Beach Volleyball

Keeping that Sisbros spirit alive!  Had a great time out playing beach volleyball with a heap of couch surfers last night.  One of those perfect end of summer days where there was barely any wind on the beach and the weather was perfect.  Couldn't pass up a trip to the beach for some volleyball action.  Felt good to be diving around in the sand and enjoying the beach life in Australia.  Been a busy last week with starting a new job and moving into a new house, so things are officially golden!  Living it up down here in Australia!

Sun is still shining in Australia!  Sorry to all those still knee deep in snow in the northern hemisphere.  Getting cooler here, but still some amazing end of summer days.  Living it up for everyone, don't you worry!

(And I respect Rondo, the player.  Not really a Celtics fan, but for $2, I had to buy the jersey and represent the NBA down here.  Just wish it had been a Lakers jersey, or an Arizona Wildcats.  March Madness in the house!)

Weekend Festivals

Working some festivals around Melbourne at the end of summer is a good way to enjoy the city, be outdoors and make some money.  Here are some pictures from one of the festivals, which was right on the river in downtown Melbourne.  There was a water skiing competition, numerous rides and carnival games, many international bands playing on several stages and more.  Great vibes out there during the day, with fireworks each night.  Definitely  a fun time to be in Melbourne making money.  Here are a few pictures:

Melbourne Street Art

White Night

Melbourne Saturday night was the place to be.  Packed full of hundreds of thousands of people, light shows on multiple iconic buildings, events all over town, street performers all over and just a good buzz going on.  It was probably the first time I was in a church at 3:30am and there was a wide assortment of people also exploring the naves.  The "duck duck goose" game taking over a city street with over 30 people was also pretty cool.  I was blown away by the light cone, which had numerous spotlights pointed upright, forming a cone of light, a sort of roof if you will.  Crazy to be underneath it looking up.  Check it out:

Looking up!

People enjoying the feeling of being in an UFO

Leaving and looking back at a trippy extraterrestrial light to it

We missed out on the synchronized swimming event, the purple rain event (apparently the rain was really purple, and there wasn't as much Prince as you would think) and some other cool things, but the overall atmosphere was amazing and I found it better to be out on the streets soaking it all in, as opposed to waiting in line for a long time to get into an event.

And after such an amazing night, I just remember that it all started with a free outdoor concert put on by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.  They performed Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto 3, the epic piece focused around the piano.  As the program stated, it became even more famous (famouser!) in 1996 with the movie, Shine.  Pretty sweet to see it live sitting in a grass amphitheater under blue skies.

Here are miscellaneous pictures from the night.  Good times for sure.

City lights and the Princes Bridge with the White Night sign

Light projections on building

Inside St. Pauls at 3:30am

Inside the State Library, all lit up inside with the DNA of polio (or some other disease they showed us)

Outside the State Library

Free outdoor classical music!

How the day all started, with 2000 people listening to Rachmaninoff

Madness in the streest

Thousands of people in any direction

Iconic Flinders St Station all lit up like a circus

Road trip down south

What's that northern hemisphere?  It keeps snowing?  Not down here.  Summertime still in full effect.  On a recent day off, we took a road trip down to the Mornington Peninsula, one of Melbourne's best day/weekend trips.  Full of small, quaint towns, nature and beaches, it's a great spot to get away from the city and relax.  Couldn't have asked for a better day, as you can see from the blue skies.

The water was perfect, and pretty darn shallow, meaning you can go out for quite a ways and still stand up.  Snorkelers out there, although I couldn't see much.  Just relaxing vibes on nice sand beaches.  Melbourne city beaches are a bit dirtier and the sand isn't as nice, so this was a good change of pace.

We ate the famous vanilla slice in Sorrento, checked out some classy vintage shops with decent prices and had some amazing fish and chips.  Living large!

Random thoughts

It's been over two weeks now of life in Australia.  It is rocking down here.  Still quite warm, unlike most of the United States. I am 95% on top of knowing which way to look when crossing the street.  Here are a few notes of life down under:

I bought a single speed bike to get around town on.  Brand new, great price and fun to ride, although after 9 months of backpacking, my body has taken a few days to get used to being back in the saddle again.  It's all shiny black and making the girls say ooooohhh!!

Wherever you walk in Melbourne, there is amazing street art.  It's like a gallery out there on the streets, and a lot of it is actually quality art and will make you stop to enjoy it, or even think a bit.  Take for instance, this Aboriginal piece:

Or how about some crazy pink?

And then there is the history, such as with Ned Kelly (Wikipedia), the famous outlaw similar to Jesse James in the US.  Such an icon down here, that they've made two movies about him, starring Mick Jagger in the 70s and most recently, Heath Ledger.  He's famous for his final shootout, in which he built an iron suit of armor out of plow blades.  Here is the suit from the State Library:

)

And lastly of course there is the beach.  That's why we are all here isn't it?