A day at the beach

 

 

The next three blog entries are going to be a recap of the last few days (we’ve had limited internet access, so we’re a bit behind). We’ll add some pictures when we’ve got access.

 

 

Monday started early with a trip to Mornington Peninsula. Our first stop was at Morningstar Estate for early tea (or coffee for us Americans) and the most FANTASTIC scones and pastries a person could ask for. (There is no way the Aussies had their fair share of breakfast pastries after the damage we did to those breakfast platters.) The Estate is surrounded by gorgeous gardens, which have somehow survived the seven-year drought here in Southern Australia. Imagine a giant mansion, sitting on a bay (Port Philip Bay, to be exact), surrounded by gardens and vineyards on a 70-degree morning and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what we had the chance to see.

 

Following some entertaining conversation with our hosts, we piled back into the cars and headed to Tuck’s Ridge Vineyard at Red Hill for a group wine tasting. Let me just say that you haven’t been to a wine tasting until you’ve attended one with this group – we could make amusing entertainment out of watching paint dry.

 

After the whirlwind tour of Tuck’s Ridge, we drove towards Sorrento, a quiet little beach community, where we spent the afternoon at Janice’s vacation home (Janice is Judy’s current host). We were treated to an amazing spread of quiche, breads, fruit, wine, beer and conversation. Everybody was totally content to take a deep breath of the saltwater air and soak up the ocean sunshine.

 

While we would have loved to spend the entire day there, we had work to do and had to rush back to Melbourne to shower, change and put on our game faces for a presentation for the Richmond Rotary Club. This was a small group meeting of about 40 people, but it was a great time. They served a terrific fillet for dinner and kept us very entertained with their stories. Matt brought the house down with a well-placed jab (all in fun of course) at his host Sue, who much to her dismay, had a bathroom breakdown right as Matt arrived. Otherwise, a pretty nice quiet evening (two in a row, we could get used to this)!

More MCG

 

Sunday was transfer day, so we packed up our luggage yet again and met up with the new host club in front of the MCG. We took a quick tour of the MCG, making all of the appropriate comments and sounds that showed we were impressed by the facilities (we really were). Following the MCG tour, we went off with our new host club for yet another delightful BBQ in the park by the Yarra River (same river, different park). It was a glorious day with people walking and BBQing and enjoying the sun, like the sunbathers worshipping the sun nearby…Jen says eye candy (kidding). A few hours in the sun, some delicious food with our new host club and plenty of beer and wine to fend off dehydration (hey, the sun is closer down here), we adjourned to a nearby pub for a bit of jazz. Sue, Our Matt’s host, suggested we stop over at the pub to listen to her husband’s jazz band, the Louisiana Shakers. Kicking back with a couple of beers, enjoying the fresh air wafting into the pub and listening to the music, we could’ve been in the French Quarter in New Orleans instead of thousands of miles away in Australia.

 

As the afternoon progressed, we realized we had to again separate for the evening. For a team that didn’t know each other back in October, we were seriously bonding and having some separation anxiety issues. Thank goodness we were going to see each other again in the morning. Each of us spent a quiet evening dining with our host family, which was a welcome sight after such a crazy week. It’s safe to say that everyone hit the rack early Sunday night.

Are you ready for some Footy?

Saturday started out with a leisurely trip to Sovereign Hill to learn about the history of gold mining in the area. We got the opportunity to try some pasties (get your mind out of the gutter…it’s a half meat-half apple pie made with puff pastry – like Old School McDonald’s pre-trans fat era). We ended the evening with a spectacular BBQ at the park on the Yarra River. Although we’ve observed many cultural differences, one thing remains the same…men are men everywhere and when it comes to burning meat over open flame, Americans and Australians are the same. The women gather for wine and conversation, while the men gathered around the BBQ, proudly displaying their grilling skills.

The highlight of the evening was the rousing game of “footy” or Australian football (okay, more like kick and pass the ball around the park) and cricket. Matt from the Australian team (herein referred to as Australian Matt) patiently taught us to kick and pass the ball around. The kicking was pretty straight forward, however, the passing was a bit more painful….imagine the underhand volleyball serve but with a hard pointy ball bruising the soft part of your wrist. Matt from our team (herein referred to as Our Matt) displayed his considerable athletic prowess. He passed, kicked and caught that football like a true Aussie footy star. If you’ve kept up with our blog, then you realize that Our Matt had already experienced stardom the previous day. We thought he’d be recruited to work in some fancy law library or something. But, after seeing his skill on the field, we’re convinced the AFL will come calling. He just needs to eat a bit more of the fantastic cheese to bulk up (which is a problem, since Christine and Jen have been wolfing it down like the dairy industry might soon come to an end).

 

Jen, not to be out sported, shamed the rest of us by showing her natural ability as a batsman (that would be the person holding the flat bat thingy in cricket). While watching Jen play, the entire Rotary Club made “oohs” and “aahs” while discussing her batting talent. Up until this point, each team member got to have a bit of recognition: Aaron for his photographic talent and gigantic bag of electronics, Matt for being some sort of super-star-lawyer-librarian-footy-player, Judy for being the best team leader ever to deal with the lot of us, and Christine for her wit (translation: love of wine). Jen, however, finally got her moment to shine by showing everyone that an American girl can kick a** as a cricket batswoman. It was a fantastic night!