2018 墨爾本行: 澳洲網球公開賽+疏芬山 Melbourne: Australian Open+Sovereign Hills－goodyvo 的相簿

澳洲網球公開賽+澳洲國慶，有公定假期，帶著一週會打六天網球的媽媽來墨爾本! 回憶十年前跟兩位醫學系朋友來過一次墨爾本，當年都是我在開車，沿著大洋路開開開，開到市區一大堆輕軌都不知道要怎麼開了! 這次完全不用開車，因為網球公開賽坐公共交通公具就可以了，巴拉瑞參加一日遊就可以了，還有住墨爾本的朋友熱心開車帶我們逛逛。

坐著小架飛機到墨爾本，沿路高空看著地面的美景，有種老鷹視野的感覺(只是缺了被風吹)。回想兒時，喜歡從很高的地方跳下來、表示自己很厲害，小朋友們玩遊戲追來追去看誰跑最快、溜冰游泳誰最快、等等。我甚至還喜歡抓蜥蜴和白老鼠來玩! 年紀很小就很習慣獨立做事、做決定。踏上這趟旅程的前一天有人跟我一起做禱告。她說從我成長背景看來，感覺我很像老鷹: 不喜歡被條條規規給框住、展翅時需要很大的空間，不是局限在地面的一個位置、而是跨國性的。雖然我生命中的成就感是很足夠的，但是與人的關係感較薄弱。五年前，我爸突然的過世讓我意識到自己平時都沒有留下足夠的時間給身旁的重要他人。感恩的是，我爸過世的前兩天有做過決志禱告。所以，這幾年都在學習放慢自己的腳步，試著與身邊的重要他人建立關係。雖然這方面仍就有很多的不足，但每個人在不同方面的事情成長速度都不同，我也只能走一步、算一步。

坐 Skybus 到南十字車站，時間已不早了。坐輕軌到維多利亞夜市，9:30還是很熱鬧。

週四網球公開賽這張白天球賽票還蠻划算的，看了三場賽，其中有看到世界排名第一和第二的女選手們比賽！最後一場賽還變成延長賽: Halep和Kerber，第一場Kerber打不好，結果居然趕上來，到最後真的很難知道誰會贏!

澳洲國慶日，到了疏芬山，彷彿坐了時光機到170年前的古代澳洲。1850年不少華人來這坐「新金山」掏金。有不少人在這危險的環境喪命，也有一些娶了白人妻子，所以可以在這地區看到一些華人姓氏白人面孔的人。看了金匠的溶金表演，覺得有趣，但我媽媽說她以前常看作金匠的外公溶金。

另外，也有參觀巴拉瑞的野生動物園和酒莊。有看到短尾矮袋鼠，也有看到楔尾鷹!

吃了幾家特色餐:
• 牛角麵包 (皮很脆) https://www.lunecroissanterie.com/
• Mr Miyagi (很有特色的食物但很小口又很貴，請客的人快哭出來了) https://mrmiyagi.com.au/
• 熱可可 https://www.kokoblack.com/
• 國利酒家的海鮮
• Tsujiri 綠茶泡芙和冰淇淋 http://www.tsujiri.com.au
• The Glass Den (顏色很鮮豔的食物，但會讓人味覺錯亂，例如綠色的起司粉會讓人以為是酸的東西) https://www.facebook.com/TheGlassDenCoburg/

到了幾個地區: Chadstone 購物中心 (富人去的); Brighton 海灘 (有漂亮的彩色小屋); 墨爾本碼頭。

Australian Open + Australia Day public holidays: taking my mom, who still plays tennis 6 days a week, for a short retreat to Melbourne! The last time I was in Melbourne (and also the first time) was ten years ago: I came with two med school friends and I remember driving and driving along the Great Ocean Road and when I drove into the city I got really confused by the tram tracks! This time I didn’t have to drive at all! Took public transport for AO, one day tour for Ballarat, and had a kind hearted friend who took us around in his car!

It felt like an “eagle’s eye view” flying a small plane to Melbourne (but missing the sense of the wind blowing). Back in my childhood, I enjoyed jumping from high places because it made me feel mighty (actually I still do now), I like racing with the other kids to see who ran/ ice-skated/ swam the fastest, etc. I even liked grabbing lizards and white mice to play with! I was used to doing things independently and making important decisions for myself from a young age. A day before embarking on this Melbourne trip, someone prayed with me. From my background, she had an impression that I am like an eagle: do not like being “ruled over by others”, need a large personal space to “flap my wings”, do not like to be geographically restricted to one place but prefers being able to cross the nations. Although I have a high sense of achievement, I feel a weak sense of relational attachment with people. Five years ago, the sudden passing away of my father made me revaluate my relationship with him and realised that I did not make space for quality time with him while he was alive. It was by the grace of God that he accepted Christ two days before he suddenly passed away. Therefore, I’ve been trying to slow my pace down in the last few years to make room for family and friends in my life. I still have significant deficits in the area of interpersonal relationships, but everyone’s speed of growth is different in different areas, and I can only do so much.

By the time we got to the Southern Cross Station via the Skybus, it was pretty late. We took the tram to the Victorian Markets, which was still very crowded at 9:30pm.

I think we got more than what we bargained for with the Thursday AO day ticket: we watched three games, with the number one and number two females included! The final game became an extended game: initially Kerber didn’t play well in the first game, caught up in the second game, and we really couldn’t tell who would win by the third game!

Came to Sovereign Hill on Australia Day. It’s like a time travel to Australia 170 years ago. In 1850 quite a lot of Chinese came to the area for gold. Some lost their lives in this dangerous environment, some stayed and had Caucasian wives, so some locals look Caucasian but have Chinese surnames. Found gold smelting interesting, but my mom didn’t find it as exciting because my grandfather was a goldsmith.

We also visited the Ballarat Wild Life Park and St Anne’s Vineyards. Got to see the quokka and the wedge-tailed eagle!

Ate some specialty foods:
• Lune Croissants (very crunchy skin) https://www.lunecroissanterie.com/
• Mr Miyagi (Very unique but in small bites and very expensive. The person paying the bill felt like crying from “the damage”.) https://mrmiyagi.com.au/
• Koko Black hot chocolates https://www.kokoblack.com/
• Ling Nan Restaurant’s seafood
• Tsujiri Green Tea puffs and ice-cream http://www.tsujiri.com.au
• The Glass Den (Very colour foods, but confuses people’s taste buds, eg. The green flaky material makes people expect something sour instead of parmesan cheese) https://www.facebook.com/TheGlassDenCoburg/

Visited a few areas: Chadstone Shopping Centre (for rich people); Brighton Beach (got some very colourful bathing boxes); Docklands