Melbourne Debates
Warning, the following paragraph is not for the weak hearted:
Why is it that no one ever talks about traveler's constipation? Seriously, it's getting to be a major problem. A whole week and two morning constitutionals to speak of. I'm all bloated and shouldn't put another bite of food in my mouth except that I really enjoy eating. Sigh. Hopefully when I'm in Wellington I can spend a little private time with myself, focusing on nothing else for as long as it takes. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Okay, bad stuff over with. I'm back in Melbourne. My family (cousin, husband and two kids) and I went away for the weekend to take a drive along the Great Ocean Road. One thing about Australia is that there's no shortage of beaches. We took about a 4 hour scenic drive to an area called Apollo Beach, stopping along the way to see more scenic stuff. It was quite scenic. Fortunately the weather held up nicely so we could frolic as one should do in these areas. I'd have to say one of my favorite memories was a simple evening walk along the beach with the family. We had finally arrived in our apartment, had some tea and then had to rouse ourselves from the lure of the warm indoors, cushy sofas and flat-screened TV. Once we finally got our butts onto the beach, it was a lovely time of walking, skipping rocks and taking photographs.
There was that moment of the Great Footy Debate that made me really appreciate family dynamics. The football (Aussie footballs are shaped just like ours) somehow got left behind on the beach, and the kids began arguing over who was responsible for trekking back to get it. It was one of those arguments that's incredibly fun to watch because it's just a battle of wills- will the older one win out because he's older, or will the younger one's stubborness prevail? Having gone through many a similar argument with my older brother growing up, I wasn't surprised when the little one made the long jog back to retrieve the precious footy. And in wonderful maternal fashion, his mom went along with him.
It was a long drive the next day, starting with another continuation along the road to see the famed 12 Apostles. Once again, pictures would be good here, but essentially they're free-standing limestone structures in the ocean that were carved off the cliffside by years of water and wind erosion. They're quite magnificent, and it's fascinating to know that years more erosion will make these structures crumble entirely. It's one of those moments when you begin to understand that whole "blink of an eye" concept from nature's perspective.
The long sleepy drive was notable only for the Great Gay Debate, this one involving me against everyone else in the car about gay adoption. It's one of those situations where you eventually have to agree to disagree, but it's good for me to hone my arguing skills. I can't help it if I think I'm right and everyone else is wrong. I just think if those who have any sort of bias against homosexuality would quickly change their minds if they were as entrenched in the gay community as I am, so it's just one of those situations where education leads to open mindedness. Until you get that exposure of meeting gay parents and the kids of gay families, it's going to seem impossible. I just figure if I can do anything, it's to remove the terms "disgusting" and "unnatural" from their vocabulary. Gay is what it is, and it's not going anywhere.
Our long sleepy drive was followed by a big Indian feast at the in-laws house (not my in-laws, but my cousin's, although I'm sure my mother and sister-in-laws would have thoroughly enjoyed every bite of it). Another gay discussion followed, this time with a couple more supporters on my side. It was unexpected to have debate about gay rights in an elder Indian household, so that was a nice experience.
And now I'm in the city, wasting time away at an internet cafe as I wait for the tourism office to open. Actually it opened 20 minutes ago. I'm going to do some big gay exploration to see if there's anything to write about, and get to know the city a bit along the way. But for right now, I think a stop at a coffeeshop is in order. The term "internet cafe" is used very loosely, as all I can see are two vending machines. But there's no shortage of cute cafes in Melbourne, so I'll make my way to the tourism office with a stop along the way.
Tomorrow I'm leaving for Wellington, so rest assured that photos are on their way to being posted.
Why is it that no one ever talks about traveler's constipation? Seriously, it's getting to be a major problem. A whole week and two morning constitutionals to speak of. I'm all bloated and shouldn't put another bite of food in my mouth except that I really enjoy eating. Sigh. Hopefully when I'm in Wellington I can spend a little private time with myself, focusing on nothing else for as long as it takes. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Okay, bad stuff over with. I'm back in Melbourne. My family (cousin, husband and two kids) and I went away for the weekend to take a drive along the Great Ocean Road. One thing about Australia is that there's no shortage of beaches. We took about a 4 hour scenic drive to an area called Apollo Beach, stopping along the way to see more scenic stuff. It was quite scenic. Fortunately the weather held up nicely so we could frolic as one should do in these areas. I'd have to say one of my favorite memories was a simple evening walk along the beach with the family. We had finally arrived in our apartment, had some tea and then had to rouse ourselves from the lure of the warm indoors, cushy sofas and flat-screened TV. Once we finally got our butts onto the beach, it was a lovely time of walking, skipping rocks and taking photographs.
There was that moment of the Great Footy Debate that made me really appreciate family dynamics. The football (Aussie footballs are shaped just like ours) somehow got left behind on the beach, and the kids began arguing over who was responsible for trekking back to get it. It was one of those arguments that's incredibly fun to watch because it's just a battle of wills- will the older one win out because he's older, or will the younger one's stubborness prevail? Having gone through many a similar argument with my older brother growing up, I wasn't surprised when the little one made the long jog back to retrieve the precious footy. And in wonderful maternal fashion, his mom went along with him.
It was a long drive the next day, starting with another continuation along the road to see the famed 12 Apostles. Once again, pictures would be good here, but essentially they're free-standing limestone structures in the ocean that were carved off the cliffside by years of water and wind erosion. They're quite magnificent, and it's fascinating to know that years more erosion will make these structures crumble entirely. It's one of those moments when you begin to understand that whole "blink of an eye" concept from nature's perspective.
The long sleepy drive was notable only for the Great Gay Debate, this one involving me against everyone else in the car about gay adoption. It's one of those situations where you eventually have to agree to disagree, but it's good for me to hone my arguing skills. I can't help it if I think I'm right and everyone else is wrong. I just think if those who have any sort of bias against homosexuality would quickly change their minds if they were as entrenched in the gay community as I am, so it's just one of those situations where education leads to open mindedness. Until you get that exposure of meeting gay parents and the kids of gay families, it's going to seem impossible. I just figure if I can do anything, it's to remove the terms "disgusting" and "unnatural" from their vocabulary. Gay is what it is, and it's not going anywhere.
Our long sleepy drive was followed by a big Indian feast at the in-laws house (not my in-laws, but my cousin's, although I'm sure my mother and sister-in-laws would have thoroughly enjoyed every bite of it). Another gay discussion followed, this time with a couple more supporters on my side. It was unexpected to have debate about gay rights in an elder Indian household, so that was a nice experience.
And now I'm in the city, wasting time away at an internet cafe as I wait for the tourism office to open. Actually it opened 20 minutes ago. I'm going to do some big gay exploration to see if there's anything to write about, and get to know the city a bit along the way. But for right now, I think a stop at a coffeeshop is in order. The term "internet cafe" is used very loosely, as all I can see are two vending machines. But there's no shortage of cute cafes in Melbourne, so I'll make my way to the tourism office with a stop along the way.
Tomorrow I'm leaving for Wellington, so rest assured that photos are on their way to being posted.
posted by sarika @ 4:02 PM
3 Comments:
At 4:49 PM ,
Suz said...
I can't wait to see your pics although you do a great job with your descriptions - even about constipation!
Susan
At 5:41 PM ,
SC said...
prunes!
At 8:59 AM ,
Shannon said...
You're a better woman than I. You can debate people about gay rights without wanting to weep at their ignorance that really just seems to represent the ignorance of the world, at large. I'm the one who's jaded now. Thanks for going to bat for what you believe in.
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