Toronto to Melbourne 2.0: Ending and Beginning Again

I wanted to begin this blog with a bit of an update. It’s been nearly three months now (!!) since Dave and I touched down in Melbourne after a month-long journey across Europe. We begin this journey together, nearly a year ago, booking plane tickets and sourcing Airbnbs from half a world away.

Unfortunately, most grand adventures don’t usually go as planned, as was the case for us. Dave and I make the difficult decision to split last month, and to continue our Australian journey as just friends. We are on good terms still, and I wish him nothing but the best. It was a hard decision, but ultimately the right one, and I’m excited to continue my Australian adventure solo: Toronto to Melbourne 2.0 we can call it.

I’ve since moved into a sharehouse in Toorak with some fantastic people (+ 1 cat). I love everything about Toorak: it’s a beautiful eastern suburb just south of the Yarra River, steps away from Chapel Street, nearby St. Kilda (a traveler’s paradise) and upscale South Yarra (with its endless shopping streets and cafes).

I spent this past Sunday walking through South Yarra with my friend, Amy: together, we enjoyed the mild Melbourne spring as we pushed our bikes amongst the lazy weekend crowds. On impulse, Amy and I decided to stop into a cozy pub that advertised live music all afternoon. For an hour we lounged on couches and sang along to acoustic covers over ciders and snacks.

More and more that’s what Melbourne is beginning to represent to me: weekend brunch on sprawling outdoor patios; poached eggs and avo on sourdough toast; sipping a flat white on Chapel Street before an afternoon spent lounging on St. Kilda beach; kicking around a soccer ball when the hot Australian sun finally dips below the horizon and the air begins to cool.

I’m lucky to have met a good group of people here: already we’ve spent lots of time dancing together to Wagon Wheel, trading rounds of pints after work, and playing card games as the night carries on around us: a muted and dim backdrop to our wild, ever-laughing crowd. It’s becoming increasingly rare for me to find myself without anything to do each night of the week. Between regular Tuesday night pints, Wednesday evening pub trivia and Thursday night futsal games, I’m living moment to moment, bouncing between all Melbourne has to offer, and loving every second of it.

I’ve also been lucky enough to land a full time job in Melbourne. As of last week, I joined a small digital marketing agency, located in South Wharf that focuses on serving the digital content creation and management needs of a wide variety of clients. I’ve joined in a digital content creator role, and I am enjoying the chance to refresh and improve my skills, since leaving my last full time gig in Toronto.

As we transition into December and fully-fledged Summer, down in the southern hemisphere, I’m feeling more and more settled in Melbourne. Job? Check. Apartment? Check. Great friends? Check. My family is coming for a visit soon, two weeks from today, and I’m so excited to show them my new home, and all the wonders of Melbourne and beyond.

Here are some photos that capture the past couple of week. Going forward I’m going to try to take more (for real this time!), and hopefully update the blog more regularly, as I continue to explore and immerse myself in each opportunity as it comes.

Until then,

Heather

Melbourne's coffee culture is the best in the world

Enjoying the Night Noodle Market in the Melbourne CBD

Doughnuts on a stick at the Night Noodle Market

Kent and all the girls enjoying the rooftop patio at Naked for Satan in Fitzroy

St. Kilda beach on one of the first truly hot days of the season

View of the Yarra River from my new office in South Wharf

Brunch on Chapel Street with the usual crowd

My go-to Melbourne brunch: poached eggs and avo on sourdough toast

Amy and I enjoying some acoustic music + cider on Chapel Street this Sunday

Showing off my new (temporary) bike that lets me get to and from work in just 20 minutes

Melbourne: One month later

As the weather in Melbourne finally turns from winter to spring, and then oh so gradually from spring to summer, I've been busy exploring new corners of the city. The past few weeks have been bursting full with trips to the beach, evening pints, sports games and afternoons spent in cafes and exploring bookstores along Chapel Street. I've also embarked on a serious job search, with the hopes of making my stay in Melbourne more permanent (at least for a little while).

I owe a lot of my happiness these past few weeks to a group of great people I've met, who have made my transition to Melbourne easier than I could have hoped for. Each Thursday my futsal team comes together for a fun game of social soccer, and we follow up our inevitable win with beers at a nearby Irish pub, where live music is ever-present. Friday has come to mean a day at the beach, with a deck of cards, cold beverages, and good company, as we work on our tans (or in most cases, our burns) and soak up the Australian sunshine.

Saturday and Sunday are for brunch, trying the many Mebourne cafes, followed by a walk through a park or a casual wander around a local art show, in support of a friend. On Sunday evening I play Australian Rules Football (AFL), which is a hilarious combination of rugby and American football, and is a challenging work out (if not a sightly embarrassing athletic performance by me).

The rest of the time I'm filling my life with my favourite things: curling up in a dimly lite cafe with a coffee and a good book, walking up and down Chapel street in search of the best live music venues, window shopping down Toorak Road for dresses and clothes. Laundry, groceries and resume writing also find their way into the mix of ongoing to do's.

