Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Goodness, it sure is cold down here! The first day of winter was a few days ago, and you can sure feel the chill in the air. It’s a little confusing, as I keep thinking it should be Christmas time! On Saturday we returned our rental car, and so we are now dependent on walking. Yipee! It is probably for the best, now we can get some good exercise! Since Sunday, we’ve visited the Immigration Museum where we learned about the origins of the people here in Australia, a Catholic church (we haven’t converted yet), and the Victorian Parliament building.

At the Parliament building we learned about the Australian government, which has some similarities to our own in America. They have two legislatures and a prime minister (sort-of like our president). I’ve found that learning about the government here has only made me appreciate our own government even more!

We’ve also been able to see two films at the Melbourne Museum IMAX. One was a 3-D film on the Hubble telescope. It was fantastic! It told some background information on how the telescope was made and how it has had to be serviced and repaired many times. It gave the story behind the last mission in 2009 to repair the telescope, and also gave amazing insights into the pictures the telescope has taken, and the information that it has given us here on earth. It showed how there were millions upon millions of stars, solar systems, universes, and galaxies that we have estimated so far, and it was just mind-boggling to think of all of the worlds out there that are so far away from our own earth. It makes you put everything in perspective, and realize that your problems are so small and minute. It truly supports the gospel principle when Christ says “worlds without number have I created.” What a glorious idea! The movie was so remarkable, if only everyone could see it; it would help everyone reevaluate their own lives.

Kristen and Brooke in our funny looking 3-D glasses!

We’ve also been able to learn a lot about the Aborigines who have lived in Australia since before the British settlers arrived. As we learn more about them, I find them to be very similar to the American Indians in America. They were both oppressed and driven out of their lands by English settlers and now live on small amounts of land given to them by the government. It has been fascinating learning about the history of Australia, but again, it only makes me appreciate the USA even more. We truly live in a great land.

On Monday night we decided to go out to a Chinese restaurant, and it was not an easy task. Our hotel is just one block from Chinatown, which has probably one hundred Chinese restaurants! We didn’t know which ones were good and which were questionable. We easily eliminated the ones with real ducks hanging in the window, and decided that the ones with no customers in them probably was not a good sign. We eventually found a restaurant called The Wonton House, which had a lot of people in it – a good sign! We were given a table and a menu, and then I looked at some of their specials – “Chicken Feet,” “Ox Tripe,” “Squid.” I started feeling a little uneasy, but we were there and staying there, so Kristen and I ordered the most normal, safe sounding thing on the menu – Sweet and Sour Pork. My mom decided to go with something unique and ordered a Chicken and Rice Claypot. All of our dishes turned out to be very delicious, and even my mom’s claypot was very normal tasting! We left feeling very full and very satisfied that out of hundreds of Chinese restaurants we were able to find a descent one!

Another adventure here was going to the Queen Victoria Market. This market is sort of like a farmers market, because you can buy fruit, meats, fish, clothes, jewelry, souvenirs, – about anything you can imagine! So, Tuesday morning my mom, Kristen, and I ventured out into the winter air to shop until we dropped at this market. What we were not expecting was that it would be the coldest, rainiest day to decide to go to an outdoor market! All of the booths were under some sort of shelter from the rain, but the sides were open, and so the wind and cold could not be escaped. After about 40 minutes at the market, we decided that we had better get some more clothing on, or freeze to death! So we found a wonderful place that sold sweatshirts with an Australian emblem on it – so we got a nice souvenir, and saved our lives at the same time!

The Queen Victoria Market

One of my personal favorite activities so far was taking a river cruise. The Yarra River runs through Melbourne and also acts as a port for ships. We were able to take a one-hour ride on the river and learn about the city and the different bridges and sites in Melbourne. We saw some humongous ships that are used to carry cargo, and I must say they were extremely amazing! Our little cruise boat looked like an ant compared to these monster ships – it was a little intimidating! However, the trip was very enjoyable and we were able to see the city from a whole different perspective!

This might be our last blog here in Australia, as we leave tomorrow (Saturday) for Singapore. Farewell Australia!

Aborigine Status: One has been sighted at the Victoria Market! He was at one of the booths for Aboriginal art.

Brooke