion, this journey has not been about getting a degree for me, but about proving to myself that I am all of the above things, that I am worthy, and that I really am fully in charge of my own growth. With a history of poor self-esteem and a strong inclination towards pessimistic thought patterns, it’s an achievement. I feel that as a result I am more clear, focused and confident about the direction I want to continue in. Anyway, that - the continuation - is something scary for a lot of graduates with an arts degree. So before I start planning for it, which in my case equates with worrying about it, I want to make sure that I will allow myself the time to finish what I have started diligently.

For this, I have to thank some of the amazing people I’ve met on my way. I’ve been doing my thing and driving myself for ages, but it took them to take a step back and see what I have done, what I am doing, what I could be doing. Most of them might not even even guess that I’m writing about them here, since most of them have not knowingly tried to help me on in any way. They have just been their honest selves, and have really inspired me with it. Thank you, friends.

So 2019 will be a year of finishing, a year of not stressing myself into madness about the next step. I will work for it, sure, and work hard. But I will also allow myself the time to let all of the lessons I have gotten to settle and to reveal themselves. Instead of charging head-first into new adventures, my aim is to take steps with meaning, incorporate what I have learnt, and to avoid the fall back into old patterns. So here’s not to new beginnings, but to finishing off old ones with diligence!

Now, about the cockroach, or - cockroaches. By now, there’s two. The best I can do is not to look at them, because they’re everywhere, and to think that by tomorrow I’ll be far away from this place. Westend Backpackers Sydney - 13 floors of cheap, broken, and filthy, all serviced by a single elevator on heavy over-duty. What can I say - at least it is centrally located. I needed cheap accommodation for two nights, got it, and I am outta here by tomorrow. Sydney itself is more subtropical than I imagined. It’s warm, and it’s raining. Gentle rain, the kind that lasts for hours, and will continue for days. The smells in the botanical gardens were amazing due to that rain. The riverside is so lush and green. I walked around for hours before heading to Frankie’s to enjoy the happy hour offer on some of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. Yum. Sydney is gorgeous. I’m really looking forward to exploring it in the coming days.

As you can see, I just went to see the iconic Opera House and its many faces on my first evening here.

Canberra, on the other hand, was not a city for me. Exactly why - I will explain briefly in the next post. And then probably go on raving about The Blue Mountains - gorgeous!

Thanks for reading.

x

[melbourne-exchange]

End of an Era

“The fact that I had a home” was my answer to my roommate’s question - “What was your favourite thing in Melbourne?” - just before I was about to board a bus towards Sydney. It was one of those slightly cliché moments of saying goodbye - a bit sad, a bit lingering, a bit sweet.

I have an entire list of awesome and unforgettable things from Melbourne, the top 5 probably comprising of nature trips - Great Ocean Road, The Grampians, Mornington Peninsula, various national parks - one more unique and amazing than the other. I discovered a range of cool micro-breweries, tasted the most weird and cutting-edge unique beers and wines (sparkling Shiraz - seriously!? that one was a bit ew), enjoyed some of the best coffees I’ve ever had and happily munched on the most delicious street food.

I loved the people that I met! I made a couple of new friends along the way, got to meet an “old one” I’d become friends with years ago in Spain, and experienced so much joy and kindness.

I loved the climate, the sunshine, the crazy weather (one day there was a 15 degree temperature drop from 40C to 25C in 15 minutes), the wildlife - the kangaroos, wallabys, penguins, ekidnas, koalas, all sorts and colours of parrots, and especially the huge bats! Bats everywhere!

I loved the suburb that I lived in - Footscray, a multi-culti heaven of diversity, with a history of crime and drugs and with strong signs of gentrification and craft beer bars popping up around the place, promising the future of the next hip cool suburb-to-be-in. Some of my friends still call it a sh*thole. I loved the mix of everything - the Vietnamese bakeries, the Chinese eateries, the Asian marketplace, the African coffee shops, faded facades, new glass high-rises, raw street art, the beautiful riverside and the cheap prices.

