On the morning of the 5th of July, I arose and headed to the airport on what was to be a long, multi-vehicular travel to my first Australian destination, the city of Geelong. Out of the car and with a goodbye to Mary-Ellen, I boarded the plane that would take me across the Tasman Sea to the Australian state of Victoria. In the mid-morning light I boarded a bus that traversed the busy highway from the airport to the downtown area of Melbourne. Here I got my first sights of the Australian countryside, albeit a heavily urbanized one.
Off the bus with my bags in tow, I wandered through the crowds to the train station. I had ridden trains before, but this station was far greater in scale than any I had been in before. Under the wavy roofs, I meandered through busy travelers to my boarding platform and sat down ready to take in yet more of this new country.
Suffice it to say, the land around Melbourne is relatively flat, large fields with little bush that I was hoping to see. It was not a total loss however, as I did spot a kangaroo off in the distance which kept my eyes peeled, peering out the window for the rest of the journey.
Finally, we arrived at the station in Geelong which closer in scale to some of the eastern Canadian stations yet more grandiose in it's presentation with the intricate steel work and old stone building.
Into town I ventured, seeking my accommodations where I could put down all my bags. At a little hole in the wall place called Irish Murphy's on a predominantly Scottish street. A maze of rooms inside and the lack of activity all week made for an eerie yet adequate stay for a student on a budget! Eventually people did emerge and as I suspected, were predominantly graduate students going to the same conference.
With my load lightened and my camera ready, I headed into town to find the conference centre and experience what this quaint little town had to offer. Stone and brick buildings, including an over abundance of churches were the predominant architectural design, with some more modern and artistic steel and glass structures closer to the waterfront.
The vegetation in the parks and green spaces throughout Geelong were unfamiliar to me and increased my excitement.
Another thing that was predominant throughout my journey and my walk through Geelong was that there were numerous old wool stores and building converted into modern offices, cafes, and even the local university!
The waterfront was well built up, as with most coastal cities, with restaurants, children's parks, and marinas. An extensive board walk boarded the whole urban shore route, connecting each of the small beaches, pools, marinas, and restaurants, which made for a pleasant stretch of my legs after the cramped travelling in the various forms of transportation I had taken earlier that day.
The conference, which would take up much of my time over the next few days, was a wonderful experience. It was hosted by Deakin University, in a beautiful converted wool stores which they jokingly claimed you can sometimes still smell the lanolin oil. I had the opportunity to not only make some new friends and hear about their work being done in Australia as well as South Africa, but also to make some great connections with people working in shellfish restoration. There were lots of interesting talks and ideas flowing which made for a very productive conference.
The nightly activities continued the social aspect of the conference and were a lot of fun, from open forum to the student quiz night, where my team was happy to have the token Canadian to answer the question of where in the world are the highest tides. A real blast and great opportunity for networking. Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end and mine ended on Friday morning when I arose to a beautiful sunrise.
Back to the train station, leaving my new found colleagues behind for now as I started on another leg of my Australian journey. Reminiscing on the activities of the past couple days as I ventured by train, bus, and then eventually back onto a plane.
Into the air once again, thinking now of the new adventure laying ahead of me. Over the outback I flew with images of snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and spending some downtime with Mary-Ellen in the sunny land of Cairns.
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