After a long back and forth with my friends Down Under I decided to take the plunge and book myself flights to Australia (using www.studentuniverse.com) for 3 weeks. My friends at AUJS (Australasian Union of Jewish Students - www.aujs.com.au) invited me to stay with them in Melbourne, and speak at their Political Training Seminar (PTS 2005) in Canberra (more on that later).One of AUJS's leaders, Alon, pushed me to come, and I'm glad I did. I stayed with a family friend of his, the Kraus family. I first flew to L.A. from JFK Airport, spent the day at the StandWithUs office and chilled with Rabbi Yonah from Long Beach. My second leg was a direct flight from LAX to Melbourne, a 16+ hour journey, but somewhat pleasant due to the abundance of open seats on my QANTAS flight.
Arriving early in the morning, one of the Kraus' picked me up and took me out for coffee in the Jewish neighborhood of East St. Kilda, on it's main road Balaclava. The area was quite different from semi-suburban neighborhoods here in the U.S. Fast modern-trolleys zoomed down the streets on tracks, going the opposite way of course.
The Kraus home was so modern and awesome... and just so different from everything back home, I loved it. I stayed with them for about 10 days, during my stay in Melbourne. The weather was consistently overcast and it seemed to always threaten to rain... aahh, an Aussie Winter.
I spent my first day checking out downtown Melbourne which I really liked. I walked onto the University of Melbourne campus, which was oh so nice. There were even Jewish students tabling during midday on the quad. I felt like I was back on the campus scene on the East coast.
I bumped into Zahava, a friend from NYC, and we spent the day checking out Melbs. Later that day we checked out the Melbourne International Film Festival and saw a movie about Russian women who became prostitutes in Israel. Can't remember what it's called.
I spent 2 Shabbats in Melbourne, both attending the Bnei Akiva style shul which very much reminded me of Israel. One Motzei Shabbat I was taken to Melbourne's famous Casino
, the Crown. It was a really cool structure, with flame shooting pillars along the river on the outside, and a main highway running through the middle of the building. I played some poker for about 2 hours, and going all-in on my last hand I was able to double up my King-10, raking me in about $80 Australian. Woo hoo! Aren't I adventurous?While I spent many hours working with AUJS students, meeting with AIJAC (Australia's version of AIPAC), I was able to spend back to back days doing road trips with a touring group. The first day I did a tour of the
Grampians National Park, a few hours drive northwest from Melbourne. At the park I got to meet some kangaroos up close, a few small waterfalls, get in some hiking, and take in some spectacular views. The ride back to Melbourne was kinda interesting. I've learned that Aussies love John Mayer. Why? I dont know. They just do.The next day trip was to Great Ocean Road. G.O.R. is a road that runs along the majority of Southern Australia, along the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. It was unbelievably beautiful and cold. On this trip I got to peek at some shy koala bears hiding up in the trees, hike through a mini-rain forest (which was at least 10 degrees warmer than outside it), and just
take nature in.
Toward the end we were introduced to the 12 Apostles, a group of 12 pieces of land freestanding in the ocean, due to erosion. At the time of my visit, there were no longer 12 standing. There were random land-arches, which looked really cool standing in the ocean amidst the waves.
On one of my last few days in Melbourne, and after watching a little Australian telly, I attended a footie game. It's a cross between American football, rugby, and soccer. I picked up the rules really quick, and soon began to root for the home team. I even bought a footie scarf a few days earlier to keep me warm.
Next stop: The capital down under ... Canberra!