When I pictured living in Melbourne, I imagined waking up on the beach, spending my mornings surfing like Sandy Cohen and writing in the evenings while a salty-ocean breeze drifted in through open windows, cutting through the oppressive heat. So far, my time in Melbourne has been different than I imagined: there's be much more rain, for starters, and I've yet to touch a surfboard. But in spite of all of this, I'm proud of myself for being able to embrace and appreciate each evening at the pub, weekend brunch date, and most importantly, each new friendship that comes my way. So far, the people I've met have made my traveling abroad experience stellar, and for that I am grateful.

Having said that, things aren't perfect. I've been battling a head cold for the past week (which has made playing sports a challenge), I've yet to acquire a bike, and the job hunt is still ongoing. Melbourne recruiters and/or bike sellers: hit me up!

Regardless, here are some photos that I've taken over the past month, which I hope illustrate the wonder that is Melbourne, and the great people + experiences that are filling my life these days:

The reading room in the Victoria State Library in Melbourne

Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne

Luna Park, St. Kilda Beach

Colourful beach huts in Brighton

Brighton Beach

Looking back at Melbourne from Elwood Beach

Futsal Aztecs get dolled up for the Melbourne Cup

The entire team toasting to the big win

Amy and I enjoying the brief moments of sunshin

Beach day with the lads in St. Kilda

A little rugby practice in the sand...

Melbourne at dusk from St. Kilda Pier

The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne

Melbourne skyline from the top of the Shrine of Remembrance

The Yarra River from Southbank, Melbourne

Sunset on Elwood Beach

A weekend on Phillip Island...

When it came time to plan our first weekend trip from Melbourne, Phillip Island was a natural choice. Located 90 minutes south-east of Melbourne, Phillip Island is home to an abundance of wildlife, including the famous little penguins, who come ashore in groups at Summerland Bay every evening at dusk.

Dave and I left Melbourne early-afternoon on Friday, and took the metro out of the city. From there we rented a car (!) and drove the rest of the way to Phillip Island. This was our first attempt at driving on the left side of the road, and even though we were both a bit intimidated beforehand, it ended up going really well! It took Dave about five minutes to get comfortable driving from the right side of the car (and to stop turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal), but soon enough we were well on our way.

We decided to try something different and opted to stay with Phillip Island Glamping in the small town of Cowes. When we arrived at our glamped-out-tent it was all set up and looked great! Definitely more luxurious than the camping I'm used to.

Glamping on Phillip Island including comfy blankets and fairy lights!

Thanks Serena for making our stay so nice!

On Friday evening we headed to the Penguin Parade in Summerland Bay. Every night, over 1,000 little penguins return to shore after spending the day in the surrounding waters. They come back to land to mate and lay their eggs.

On our way to see the little penguins!

Summerland Bay

We arrived at the parade just after 7:00 pm and were able to get great seats right on the beach, less than five feet away from where the penguins waddled by. You aren't allowed to take photos of the actual penguins (though I may have snuck a few). The coolest part of the experience, is that after the penguins arrive, they are very active around the boardwalk area that leads back to the car park. The entire walk back we were accompanied by troves of little penguins squawking and waddling away.

To continue our wildlife tour, on Saturday morning we went to the Koala Conservation Centre also located on the island. We spent an hour or so wandering the boardwalks and playing "I Spy..." with the koalas that were tucked away in the trees, snoozing. It turns out koalas sleep a lot! If you want to catch them in action, it's best to visit in the late afternoon, as that's when the koalas are most active.

This koala had a great spot, wedged into the tree branches

Another cozy climber!

After our trip to see the koalas, we rushed back to our tent to watch a very important baseball game.

Toronto vs. Cleveland game one!

To console ourselves after the disappointing loss, we went for a walk at Cowes Jetty, on the north end of the island. There were extremely high winds while we were there, and the water was quite choppy, which you can see in the photos.

The piece of land in the distance is Mornington Peninsula, mainland Australia.

Cowes Jetty + a seagull (he's a bit disguised)

Dave enjoying the view of the ocean

Dave at Cowes Jetty

Sea foam + red rocks at Cowes Jetty

Afterwards, we drove out to San Remo to go on a boat tour to the seal rocks, located off the south-west coast of the island.

Pinnacles Lookout from the ocean, on our way to the seal rocks

Seal rocks, where over 30,000 seals live! The smell was a dead giveaway...

If you look closely you can see the seals laying on the rocks

A zoomed in photo to better see the seals!

Our boat got within 10 metres of the rocks, and many seals swam out to say hi!

Last stop on our whirlwind tour of Phillip Island was a drive out to The Nobbies (I love the name) which is a unique rock formation in the Summerlands.

Such a beautiful landscape!

It reminded me and Dave of Ireland or Scotland, with all the green

The aptly named Nobbies, off the coast of Phillip Island

Next stop: Tasmania

Looking eastward along the Phillip Island coast

Cheers,
Heather