St Kilda's Beach.

Amusement Park at St Kilda's Beach.

We left Canberra and travelled inland down the Hume Highway. Saw the Snowy Mountains, and even a snowmobile dealership. This gave way to rolling hills, fatter cattle, and lusher vegetation. Eventually, we left New South Wales altogether, and entered the state of Victoria. The Victorian landscape reminded me a lot of Ontario's farmland, at times I forgot that I was half a world away from home, save for the occasional palm tree. Instead of the cane fields which served as the backdrop to my adventures in Queensland were replaced by produce and wineries.

We eventually reached Melbourne after dark, in the middle of a rainstorm, and after some deft navigation, arrived at the apartment of Annie (Karen's sister) and her boyfriend Lee. After introductions, we wandered down St. Kilda Rd to South Bank on the Yarra River, an open-air mall on the riverside with restos, cafes, shopping and clubs. Along the opposite bank was a thicket of purple-lit skyscrapers, but as we were a bit tired from the day's drive, South Bank was as far as we got.

The next morning, we had some brunch on Chapel St where I (re)met Alison and Luke, friends of Norm and Karen. Luke had a great analogy to describe the differences between Sydney and Melbourne: two sisters, one (Sydney) is gorgeous, sunny, beautiful, lots of beaches, but a bit vacuous; the other sister (Melbourne) has a tougher time, colder, nastier weather, but has really worked on the personality. Mmm, sisters.... Uh, anyway, after brunch I wandered around Chapel St., then hopped one of the old fashioned trams to St. Kilda's Beach. It was really windy, and a tad cool, but a bit of sun took some of the chill off. People were walking around in toques... again impressed. However, I'm feeling less pity for Jesse and his whinging about our Canadian autumn. I gave him some credit given his Aussie upbringing, but after experiencing this climate, sympathy is revoked (looking forward to meeting up, man!) I checked out a little amusement park, then wandered along the beach. Eventually it started to rain, so I returned to basecamp, the apartment of our gracious hosts, Annie and Lee.

Wall of Fallen Soldiers, ANZAC Memorial and view of Australian Parliament from ANZAC Memorial, Canberra.

The next day, we left Sydney and headed for Canberra for the night. On the way there, passed Lake George, marked in blue on the roadmap, but dry for 30 years and really an expansive meadow surrounded by mountains. Canberra itself is a weird place, apparently laid out as an ideal city, with hubs of commerce and entertainment, main streets radiating from the centre, and side avenues forming concentric circles around the hub. Everything is new. Kinda brutal, because all the streets look the same and are perpetually veering to the left. Or right. The problem is that it's cold here (I was rather impressed!), non-coastal, and has nothing to do. Since it was simply created as opposed to growing organically from a spot where people actually wanted to congregate, it has no organic soul. Like a good plan on paper, the designer didn't consider people actually living here - just the efficiency of the city. Daily routines consist of governing, museums, university, and apparently some decent mountain biking. It feels like a giant urban park, since buildings are somewhat scarce and separated by huge green spaces, and people stay indoors, travel by cars, or simply aren't there. For some reason, our hotel was packed.

We checked out the ANZAC Memorial, which has a series of dioramas depicting the many battles and war conditions experienced by the Army Corps over the years. A couple of things which struck me were the long walls of names (and room for more), as well as one of the boats used in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign on April 25th, 1915, the hull shredded with bulletholes.

This set the mood to something a bit too contemplative for a couple of idiots, so after about an hour, we bailed on Canberra, and started the 650km trek to Melbourne.

Noosa.

Spent the next few days attempting to surf on Main Beach, watching other people attempting to surf at Teatree Beach, wandering the National Park (and finally bagged me a koala... um, saw and took a picture of... and kindly hung out near the park's info booth. I checked but it wasn't chained there.), and getting the news about Steve Irwin. Partners in crime were Elsa, Elsa, Cecile et Camille (France), Louise, Carli, Skyli, Danielle (Melbourne), Ruth (New Zealand), Atchi & bro (Germany), Moosh (Israel), and Heke, a windsurfing dude from Finland. I got around to practicing a bit, obviously not a lot of time for such things, and ended playing at an Irish jam across the street. Since I don't know any Irish music, sometimes it worked, sometimes not.

On the 6th of September, muscles aching from surfing, (or trying to get on the board, or getting mauled repeatedly by the ocean) I took a bus to Brisbane, and from there a flight to Sydney. It was time to meet up with Cousin Norm for the Great Southern Road trip. For those who don't know, Norm is moving to meet up with his wife, Karen, in Bankok. It was decided that they leave their car with Karen's parents in Adelaide, but the car needed to get there from Sydney, and that's where I come in. Norm was scheduled to leave Sydney on the 7th, drive through to Adelaide in time to make a flight out of Adelaide on the 14th. Got it? Since Canada, I'd planned on showing up from where or whatever I was doing in order to ride shotgun. Admittedly, it has caused some logistical complications, and I'm not doing the cost- or time-efficient backpacker route down the coast, with its hop-on, hop-off accessibility. I've covered a lot of ground twice, Brisbane airport for example, but these were all hassles I was prepared to deal with for some adventure with family.

Met Norm in Sydney, and since he was out with some mates, left him early and headed into King's Cross for a wind-down pint and a general regroup. The rain was pelting down, and it occurred to me that I hadn't really hung out in King's Cross at night during my last stay in Sydney. I'd only seen it by day, when you can see the dirt on darkened window panes amidst coffee shops and pie houses. At night, a completely different scene. The streets and darkened windows were awash with a vibrant mixture of neon, prostitution, adult store and sex act pitchmen, massage parlours, taxis, and rock'n'roll. I sat in the Empire (Bar? Pub? Hotel?) on an openair barstool looking out onto Darlinghurst. The rain was coming down in sheets, and thunder and lightning made the place seem more electric and sinister. I finished up and headed home, getting completely soaked in the process, and prepped for the next leg of the journey.