My Beloved Bike

Until about two hours ago, I had a bike. It was shiny and red, and I had colorful spoke beads on it that went click-clack when I rode around town (put on after the picture was taken). I loved my bike. It was my main mode of transportation, and it got all sorts of compliments from friends and strangers. Tonight I got home from an appointment and left it in our gated front porch area during dinner. I was going to head back out in just an hour or so, so I left it unlocked, thinking it would be alright. When I looked outside a little bit later, our gate was wide open, and my bike was gone!

I'm crushed. I had the bike fixed up just the way I liked it-lights, bell, spoke beads, etc. I rode that thing everywhere...to school, to the market, running errands, etc. Now I have no bike. I am so sad. And mad. That was one bold thief...opening our gate and stealing it while we were home. I'm surprised we didn't hear anything. We filed a police report, and Zack and I biked around the neighborhood seeing if anyone was around and had seen anything. The thing is, our new neighborhood is so quiet. We rarely see anyone walking around on our street at all. We can't figure out what type of person would have done this.

If you live in the Melbourne area, and you see a bike like this somewhere (it won't have the basket-that's still in my room), check the back fender. If there is a line of touch-up paint on it, it's mine! Do a citizen's arrest on the thief and let me know where I can find my beloved bike! I miss it badly. Meanwhile, it looks like I'll be walking for awhile. :(

Muddy Buddies

A few weekends ago, we went to Lysterfield with Adam and Emily and Nigel and Kristy for an afternoon of mountain biking. It had been raining throughout the week, so the trails were extra muddy. By the end of our ride, we all felt like (or at least looked like) we had done the Tough Mudder race again! But despite the rain and mud, we rode for several hours and we girls even kept up pretty well with the boys!

Do you see the kangaroos?

Rappelling and Rugby

I had a coupon for some rappelling, and we did our jumps the other weekend. We each got three jumps off the side of a building in the Southbank area of the city. It was a little scary at the top when you were going over the edge, but otherwise, it was good fun. The hardest part was fighting the natural instinct to grip the rope, which would slow you down. It was a lot more exciting if you just let go. I wouldn’t pay full price for this adventure, but with the coupon, it was a good deal and a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

That night, after Zack’s coworker’s housewarming party, we met up with Adam/Emily, Nigel/Kristy, and Todd/Alena for the rugby match between Australia and Wales. Australia won in the end, and it was fun to catch up with the girls during the game (I’m not sure how much of it we actually watched!) and chat some more over drinks at an Irish bar afterward. It was a busy but fun Saturday from morning until evening!

Saturday Night Scariness

Note the fireworks in the background!

On Saturday night in the Gold Coast, we decided to try out some of the nightlife. It's not usually our scene, but we figured we'd see what the hype was all about. So we got dressed up and walked around town, looking for the “happening” place.

There are a few companies that organize nightly pub crawls, so big groups of partiers go to five or so different clubs throughout the evening. We happened upon a club called Shooters where one of these groups was hanging out, so we hung out there and danced for awhile. Then we headed to another club called Sin City. While in line, one guy told us that if we said we were with him, we could get in free and get half-price drinks. I guess if you get a group of 12 people, the club gives you this deal, so we made up 2 of his 12. It was a bargain! After Sin City, we waited in line to go into a club called Vanity. Luckily, I had put my name on an online list earlier that evening while looking up places, so we didn’t have to pay the $15 cover!

After some more drinks and dancing, we were ready to head home. As we were walking past Sin City, suddenly two guys shoving a teenage kid passed right next to us. They shoved the kid up against the corner of the building, and one guy punched him in the head really hard. The kid collapsed to the cement ground; his neck was bent sideways. He was totally unconscious, and we had seen it all. It all happened so fast, and it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever witnessed. The two guys who did it each ran away in different directions. Zack ran to tell the security guard at the nearby club, and people started converging on the kid, laying him on his side and straightening out his head and stuff.

After a few minutes, the unconscious kid was being helped, and there was nothing else we could do, so we started walking back to our hotel. Zack mentioned how he remembered that one of the guys who ran away had a hat, but I had no recollection of what either guy looked like. We hadn’t gotten very far when suddenly two girls and a kid with a hat were walking toward us. Zack had a weird feeling and said, “That’s him!” and pointed. A policeman just happened to be walking right behind us on the sidewalk (there are lots of police in Surfers Paradise!), and he heard Zack. The policeman grabbed the kid, and Zack again said, “It’s him. Look at his hand.” There was blood on one part of his hand, and the rest of it was red. The kid sort of denied it, though he didn’t put up a big fight or act like he didn’t know what Zack’s accusation was about, and the girls just acted confused, almost as if they didn’t know him. The policeman lifted the kid’s black T-shirt up, and he had a white one on underneath. I guess this was what they were looking for, because the policeman promptly hauled him off!

We headed straight back to the hotel, a little afraid that the other guy might have been around and seen Zack point out his friend. When we were safely in our room, Zack called the police and gave him his information in case they needed to contact him about witnessing the incident, but we never heard from them. We’re just hoping the punched kid is okay; it was such a scary thing to see. The whole thing really shook me up; I’m just glad Zack was able to help the police catch one of the guys. Zack is a Gold Coast Hero!

