"S" is for...

Spring! It has officially been spring in Melbourne since September 1st and our temperatures have been on the rise. It is nice to know that the cold, windy, rainy days of winter are mostly behind us.

A calm spring day. It is often windy in spring, so we relish calm days!

Pretty spring bloom on our street.

A view of the CBD from Albert Park, where our Year 10 students were running the 5km loop.

Swooping season. This is no joke! Magpies in particular are very conscious of protecting their nests and if you walk/run/ride on a footpath near trees with nests in them, prepare to be attacked. Getting swooped is startling!

A warning about swooping in our local paper.

This is how cyclists attempt to protect themselves during swooping season.

Apparently the "protection" is not always all that helpful!

Sunsets. Our days are getting longer every day, and I have been taking advantage of the extra daylight with walks along the river near our house after work. Spring seems to bring some spectacular sunsets! All of these sunset pictures were taken from different spots on different evenings using my phone.

On this evening the sun was blazing an amazing orange color as it dropped from the sky. I had to run in order to get to a spot where I could see it fall to the horizon, and it was worth the extra effort!

Snakes. When the temperature warms up, snakes come out of hibernation. On my evening walks I have started to become a bit more vigilant about being on the lookout for snakes. I have only seen one snake near our house in the three years that we have lived here, and I am pretty sure it was a brown snake, not the kind of snake you want to be bitten by!

Our local paper warning us about snakes in the area

Sausage sizzles. These actually happen year-round, but once the weather warms up, everyone heads out to their local Bunnings (the equivalent of Home Depot/Lowes in America). Each weekend a different group serves up sausages outside the store, usually offering fried onions with the sausage and serving them on a piece of bread. These sausage sizzles serve as fundraisers for different organizations, and shoppers are always keen to have a sausage in the middle of the afternoon on a weekend.

People queuing up for sausages

What the finished product usually looks like. Mind you that is tomato sauce, not ketchup!

Melbourne Cup

The beginning of November marks "Spring Racing Carnival" time in Melbourne. A week of horse racing takes place annually at Flemington Racecourse, just down the road from where we live. The biggest race, Melbourne Cup, takes place on the Tuesday, and it is often coined as "the race that stops the nation". It is a public holiday, which means no work or school in Victoria and often in neighboring states the case is the same.

I had been wanting to attend Cup Day since our arrival in Melbourne. One of our friends who lives in Queensland was coming down for the race with some of his friends, so we thought it would be a good chance to hang out with him and to see the races.

Joe and I. Contiki 2004 reunites again!

There are several races (10) throughout the day, but the actual Melbourne Cup race is the one that everyone gets excited about, and that race takes place around 3pm. We arrived about 10am with lots of snacks, a blanket, and chairs (which actually did not survive the day!), finding a spot very close to the rail to allow for a good view of the races. The crowd built gradually over the day and eventually there were 104,000 people there for the races!

In the early hours there was plenty of room to move around.

Our view of the horses from the rail.

Crowds started to form on the rail around midday.

By the time the Melbourne Cup race rolled around, there was not any space to move!

One unique thing about horse racing in Australia is that most races take place on grass, and Melbourne Cup is no exception. Also, there was a warm up area for the horses where spectators could get very close, and I honestly have no idea if that exists in the States for races like Preakness, Belmont, or the Kentucky Derby. I do know that there are a very small percentage of people at Melbourne Cup that do not dress up for the races. Headwear, in particular is something that stands out, as there are often unique hats or fascinators worn by women attending the races. From what I have seen of those big US horse races mentioned earlier, there are generally a lot of people in the infield who do not dress up and sometimes the well-dressed crowd is limited to the grandstand. We saw a few people in shorts or jeans but most men were in suits and most women in dresses.

One of the horses showing off to "punters" before the races.

In a city where the weather is completely unpredictable, we could not have picked a more perfect day. Blue skies, light winds, and no rain made for excellent conditions for watching the races and for socializing. I had heard horror stories about lines to get drinks and for the toilet, but I was impressed with the efficiency of those lines given the number of people in attendance.