But back to where I started. What made the core of my stay what it was was my home. Home is not just four walls, right. My home, for example, has often been in a suitcase instead. When I packed it open 6 months ago on the 7th floor of the Moreland street residency, I didn’t know what to expect. First, they took me out to dinner into our local French Bar for 1-dollar oysters because I had told them a funny story about how I spat out the first and only one I had tried on camera. They scanned me with squinting eyes as I carefully chewed one a bit, swallowing it eventually and with difficulty, and of course had a ton of fun laughing on my expense. They made sure I knew all the best spots in the city and made me lists of all the places I had to go to, all the foods I had to try, and all the bars I had to visit. They made sure to give me ample space when needed, and shared their funniest and loudest stories with me as soon as the chance came. A couple of months in we collectively decided to become a foster home to the biggest, sweetest and funniest dog Morris. We’d walk him, play with him, feed him too much or too little because apparently none of us knows how to read the instructions on food cans, exchanged daily memos in our Whatsapp group about how much Morris had peed and pooed, and we slowly became Team Moreland. Morris offered us a common ground that bound us into more than just flatmates, I think.

We watched a spooky and mind-bending German series called “Dark” on Netflix as a team, waiting before watching a new episode until everyone was home. We sometimes cooked dinner together, we often made drinks together. With some cocktail equipment the boys taught themselves how to make the best whiskey sours, and with a new fancy-pansy coffee machine we all tried to figure out the right grind size for the best cuppa. Three of us had birthdays in December so ML - I’ve never seen anyone rock the kitchen the way she did - made us an unforgettable dinner. Christmas came, and again she made us an unforgettable dinner. We had the privilege of becoming part of her family Christmas tradition - hand-rolling Spanish croquetas! A little green Christmas tree appeared, was adorned with lights and tiny mountains of Secret Santa presents we made to each other.

On my bad day, when I had a breakdown and ended up crying my eyes out, they collectively took me out and bathed me with margaritas, wine, Mexican food, laughter and support. New Years Eve came, and we watched the fireworks from our 7th floor balcony - 1st row seats, I’m telling you! Accompanied by a delicious barbie, baked cheeses and cocktails, and good company.

New Years passed, and they drove me to the bus station with my bulky bag, regardless that it was super close, stood there in a circle and cracked jokes and left me bent-over laughing until it was time for me to go on the bus.

I have a lot of awesome memories from Melbourne, places I’ve visited, things I’ve tried, people I’ve met, but they were my backbone.

[melbourne-exchange]

Coles – what a party!

When I and Kat went for a weekend getaway to Lille, we were amazed and entertained by the disco-music blasting from the loudspeakers at the supermarkets. It was such a grocery shopping turned into a party! Neither of us had ever experienced it elsewhere, and while it may perhaps sound like a weird or insignificant observation, we were very much taken in by it. And I’m glad to say that the same thing happens in Coles!

Walking down the aisles looking for frozen spinach, I found it irresistible to sing along to Morrissette’s “Ironic”. The 90’s! It is impossible not to sing along, it happened almost automatically. Without knowing that you have ever recorded them somewhere in your memory, the lyrics start flowing out. A couple of minutes later, in the register, I find another enthusiast – a merry Aussie guy in his 50s, vigorously tapping his foot on the ground and going “baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt mee, no mooore!”

Grocery shopping has never been so much fun! And what more - the supermarket’s music selection is so sweet that they even have their own radio station (link below) - how awesome is that!

Result: I’ve been listening to stuff like Haddaway, SNAP! and Sixpence None The Richer on a loop on Spotify ever since. 90’s!

Tune into Coles radio on the supermarket’s website to listen to “a contemporary music mix with some old favourites”: https://www.coles.com.au/customer-service/coles-radio

[melbourne-exchange]

Hotspots 1 – The Arbory

Just behind the busy and loud Flinders Street Railway Station, on the banks of Yarra river, there is a hidden-from-sight but known-by-all meeting place called The Arbory. It is an open air space, and although it is currently cold and windy in Melbourne, their heaters make it nice and toasty to sit outside. They have a nice selection of drinks, delicious tap beers ranging from 11$-16$, and a great menu. Melbourne is a known foodie heaven, and I can safely say that I had the best vegetarian burger of my life in The Arbory – mushrooms and halloumi between (and this is coming from not exactly a fan of white bread) a delicious brioche bun. Sooooo lekker.

And what more – the music is good, smooth and a bit funky. There is a certain charm in how the sounds of The Arbory blend together with the sounds of the announcements of the railway station, the arriving and departing trains and the people hurrying to and from them. It’s a mix of absolute determined haphazard movement and absolute stillness of the moment. Another side of the Yarra river offers views on the CBD (Central Business District, i.e. downtown) high rises and the night-lights of the city. In front of the flickering lights of the CBD the crowd at The Arbory is varied – families having casual dinner with their kids, and people from all ages getting together for drinks. This has truly been a great find. Instead of heading for some “Bermuda triangle” shot bars, go to The Arbory for a drink!