That was definitely the craziest thing we saw, although there were a few other interesting incidents. On both Friday and Saturday nights, a throng of police (in uniform and undercover) walked down the streets with a Labrador retriever and a cameraman. The dog was smelling for drugs, so the policewoman would lead it up to you, it would sniff all around you, and then walk on (in our case-not everyone’s!). On Saturday, the drug-sniffing dog came by while we were in line for a club. As it was smelling everyone in line, two girls tried to cut up to the front. An undercover cop immediately grabbed them and pulled them out of line; they were trying to escape the dog (I guess they had something illegal!).

Inside one of the clubs-party time!

We saw a small shoving fight break out in one of the clubs early in the night on Saturday, and on Sunday, we saw a lifeguard in some sort of tousle with a surfer out in the water. The surfer was trying to paddle out between the flags (which is a swimming-only area), and the lifeguard ran out into the water. We’re not sure if the surfer wasn’t listening or what, but we could see the lifeguard and the surfer playing what looked like a game of tug-of-war with the surfboard until he finally got the surfer back to shore with some help from nearby beachgoers.

Tea time!

On Sunday afternoon, we had a much tamer experience by going to the Palazzo Versace for some tea. This is probably the fanciest hotel in Australia; everything is imported from Italy, and rates range from $400 to nearly $4000 per night. Lots of celebrities stay and/or dine here.

Anyway, the Gold Coast is one crazy place. I can’t imagine how insane it gets during school holidays or the summer if this was just a random winter weekend. I think I'm glad to be back in my safe little South Melbourne home, even if it is raining and cold outside!

Gold Coast Getaway

View from our hotel room window.

The one good thing to come out of our Tiger Airways fiasco was $200 worth of vouchers to use on future flights. Though I was skeptical of ever flying with them again, I booked a cheap weekend getaway to the Gold Coast area in Queensland and figured if we didn’t get there for some reason, it would be okay.

The crowd at the free beach concert on Saturday night.

Amazingly, our flights went pretty smoothly, and we spent this past Friday night through Sunday night in the Surfers Paradise area of the Gold Coast. We didn’t have extremely warm weather, but getting away from the cold rain of Melbourne for a weekend was a welcome change.

We stayed in the heart of Surfers Paradise at the Hotel Grand Chancellor. It wasn’t fancy or anything, but our view was awesome, and the location couldn’t have been better. We walked around Cavill Avenue (the main strip) for food and entertainment and hung out on the beach across the street. The water was pretty warm (warmer than the air!), and the sand was perfectly clean and almost white.

Huge hotels everywhere!

It was a rather relaxing weekend spent napping on the beach, surfing, doing a little shopping, listening to the live music playing for the Surfers Paradise Festival, and trying out different restaurants. We found the Queenslanders (especially the wait staff) to be very friendly and helpful. We aren’t sure if this is because Surfers Paradise caters specifically to tourists, or if Melbournians are just a bit snootier.

The crowd that visits the Gold Coast is interesting. I’ve never seen the show, but I often felt like I was in an episode of Jersey Shore. It’s definitely got a party-like atmosphere, people dress in some interesting attire (especially at night), and the whole coastline is full of towering hotels. There are some big theme parks in the area, including a water park and Sea World. We didn’t hit up any of those, but a lot of visitors do. The nightlife is insane. My next post will talk about that and a scary fight we saw. To give you a preview, I’ve been calling Zack a “GCH” (Gold Coast Hero) lately. Check back soon to find out why!

Zack is living the life!

Birthday Boy

On June 20th, Zack turned 34 years old. We’d been so busy moving into our new place, but I still tried to make his day a special one. I attempted to recreate his favorite pizza of all time…a fig pizza we had at The Stash in Crested Butte, Colorado during our engagement weekend. I had fun gathering fresh ingredients (figs, cheese, flour for the dough, etc.) from the nearby South Melbourne Market, and for dessert I made his favorite-gooey butter cake.

We took a series of funny pics-in this one we were looking at the birthday boy!

Emily and Adam were able to join us for dinner and a game of euchre, and they brought along a delicious warm brie cheese appetizer and some Whoppers (called Maltesers here) for Zack. This was the first holiday that Zack wasn’t able to guess his present from me ahead of time, but as he was opening it, Adam randomly guessed that it was a new briefcase (which was correct!). It was a nice Wednesday night, and hopefully Zack’s 34^th year is his best one yet!

Goodbye St Kilda

When one is packing to move across town and comes across strange items one possesses, such as a Tough Mudder headband and retro sunglasses, some folks pack them away or throw them away. My husband puts them on and demands that his picture be taken in front of the flag. This is the result. Sometimes I wonder about him… :)

 We will miss St Kilda. I’ll miss sunsets like this, taken on one of our last nights in our apartment…

I’ll miss living near the happy sounds of Luna Park, which I still haven’t visited!

I’ll miss living across the park from a grocery store, I’ll miss living around the corner from Acland Street, and I’ll miss crossing the street to get to the beach. But I’m already finding things to love about our new home in South Melbourne!

Goodbye St Kilda! Justin, this is the picture you requested.