Friday, January 14th, 2011.
The first day we arrived, we took a little nap since we were so started from the un-airconditioned, turbulatronic (who knows if thats even a word) flight by the "lovely" Air China. O and we can't forget to mention that the captain attempted to land 6 different times (each time with no update on what was going on). After our terribly long nap, Michael Den decided to take us out on a little adventure in Melbourne - or should I say drop us off and tell us to go exploring. We were dropped off at a park by the water and were told to just head over to Ackland street. We saw beautiful beaches along the waterfront path and stopped to watch a Cricket game, for which we had no clue what was going on. Ackland street was beautiful and full of life... it was essentially the Yorkville of Melbourne. That night Julie Den's parents had us over for a tasteful Shabbat Dinner (which was a good change from our usual Kon Fu Po).
Ps. The cinnammon roll was absolutely AMAZING!
Saturday, January 15th, 2011.
Elyse Den was kind enough to invite us over to her friends Vacation House (cottage in Australian terms) in Portsea/Sorento. We arrived to the house and met a bunch of Elyse's mates (Aussie versions of Thornhillian Jews) After our estimaetd arrival time of 11:30 AM, we hit the bottle and took some shots at wee hours of the morning. To top it off we had a nice breakfast of Scrambled eggs and toast, with a side of Wine. We headed over to the Portsea Pub and lived the life of the Rich and Famous, or simply lived the life of an Aussie.
A Day in the Life of an Australian:
11:30 AM: Take Shots
12:00 PM: Arrive at Pub
12:10 PM: Buy a Pint of Beer ($10 AUD = $12 CDN)
12:15 PM: Buy a Pitcher of Cider ($40 AUD = $45 CDN)
12:20 PM: Buy another Pitcher of Cider
12:25 PM: Go to the "Toilet" or "Lavatory"
12:30 PM: Buy a Pint of Beer
12:45 PM: Smoke
12:50 PM - 11:00 PM: REPEAT ABOVE STEPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11:30 PM: Eat a HUGE platter of Nachos made from Cheesy Doritos topped with avocado, cheese, beans and salsa.
Thats the Day in the life of an Australian.
Ps. Unfortunately we had to ditch this life half way through.
Sunday, January 16th, 2011.
After a wonderful sleep, Jay left with the Boys to go pick up Nathan's Boat (yacht). Mirelle and the ladies met us at the pier in Portsea, and went for a transbay boat tour. We saw some beautiful beach houses, including a 26 million dollar one, and ended up on the other side of the bay in Queenscliff. We stopped for a healthy lunch (burgers and fries) to top off the healthy snacks we were eating during the boat ride (roasted peanuts and pretzels). We arrived back in Portsea and left to go back to Melbourne for another healthy dinner (Barbeque and Julie's AMAZING rocky road icecream).
Monday, January 17th, 2011.
Feeling pretty fat after the weekend's festivities, we hopped on some bikes and decided to adventure down the 8km bike path to the downtown Melbourne area. Two hours later, we found Federation Square, famously located in the centre of downtown Melbourne. Watch the videos to see what downtown looks like, and the 'heaps' of people who spend their time watchin tennis at Federation Square. After another 8km ride home, we were welcomed by the Efrons and Dens for another scrumptious and healthy dinner of Thai, Chinese, and pizza (not to mention leftovers of Julie's rocky road). After dinner we all crowded around Eve, Adam and Elyse Den's other sister, to watch her swallow a rat whole. (Dont worry, she is a 4 foot long Boa Constrictor)
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011.
We were feeling pretty lazy from the week's stomach workouts, so we just hung out around the house and got ready to leave for New Zealand that 'night' (or morning... whatever you want to call it). After work, Rodney Efron and Michael were kind enough to take us down to Brighton beach to get our long awaited picture by the colourful huts (Mirelle was dying to see these things, google it). We came home for of course, another 'divine' home cooked meal, along with more of Julie's rocky road). That night, Brogan Efron and her boyfriend Dan showed us a great night at the local bar, The Local. The night was complete with some Cherry Beer for Mirelle and wine for Brogan, while the boys tested their luck with a random selection of 10 wildly different beers (Thanks Brogan and Dan, we had an awesome night). We arrived home at 12, just in time to start packing and get a good nights sleep of a total of 2 hours.
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011.
Waking up to a noisy alarm at 3a.m. was just amazing! We said our goodbyes to Julie and of course Bruce (The 4th child in the family, a brucey Australian Cattle Dog full of endless amounts of energy), and hopped back in the car with Michael for the airport drive. The airport was absolutely packed (NATTTT) and we had to wait in endless lines (NATTTT) and it really wasnt that early in the morning in the end (NATTTT). On to our 6a.m. (With Quantas, a HUGE upgrade from Air China) flight and on to the next part of our amazing journey, New Zealand.
We would like to add a huge thanks to the Dens for having us, and to both the Dens and Efrons for showing us a great time in Melbourne and making us feel at home. Also a big thanks to Elyse for including us in her trip to Portsea.
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