As my e-invitation read, yesterday was a day-long festival of "food,
friends, film... and good ol' fashioned fun!" Around noon, my friends
Maxime (my best girl friend here; French), Leif (Vancouverian) and
Adrien (French aussi) and I set up a blanket at the Royal Melbourne
Botanic Gardens and so began our five-hour Picnic in the Park.
To go through the four
"F"s mentioned above...
Food
On Saturday, Maxime and I made over thirty crepes; they were devoured throughout
the day accompanied by Nutella, sugar and lemon, avocado and
salt, or toute seule (plain). (Maxime was good enough to make them with rice
milk.) We also brought tons of veggies and dips, apples, wine,
chocolate, peanut butter, and other munchies. We were going to go out
for dinner, but everyone was so stuffed so we just lounged around
afterwards, digesting and feeling happy.
Friends
I invited
almost everyone I knew in Melbourne and told them to bring food and friends and games. In all, I think about twenty-five people stopped by the
picnic, most of them being backpackers from Pat's hostel. Off the top
of my head, there were at least two Japanese, two Mexicans, four Frenchies,
one Italiano, one Canadian, one Cameroonian, one Englishman, and two
Americans (including me) present. My homestay family, Sally &
Steve Ahern and their daughter, Pheobe (and Archie the dog!) came as
well; they brought wine and hung out for an hour, meeting my eclectic
assortment of friends.
Certainly, a highlight of the day was when my friends Hiromi (from
Japan) and her Italian boyfriend
Tori brought brownies, and then proudly announced in front of everyone
-- including my homestay family -- to be careful because they were pot
brownies. (Also known as "space cakes", I learned.) Thankfully, Sally and Steve are pretty easy-going... I laughed as Maxime and Adrien
looked at Hiromi, horrified!
Ahh..
but all in all, we ate, talked, napped, played Uno, and tossed a frisbee
at every opportunity we had, including over our terrified blanket of
picnickers, and in side streets and parks during the twenty-minute walk
back to the Lodge.
Film
At 7:30pm eight of us trekked to the Astor Theatre for a Charlie Chaplin double feature -- Modern Times and The Great Dictator.
We watched the original physical comedy film genius on original 35mm
film, from the balcony of a 1930's original art-deco one-screen
theatre, complete with overstuffed cushions and a grand curtain. That's pretty much as close as you can get to experiencing Mr. Chaplin as the people of his era did seventy years ago. Incredible.
Fun
It was a
great day and I think everyone had fun. The sun actually shone for a
good portion of the day, and it was actually warm.. certainly the
warmest day we've had in a long while. (About 58 degrees F.) And the
day was very "me" -- some people suggested going out to a bar or having
a traditional party, but I'd prefer a picnic and Charlie Chaplin any
day! Woohoo!
And now, for the..
Future
...the hidden "F"! This
Thursday, Sally (the family friend I'm staying with) invited Maxime and
I to her parent's house in northern Victoria. It's along the Murray
River, the longest river in Australia, and we'll be passing through
wine region (wink wink) to enter a historic town called Echuca
(eh-CHOO-kah), the "paddlesteamer capital of Australia." Seems like it
will be a hootenanny and a half.
After that, I'll head back down to
Lorne along the Great Ocean Road, where I visited just over a week
ago. I'll spend a week or more working for room and board at Qdos, a
potting studio/art gallery/cafe/sculpture park owned by a friend of
Sally and Steve's. (Check the place out at www.qdosarts.com.) It will
be a bit strange to leave Melbourne, especially since if I go for two
weeks, I only have a week back in the city before I leave for New
Zealand. Even so, I'm really excited to get my creative juices
flowin'...
Check out photos of Philip Island (a day-trip to southern Victoria), Maxime et moi, and Lorne at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2092790&l=2c916&id=1705228
(birthday photos coming soon)
