Good Food, Sore Feet, and Hearty Laugh

MY TRIP to Canberra and Melbourne seemed to be a succession of early mornings, long walks, and hearty laughs way into the late nights. I had adamantly chosen to do the overland trip instead of taking the short flights. It certainly tested the patience of some, but the long and quiet journey gave me ample opportunity to think to myself and watch the world goes by.

THE BEST THING about overland trip is seeing the landscape changes before your eyes from one place to another. From the hustle and bustle of Sydney city, the road to Canberra is characterized by brown fields, dry creeks and windmills. On the other hand, Melbourne and Victoria is a lush of green fields, dairy cows, and healthy flocks of sheep. The best of all is seeing the pack of kangaroos hopping through the hills from afar in between sheep and horses grazing the hills. It felt like heaven.

Canberra and Melbourne are TWO CONTRADICTING CITIES. While in Canberra it is difficult not to be hampered by its lack of vivacity and effervescence, the city is peaceful and inherently friendly. A good lot of effort has been put into the Australian War Memorial and the National Art Gallery, and the Lake Burley Griffin is a sight to behold.

Melbourne on the other hand, BLEW MY MIND. The mixture of old-style and edgy architectures, vivid lifestyle of the locals, and definitely wholesome and delicious food made me feel I am on vacation indeed. The road tour to the Great Ocean Road was memorable; the tour guide hilarious, the group friendly and the helicopter ride one of a kind.

THE TRIP TAUGHT ME about the loads of life to be discovered around the world I am yet to grasp. Certainly money makes the world go round, but I learned there are things I need, and there are things I can live without. Finding distinctions between the two requires discretion, and succeeding at it makes an investment of a lifetime. There's still a few things on my Australian travel wish list, and I certainly hope Rome or Marrakesh or Edinburgh is not far from the horizon, in few years time.