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| outside melbourne library |
NZ today , a national news channel was wrapping up the international news for the whole day and it primarily constituted of news reports from various parts of the southern island and people were expressing the fear of the aftershocks that might come and clips of destruction it had caused. we had finished our packing as we had to leave early in the morning at 4 am as we had a flight at 7 am. vathika was asleep in no time and i was immersed in the news. KFC big bash australian domestic t20 was going on and Chris gayle was in full swing as he smashed the bowlers to all parts of the ground. match was as electric as it could get and that meant my sleep getting delayed lil more. at 2318 hrs, i had an experience of my lifetime.. the tv went off , we were getting dragged to the edge of the bed, almost fell of it, the tremor was strong enough to take the living daylights off me!! all this happened in less than 5 seconds. but it felt like a hour and the stress beyond measure.. it took an hour more for me to fall asleep..waiting all the time with eyes wide open and ears very alert to sense even the slightest of quake..it was 330 am when vathika got up and felt me pushing her and she to her horror found out it infact was another tremor. we got up soon , freshened up and were at the foyer of the hotel by 355 am. we collected our breakfast packet which was waiting at the reception counter. our only prayer/wish/hope was to get to the airport as soon as possible and fly out .. the pick up vehicle came at sharp 4 am and was a young lady at the wheel. she collected the voucher, put our luggage in the drag cart and we hopped into the car. she was pretty fast as we reached the airport in 15 minutes which to us was told as a 30 minute drive. we finished our check in formalities and after some duty free shopping we waited for our turn to board the flight and soon enough the announcement said AIR NEW ZEALAND christchurch melbourne open for boarding... this flight was by far the best flight in this trip and was a mile ahead of rest of them in every department.. from the cabin crew to the seats to the on board entertainment, on board cuisine.. a flight to remember.it was a 4 hr flight and time passed real soon as i had an aussie sitting next to me. we discussed a lot of things from india to australia to cricket to the air hostess !!! he was a thorough gentlemen and at the end of it he turned out to be the australian cricketer Peter Siddle s uncle.
Melbourne ... looked like any other major indian city from 15000 ft in the sky and it felt great as our flight made its landing .. we were on aussie soil... oz oz oz hoi hoi hoi...we got our luggage and had our breakfast at the mcdonalds outlet in the airport lounge. we were to be joined by my brother vishal shenoy who was flying from hobart . his flight was delayed by 2 hours and instead of him reaching first to welcome us, we were waiting in the airport. the airport was brimming with people from all ethnic backgrounds and looked l,ike a melting pot of different cultures. it was christmas eve and the world comes to australia to celebrate it here. the hobart flight finally arrived and we met bro . sunil kamath and supriya kamath were at the airport to pick us up. 30 minutes drive and we reached manmiths house. we had a wonderful lunch there with dalitove, potato upkari and piyava odi, typical konkani food thanks to manmiths mom. its a real great feeling to eat homely typical simple food after 10 days of burgers and pizzas and kebabs and spicy oily food. we spent some time there and then went to sunilannas house where we were supposed to stay for next 3 nights. we met dhiren shenoy and his family there. after a quick shower , we took the metro to the city as we planned to explore the CBD or central business district of melbourne. we went to Royal melbourne university campus where my bro had done his masters, the place where ned kelly was hanged till death, the melbourne state public library- which was like a palace, built and maintained like one, it had 50 odd pcs with internet for free usage. a repertoire of books in all fields for reference and reading, a activity center where playstation, xbox etc were all free to use again. wish such wonderful libraries would be a reality in india too sometime!!
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| caricature artist at his best |
we then clicked some photos at the melbourne exhibition centre and then walked down the road across the bridge over the yarra river from where we could see the MCG. we then crossed the street and walking towards the eureka skydeck88.