All in all, we had an awesome day at Melbourne Cup. I am told that in order to truly experience horse racing in Australia, I also need to attend a race in the country (often termed "Country Vic" by the locals), so of course that is now on my radar and I will be looking for a country horse race to head to soon!

Horses and jockeys racing with the CBD skyline in the background.

Endings

This week we have experienced the "end" of a few things in our lives. Winter has certainly come to an end with the bloom of trees in our neighborhood accompanied by blue skies.

The footy season has come to an end, as our club made it to the Grand Final again this year, unfortunately coming out as the #2 team in the league for the second year in a row.

Trophy and medal presentation for the winning team

The biggest news this week in Australia is that of a new Prime Minister. The reign of the Labor Party has ended and the Liberal Party will be taking over. I do not pretend to know much about government in Oz, but I do know that the election runs quite differently than in the States. Unlike in America, there is no "set" election date, though I'm not exactly sure how the date is determined. Votes are still cast on paper, not electronically like most of the US of A. Voting is compulsory (mandatory) if you are an Australian citizen and if you do not vote, you will be fined. The political parties have different names, but from what I gather, the Labor Party resembles the Democratic Party in American while the Liberal Party is more like the Republican side of government in the States. I have heard a few Australians compare the new prime minister, Tony Abbott, to George W. Bush. Apparently he has had quite a few interesting speeches, though I'm not sure they rival some of these beauties by GW! At any rate, it will be interesting to see how the change in leadership affects life in our current "home" country.

Screen shot of Australia's Google page on Election Day.

Helloooooooooo Spring!

Today, September 1st, is the first official day of spring in Australia (it is also Father's Day in Oz, for anyone that is interested!). However, we have been lucky enough that it has been feeling like spring for the last week or so. The sun has been out with temperatures ranging from about 65-75 degrees F, and if our luck continues, the cold, rainy days of winter are behind us! We cannot complain too much, though, as the winter of 2013 set records for being warm (average winter temp of about 60 degrees F), albeit rainy. Trees are blossoming, the smell of freshly cut grass is in the air, and we don't have to "rug up" for our morning bike rides to work for the next 8 or 9 months.

With the change in seasons, we do start to see insects and other animals come out of their winter hiding places, which is always an interesting experience. This week we caught a spider in our hallway:

Not nearly as big as the one in our bedroom last summer, but still scary-looking!

Friday night we had some rain that lead to the exposure of about 30 snails in our backyard. 

Not sure what is going on here?!

Tiny snail!

Checking out our back door. Sort of looks like he is suspended in the air!

This week we also enjoyed an outside lunch at a barbecue joint in the city. Aimed to mimic American BBQ, this place offers several different kinds of BBQ sauce including our favorite, a vinegar-based Carolina style.

Carolina style pulled pork with 'slaw, of course!

The "Zee Man" beef brisket with crispy onions.

Also this week, Melbourne was named the world's most liveable city for the third year in a row. Kind of exciting news as we begin our third spring in "Melbs". The video below is a couple of years old but shows a few highlights of our awesome city!

Snow in September?!

Okay, so it did not actually snow in Melbourne today, but seeing as I have not seen snow since sometime around February of 2011, the hail that gathered at our back door today certainly looked like snow!

Every Thursday I teach at the "uni" from 8am until noon and then from 2pm until 4pm. During my lunch break, I generally go for a run and then eat lunch with Erik after my workout. I was very excited about my run today, seeing as it was quite warm and sunny. Of course, I must have momentarily forgotten that we live in Melbourne and the weather can change instantaneously without warning. About half way through my run, I did notice some dark clouds, however, I thought the weather might blow over. Unfortunately, a few minutes later, I was being slapped in the face with hail that was coming down at a 45 degree angle. Lucky for me, I was near a bridge overpass, so I was able to duck under that for a few minutes while the hardest stuff fell down. I decided to tough it out and finish the run in the rain/hail, but had I waited about 15 more minutes, I would have finished my run in sunny and warm conditions! During the remainder of the day, the weather fluctuated between beautiful blue skies and torrential downpours with hail. I returned home about an hour after what I thought was the last hailstorm, so I was surprised to see the remnants of the storms. I really did do a double take when I saw the white stuff!

