Beyond the Threshold ~ Nov 2-6, #2
After days of being unable to comprehend that we were about to live on another continent for a year - we found ourselves on the other side of Customs, almost no sleep in the last 32 hours, still operating on autopilot. We hoped to get an eSIM at the airport so we could check on the shuttle but discovered eSIM cards were only available in town. With no access to a local network, the challenge became how to get all our gear to our accommodation.
For a brief moment, we thought it made sense to rent a car and get a paper map since we now had to find a phone shop. As I stood at the curb with our carts and watched Nivaun head across the street to the Rental place - reality sunk-in as drivers whizzed by on the left side. Immediately, it seemed a very bad idea in our sleep deprived state. Thankfully, Nivaun returned empty-handed. None of the rentals were large enough for our gear. With no other option, Maxi- Taxi came to our rescue with a van waiting at the curb.
In just a few minutes, we were at the reception counter of our accommodation, a little over an hour after our flight had arrived, chatting with the front desk clerk, who graciously set us up in their largest studio, arranged a driver to take our boxes to the doorstep, and gave us the keys even though check-in wasn’t until 2pm.
Airport Tourist Village - Highly recommend!
Orientation 101
Our bungalow-style studio had everything we needed to feel at home and our unofficial bell- hop wasted no time in educating us on how to navigate the city roads by bike to avoid being fined for not wearing a helmet, having our tires deflated for riding on foot paths (sidewalks) or failing to navigate the dreaded hook turns??? leading to an untimely demise. Later he returned to caution us on the local wildlife. Roos will frequent the area to rummage the bins and the staff ward them off with brooms. The seemingly cute blue-tongued lizards are not to be trifled with as their bite, though surprisingly not venomous, is very painful and “will come back on ya every year thereafter”. Mulling over the local wisdom, we spent the rest of the afternoon unboxing bikes and gear, finding everything still present, functioning and accounted for minus one broken bottle cage.
Our first Australian brekkie!
As hunger took over, we discovered our place was conveniently located within walking distance to a small grocery, restaurants and the network of bike trails that criss-cross all over Melbourne. Excited to explore our first Australian grocery store, we decided to stock up for the next couple days since our studio came equipped with a full kitchen. Cruising the aisles we learned the following - Rice Krispies are Rice Bubbles, Milo is an Aussie-style chocolate, Bell Peppers are Capsicums, and Table Sauces are Salad Dressings. We decided on a box of “Australian Bush Foods” for breakfast, a “brushed” potato and baked chicken along with a few other staples, ie. Australian wine (sans the Kangaroo label).
Hear a Bird, There a Bird, Everywhere a Bird
Amazingly the next morning feeling no jet lag, we sat on our little porch bench listening to the cacophony of bird calls with our bowls of Bush Food, berries and coffee feeling refreshed and ready for a day of errands by bike. Within a few pedal strokes on the bike path, we saw our first pair of white cockatoos roosting atop a dead tree guarding a nest in the hollow. Further on we met up with a flock of Galahs (pink and grey cockatoos) atop a grassy knoll, and then crossing through a park we stopped to watch long-billed Corellas foraging in the grass. Harder to spot were Parrot Swifts, a brilliant flash of green with the accents of yellow and red darting through the trees. It was pure delight to see these beautiful birds living wild, even amongst the suburban sprawl.
The Magpies have been kind thus far, although we did pass a sign warning cyclists of dive-bombing ones near an underpass.
By far our favorite, the Australian Raven warmed our hearts the most - a fond reminder of our Crows and Ravens back home. Hearing the variety of calls they make, each one brought a smirk to our faces. Particularly in the evening hours, we couldn’t help but laugh, as they called out to each other in voices that sounded exactly like the Priest from Princess Bride.
We never did see a Roo, or a broom- wielding caretaker. We briefly caught a glimpse of the blue-tongued lizard under our deck, in actuality a skink, not exactly the cute lizard variety one would try to hold.
Mall Circles
Our first errand stop was a local mall with a phone store. Simply finding it or any store in the mall proved to be more of a challenge than we realized. The malls are a maze of small retail shops mixed with big box stores and every other type of store you would find stand-alone in the US for healthcare & wellness, pharmacy, even grocery. Throughout the rest of our stay in Melbourne we ended up either circling outside or inside malls trying to find our ‘target’ store or attempting to find our way back out the many entry/exit points.
By the end of our first day navigating city roads and malls, we retreated to our bungalow to prepare for the next day’s round of reestablishing our online life. This endeavor took its toll and we soon realized after already extending our stay from two nights to three, we were going to need yet another day to try and update our service with AT&T and get fully ready for our life on wheels to begin.
A Long Day’s Commute
Let the Adventure Begin - Departure Day!
Finally, by Day 5, we were ready to say good-bye to our safe haven of conveniences and felt somewhat seasoned to head down the left-side of the street fully loaded. Two days earlier we had chosen to avoid heading directly into downtown Melbourne and found what we needed within its edges. However, we still needed to replace the windproof matches we discarded before our flight, and all the backpacking stores were of course at the center of the city. Grateful for the network of bike trails we managed to find our way to the city’s core before we had to venture into traffic. Even more so, there were no malls to deter us pulling up directly in front of the shops we needed. As Nivaun returned from a second outdoor shop still without matches, we were greeted by a local bike messenger excited about our setup, and eager to share his trail savvy advice, providing us with local and Tassie connections to help us choose our routes. With the recommendation of our new bike packer comrade, at the next shop we got our matches, stopped for a quick sidewalk Sushi/not Sushi lunch and headed toward the waterfront to weave our way out of the city.
It was late afternoon, after another stop at a bike shop for right-sized spare cables, that we realized we had better call ahead and make sure we could secure a tent spot at the only tent- friendly Caravan Park we had found on our route. At that point we had already covered about 20 miles and now had 25 more to cover hopefully before dark. Our trip was already starting as every other - we were covering more miles than intended, pushing ourselves beyond our current state of fitness.
Enroute to our second Caravan Park
Several rest breaks later, including beach-front gelato, we rolled up at dusk to an iron gated entrance to the hybrid vacation home/Caravan park we had contacted and could only get a recording on the phone. The only neighbor next door, just returned home, noticed our puzzled- state, and kindly offered her backyard, if we ended up with no where else to stay. After checking the only other Caravan park up the road, we were back at the iron gate just in time for a driver to pull up with a pass key for the gate and offered us assistance in finding the owner’s on site. It was nearing 10pm when we finally staked out our tent. Day One on the bike’s was in the books. We had just 3 more days to finish our commute to Geelong where our true adventure would begin with a ferry trip across the Bass Strait to Tasmania.