Never a dull moment

Yesterday was my first day in Melbourne. What an amazing place. Already I'm in love. Not 15 minutes away is a beach stretching for kilometres. A pier projects out into the bay, at the end of which lives an actual penguin colony. That's right, penguins. I LOVE PENGUINS!!!! The adults venture out to sea during the day and come back at night. The babies remain, mostly hidden amongst the rocks, but not so much so that I couldn't see them. One had actually wandered out a bit and was just sitting beside the walkway, close enough to pick up and hold. It is of course prohibited to handle them, as they are wild and too much human interaction could affect their livelihood.

The day went on with a stroll along the beach, occasionally stopping to enjoy a beer on a patio. It was mostly overcast, but that didn't stop the sun from giving me a good burn! Lesson learned. First stop on the way home was the chemist (or pharmacy, as we call it in Canada) for some sun tan lotion. It didn't take long, after arriving back at Gavin's condo, for the jet lag, sun, beers and an afternoon of strolling to catch up with me. Most of the afternoon I spent in and out of sleep, trying to readjust myself to the new timezone by staying up as late as I possibly could. I mad it to about 9pm, but I was definitely ready for bed at that point. All things considered, I think I did pretty well. Before going to bed, I glanced out the window at the city skyline. I noticed the silhouette of a seagull sized bird flying towards me. As it got closer, though, I noticed it wasn't a bird at all, it was in fact a giant fruit bat!!! I've never seen such a large bat, it was amazing. Sometime soon I will be heading to a garden they populate to see the colony. All in all, it was an amazing first day. I can't wait for all the exciting things to come in the next few months.