Melbourne Welcome: Day 4

The Melbourne Zoo at Royal Park is actually in walking distance of the uni, north of campus.  This is a pretty nice zoo we’re talking about—both indigenous and non-indigenous animals.  Yes, dad, I finally saw my first kangaroo (a small one).  There were emus, koalas, etc.  The kangaroo wasn’t actually my favorite animal.  I really liked the primates (orangutans, spider monkeys, gorillas).  Except for the dangerous ones, the animals are not as enclosed as they would be in a lot of other zoos, and you can actually reach into their habitats (if you wanted to, although it’s obviously not allowed).  The lions were pretty bad-ass, as usual (I am very proud to be one).  I took so many pictures my camera battery died.  Everyone was really enjoying the zoo.

Orangutan

Kangaroo butt.

This gorilla was sitting so still I thought it was dead.

I had to leave from the zoo to go back to my apartment because I accidentally locked myself out so I needed to go during reception hours to get let back in (they charged me $30 to do so).  I met back up with the group south of the CBD at the Yarra river (right near Eureka tower) for a cruise.  The river cruise was a little too relaxing, and I fell asleep for a bit.  We were all so tired from the weekend, and I wasn’t the only one to fall asleep.  Still, I managed to hear some of what the captain said.  Apparently the river is manmade.  It was widened, dredged, and straightened as a drainage solution for the city’s flooding problem (Melbourne is in a floodplain).

Dinner tonight was formal.  We had to dress up (good thing I brought one pair of slacks), and the tables were set with linens.  We stood up as the vice-master of Queen’s College, some study abroad people, and our Welcome coordinators walked in with robes.  There were a couple speeches and grace (awkward at the “in the name of His son” part).  We were served by waiters and the food was significantly better than other nights. I had the salmon.  Apparently they have dinners like this three times a week at Queen’s during the semester.  Not too shabby!  Dinner ended up being part of the pregame for the night, because they served us wine.

The evening activity was an Australian-themed party with the other Melbourne Welcome group from Newman College.  It was at a bar, and we were to dress in things we bought at Vic Market.  I wore a flag as a shirt, and a funny Australian souvenir hat.  The party got pretty rowdy with the usual dancing.  It was a great way to finish off the program.