Wednesday 3rd December
By this point in the trip, Granola had intended to be back to their normal routine. But what is normal anyway? Stan and Pola had intended to compete in a massive dancesport competition in Melbourne over the coming weekend, but it came to light that they had actually missed the sign up. Ultimately it worked out well-ish, because Stan was invited to go to Sydney on short notice for a leadership thing for work. So he was already gone before I got up in the morning. Stan is also a structural engineer, and he's been working on a big project in Melbourne. Over my two weeks with the gang, I heard many stories of his successes and challenges (especially challenges) which resonated with my own structural engineering experience.
Why do we do this profession, which brings perpetual stress, loads of liability, long hours, and lower pay than most engineering fields (not to mention other forms of consulting)? I'd like to think it's the satisfaction of the public service. It is undeniably satisfying building the constructed environment around us, but - I guess like everything in life - it does take a toll. It's hard for me to convey this reality to my non-structural engineering family and friends. But I find it telling that that two people in different forms of structural engineering for different companies on opposite ends of the world grapple with the same stresses day in and day out. Oof, what a world!
Pola, for her part, had continued her cold. She took Monday off with a chesty cough, but finally by Wednesday was starting to come around. I also had had the cold over the weekend. Mine seemed a lot better than hers though - and mine was limited to all the congestion. I went through a fair few tissues in NZ and Melbourne. We shared a box of nice soothing lotion-infused New Zealand Kleenex. They were soft and thick, very pleasant for all your congestive experiences.
Grace had intended to have a full week of normal work too. On Saturday coming off the boat, she was feeling a little uneasy with some abdominal pain. Sunday and Monday had been fineish (recall, we even went dancing), and Tuesday she had welcomed a friend of hers from the UK to Melbourne. But Wednesday was not a good day for her. Somewhere along the line she must have picked up something bacterial that took a long time to incubate because she spent the day at home, quite unwell. I can only imagine it must have come from the Routeburn Track, but it's hard to pin down since we boiled all our water and we all ate and drank the same stuff. Pola and I had been fine (except the cold) and Stan had said he felt slightly uneasy at one point, but nothing further materialized. Anyway, I felt terrible for Grace as the Mueller Hut was the most difficult hike she'd ever done by quite a margin and the Routeburn was her first backpacking trip. I wanted everything to go well and this wasn't what I had in mind.
Thankfully she had loved the hiking and she was very gracious about the illness.
So Wednesday was a day mostly on my own. I took a slow start to the day, taking advantage of everyone being at work. Indeed, I say slow, but truth be told I never fully acclimated to the time zones. Every morning I'd wake up in the 5:30-7:00 timeframe and hopelessly roll over until about 7:30. Of course the evenings were full of fun and activities (with the occasional blog) so I was going to bed between 23:00 and 1:00. Where did I pay the price? Between 14:00 and 18:00 every day, which felt like overnight in the East Coast. In the National Gallery of Victoria I had been extremely tired walking around and, having a seat in one of the galleries, I almost dozed off. On the trail and later in Sydney, I certainly dragged through the hot afternoons outdoors. Usually a bit of food or dinner would power me through the evenings, but then I would totally crash when I hit the pillow. It's not an exaggeration to say I was falling asleep in seconds.
So when I say I had a slow start to the morning, what I mean is that I woke up at 7 and then lazed in bed until 9:30 when I "finally" got out the door. Carpe Diem, as they say.
(***pfffff. I'm writing this from the plane between Sydney and Fiji and I just took my first sip of a dreadful coffee. I've been spoiled over the last week....Can I ever drink coffee again?***)
Speaking of coffee, I left Stan and Pola's and headed straight for Duke's in the CBD. I again passed the Shrine of Remembrance and headed through the park, enjoying the palms, eucalyptus, ficus, pines, and all the wonderful birds (and noisy miners). Crossing the Yarra River at the Flinders Street Station meant I was only steps away from this delicious coffee. I complemented my flat white with a flaky ham and cheese croissant and wedged myself in amongst the throng of businesswomen and men who, even at 10 am, were packed into the cafe.
