We made it! We’re here!
As suspected, I don’t fly very well. After the first flight from YYC to LAX I felt ill (complete with chills and nausea) and needed to get motion sickness medication. I popped a few and waited to board our flight to Sydney. 11:50 local time, past my bed time at home time.
Tom and I couldn’t sit together for the 14 hour flight, and instead I sat between two friendly Aussies, one of which was a military surgeon who specialized in the bowel and was very nice to talk to. Dr. John Payne and I talked about the flight, yogurt, things to see in Australia, human physiology, our respective theories about sleep, and he told stories about his work and what he had done with his life. We had an extended opportunity to chat as our plane had to land in Brisbane for an hour to refuel, extending travel and requiring a reschedule of our last flight from Sydney to Melbourne. The other gentleman I sat beside had arrived from Calgary and the Rockies and mentioned some observances about taxes and service in the hospitality industry. It was interesting that some of the things I had taken for granted (added hospitality taxes, slight inconveniences when booking a hotel) were foreign to him, and when we were able to effortlessly and cheerfully rebook our flight to Melbourne I understood why he felt this way.
We flew for one hour more via Virgin Blue, landing in Melbourne, taking a shuttle to Southern Cross, and then we were home. Temporary home, but when you stay with a good friend it feels like home already.
Dinner that night was poached eggs on toasted turkish bread and proscuitto, garnished with roquette and balsamic from The Poppy Café. That meal featured an introduction to my current favorite, “strong flat white” which is a latté with less milk and more coffee. The evening was finished off with a refreshing shower, a few episodes of Buffy and a couple of movies and glasses of gin.
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Day 2: May 31, 2009
As I was first to wake up, I quietly did some yoga stretches by the morning light to start, then curled up on the couch to read more of Choke. Six chimes from the nearby church was a pleasant mark for my Sunday morning. Thirty minutes of continuous chiming from the same church in short intervals started to get annoying and I retreated back into the bedroom.
We had breakfast and coffee at The Poppy Café again (strong flat white and Europa for me: two poached eggs, tomato topped with fresh pesto, toasted turkish bread, some kind of lamb or beef patties and a saucy salad whose name evades me currently.
After that we were off to the Queen Victoria Market which Ash is very fortunate to be living near. The energy of the market and the fresh produce, meats and seafood were inspiring, and we returned home with a few bags of each. Oysters for $9.50/dozen? Yes please!
I devoured my fresh pain du chocolat for a snack, layed around for a bit, then ventured off to St. Kilda beach. Stepping off the tram I was greeted with the fresh smell of the ocean, and walked along the promenade with Ash and Tom. There was a rocky section where I was fortunate enough to see a couple of little penguins (charming) and Australia’s endangered water rat (alarming, but I was honored to see it). On the walk back we were fortunate to also see a seal swimming away. A stop at a local pub for beer for the boys and local wine for me was in order before heading home again. Dinner that night was all of the delights of the market: fresh raw oysters with a chili lime sauce, broiled herbed lamb chops, and roasted vegetables.
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Day 3: June 1, 2009
Ash was off to work and Tom and I spent the day wandering around the neighborhood. We are so fortunate to be near Flagstaff park and the downtown area. We meandered through the commercial areas and visited the grocery store to purchase more items for dinner. It’s strange, we were looking for whipping cream for butter chicken but could only find thickened cream of the same milk fat percentage, but thickened with gelatine. Tomato sauce is usually a key ingredient, but we opted for diced tomatoes as we thought their version of tomato sauce was more like ketchup. Eggs are sold on shelves and not refrigerated (some things are backwards down under) but plastic bags are very rare to see as everyone carries resuable bags (un-backwards; forward thinking in fact).
The evening ended with garlic butter chicken on penne and marscapone stuffed figs and apricots for dessert. With more gin. Delicious.
It's tough to think of a blurb for myself when I'm also on 
If you get a chance… see if you can spend some time in a chocolate cafe (there’s one my cousin took me to in Centrum). There’s an ‘ice chocolate’ drink that you may find interesting.