Melbourne: The Second Half

On the 3rd of October, Katia and Maria gave me a very special treat --- a trip to Mt. Macedon. Not too far from Melbourne, Mt. Macedon is a fairly high mountain with a cross on top of it. The cross was built after the First World War at the expense of one person so that Melburnians would always remember the soldiers who fought. It was built on the southern flank of that mountain and illuminated at night so that it could be seen from all points of Melbourne. The cross, following years of weathering, a lightning strike and a devastating bushfire, was repaired in the 1990s. However, in all that time it has been a popular destination for a picnic and some light walking.

We headed out in the afternoon and were quickly at the mountain's base. As we drove up I noticed that many people built mansions on the mountain's lower slopes. These were clearly the homes of the very wealthy. As we drove further up, I noticed at a junction a sign pointing to Hanging Rock, a place of importance to Australians. That place is the setting for the surreal thriller Picnic at Hanging Rock. First a book, then a movie it is the story of a group of schoolgirls who have a picnic at Hanging Rock and then disappear, only to reappear again. Once back, though, they have no memory of what happened. I haven't seen the movie myself but I guess I should and the book is considered an Australian classic.

Anyway, we made it to the top of the mountain where there was a parking lot. We got out and walked to the cross. The landscaping is very neat and the view was quite spectacular. Melbourne was clearly visible on the horizon. After a reasonable amount of time, we walked back to the car and drove home.

On my last full day in Melbourne in Melbourne, I decided to visit the Melbourne Aquarium. It was a little smaller than I expected but it was good nonetheless. There were many native species but also exotic things like sawfish, sharks, rays, blind cavefish and a Giant Octopus. There were even some axolotls, a sort of salamander from Mexico that the Aztec once used as currency. Some of the shark eggs were very interesting and one was even in a sort of corkscrew shape. However, I spent the most time at the penguin pen. The Aquarium has two types of penguins, the small Gentoo and the slightly larger King. They frolicked about and swam as is there custom and you couldn't help but stare. There were even a few eggs that were being cared for by the penguins. I spent almost the entire day at the aquarium and I would recommend it to anyone.

I flew out the next morning after thanking my hosts for their incredible hospitality. I always enjoy going down to Melbourne and I think this was a break I truly needed. Unfortunately, I only had a few days before university started back up again and now it's back to the grindstone. Happily, there's only short time until the semester is over.