The day was stunning, heading towards 29C (84F) and sunny. I let my sunny disposition lead me in an ambling manner towards the northeast corner of the CBD rectangle where I stumbled upon the towering St Patrick's Cathedral. The inside was bathed in a golden yellow light that warmly illuminated beautiful tile and mosaic floors. Walking around in silent reverence, I was amazed how open this cathedral felt. It seemed to me like St. Patrick's was much more light in structure than most or all of the similar cathedrals I had visited in Europe. The columns partitioned the nave into the customary left, center, and right areas along the congregation, but their slenderness allowed for amazing views diagonally across the nave and alter. The choir loft behind the altar was slightly elevated such that its floor was at shoulder level. So when you stood at the very head of the cathedral's cross behind the choir (sorry for my weak cathedral terminology), you could see along the floor of the choir, past the altar, all the way down the nave to the entrance - with a great stained glass rose window overhead. Most cathedrals have many obstructions, be they columns or pedestals, icons or monuments, pews or organs, but this was fantastically open and airy. I suspect that where European gothic cathedrals relied mainly on empirical design, Melbourne's neo-gothic cathedral was a product of modern engineering science; it truly benefits for being less overly-conservative.
From the cathedral, I walked a couple blocks to Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Hall. You will recall in a previous post where I discussed the city tidying up its act in the late 1800s. Well Melbourne hosted two world exhibitions in 1880 and 1888, for which it constructed a monumental Victorian exhibition hall. The outside of the massive rectangular structure is cream colored with Victorian-style embellishments on the two-story facade. But the structure is dominated by an octahedral dome in its center, supporting a slate-grey roof and proud Australian flag. Sadly they were preparing an event so I couldn't go inside, but I understand that it has beautiful wood floors and an open multi-story interior. I guess I'll have to go back.
I briefly wandered around the flowery gardens that surrounded the building on my way to the adjacent Melbourne Museum. While primarily featuring natural history exhibits, I had two cultural exhibits in mind for my visit: permanent exhibits on indigenous Australians and the history of Melbourne. I covered a lot of this previously, so I won't go into detail again, but I valued having the opportunity to learn more about the history and traditions of this region. I especially appreciated learning about the aborigines and I used the opportunity to reflect on modern culture. Say what you will about the complex issues and the rightfulness or not of Europeans settling in this part of the world, the aborigines have a lot to teach us about revering the world around us. We should always remember to respect and revere other cultures, the environment, and the seemingly commonplace aspects of our lives. We must not take life or traditions for granted as we need to look to our past to plan for our future. And, furthermore, in a world full of mechanization and automation, most of us have sadly lost touch with what the natural world is constantly telling us. We would do well to observe nature more closely - we're a part of it and it has told us much in the last 200,000 years!
Speaking of nature, I couldn't help myself but to pass through one natural exhibit on my way out: the world's most complete triceratops fossil! Found in Montana, it's 85% complete. Growing up, I was such a dinosaur enthusiast. So seeing this was a real treat.
By now it was late afternoon. I stopped at the Cafe Tomi on my way north for a flat white and an incredible mushroom and cream cheese danish while the cafe spun a John Coltrane vinyl. But before too long I was on the move again. I walked and walked and walked, heading to Flemington to see my Keble friends Sam and Kylie. They've been living here pretty much since Oxford. I hadn't seen them since a wedding in Ottawa in 2018, so it was wonderful to catch up. In addition to debating the nature of Melbourne, we talked friends, economics, international politics, and life in general. It was so lovely to catch up with them!
Not wishing to repeat the 7.5 mile walk I'd taken from South Melbourne to Flemington, I caught the train back to Flinders Street Station. Waiting for the train, a big black thing with a massive wingspan glided overhead in the dusk. What on earth!? I guess a late night shorebird (It wasn't; you have between now and my Sydney post to figure out what type of bird it was).