Is it winter or spring?!

Pellets large enough to do damage to vehicles, I think!

The winds wreaked havoc on the new blooms of flowering trees.

Wine Weekend!

Just a few weeks after we arrived in Australia last year, one of Erik's supervisors started talking about having a wine weekend for their research group. He said it was too late to organize one for last spring, and that summer and fall might be too hot, so he set his sights on a wine trip for the spring of 2012. His planning did not disappoint, as we have just returned back to Melbourne after a lovely weekend of wine tasting in North East Victoria. We departed in our 25 passenger bus on Saturday morning and arrived in Wangaratta (know as "Wang" to the locals!) around lunch time. The lunch order had been called into a local cafe near the train station so that we could eat and head to a few wineries in the afternoon. Of course nothing happens quickly when you are traveling in a large group of people, but by the time we were finished with lunch we had time to hit up three different wineries in the Rutherglen region: All Saints, Chambers Rosewood, and Stanton & Killeen.

All Saints

Imagine how beautiful this entrance would be in autumn!

Still winter in the Rutherglen region!

All Saints probably had the most unique scenery, and they also had a small store with cheese samples next door. The second stop, Chambers Rosewood, was a very different type of wine tasting experience. Unlike most of the wineries who spend a lot of time on decor and ambiance, this stop was much more casual. In fact, the tastings were self serve, and there was not much controlling for serving size! There was one older gentleman working there and he was incredibly generous by basically letting our group, who were the only people in the place, go wild. Needless to say, this led to some craziness on the bus after departure from that winery.

Second stop on Saturday

Erik serving himself one of the many wine selections at Chambers.

For my OLMC peeps!

Our last stop on Saturday was at Stanton & Killeen. This was a lovely winery with several great wines, but to be honest everything was tasting good at that point! We stayed there until closing time and there was even a bit of footy-playing taking place before departure back to Wangaratta, where we were spending the night. Dinner was booked at a small Italian restaurant, D'Amico's, so we were able to finish the evening with MORE wine and delicious food. After dinner we made an attempt to search for a bit of night life in Wang, but after a short stay at the Albion Hotel, we decided that sleep was a better option.

Stanton & Killeen

Spontaneous footy games were not uncommon this weekend. 

Thank goodness for our DD!

Huge, bright patches of grape seed along the road

Day two of our wine adventure began at Milawa Cheese Factory as most Aussies start their days, with coffee and brekkie. From Milawa we headed to the King Valley wine region and began the day at Pizzini winery. Stop number two was at Gracebrook Vineyards, which had beautiful views of the mountain ranges. We ate lunch on their outside patio, discussing the fact that we could not have been much luckier with the weather, especially given Victoria's unpredictable spring. Our last stop of the weekend was Brown Brothers Winery. By this time, much of the group was finished drinking, but several of us enjoyed tasting their wines before the bus departed for Melbourne.

Erik's research group

Inside Pizzini winery

Gracebrook's selection of white wines

The stunning views at Gracebrook

Our table for lunch

Gracebrook also had a few farm animals

Final stop

Overall it was an extremely enjoyable weekend! We did have a few challenges due to the size of our group, as it would take time to order food, line up for tastings, get on/off the bus without leaving anyone, etc., so the patience level of some was surely tested. I think with a smaller group you could probably visit between 5 and 10 wineries a day, as there are many within a relatively close area. However, the advantage of a larger bus group is that everyone except the driver can join in on the tasting fun without worrying about driving. The tastings are completely free and essentially unlimited, so the major costs of a trip like this are transport an a place to stay. Money well spent in our book! There are several additional wine regions to explore in Victoria and also within Australia, and there is also a huge festival every June in same region we visited, called the Rutherglen Winery Walkabout, so I'd say that chances are good that this will not be my first and last post about wine!