8/4/2014-8/8/2014

Sorry we've been so bad about getting blog posts up this week. We have been running around Melbourne seeing sights and by the time we get back in the evening we just fall into bed. The week started off with a trip to the National Gallery of Victoria. There was a lot of beautiful pottery and china, but otherwise the most interesting part of the museum was a special samurai exhibit. After the gallery we had a quick sushi lunch then strolled around Melbourne Central and other surrounding shops before heading off to Chin Chin for dinner. Once we were finally seated, after a one and a half hour wait, we got some lovely tea a lot of spicy, delicious food. While we were waiting for Chin Chin we stopped by the Croft Institute where I ordered my first drink that tasted vaguely like robitussin, but the bar was old-school chemistry lab themed so I enjoyed the atmosphere. Tuesday started off with a trip to the Queen Victoria Market. We spent a few hours walking around looking at the various stalls and what they had to offer before walking down to D.O.C. for a lovely Italian lunch. After we were full of delicious pasta we stopped at Koko Black for some delicious chocolate. That night we took a short drive down to a hot spring where we soaked in the hot water, steamed in a Turkish steam room, and had $2 messages in the relaxation room. It was a wonderfully relaxing evening even though the hot spring was fairly crowded for winter. Even though we got back late from the hot springs we were up again bright and early to go to the Hillsville Animal Sanctuary. There were lots of big and little birdies along with koalas, kangaroos, and dingo puppies. That night while Maddie was at work we(Rachel and Abbie) went to the Eureka Skydeck in the Eureka Tower which offered some beautiful views and the highest publicly available toilet in the Southern Hemisphere. After the tower we met up with Maddie for a wonderful dinner of dumplings and bao at Supernova. Thursday was a big travel day again. We had to travel quite a bit because we wanted to go to the beach. It was about an hours worth of traveling by a combination of train and tram, but we eventually made it there. The beach was shockingly warm and surprisingly crowded for winter. That night was rock climbing at Hard Rock, an indoor rock climbing gym. It was super fun, but made my(Rachel) arms super tired. After we were all climbed-out we went to a wonderful Korean restaurant for bimimbab and hotpot. Friday was a bit of a lazy day. We got up late and did not really get around to doing anything until we played Ticket to Ride with Kat. That night we headed over to the Glenferrie Tea House to watch a tea ceremony. We arrived about an hour too early for the ceremony, so we stopped by a tapas restaurant just down the street for dinner before tea. The food was pretty good, but the service was a bit lacking. The tea ceremony was short and sweet and not entirely what we were expecting, but we got to sample a lovely red tea. After tea we made a quick stop at Dessert Story for fruity

shaved ice before heading home and packing for Hobart.