Melbourne, Australia

Perth was great but Melbourne is incredible. Imagine a Seattle feel, but with a Midwestern touch--all on a river. We stayed at a Travelodge right near the river in South Bank which is the richest part of the town. I know what you're thinking, and no--the Travelodge in Australia aren't like the ones in the States. It's almost like we're staying at a Hilton. I'd walk outside and see DB-7's, Vantages, and Vanquishes wizz by while I'm too busy drooling over the Gallardo Spyder right in front of our hotel.

The interesting thing that most Americans don't realize is that Australia is doing quite well. They have considerable mineral resources in the Western Territories where they export iron ore, more than anyone else, to China. The value of their dollar has surpassed parity with the USD (even though that's not saying much). They will even be having a budget surplus in the coming months from all their recent growth. It's quite incredible.

We went to an AFL, also know as Australian footie, game where we had great corporate seats. The sport is a hybrid between rugby and soccer but has been around for several decades. Although I'm not a big NFL or NBA fan, I'd much rather watch footie than either one. Just the idea that they don't stop the clock and blow the whistle every other minute for some stupid foul attracts me more than money-hungry lockout thugs. It happen to be quite cold in the stadium so I went into their sports shop to buy a nice fleeced hat that happen to have a black and white comb like a rooster. It was a Collingwood Magpies hat who are ranked #1 but also happened to be the #1 hated team.

I found this hateful ranking out when I was relieving myself at a urinal when the man next to me turned and said, "You look like a f**king chicken." I'm pretty sure he was talking about my hat (hat literally meaning hat in this sense). I then grin, shook a couple times, and hurried out of the restroom. Luckily, the Magpies won even though my support for their team just happened to be because their fleece hat covered my ears.

Overall, such a great city and suggest for anyone to check out a footie game along with walking along the river area in South Bank. We'll be headed to Lorne and Brisbane in the next couple days so I'll be sure to follow-up then.

Cheers.

Wyatt

Perth, Australia

An almost 6 hour flight later, we arrived at Perth. Most people don't realize that Australia is similar in width as the United States so traveling from Sydney to Perth is much like traveling from New York to Los Angeles. And even more similar, Perth is considered to be the more chill surfer city--much like LA.

Perth definitely had a much more laid back mentality which is nice in a social sense but sometimes frustrating when conducting business. We attended a private school event in Perth named Hale School which has a better campus than most colleges. Our company sponsored an event where about 15 other schools attended to see our software in action with Toshiba tablets. Let me tell you, I feel that if I let any of my sons go to a public school then I'm failing them as a father. The private education that those Australian boys were getting is absolutely astounding. They study everything from carpentry where they design and showcase tables; to taking a month course where they live outdoors in a sandy peninsula up north that the school owns. On this outdoor adventure, they utilize pioneering, forestry, and fishing--all in real life situations. I'd say that's a little bit better than taking junior high algebra, eh?

I'm still undecided if having an all boys school is more beneficial than co-ed. Obviously there's a few less distractions but I'm pretty sure if I attended an all boys private school growing up, I'd be even more awkward around girls than I am now.

As I already mentioned, the entire country is ridiculously expensive--regardless of what city you are in. That being said, you don't have to tip! You know how amazing it is to sign a receipt after a $50 meal and have no obligation or expectation to tip? The locals say waiters make at least minimum wage which is around $15/hr, so I don't feel bad.

Besides freaking out occasionally since they drive on the left side of the road--everything is going great so far. I'll update our Australian Football League (AFL) game that we went to in Melbourne soon.


Cheers.

Wyatt

Sydney, Australia

Another continent marked off the list! Although, I did have a pretty bumpy 14hr ride from LAX to Sydney. Delta always has a good movie selection so I was entertained the whole flight considering I only slept a few hours. I don't really understand why a certain female individual would find it acceptable to constantly rub her arm against me while pulling up her blanket on the plane.

I can see how this could come across as being promiscuous; however, I assure you it was her just merely not comprehending the understood armrest boundary. Another somewhat controversial issue that I will discuss is how there should be an acceptable range of hip dimension of flight attendants. The flight attendants (men included!) that are more 'blessed' than others with a wider, childbearing frame should refrain from the airline serving industry. I lost count of how many people were clipped or caught in crossfire from this 'equipped' flight attendant. It's simply a hazard for her to walk to the aisles; otherwise Boeing and Airbus will have to build larger birds. **Please note I did not use the term stewardess once.

Thus far, things are incredibly expensive! $10.45 for a footlong chicken-bacon ranch Subway sandwich? Given all my expenditures are reimbursed, I still feel taken advantage of--which I'm not a fan of. I have yet to establish a typical Australian stereotype but then again I haven't left the airport. I'm sure I'll be able to make a generic, all encompassing description soon enough. More details to come once we land in Perth.

Cheers.

Wyatt