Swans/cignets, Ducks/ducklings, and tree sperm

I moved into my apartment yesterday and it was quite a day. I had thought that 'white goods' (microwave, fridge, washer) were included in the apt, but when I got there I discovered that they weren't, so I have to buy them! Oy. I called a friend that took me down to Fyshwick (sort of like Jimmy Carter Blvd with all the furniture stores) and I found a fridge at a scratch and dent place. My other friend with a trailer picked it up and delivered it to the apt, so that initial crisis was taken care of in one morning. Thank goodness! You can't really move into a place if you can't keep food there. At least I can't.

I bought a bed and mattress last week from a woman at work and right now that's the only furniture I have. But I slept so well last night on new sheets in my new apt. It was pretty great. I sort of like the minimalist approach... maybe I won't get any furniture at all. Eh - I don't think I could actually do that. I require some minimum of material comfort, and that includes a sofa and a TV. And maybe a futon for all the guests I know I"ll have! (hint, hint, hint...)

So, to sum up the last week - I went on a 4 day road trip last weekend with my friend Z, who is traveling around. We met in Adelaide and drove to Melbourne, via the Grampions National Park and the Great Ocean Road. It was a great drive and a good chance to see the countryside. We split the drive into 2 parts, stying at a fancy bed/breakfast place in the Grampions the first night. It would have been good to do a hike or something while we were there, but we had a pretty tight itinerary (ie, lots of miles to cover in a limited amount of time. We drove about 600-700 km each day. We stopped in Port Campbell on Saturday to watch the AFL grandfinal (quickly having realized that it was going to be near impossible to make it to Melbourne to watch the match). Port Campbell is a cute little surf town on the Great Ocean Road. It was a beautiful day and the Eagles won a GREAT game by 1 point. It was an amazing game to watch. After the grandfinal was over, we headed on to Melbourne. We watched the sunset at the Twelve Apostles (a part of the Great Ocean Road), which are actually only Eleven now, since one of them collapsed last year. Beautiful.

We got to Melbourne late Saturday night. We explored the city a bit on Sunday. We had brekky in St. Kilda, where we were staying, and then walked down to the St. Kilda beach. Then we went to the Queen Victoria Central Market up by the University of Melbourne, and then we headed to Federation Square, where we had a late lunch by the Yarra River. Then we walked through the parks there, near the Royal Botanic Gardens. We had dinner in Richmond, the suburb where Little Saigon is, at a great little Vietnamese restaurant. All in all it was a satisfying day, even though we didn't really see anything touristy - we just pretended we were locals for a day. (At least that's how we thought of it!)

On Monday we drove to Canberra. There's no good way to get to Canberra from Melbourne - the shortest route we found was 9 hours door to door, with few stops along the way. I got to do some driving though, and I got ok with being on the wrong side of the road. The toughest part is the turn signal, which is on the other side of the steering wheel. We were keeping count of the number of times we accidentally turned on the wind shield wipers when we meant to flip on the turn signal!

So - back in Canberra...

As I said, spring has sprung. I went for a run this morning by the lake and saw ducklings and cignets. However, it was a bit difficult to make them out, through all the flying tree sperm. What's tree sperm you ask. It looks like duckling fuzz, and it is literally EVERYWHERE. The grass down my the lake looks like it's been snowed on. And it's so windy that there are bits of it just flying around. I had many close encounters with the fuzz on my run this morning. And I wasn't even propositioned beforehand. Oh well. What's a girl to do? Apparently the arrival of tree sperm signifies the end of term for uni (university). I was talking to a native Canberran this morning, and she said that when she was a student, the arrival of tree sperm struck fear into everyone, since it meant tests were around the corner and if you weren't ready by the time the tree sperm emerged, you were screwed. (no pun intended. oh wait, it's me. pun was actually intended.)

I met up with my friend H this afternoon at an environmental rally - 'Clean Energy for Eternity'. They were making a human sign, and I got there too late to join in one of the letters (H was in the A of Clean), but I got to watch them do all sorts of tricks for the helicopter that was hired to take overhead shots. Basically the trick (singular) was to lift up pieces of yellow paper all on cue, drop them all on cue, and lift them up again (all on cue). Even though I couldn't read the words from my vantage point on the ground, it was a pretty cool sight. I can't wait to see the pictures. They were hoping for international coverage - so keep your eyes open. It was staged on Reconciliation Plaza, a big green lawn area outside the Old Parliament House (sort of like the Great Mall in DC. Is that what that big green area's called? Maybe it's the Great Lawn. Anyway, I'm sure you know what I am talking about.)

Tomorrow I'm headed into Sydney to see the Dixie Chicks. I'm taking the bus tomorrow morning and am also planning to go to the IKEA (!!!!!) to get some household goods. I'm also planning on taking a harbor cruise. I'm looking forward to seeing Sydney, even though I'll only be there for 18 hours or so.. it'll be a good first taste.

Terms for the Aussie glossary:
chuffed: delighted [As in: I'm chuffed with this new haircut I got!]
bedsitter: studio
dog's breakfast: a mess [As in: This study is going to be a dog's breakfast to conduct.]
Liberal Party: CONSERVATIVES! (Ok - now this one, I have to argue with. Why call the conservative Party the Liberal Party. Liberal has such a clear connotation - it's dang confusing to use it in the complete opposite sense. I guess that's what happens when you're upside down for too long.)