The next place I am planning to discover is the independent Cinema Nova arthouse movie theatre in Carlton – one of these with the old-school worn out comfy seats with faded colour, and where you can take your drink in a real glass in with you. I, for some reason, just love sitting in a theatre like this with a glass of tea, wine, beer or what have you. Maybe it’s the power of nostalgia that reminds me of the much loved Sõprus movie theatre in Tallinn, with the same worn out seats, glassware and the alternative movie selection. Anyway, I’m excited to pay the Carlton theatre a visit! Cheers!

[melbourne-exchange]

Essentials 2 - Work

If you decide to work while here on a student visa, you can, legally – with a limit of 40 hrs per fortnight (for any non-native English speakers who are maybe like me and don’t know what a fortnight is –it’s a period of 2 weeks). One of the major industries that offers numerous part-time jobs to students is, of course, hospitality. So you get to be the person on the other side of the counter ;). I’m going for hospitality because I’ve got nearly a decade of experience in it (oh.. my.. god! Where has my life gone!? Time flies!), and because it tends to pair well with a daytime university schedule. It can be fairly easy to find jobs with flexible schedules and evening- and weekend hours. It can come with a cost though – late working hours combined with morning lectures and the bar-culture of having a drink after the shift can sometimes leave you quite worn-out. Especially if you’re not, well, that young and filled with endless energy anymore. But I do have to say that I personally like how the academic and the hospitality environment balance each other out.  Although I do not see my future in hospitality, let’s be honest, it’s fun. It’s such an emotional rollercoaster, and such an active job. It can be stressful, crazy and fast-paced, complicated and nerve-wrecking, and at the same time rewarding, supportive and filled with great encounters with customers and colleagues. One thing I’ve learned in the industry is that because it can be so stressful, your team-mates get to know you thoroughly, that is they get to see your very best and your very worst of sides, and you theirs. And often a quite special bond is born out of that. Additionally, for me – as I tend to spend a fair amount of time in solitude, whether it be running and enjoying my music, hiking-biking around, snuggling in to see some awesome movies or reading-writing – I welcome the extraverted, loud and lively atmosphere of the hospitality working environment. Plus, it is a great way to make local friends and meet a very different crowd – the clientele and colleagues both.

To work in this industry in Melbourne you need an RSA – the Responsible Service of Alcohol license. Victoria is the only area in Australia which does not offer nor accept online-courses, so you have to show up for a 4-hour training followed by a short test. It’s nothing complicated – it essentially tells you not to serve drunken people – but it also gives you a nice perspective on yourself as a customer, and into the workings of the logic of alcohol serving and consumption. Perhaps something we all should think about from time to time.

The RSA costs around 50-60$, and at least the training centre that I went to offers a free retake-test in case you fail the first one. The centre I went to – I do recommend that, and not because it is in some general way better than other ones (you can find cheaper ones, I paid 60$), but because of the instructor named Gem. She made it fun!! Like, seriously! She’s been in this business for years and has some unique hands-on experience to share, but most of all many of us just loved her style. She was loud and boisterous and all over the place, at the same time being so lovely and sweet, and full of some uncensored humour. She’s the kind of a woman that walks into a room and OWNS it, and you love it. Gem was a well balanced mix of assertiveness, craziness and kindness. I would, anytime, pay a bit extra to support someone who is so passionate and professional about her industry. I’ll leave the contacts of the training centre and to some of the job-hunting sites below in case you want to check it out. I know I sound like a promo-girl, which I am not :)

Complete Hospitality Training (VIC) Pty Ltd, 3rd floor, 28 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. https://www.chtmelbourne.com.au/courses/rsa-responsible-service-of-alcohol-course/

SEEK job portal: https://www.seek.com.au/

Gumtree AU: https://www.gumtree.com.au/

Cheers and happy job hunting!

