We woke up this morning to a brilliant blue sky, a fair breeze, and temperatures above 30C. I'd like to point out that unlike SOME places I've lived (like, say, Toronto and Ottawa), Melbourne's heat is almost always dry. This meant we could actually ENJOY these scorching temperatures without any humidex whatsoever. Let me tell you, 30C and dry is WAY more enjoyable than 30C and humid. (I might actually get to like it here.) At any rate, we did what any self-respecting Canadian who finds themselves in such a situation would do - we spent the day at the beach.
St. Kilda's is a suburb of Melbourne. At the turn of the 19th century it was a rough and seedy place, and certainly not for the likes of fair ladies such as Jen and myself. Fortunately, in more recent times it has become a major tourist hub for the city, what with the attraction of the beachfront and all. We caught the tram out and arrived there around 11am.
After a quick wander up and down the main drag of St. Kilda's, we headed for the beach, where we sat for about an hour, just soaking up the sun. (Exhausting work.) Yes, Mom, I wore my sunscreen. And my sunglassses. And my hat. And I drank lots of water. Honest. All around us more and more people were joining us on the beach. This photo doesn't really do it justice; there were beach towels and bodies as far as the eye could see.Even with all our precautions, neither Jen nor I could stay out in the sun for very long, so we decided it was high time to take a break from all this excitement and go and find some lunch. (More exhausting work.) We ended up at a restaurant called "Grill'd", which promised the best burgers in town. They didn't disappoint. For all the Ottawa folk reading this blog, it was a little like The Works but with fewer choices. The burgers were fabulous though. What I'd really like to rave about, however, were the FRIES. I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but WOW can the Aussies do good french fries (although they're called "chips" here). Anyway, at Grill'd, they make their own chips and they're seasoned with sea salt and rosemary. DELICIOUS.
The main drag along the beach is an interesting place. Jen wasn't kidding when she said that every second shop was a cake shop. Along with excellent fries (ahem - chips), Australians LOVE their baked goods. I think I may have already mentioned that even the cheap bread here is delicious. Let me tell you, it was really difficult to pass by all those cake shops without stepping inside, but somehow we managed.Our friend Tarra (who came with us to Tasmania) joined us on the beach for a second round of sunbathing after lunch. Yes Mom, I reapplied my sunscreen. And I wore my hat. And drank lots of water. Really! Jen and I were admiring the numbers of girls on the beach wearing board shorts and bikini tops, and we've decided that this is the beach look we're gonna go for. I am definitely NOT a fan of showing off my thighs in public, but as the year continues to heat up, we will be spending a good chunk of time on the beach. I've also realized that the two piece bathing suit that I brought, I really can't wear here. Why? Because it's by Roots, and has the Roots logo prominently on the front of the top piece. The problem? In Australia, "roots" is a really raunchy, dirty term for having sex. So I don't exactly want to go around advertizing that on my chest for the rest of the year! A new bathing suit is definitely in order.
So... after another hour or so of snoozing on the beach, Jen and I were finally hot enough to decide to give the water a try. HA! Turned out the water's not exactly warm yet. It was like walking into an ice box! Neither of us got wet above the thighs. (I know, I know, once again I can hear the chorus of sympathetic clucks and sighs from all my Canadian friends. Come on now. I know you share my pain!)
When we finally got home late this afternoon, our housemate Irene (another Canadian teacher) had made us dinner - so we sat down to an awesome veggie lasagna, home-made garlic toast and caesar salad (complete with veggie-friendly caesar salad dressing, how cool is that?). Suffice it to say it was a pretty darn near perfect day. Hooray!
