Day 77

Yesterday was the first day that actually felt like spring break!! My friend and I went decided to have a completely free day (except for the tram) and go walk around Melbourne exploring the docklands and the beautiful gardens that were around. I went back to Carlton Gardens with my camera this time and realized just how freakishly beautiful it was. There were so many big trees surrounding these dirt pathways and big stretches of the greenest grass I've ever seen. It would totally be the best place for a date ever, which is what one of my friends did and I can totally see why now! Now I just need a date. Huh. Bout that.

But afterwards we took the tram down to the casino, which everyone has been too (even the parents that have come here) except for me, but of course it was about noon so we didn't go in. Apparently all of the slot machines are really confusing and not at all like the movies where you just put in a corner and pull down the lever. I'd probably sit there confused for a long time and then give up, so maybe it's good that I'm not a big gambler... But then we went to the royal botanical gardens, which I hadn't been to since we did the aboriginal walk there in the Melbourne Welcome orientation. It was MISERABLE then, since it was raining and cold and I had been walking everywhere so I was tired. This time, it was absolutely gorgeous! We spent a good 2 hours or so walking around all of the gardens and looking at all the plants. About half of them were poisonous, but hey, in Australia, everything will kill you. We also walked through King's Domain and other various parks that had very strange statues with no explanations about them.

We ended up on the other side of Melbourne and the Yarra River from Carlton and got completely lost, which was kind of the point of this little adventure. It was a good thing I had my Melbourne book because I was being a complete tourist that day, so we had a huge map that we eventually found our way back to Federation Square. From there, we headed on the tram down to St. Kilda, a big beachy area about 40 minutes south of Melbourne to have dinner with our other friend and her parents at their rented apartment. We got there a few hours early, so we spent that time walking in the sand and reminiscing about beaches in New England (we both come from New Hampshire and Maine). Once we got to the main shopping area of St. Kilda, there were a MILLION amazing looking pastry shops and gelati places so we had to splurge and buy gelati. Best. Decision. Ever. So. Delicious! Then we walked to the St. Kilda gardens and found a lifesize chess board that we wanted to place so badly, but there were these two old men playing so we just found a swing set that we sat on and glared at the men from a distance.

When we finally ate dinner, it was so amazingly delicious! It was nice to finally not eat cereal and spaghetti all the time, but instead we had salad and cheese and crackers and this pasta with feta cheese and sundried tomatoes. Absolutely delicious! And such a fun day!