When You Come Back. . .

"When you come back," they say, "bring your family."

". . . Take a holiday afterwards."

". . . Stay for three weeks next time."

Like it's a foregone conclusion that this was just my first trip to Australia. 

Maybe they're right.

I am worn out and ready to return home. I miss my family, my routine, and my US team. 

But it has been such a productive trip that I really hope that they are right. I will bring a little bit of Vanguard Investments Australia back with me and I'll feel more equpped to advocate for my colleagues on the other side of the earth.

Those voices on the other end of the line have faces for me now, and personalities and private jokes to go with them. 

 And I think I should take their advice. When I come back, I'll stay longer, bring my family, and take a vacation.

Week two

My mom misses my posts, so I thought I should tell you what I've been doing, even though it has not been much.

Monday was a very long day - I stayed at the office until 8 and discovered that the lights go out automatically around 7. I had a lot of meetings that day and could not finish all of my follow up items from each of them. I also felt the demands of my team in Malvern.

On Tuesday I went to a fun Women In Leadership event at lunch. It was called ETFs Demystified, and I learned a little bit more about the business. It was a good session. Tuesday night I went out for my first dinner with my colleagues. We went to a very nice place called The Deanery, and I had some delicious Tazmanian fish.

Today I went to lunch with a couple of women from IT. I didn't know them very well, so it was awfully nice of them to want to go out with me. I really enjoyed getting to know them and feel like we have a better foundation for the next time we work on something together. One was from India and the other lived in Melbourne her whole life. I felt like we had a lot in common.

I did a little shopping after work and bought myself a necklace made by a local artist.

Maybe I'll wear it tomorrow.

I continue to have a lot of productive meetings and feel as though I've made another connection, learned something new, or accomplished something I couldn't have done over the phone. It has been a very worthwhile trip. 

The adrenaline has worn off, though. It's that point of the trip where it's somewhat normal to work out of the Melbourne office, yet I know there are only two days left and I can only do so much more.

One thing I'll definitely do is transport a whole bunch of Tim Tams back to my coworkers in the US.

Loch Ard Gorge

I couldn't imagine anything more amazing than the Twelve Apostles, but Loch Ard Gorge, the site of a fateful shipwreck, was raw and fierce in its beauty. 

I could not get enough of the towering cliffs of stone, layers carved intricately by the elements.

I've had that shockingly awed feeling before, but not since visiting Yosemite. Those of you who've been there know what I mean.

It was a place that was powerful and spiritual and full of history.

Wonderful and ancient and delicate even in the forces of nature that continue to change it in front of our eyes.

The Twelve Apostles

We stopped for a one hour lunch in a little town along the way. I didn't waste any more time inside than I had to and took my veggie burger and biscuit out to eat out on the expansive beach.

Perfect waves crashed on the shore.

There was a little harbor that I didn't have time to walk up to and check out.

Next, we headed to the Twelve Apostles. The wind, salt, and sea have been shaping these limestone rocks for centuries.

It was cold and wet, but look how happy I am! 

The cliffs were stunning.

If not entirely safe.

I was sad to leave, but glad I made it back to the bus on time. The driver almost left two people behind!

Great Ocean Road

Today I took a tour of a beautiful scenic drive called Great Ocean Road. The bus stopped at several places for photographs, each one more captivating than the last.

We were allowed to go down to the beach at Urquhart Bluffs. 

The toffee colored sand was fine and soft. I wanted to dig a hole and build a sand castle right there in the dead of Australia winter. Good thing Andrew wasn't with me or we probably would have abandoned the tour and done just that.

We were traveling west, and it was high tide the whole way.

I had a good seat on the coach and could see the ocean during part of the drive. There was almost always a rainbow over the sea, sometimes short and vibrant, sometimes long and faint, and once, an enormous double arc that I didn't even attempt to capture with my camera.

Is that why they call it Oz?

Upstairs

One section of the museum upstairs was dedicated to the history of Melbourne. It was really interesting! One exhibit that I found particularly fascination was about a big insane asylum. It contained the daily rations, a letter from the disgruntled brother of a released inmate, and description of life there, including the blue plates that were marked "Lunatic Asylum" so the residents never forgot it.

On a more pleasant note, I enjoyed walking through these model homes and hearing the stories of their owners. It was exactly the kind of museum I would bring Sam and Caroline, so it felt kind of funny to be there without them.

I decided to take the free tram that circles the city to get back. I picked it up alright, but down at the docklands, it started to turn around and come back the way it came. I hopped off because I didn't want to go all the way back around town. I was a little bothered by a long walk back (should've just figured out how to get another non-free tram back) until I saw a rainbow on my way over the bridge. Can you see it here?

Monotremes and Marsupials

Time for a lunch break at the museum. The veggie pasty is hot, so I'm eating the ice cream first. :-)

This morning I visited the ground floor of the museum, exploring the geological, zoological, and aboriginal sections.

Garnets.

There was a neat exhibition with local animals, even an extinct Tazmanian tiger. Maybe I should have named this blog kangaroo fortnight. . . Here I am with another kangaroo.

I didn't take any photos of First Peoples section, but I may have enjoyed that the most. Imagine a culture 2000 generations old. Refreshed now, I think I'll find out what's upstairs.