At Flinders Street, I found the CBD to be in high form. It was around 21:30 and the city was abuzz with holiday spirit. I walked along the water, taking in the lights and sights. It felt like Atlantic City boardwalk in June, but looked like Christmas on the Thames. The spirit was festive and there was much revelling. At last I made my way south away from the river. Unfortunately I also accidentally made my way away from Pola and Stan's place, so I took a very long detour to get home. It was nearly 23:00 and after a quick recap with Pola, I crashed...
Thursday 4th December
It was up and Adam on Thursday, another beautiful day. I walked into CBD with Pola, who was kind enough to show me her company's amazing 32nd floor observation patio. CBD and South Melbourne was laid out before us and we could see many of the landmarks I had visited along with Port Philip Bay nearby. The Bay always looked so placid and beautiful.
I left her company and headed east along Collins Street, the artery of downtown Melbourne. I cut through an arcade to Flinders Street and kept following the river to Melbourne's sports zone. Melbourne is like Boston of the southern hemisphere: it's a massive sports city with a variety of premiere teams and events. On the river there was rowing taking place and I already talked about the Melbourne Grand Prix track. In addition, Melbourne is home to the Australian Open of tennis, the Aussie Rules Football Grand Final, major rugby, and the famous Ashes cricket tournament between England and Australia. If you love sport in Australia, Melbourne is the place to be.
Most of these things take place in Melbourne's sport complex, and the focal point of the complex is the 110,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Grounds, one of the most famous stadiums in the entire world. Fans from around the world dream of seeing cricket in these venerated grounds, although people have also flocked to the MCG for concerts featuring the globe's most famous artists like Taylor Swift.
I, too, flocked to the stadium for a cricket match: Day 1 of the Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia. As the start of a minor day in a minor regional match in the middle of a weekday, it was no surprise to me that there were only about 1000 fans in attendance. We were cordoned off to the lowest level of the field, about 90 degrees worth of the oval. Even still, each fan had rows to themselves if they were so inclined. For the start of the match, I sat behind the wicket so I could see the bowlers coming towards me and throwing away from me. There was no ceremony at the start, no pomp or circumstance. No announcements, nothing. All of a sudden, 15 men dressed in all white made a slow walk from the edge of the oval to the center. Two carried bats and had helmets on. Two had funny wide-brimmed straw hats. The rest had normal hats. On closer inspection (and thanks to the scoreboard), I ascertained that Victoria were fielding first.
And now, a quick cricket primer. The Sheffield Shield is a national tournament amongst Australia's six states and territories. I believe it's a double round robin format. Each match takes place over four consecutive full days with each team receiving 2 innings. An inning consists of 10 wickets (outs, in baseball parlance) with each player getting to bat for as long as it takes for them to get out. It's a little confusing, but I think in this format the innings can also end if 96 "overs" are bowled or other reasons (weather, forfeiture). The play progresses across units known as overs, where one over is 6 balls (pitches) thrown by one "bowler" (pitcher). Like baseball, the batter tries to hit the ball to score runs. But unlike baseball, the bases - of which there are two - are always loaded by default and the batter is never obliged to run when they hit it. Generally, when the batter hits the ball, he and his partner will only run (switch sides) if they think they'll be safe. Thus, the sport is extremely batter friendly and it's quite hard to get wickets (outs).
With limited time in Melbourne, I only stayed to watch a couple hours. In that time, WA scored 3-67 in 28.4 overs. This means that Victoria achieved 3 wickets (2 caught out, 1 "leg-before-wicket") while WA scored 67 runs. The 28.4 overs indicate that 168 balls had been bowled. Perry, McClure, and Elliott bowled most of the overs for Vic and I think they did a fine job. Several days later I tuned in to see the final score: Victoria had 255 and won by 6 wickets. What this means is that in their second innings, Victoria caught up to Western Australia after only 4 wickets and had 6 wickets to spare. It would be like saying that if Boston had a walk off victory against the Yankees with one out in the bottom of the 9th, the score might be 5, winning by 2 outs. I thoroughly enjoyed my cricket experience at "The G" and hope I get to go see a full match some day.
