Okay, so we're well overdue here, but really, who’s surprised at me procrastinating? As usual I’ve allowed myself to be caught up with the myriad adventures that have come my way. The people I have met in the hostels have been incredible and although I was surprised that I was so shy the first week in the country, now I get comments from new friends about how outgoing I am. So with that, I am brought to my first post about my purpose here: trees. Oh light of my life, world of my world, etc etc! Last week I took the day to get out of the city for the first time since my arrival. Although I have been determined to find work, I began to realize how uneasy I was getting spending so much time in the city.

After a one hour train ride outside of Melbourne I arrived in a small suburb known as Belgrave. This area is well known for it’s connection to logging history. Lucky for me they didn’t cut all the trees down, and actually preserved them in what is known as Dandenong ranges national park. These parks are different than what we have in Canada. A lot of picnic areas here, but the idea of backcountry camping seems a bit confusing to many Aussies I come across. The look I get whenever I enquire as to the possibility of sleeping outside is one of suspicion or concern. Like I’m some sort of transient looking to live on the outskirts in an attempt to carry out some nefarious deeds – which as many of you know is only a half truth. You never can trust those people that like sleeping in fresh air, basking in sunlight, and frolicking through the bush… that sort of stuff does things to your head after all. Before you know it, you’ll be filled with dangerous ideas…

I digress. DRNP has some great walking tracks and picnic areas, and some massive, massive trees. I don’t say this flippantly either. If I saw 500 trees as I walked through the park, I can confidently say I saw the 500 largest trees of my life. They are consistently huge. In Canada, we have many trees, they’re certainly abundant, but they are not this big. Mind you, I’ve never had the opportunity to visit the west coast (yet), but I can say with confidence that the largest tree’s I’ve seen and climbed in Ontario, do not hold a candle to this forest. Taking pictures is difficult because it’s impossible to show scale because they’re all huge. The ferns are even massive. Instead of having low lying ground covering ferns, this forest has tree ferns, ancient ancestors to palms that can be upwards of 15ft high.

A wee bit late as I've been in Australia for a week already, but now is as good a time to start as any. Apologies for the lack of pictures and content, that's gonna take some time to get taken care of.

The flight was okay, and I must say, the food was surprisingly good. For some weird reason I actually look forward to airline food. It's the greatest non-life threatening gamble I get a thrill out of (second being jaywalking in Toronto). The flight itself was a long, tiring and overall successful war against gravity. 24 hours to cross the planet. Incredible.

In the 8 days I've been here it's been a bit of a whirlwind. I've realized how much I value work in it's absence, and have gotten right down to getting myself settled domestically. Bank account, job interviews and apartments once reaching Melbourne. I've certainly rested, and adventured to a degree, but haven't gotten into the country side, which is my first love and my main goal.

First week in Sydney was interesting as it felt so much like Toronto I was nonplussed. The opera house and the harbour bridge were certainly covered, but since I'm not much of a tourist I ended up spending 4 of my 6 days exclusively in the Royal Botanic Gardens. This is far more exciting as it sounds as I took the time to learn the tree names in Latin, and made a point of having mid-day naps under at least three different genus' (Ficus, Aucaria, and Eucalyptus). All this and nobody charged me rooming fees under the canopy! I couldn't believe it! Quite surprising as everything else in Sydney seems to cost something.

Anyway, took the night train from Sydney to Melbourne and experienced the glory of Australian rail. What an experience! Have to keep that fun story for later.