This past weekend we took a day trip to the Dandenongs.  This is a low mountain range about one hours drive to the east of Melbourne.  Quite a difference from the city.  The southern end of the range is a temperate rain forest composed of fern gully and tall mountain ash trees.  The area is lush dense and green.  An amazing contrast to the mostly flat brown and dry landscape of Melbourne.  The mountains in the Dandenongs were volcanic at one time leaving rich soil.  As a result the area is full of farms growing all sorts of fruit, flowers, veg and vineyards.  There is a massive tulip farm there as well - it is a shame that we won't be here when they have the tulip festival (September - October)  and everything is in bloom - the pictures are unbelievable.  At the northern end of the Dandenongs is the Yarra Valley  with the wineries, shops and wildlife.

We took a short ride on a restored, narrow gauge steam engine train through Sherbrook Forest, had lunch at a winery and spent the afternoon at Healsburg Wildlife Sanctuary where we got to see all the Australian Wildlife we have been looking for.

 Feeding wild Cockatoos - we have the scars on our arms to prove it!

                                                                                 

 You are encouraged to rid the train with your feet hanging out

 



 



 

There is a campaign to use recycled toilet paper to save trees - habitat for birds

Black Cockatoo

 

Tasmanian Devil



Of course when you spend a year or more organizing, planning, imagining and preparing for an adventure you construct all sorts of images and expectations of what it is and will be.  It has a life of it's own.  It exists in a space all to itself which you observe, hold, manipulate and imagine the possibilities.  Now that I exist within that place of course it has a reality which is quite different than that story I wrote previously.

 I am of two minds here.  It is hard to imagine where I am, that I am literaly on the other side of the earth from where I was a month ago.  Graham and I were in a store the other day and were looking at a globe - quite beautiful, gold and brilliant colors.  We spun it and looked at where we are and where we had been - it is such an abstract notion, holding a ball in our hands.  In the day to day life we are leading here we are in the present, the moment, the world as we define it today.  This world exists inside us and around us.  We buy groceries, play games, drink wine (quite wonderful Australian wines) walk outside and sweat in the hot sun.  We could be any where (except for Western PA which doesn't have much hot sun right now) and we are.  Then I am riding the tram into the CBD and the Melbourne skyline appears quickly on the trip - it is in the distance, it is outside me and I can look at it and we are so far away from PA. Holding this place outside of myself I have a sense of being so far away.  Quite amazing.

La Trobe Uni (it is "the Uni" here) is a beautiful campus.  Not sure what I expected but it has been a pleasant surprise.  The central part of the campus is set u[ for only foot trafic and there are walkways on the ground and one level up so you can walk around the central campus all on the upper level or ground level.  Surrounding the campus are lagoons and various water features.  It is very green.  Of course there is the standard government, institutional buildings but also alot of sculpture and quite unique buildings.  There are a wide variety of inviting, hidden green areas with places to gather and to find solitude. 



Health Sciences # 1,  My office is on the 3rd floor here.

The Institute for Mollecular Science.  An unbelievable building.

 



 

 

A gathering area on the upper deck around the Union



For the bird lovers out there. 

The sights and sounds here are very different with varieties of bird that you only see n a pet store or zoo in the states. These birds are in my back yard.

 

 

 

There are a wide variety of parrots here.  This is a Galah.

 

 

This (and the pic below) is a Little Corella 

 

A Sulphur Cockatoo - The noisiest bird you have ever heard.

 

 

This is an Australian Magpie. Graham describes their song as a "bad flute player."

 

Eurasian Coot

 

Purple Swamp Hen

Even the pidgeon looks different - Crested Pidgeon

 



We went to the movies today - quite an interesting experience.  We saw Lincoln which both Susan and I found to be very moving and impactful.  For me I was very aware of sitting in another country, on another continent watching the movie.  It placed my own sense of being a US citizen in clear relief.  Not sure what that means exactly but it seemed to magnify the uniquely American issues and characteristics that I saw running through the movie and recognize in me.  I'm not sure if I would have had the same reaction watching it in the US?  Who knows.

I was able to spend the afternoon yesterday at the Bouverie Center.  This is a prominant family thereapy center in Australia which is located in Melbourne and is connected to the School of Public Health at La Trobe University which is also where the department I am affiliated with (Counseling & Psychological Health) is located.  Bouverie is operates as a stand alone agency in a different part of the city .  However they also have a clear focus on research and teaching.  They offer several post-graduate degrees through Bouverie including a Certificate in Narrative Therapy.  I was thrilled to learn in my conversation with Jeff Young, the director, yesterday that they have developed a particular focus on single session therapy.  Jeff shared a number of great resources with me which I will be excited to bring home.  This has been a great discovery since it resonnates so well with me and fits well with the models I teach.  I'll be spending a number of Friday mornings at Bouverie sitting in on the Narrative Therapy seminar. 

