Travels Down Under:
Exploring Melbourne & Farewells to Sciencequeen

Saturday, April 16, 2011

* Melbourne, Victoria, Australia *

Early to rise, the travelers headed out to the train station for a brief wandering around metropolitan Melbourne before journeying to St. Kilda at the Local where they would bid farewell to the Science Queen. Sir Bluey Bee in his comical self, humor Sir Thomas Leaf and Lady Sciencequeen over their journey with lots of picture taking in action. Once hitting the central station in the city centre, Sir Thomas Leaf and the Sciencequeen grabbed a latte at the Streat kiosk while enamored with the architecture and design of the station. Walking about the artsy city centre of Melbourne was a tantalizing array of artistic spectrum, architecture, and unique oddities. Sir Thomas Leaf was intrigued by the “Pie Face” booth as he soon realized the Australians were addicted to the “pies” n’ “pastries” just as much as the British was. Walking past “China Town” they were soon back on the train to St. Kilda where the party would be. Sir Thomas Leaf was perplexed by the “Hungry Jacks” logo/fast food place they passed because it “looked like a Burger King” but was called something different. He figured he’d have to research that one by Google in the near future to understand how that isn’t copyright/trademark infringement. On the train, Sir Thomas Leaf was greeted by a scrawling of “Leaf” on the seat in front of him as if he was meant to be “… was here” as it was oddly spelled the same way he spells his name, not unlike the typical “Leif” most spell it who are named as such. Enter St. Kilda, the travelers were in a rush with Sir Bluey Bee struggling to keep up while distracted by photo moments, as they raced to meet the Science Queen’s friends at the Local. St. Kilda was a welcoming “artsy” district in Melbourne that Sir Thomas Leaf quite liked. “The Local” had several tables reserved for Sciencequeen’s going away party, and soon enough after claiming them, were populated by her comrades and loved ones … much local beer tasting ensued, as did Sir Thomas Leaf with his cider fix, topped off with a plate of mussels that were to die for. Joking around, humor, festive, and frolic, good conversations and new friendships were made. After some drunken debauchery (for some), they wandered off for gellato treat by the beach. En route, Sir Correct-a-lot encountered a very badly chalked inscription in front of the library saying “Are … Politicians Known Eor There Honesty” which he could not pass without correcting said such … and grabbed some chalk from a restaurant down the road, ran back, and fixed the typo and commented “At least politicians can spell” as a side note.

Past the Amusement park and the Palais theatre, the motley crew found the Fritz Gelato awaiting them with good prices for large portions. Mesmerized by the flavors, indulgence overtook the innocent as frozen fun ensued. Down to the Gazebo, the friends had their farewells as sunset took on the night with possums climbing down trees and even further madness to occur. Much of the party left, as a handful headed back to Sciencequeen’s flat for some more drinks and conversation with more friends added in the mix. A pit stop for some liquor demonstrated how pricey alcohol is in Australia – a typical cheap bottle of rum that Sir Thomas Leaf would pay $9.99 for in the States, was now $35 – “Egads!” he thought in horror. Pit stop for pizza to go and back to the flat. Good times. A good night was had by all ….

Remainder of the Story, Photos and videos below the cut:

Exploring Melbourne, Victoria, Australia morning of 4/16/2011:

Melbourne City Center/Central Station

Streat Coffee Stand

Pie Face

Hungry Jack

St Kilda

The Local

The Local

Fritz Gelato

Possum