I hear parrots out my window on sunny days

So I have fallen way behind on blogging – there has just been a lot going on! It is amazing how much the weather can affect your day. Some days it has been really rainy, cold, and just plain miserable. Others have been reasonably nice – and even sunny for a few hours! I am getting a bit tired of winter but things are looking up. I have even worn sandals a few times because I was tired of wearing boots all of the time.

There are lots of really neat birds around Melbourne. I see Lorikeets regularly on my walks to class and lots of Australian Magpies. I saw a really pretty Sulpher-crested Cockatoo flying around Southbank a few weeks ago and I have seen a number of King Parrots around as well. I have heard a number of Kookaburras but I haven't really seen any up close. If you are curious about some of the other birds around, this website has a very good list with lots of pictures and descriptions: http://birdsinbackyards.net/finder/birdlist.cfm.

Jamie and I went to the Melbourne Museum two weeks ago for our Tuesday Adventure because it was pouring down rain. We only saw a small portion of the museum in the two hours that we were there but luckily it is free for students so I plan on going back some other time. There were some really interesting film reels playing that were taken around city of Melbourne over the last hundred years. It was really interesting to see what has changed and what is still the same. In one exhibit there were the newsreels that would have played at the movies during the 20s, 30s, and 40s. They even paired the silent ones with piano music. I kind of wish there were more “silent” films these days. You pay a lot more attention to what is on the screen and the different music that is played can really affect your interpretation.

In another exhibit there were baskets made by different Aboriginal groups around Australia. They were very similar in design to the sweetgrass baskets that are made in the SC Lowcountry. Another exhibit had canoes and wooden carvings of human and animal figures from different Pacific Island groups. It reminded me of a canoe exhibit I saw in Denmark and the wooden carvings were remarkably similar to some wooden dolls I have from Africa. It is really neat how different groups of people all over the world come up with very similar things.

The Australian Coat of Arms. They chose the Kangaroo and the Emu because they never take a step backwards - only forwards or sideways.

Some of the sails and canoes on display at the Museum.

The Melbourne Royal Exhibition building.

I've been meaning to put up some pictures of the Queen Victoria Market so here are a few I took on one of the non-rainy days.

there is a huge area with clothing, shoes, jewelry, luggage, souvenirs and other things

some of the fruits and veggies - yum!

farm fresh eggs and honey!

there are stands with flowers

there is a large meat and fish market section

Apparently American doughnuts are pretty popular here, I haven't ordered one yet to see how they are. I've also been meaning to do some wine tasting at the market but I haven't done it yet. One of my favorite treats from the market is the lemon curd tarts. You can get them plain or with a passion fruit layer on the top. They are sooooo delicious!