We also went to St. Kilda this last week.  St. Kilda is a near suburb to the south of the CBD. It sits on Port Philip Bay along the #96 tram.  It is a lively, wonderful, colerful community which presents a very different flavor than many other suburbs (everything is called a suburb here).  In fact each part of the city seems to have it's own color and feel, it's own character that is unique.  The city seems to me as a collection of colors and sounds, a quilt pieced together.  Not sure if there is an overall story or pattern yet - or if it's a loose collection of unique pieces.

 The entrance to Luna Park - an old amusement parkin St. Kilda

 St. Kilda Pier

 There is a nice view of the Melbourne skyline across Port Philip bay from the pier.

 St. Kilda Pier

 

 A view of the beach from the pier.  That is the Palais Theatre on the right.

 

 Cricket is a big sport here - you see it being played everywhere. Still not sure I understand it but we're going to a professonal match  soon - to say I did if nothing else.

 

 Just a quirky store.

 

Inside a great Polish bakery.  One thing they are not short ofhere is great bakeries.

The #86

So we've been here for 3 weeks.  Pretty amazing to think it has been that long.  We are settling into a bit of a routine and picking up a few words and expressions.  I am beginning to look the right direction when I cross the road but not sure I'm ready to drive a car yet (my brain still thinks it's the wrong side of the road). I'll have to brave it soon, there are a large number of great wineires close by in the Yara Valley.  The closest is about a 30 minute drive from here.  The area is an emerging wine region and is getting alot of recognition. 

My classes don't start until the 1st of March although I'm spending a good bit of time preping for my research (the joys of a human subject committee in another country) and meeting with a colleague here I will be co-teaching a theories/skills class with.  Our collaboration has produced some wonderful and very exciting conversations.  She has a doc in philosophy as well as psychology and trained with Michael White at Dulwhich. Our discussions take off rapidly and soar all over the place. Tremendously productive for the mind of someone on sabbatical who loves the freedom of loose association and conversation without boundaries.  However not very productive in creating a course structure that will use both our talents effectively.  It's fun.

Granted we've not been anywhere else in Australia yet (beyond our hectic and stressful jaunt through the Sidney airport),  howevere we are getting a feeling for the unique character of Melbourne.  I used the term colorful in an earlier post.  Edgy and gritty may be a better descriptor.  It is a very large city which seems to go on for ever at times. It seems no matter where you are that spot exists on it's own.  Shops, bakerys, restuarants, cafe's & coffee shops are everywhere and they are all small, unique and have a character of their own.  What are dollar stores in the US, are 2 dollar stores here (that about reflects the difference in cost of living here) but they are not the shiney strip mall stores you see there -  they are narrow, crowded open front shops that spill out onto the sidewalk with bins of everything imaginable.  Fresh foods, baked goods, meats and fish abound.  Even with the larger chain grocery stores there is a separate butcher, bakery and fish counter that is attached but outside the store.  What appeared to be seedy to us at first now seems to reflect the character of the city.  Not totally sure what to make of it all yet but it is becoming familiar.

I have spoken of my tram ride (#86 Docklands/Bundoora RMIT) before and of the grafitti everywhere which has become street art. This link will take you to a great site that is dedicated to the #86 tram - the art and unique sites you will find along the way.  It is worth taking some time to explore the site - you will see the sites I see as I ride into the CBD:

Melbourne Street Art on Tram #86


Here are some of my photos from the tram ride:

The Year Of The Snake

We were unable to be at Mardi Gras this week so instead we went to the Chinese New Year celebration today in Melbourne - the year of the snake.  The sights and sounds were overwhelming.  The pictures here can't convey the size and scope of the celebration; the energy and enormity of the crowd.  In the midst of the drummers, the roar and smoke of the fire crackers, the colors and movement you lost any sense of being an outsider and we were part of the celebration.  We were rushing to touch the dragon for good luck looking on in wonder as they moved by. .Melbourne is a city with a large and strong Chinese population.  This is one thing that has surprised us - how much Asian culture and people are a part of the city.  After living in Butler County, Pennsylvania for so long it is quite eye opening to hear so many different languages spoken just riding on the tram. The area where we live is very diverse as is the city on the whole - quite an adjustment for us.  I suppose going back to Mars will seem odd in it's homogeneity after living in such a varied place.  It will seem as much like being on Mars as this area does at times.