It was around 13:00 and I went to a nearby cafe to meet Grace and her friend for lunch. Grace had recovered (enough) from her sofa day and so she and her friend were on their way out of town to do the Great Ocean Road and Grampian Mountains for a few days. It was lovely getting to cross paths with her one last time before my own flight - when you go nine years between visits with your friend, you cherish every moment. I also cherished my iced moccha with its surprise scoop of ice cream.
That afternoon was spent at Pola's doing laundry and getting organized, for the next day was flight day. After work, however, Pola had invited me to dinner and a concert with her parents. Pola's parents live in the vicinity so they met up with us at a nearby restaurant, Peko Peko, serving Taiwanese faire. This was fun for me because the spot is one of Stan and Pola's favorites; Grace and Pola's parents had all been there on multiple occasions too. We shared perfectly cooked crispy calamari, beef and broccoli, chicken and vegetables, and spicy dumplings. I especially enjoyed the dumplings, but everything was delicious.
It was also great getting to know Pola's parents, who are very cool. Active outdoors people and keen travelers, we talked a lot about hiking and travel from dining through our walk to the concert, and back.
The concert was held at the Myer Music Bowl, which is very reminiscent of DC's Wolf Trap Farm Park. We had lawn seating, so we sat on the steep slopes on a blanket while the crowd gathered. The opening act did their thing and then, as sun had set, finally Parcels took the stage. Let me tell you, this concert was amazing. Parcels describe themselves as electropop, but I would describe them has having a bit of a 60s to 70s funk vibe with their ensemble consisting of synthesizer, guitar, bass, and drumset. And while the synth was central to their sound, what really made the music was the incredible four- and five-part harmony. Weaving in and out of harmonic unison, they created a tightly knit fabric of vocals that blended fabulously with their mechanically rhythmic instrumentation. The night was beautiful and with views looking on to the Melbourne skyline, we enjoyed a lovely concert.
Friday 5th December
Alas, Friday. Getaway day. Also business day! Being in a global company does afford some nice opportunities. We have a structural team in Melbourne, so I could not pass up the chance to stop in and meet a couple members of the group. First, I met one colleague (technically now a former colleague) at Charter House Coffee on Flinders Lane. I again sprung for the flat white and a ham and cheese croissant, the best way to start the day in Melbourne. I had never met Chantalle in person, but we'd worked quite regularly over the last couple years in an early career group - she was my successor as the global early careers lead for our practice. So meeting up was great as we got to compare notes on the benefits and drawbacks of structural engineering as an industry. Incidentally, she's now changed industries entirely, and loves the reasonable work load and reduced stress.
From there, I headed to my company's office in the Docklands part of CBD. This is the most modern part of Melbourne's city center and the buildings there practically still have the new car smell. Stan even worked on a structure in this neighborhood, so that was cool. I enjoyed meeting my colleagues in the office, getting a tour, sharing a little presentation, and then going out for lunch. It was all PTO time for me, but when you live across the world from your colleagues, you have to take the time to meet face-to-face when you can. Body language is more powerful than video chat and meeting face-to-face offers unparalleled benefits. I was super grateful to the team for letting me drop in! The people are always a key benefit of the business and it's fantastic putting faces to names.
I moseyed around town just a bit longer, soaking up the ambiance. Pola messaged that she'd join me and take me past the South Melbourne market on the way to the station. So we stopped by home to grab the car and my stuff and off we went. The market was interesting - a lot like Oxford's covered market. Since it was the end of the day, not much was going on though and, besides, I was on the clock.
With that, Pola dropped me Southern Cross. I hopped on a SkyBus and rode to the airport. Granola treated me so well in Melbourne. As I mentioned up front, so many people told me that Sydney was their preferred city and that Melbourne was just 'fine'. But as I headed to the airport, I reflected on how great a time I had there. I feel like there was a bunch more to explore there - especially on the outskirts of town - and that it was such a great city to live in. From beautiful public spaces to an excellent food scene, to multi-cultural diversity and loads of cultural events, this city is certainly amongst my favorites globally. I can't wait to go back!