Home Cooked Meal – Where to, Gumshoe?

May 11, 2016

This morning we woke up and got ready to meet Chloe and Alex for lunch at the South Melbourne Market. We’re staying in North Melbourne so the tram ride to get to the market would took around 40 minutes. We went through downtown (CBD), went over the bridge south of the river, and got off on York Street. We got there about 10 minutes late and saw Chloe and Alex waiting for us outside the market.

As soon as we saw Chloe and Alex from the distance, Tim said we should have gotten them to be our models when we took pictures of the graffiti art around town. Their outfits would work a lot better with that background than our hoodies. They showed us around the South Melbourne Market and introduced us to the friends they made there (they don’t just seem like locals, they’re regulars). It was nice to see how friendly everyone was and that they met some really great people at the market.

The first place we went to visit was the coffee shop Alex used to work at and the tea shop across the ways called, Tea Drop. At both places, everyone was so happy to see the two of them (we felt special by association). Chloe treated us to a fizzy fruit tea that they have on tap at Tea Drop. It was really good and refreshing. Tim’s stomach wasn’t feeling too great so the fizziness was good for it.

South Melbourne Market is a lot smaller than Queen Victoria Market, but it seemed like more of a neighbourhood market (a bit more like Granville Island). They had a variety of stores, speciality food shops, and a good looking food court. Chloe and Alex recommended a Vietnamese stall that was clearly a popular choice at the market. Tim had a regular beef pho and I had crispy pork with rice. Both dishes were $10 AUD, which was really reasonable (for Australian prices). Tim said his pho was good and I quite enjoyed my crispy pork (Tim would’ve too if his stomach could handle it).

We walked around the market a bit more and grabbed some croissants from a French bakery that sold some pastries and a variety of croissants. I got an apricot danish ($6 AUD = $5.60 CAD) which was really good. We took our pastries and decided to walk to the Melbourne Botanical Gardens. Before getting to the gardens, we stopped by the Shrine of Remembrance.

The Shrine of Remembrance was built to remember all those who served in WWI, but now is used as a memorial of those who have served Australian in all wars. The building is nicely situated and has a view of Melbourne’s skyline from the balcony.

The Melbourne Botanical Gardens are quite large and the gardens are very quiet and peaceful. It was nice to walk around and observe all the different types of plants, trees, and birds. The birds here are all different from the ones back home. Their seagulls are a lot smaller and their crows don’t caw they make more of a “ughhh” noise.

After walking through the park for a bit we walked back into the central business district (CBD). We said bye to Chloe and Alex as they made their way home. We’ll probably see them when we’re back in the beginning of June before heading to SE Asia.

Tim and I walked around the CBD a bit more and got a quick snack at Sushi Hub. We had passed by this sushi place the other day and I thought it was interesting that Australians served their sushi uncut. You would think we wouldn’t want to eat sushi any more but I was intrigued and the prices were quite reasonable. We tried a roll and an inari. They were average and decent for the price.

We took the tram back to Victoria Gardens and stopped by Coles for some groceries before heading back to the apartment. We still had some salad mix and 1.5 avocados left from the other day so we bought a couple items to supplement it for dinner. Apparently avocado mashed on bread is a popular menu item at restaurants here, so since we had extra avocados we bought some bread for that. We also bought some salami and snacks for our upcoming road trip.

We headed back to the apartment and I assembled our simple dinner. After dinner we booked two hotels for the next two nights along the Great Ocean Road. I’m looking forward to exploring more of Australia and Tim is excited to be able to drive. We’re both looking forward to getting to spend time with Jessica and Robin in Adelaide in a couple of days. We were on a travel booking spree as we booked our Cairns hotel and our Great Barrier Reef snorkel tour today too. I can’t wait to see the Great Barrier Reef before it all disappears.

We’re going to wake up a bit earlier tomorrow and go to the coffee shop in this building for breakfast. We tried to go the other day but it closed at 4pm. Then Marcus will drive us to pick up our rental car and we’ll be on our way along the Great Ocean Road!

Steps today: 18,000

May 9, 2016

The plan today was no plan at all. We were looking forward to just spending the day around the apartment, cooking lunch, and trying to figure out what we’ll be doing in Australia for the rest of the month.

We woke up to a bit of rain but within an hour it started coming down (tropical rain style) and was very windy. We waited until the rain died down a bit before walking across the street to the Victoria Gardens Mall to buy groceries. The both of us were really excited at the prospect of cooking for the first time in 70 days (how things change when you’re away from home).

Marcus’ apartment is very conveniently located and the grocery store, Coles, across the street is just like a Safeway. The prices were all very reasonable. Fruit and vegetables were more expensive than home, but not as crazy as Japan. We decided to make a salad, spaghetti bolognese, and corn on the cob. It was a pretty simple lunch but that’s a pretty standard dinner we would make for ourselves back home. The groceries we bought would be good for a couple of meals.

When we got back from the mall, all of a sudden, the sun came out and the sky was blue. The weather in Melbourne does change fairly quickly. We started to cook the pasta sauce, boil some corn, and cut the avocado for the salad. After taking our first bites, we both agreed that it felt really good to eat something simple and prepared by ourselves.

After we cleaned up, we hunkered down and started to plan out our Australian itinerary. We finally figured it out and began to book car rentals, flights, and research some accommodations. We’re going to be staying in Melbourne until Thursday, then rent a car and drive the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide (where Jess and Robin live) and stay there for a few nights. Australia’s a huge country so even with a month here, I feel like there’s still a lot to see here that we won’t be able to go to this trip.

The day flew by and Marcus got home from work to wash up and pick us up to go to Max’s house for their Game of Thrones viewing. Apparently every Monday, they watch Game of Thrones together with his house mates since it airs in North America on Sunday nights. Tim is a big fan of the show so when he heard they do a viewing party he wanted to join in.

We stopped by a food truck area for a quick dinner. They have different food trucks come each day and there’s a bar and open air and indoor seating. I got a pulled pork burrito and Tim tried a Polish “pizza”. The weather was a lot colder than we thought it would be. It was very windy and it was a cool breeze. We were sure it was around 8 degrees C out, but when we checked the temperature it was 17 degrees C. We’ve acclimatized.

After a quick and good dinner, we went to Max’s house and were introduced to his house mates. They turned off the lights and watched Game of Thrones. I took this chance to take a nap. When it was over they all discussed what was going on. I was just sitting there looking around at the house and kept thinking about how good it smelled inside. It was like the smell of someone’s house when they finished making a roast beef (yum!).

It was a pretty relaxing day and was probably the most “normal life” day we’ve had in 70 days. It was a nice change of pace and rest day that we both needed.

Steps today: 3,000

Tag: Home Cooked Meal

Melbourne (Day 72): South Melbourne Market & Botanical Gardens

Melbourne (70 Days): Feels Like Home