[melbourne-exchange]

Essentials 1 - Banking

One of the first necessities to arrange when moving to a new country is - to open a bank account. I used the following website - https://www.finder.com.au/bank-accounts/student-bank-accounts - to get a simple overview of various student bank accounts and found it quite handy. There is a variety of different packages, with most of them offering fee-free accounts (conditions apply), some of them offering a small cash bonus (enough to get you and your newly made friends a round of welcome-beers), and some of them offering free foreign ATM withdrawals. You have to find out which package suits you best. I decided to go with a NAB classic account and for those of you who are thinking of doing the same, heads up regarding the following:

1. Although their migrant account registering page promises an easy online registration process which needs you to meet the simple criteria of moving to Melbourne to either migrate, study or work, it doesn’t say anything about the visa length which turned out to be a bit of a problem for me. I filled in the online application and got a confirmation promising a reply within three working days which never came. Upon arrival, I paid them a visit and my application was nowhere to be found in their database, and I was told that probably because my visa is valid for less than 12 months. Eventually, after a bit of frantic typing on their keyboard, I was told that it’s alright, they can open an account for me because my visa is valid for more than 6 months, but I never got a clear answer if a 6- or less months visa would be a problem. So heads up with that! If you’d like to make it clear for yourself beforehand, I would recommend getting here first and paying them a visit instead of calling from overseas - it took a while before they could find any answers for me and you’d probably end up with a huge phone bill when calling.

The link to opening a migrant account online is here: https://www.nab.com.au/common/forms/nab-migrant-banking#?products=nab-classic-banking-account

2. The application confirmation email that I received said that in order to collect my debit card and activate my account I would have to present my passport, and passport only. What I was actually asked to provide on the spot was a passport, an official visa confirmation and an original boarding pass. Now, I luckily had my boarding pass still, as I tend to save any little piece of paperwork just in case, but it was one I had printed out myself, thus - not an original. It turned out not to be a major problem - I got my account - but it did create a bit of a fuss before they eventually agreed to accept it. So if you want a smooth, problem-free and fast account opening process, you can take an extra minute at the airport and ask them to print a boarding pass for you.

3. Aaaand finally, although foreign ATM withdrawals are sometimes highlighted as free, in order to be able to do that you have to apply for a special card that costs you 10$ a month. It can be a decent deal, but just - the fat red screaming letters f r e e often mean that conditions apply, so keep that in mind.

4. Actually, one more point - ending with a positive note here. Once I got it set up, NAB is nice and smooth to use via an easily operated internet banking app; it offers two fee-free linked accounts (every-day and savings); and has ATM’s and branches around the city. 

What my aim with this post is i.e. moral of the story - be ready for surprises. I went through the websites of various banks quite thoroughly, and as many of them, NAB made the whole process sound like you can just walk in with your passport and within a blink of an eye you’ll have an account. Easy, fast, amazing. What I would recommend to do instead, is make sure you’ve got all of your documents, every single one of them, even boarding passes, somewhere where you can access them easily, just in case. Opening an account is overall quite accessible to everyone, but if you are either in a hurry, or just prefer paying the bank one visit instead of several, then maybe the above info will come in handy.

Cheers!

[melbourne-exchange]

It’s raining pythons in Byron Bay! 

I can’t believe that just a couple of days before my departure from Ams, my friend sent me this video! Apparently it fell from a tree. Must be pretty amazing to see such a magnificent creature up close. And they are said to represent healing and transformation - so for my friend it was perhaps something of a good heavenly sign :)

Anyway, I get excited over these things, maybe because for the last 15 years or so I’ve been predominantly a city girl and I miss … the wonders of nature :D I was over the moon about the abundance of rabbits in the parks of Amsterdam, I spent nearly half an hour yesterday in a dark and cold alleyway watching an oppossum nibble on something, and although I’m a bit scared I’d secretly love to see a python in the wild.

Fun fact of the day: the name of the area where I live in Melbourne - Maribyrnong - is an anglicised version of the Aboriginal term ‘Mirring-gnay-bir-nong’, which translates as ‘I can hear a ringtail possum’.

Cheers!

[melbourne-exchange]

So there it is! 🤩 Ready to explore this amazing city! Oh, and yeah, my new home has this million dollar view - it’s absolutely amazing to start off the day by drinking my morning coffee to that! I’m happy and grateful.

In addition to that I am also cold. I did check the weather forecast before my arrival, and packed a couple of warm sweaters and a jacket with me, but perhaps I wasn’t thinking clearly enough in the summer heat of Amsterdam. It’s very windy, and, well, brrr. I’m sitting in the living room at the moment with a cup of warm anijsmelk and a woolen hat on. So if you’re heading this way at this time of the year, bring something warm and a wind-proof jacket, you’ll be feeling much cozier.

Cheers!