Most of today was spent traveling to Melbourne, Australia. I arrived around 7:30pm. Melbourne has 4.5 million people, as my Somali taxi driver informed me. As the highway looped around the city, I finally got a view. Even in the dark, Melbourne looks positively dazzling, like some platinum and neon city from the future. All dots, thin lines, and long blue and green lights.

The international fim festival is in its first weekend, so on a walk of the city, there are lines of people in black and grey coats, some with painted faces (ion support of their favorite characters?) hats and scarves. (yes, it’s still cold and rainy). Even the cafes have the Parisian sense to open out onto the street despite the cold, keeping customers warm under hooded red heating lamps. Souvenir shops, night clubs, and white-lit government buildings, horse-drawn carriage rides thru the city center, free “trams” whizzing by on their suspended leashes, skaters walking their boards thru the dark, friends arm in arm talking and checking cell phones. 9pm. Saturday night.

Tomorrow is my first day without a flight or campus visit and this country girl must get out of the city. My Midwest instinct tells me to rent a car and DRIVE. However, the thought of steering on the other side of the road sends shivers up m’ spine. I ask the friendly hotel desk folk for help. In a flash, I’ve got a catalog of sightseeing day tours in my hand. I choose #377: A day long tour of the tall ash forests that make up the Blue Dandenong range, lunch with locals at a vineyard (with a vegetarian lunch option no less), and promises of koalas and kangaroos at the Healesville Sanctuary. Perfect.