Skydeck 88 is the only observation deck in the world that can thrill you with 'The Edge' - a glass cube which projects 3 metres out from the building - with you in it - suspended almost 300 metres above the ground!Eureka is perfectly positioned for 360 degree, floor-to-ceiling views encompassing Melbourne's CBD, sports precinct, Port Phillip Bay, Docklands and everything in between. Come by day for brilliant views extending to the Dandenong ranges, and by night to see the spectacular Melbourne skyline nightscape. we were told that indian cricket team was put up in some hotel nearby. india was touring australia and dec 26 the famous boxing day test at melbourne was to be played. i was walking with my eyes wide open to catch glimpse of any cricketer but none to find. as we were passing through a small time bar , i told my bro hey thats ricky there... he asked who ricky? .. i said ponting!!! ponting was all over the news in australia and many wanted him out of the team and the sword was hanging over his head. they could not believe that it indeed was ricky ponting!! we started peeping .. he was sitting there withn a beer in his hand and a old couple with him. he got conscious and asked us what we wanted and we very sheepishly said ... sir one photo.. he obliged and we clicked.. we were numb!!! he told us that couple were his parents and they were celebrating christmas. we were on cloud nine!! and soon enough we were 88 floors up in the sky and definitely felt on the cloud. eureka 88 was a great experience and to see 360 degree view of the city .. excellent.. we then were going towards CROWN casino when we met Chang , the famous caricature artist who instantly captured in his net of words .. we were getting ourselves drawn.. mohinder amarnath and his wife passed by and complemented him and us too!!! he did a good job. \
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| atop eureka skydeck 88 |
we then went into crown casino , which was as grand as it can get. the rich and the famous were all thewre and winnong a lot of bucks and some losing a fortune as well. we tried our hands and burnt our fingers. 5 $ went down the drain in no time !! we decided to get out and waited for the fire show outside crown and it indeed is a must see.. beautiful to say the least , magnanimous to mean it.. truly breath taking. it was already past 10. we still had some way to get to flinders station to get our train to where we were staying. one hour later we reached home, had some wonderful pulao and hit the bed .... tired to the brim....
NZ today , a national news channel was wrapping up the international news for the whole day and it primarily constituted of news reports from various parts of the southern island and people were expressing the fear of the aftershocks that might come and clips of destruction it had caused. we had finished our packing as we had to leave early in the morning at 4 am as we had a flight at 7 am. vathika was asleep in no time and i was immersed in the news. KFC big bash australian domestic t20 was going on and Chris gayle was in full swing as he smashed the bowlers to all parts of the ground. match was as electric as it could get and that meant my sleep getting delayed lil more. at 2318 hrs, i had an experience of my lifetime.. the tv went off , we were getting dragged to the edge of the bed, almost fell of it, the tremor was strong enough to take the living daylights off me!! all this happened in less than 5 seconds. but it felt like a hour and the stress beyond measure.. it took an hour more for me to fall asleep..waiting all the time with eyes wide open and ears very alert to sense even the slightest of quake..it was 330 am when vathika got up and felt me pushing her and she to her horror found out it infact was another tremor. we got up soon , freshened up and were at the foyer of the hotel by 355 am. we collected our breakfast packet which was waiting at the reception counter. our only prayer/wish/hope was to get to the airport as soon as possible and fly out .. the pick up vehicle came at sharp 4 am and was a young lady at the wheel. she collected the voucher, put our luggage in the drag cart and we hopped into the car. she was pretty fast as we reached the airport in 15 minutes which to us was told as a 30 minute drive. we finished our check in formalities and after some duty free shopping we waited for our turn to board the flight and soon enough the announcement said AIR NEW ZEALAND christchurch melbourne open for boarding... this flight was by far the best flight in this trip and was a mile ahead of rest of them in every department.. from the cabin crew to the seats to the on board entertainment, on board cuisine.. a flight to remember.it was a 4 hr flight and time passed real soon as i had an aussie sitting next to me. we discussed a lot of things from india to australia to cricket to the air hostess !!! he was a thorough gentlemen and at the end of it he turned out to be the australian cricketer Peter Siddle s uncle.
Melbourne ... looked like any other major indian city from 15000 ft in the sky and it felt great as our flight made its landing .. we were on aussie soil... oz oz oz hoi hoi hoi...we got our luggage and had our breakfast at the mcdonalds outlet in the airport lounge. we were to be joined by my brother vishal shenoy who was flying from hobart . his flight was delayed by 2 hours and instead of him reaching first to welcome us, we were waiting in the airport. the airport was brimming with people from all ethnic backgrounds and looked l,ike a melting pot of different cultures. it was christmas eve and the world comes to australia to celebrate it here. the hobart flight finally arrived and we met bro . sunil kamath and supriya kamath were at the airport to pick us up. 30 minutes drive and we reached manmiths house. we had a wonderful lunch there with dalitove, potato upkari and piyava odi, typical konkani food thanks to manmiths mom. its a real great feeling to eat homely typical simple food after 10 days of burgers and pizzas and kebabs and spicy oily food. we spent some time there and then went to sunilannas house where we were supposed to stay for next 3 nights. we met dhiren shenoy and his family there. after a quick shower , we took the metro to the city as we planned to explore the CBD or central business district of melbourne. we went to Royal melbourne university campus where my bro had done his masters, the place where ned kelly was hanged till death, the melbourne state public library- which was like a palace, built and maintained like one, it had 50 odd pcs with internet for free usage. a repertoire of books in all fields for reference and reading, a activity center where playstation, xbox etc were all free to use again. wish such wonderful libraries would be a reality in india too sometime!!
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