by Teressa Jackson
Saturday, February 22, 2014 – 6 p.m. Melbourne time
After the rigmarole of customs, we walked out of the airport
into a mass of people waiting for their friends and loved ones. At the end of
the line stood a jolly group holding a Rotary International sign. Many of them
greeted us by name, having memorized us from our photos. We received lots of
handshakes and hugs, and they kindly told us how refreshed we looked after our
long journey. A few thousand group photos were taken, and then we were on our
way, each with our individual hosts.
My hosts, Aidan and Frances Wright, brought me to their
lovely home in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe. They had the house constructed
about 18 months ago and it has a beautiful open floorplan, modern features,
gardens, and eclectic antiques and décor. I received a tour and refueled a bit
with some tea, a fresh fig the size of a plum, and some Christmas Cake, which
was a rich and delicious type of fruitcake containing raisins, currants,
sultanas, hazelnuts, and almonds.
After I showered off 20 hours of airplane funk, we had a
delicious ploughman’s lunch of cheese, fresh bread, garden grown vegetables, vegemite,
plum juice, and honey and clotted cream. Vegemite isn’t really bad at all… very
salty. It tastes like boullion. After lunch, Aidan made us some delicious
lattes.
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| Aiden & Frances at the Heide |
Feeling refreshed, we ventured out to the nearby HeideMuseum of Modern Art. The Heide was the home of Sunday and John Reed, arts
patrons and enthusiasts who had hosted an array of some of Australia’s most
talented artists on their property during their life. There were several
wonderful exhibitions of diverse modern Australian art in their former homes,
which I thoroughly enjoyed. My personal favorite was probably EricaMcGilchrist, who incorporated a beautiful array of colors and patterns into her
work.
We also strolled through the lovely gardens on the property.
They had a “kitchen garden” with herbs, vegetables, and other edible plants;
beautiful eucalyptus trees, and access to the Yarra River.
Tonight we are headed to the “White Night” downtown
Melbourne, where the city is lit up brightly in the evening and lots of
activities will be taking place. Stay tuned!
Sunday, February 23, 2014 – 11:30 a.m. Melbourne time
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| Flinders Street Station |
The “White Night” last night was incredible. We rode the
train to Flinders Street Station, a beautiful historic station in the heart of
the city. Frances made sure to point out some incredible mosaics to me, as I
had told her that I used to make mosaics. We started by grabbing a bite to eat
in a food court because the restaurants were absolutely packed. It seemed that
everyone from within 100 kilometers were there to experience the White Night.
The White Night was an event where they lit up several of
the buildings and structures in downtown Melbourne. There were also street performances and other
happenings, including a huge on-stage lesson in “Bollywood Dancing” (no, don’t
ask me to demonstrate). Our favorite was definitely the buildings that had been
lit up with changing art designed specifically for the architecture. We also
took some time to enjoy a very talented harmonica (mouth organ) player. We made
our way back up to Melbourne Central Station to catch the train home, and
nearly got separated several times due to the incredible size of the crowd. Along the way,
I got to see several different areas of the city, including shopping districts
and Chinatown. Plus there was an opportunity for some pretty great people
watching.
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| The Buildings Lit Up at White Night |
I slept like a baby and feel ready to go today. We have a
team briefing this afternoon, but I’m not sure yet what we’ll do before that
time. Stay tuned!
View more photos from my day and evening and stay up-to-date with
all our latest at our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/gse2014.
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