A month ago, we shifted from Melbourne to Sydney. And next week, we are going back home i.e. Namma Bengaluru.:)
The experience of visiting this country has been awesome. I might not have been able to put all of that in writing yet, but at least I wanna draw an outline of the cities where we stayed.
So lemme start with Melbourne.
When we came to Melbourne from India, I was both excited and nervous. This would be my first stay abroad. Before this, I had been to San Francisco for about three weeks. So I felt like a novice when we landed at Melbourne. I had travelled with my 1year old daughter and that travel itself had taught me a lot.
We found a small, furnished apartment at South Yarra. Furnished because we did not intend to stay here permanently. But then if you want a furnished apartment, you will have to shell out more for the rent. So with that high rent, we could afford a small place.
Initially, I had to keep my eyes and ears open all the time. I felt so raw and inexperienced. I felt as if I was almost in the same stage as my daughter in learning new things.:) I struggled to open the lock of the main door, struggled with the cooking on electric stove, and so on. But as days progressed, I got very comfortable with everything around me. Just to familiarize myself with the area and the people, I would put Tunga on the pram and roam alone. I would go to different streets everyday and window shop. I became
so familiar with my surroundings that I was actually able to give directions to others on how to go about in that area.:)
My daughter and myself made friends with the park and library respectively. Everyday we would visit them atleast once. I think I made the best use of the library. I borrowed lot of books and DVDs of english movies. I watched one English movie daily and I must honestly admit that I had never seen so many of them in India.:) My daughter, Tunga, learned to slide and swing in the park. It was here that her personality was initiated. It was here that she made her first friend.:) There used to be a possum that visited our compound after dark very night. Since we don't get to see it in India, we found it very fascinating. My daughter especially used to wait eagerly for the possum's visit.:)
Every weekend, we would set out to explore a new place ( besides visiting Safeway, Coles and Indian stores:)). We must say that we covered a lot of places because of our weekend explorations.
Hmm, lemme try to put some of the places that we explored in a list. It might help you if you are visiting Melbourne some time.
- Philip Island
- Melbourne Aquarium
- Werribee Open Range Zoo
- Bucchan Caves
- Mornington Peninsula
- Arthur Seat
- Cardinia Reservoir
- Great Ocean Road
- Ballarat
- Dandenong Ranges
- Melbourne CBD
- Chapell Street
- St.Kilda Beach
- Brighton Beach
Of course, except the aquarium, the rest of them are in the surrounding areas of Melbourne. It definitely helps if you have your own vehicle. We enjoyed a lot visiting all those places. Definitely, Australia is a beautiful country and there is no doubt about that.:)
After seven months of our stay at Melbourne, we had to shift to Sydney. We had made very good friends at Melbourne. So that included and our attachment to the place where we stayed and the library and the park, our hearts were a bit heavy when we left Melbourne. But then, we were happy and grateful for the opportunity given for being able to stay in such a beautiful place for some time.
