Melbourne, Australia
August 2002

As the years pass, I grow more adept at convincing my boss to send me to interesting places. In January, I was sent to England. In August, I headed Down Under. I spent more than three weeks working in Australia, and feel like I got to know a few things about the Aussies, their country, and life in the southern hemisphere.

My business was in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city and the capital of Victoria. It's a wonderful place. I was fortunate to stay in the Grand Hotel, located near the center of the CBD (Central Business District, what they call downtown). I've visited many large cities, but Melbourne quickly became my favorite. It's clean, safe, beautiful, interesting, and fun. I went to two Australian Rules Football games (locally called "footy"), visited many of the beautiful parks, rode the trolleys (they call them "trams"), and ate kangaroo, emu, crocodile, and wallaby. It was all great fun.

The food in Australia was outstanding. I was a bit taken back by their inclination to put eggs in the most unexpected places, like hamburgers and perched atop a Caesar Salad, but everything else was near perfect. They had nearly every kind of cuisine, including Italian, Greek, Thai, Chinese, Indian, Nepalese, and even American. About the only thing I couldn't find was Mexican food, but considering the quality of the food available, I wasn't complaining.

More important than the food were the many friendly Aussies I encountered. Generally speaking, I found my hosts to be kind, helpful, and blessed with their own brand of self-effacing humor. Their accents and much of their slang made them sound like the British, but their manner and views reminded me more of Canadians. They were more reserved than most Americans, but less formal than the Brits I met.

My last weekend Down Under I traveled down the Great Ocean Road (GOR), a route that hugs Australia's south shore west of Melbourne. It's breathtaking. I was able to observe kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, emus, whales, countless birds, and one perturbed echidna, all in the wild. They were all incredible.

My favorite part of the GOR was the rain forest. I didn't really expect to see anything but coastline on the trip, but I was pleased when I found myself driving through a genuine rain forest (as opposed to the ingenuine Disney variety). I headed back to a place called Erskine Falls, about 10 kilometers from the GOR. On the way, I startled a large swamp wallaby. He stood up at the side of the road and I stopped my vehicle about ten feet from him. We stared at each other for several minutes, until I stealthily (I thought) opened the door so I could get a picture of him. He bounded into the forest and wasn't seen again.

When I got to the parking lot for the falls, I was surprised to see that it was empty. Granted, it was early in the morning and out of season, but I thought someone would be around. I have to admit, having never been in a rain forest, alone, 10,000 miles from home, I was just a little nervous. Deciding this was a rare opportunity, I locked the car and headed toward the falls. I paused at the entrance to the path and noticed a sign warning me about the steep terrain and snakes. Great. Matt and I watch the Crocodile Hunter all the time, so I'm acutely aware of the nasty reptiles you can find on a lonely path in Australia. Again, I considered the cautious approach (i.e. hopping back in my car and heading back to civilization), but again decided to choose adventure. Well, it was worth it. The path was so overgrown I had to walk stooped over at times, but the falls were peaceful and the environment had a wildness I won't soon forget.

I continued on the GOR all the way to Tower Hill, and along the way I saw kangaroos, an echidna, whales, koalas, emus, and more tropical birds than I could possibly identify or list. I saw the Twelve Apostles and the Bay of Islands, two stunning sections of rugged coast, characterized by their isolated bluffs. I saw farmland nestled in the timeless rolling hills of western Victoria. The people who live in that part of the world are fortunate indeed.

If you get the idea that I liked Australia, you're right. The only thing I could find wrong with the place was the absence of my lovely wife and little buddy, who were waiting patiently for my return in far away Berkley. I wrote to them every day and tried to share some of what I was experiencing, but it just wasn't the same as having them by my side. It would have been so much better to have shared it with them. Perhaps another time.

Australia Pictures (click the thumbnails to view the enlarged photo)