Good Day Mate!!

This week I arrived in Melbourne for a 2.5 week long work trip. I'm surprised at how easy it was to adjust to the new sleep schedule given that my day is night time in the US! But I'm definitely frustrated that it makes it impossible to call home at a reasonable hour! So far the work here isn't as interesting as I hoped it would be, but people seem to be excited about me being able to help out. I'm finding that the Australian work ethic is much different and laid back than the US!!

Wednesday I drove up to a small town 2 hrs north of Melbourne out in the country - Bendigo. There's a small hospital in Bendigo where we are starting a new clinical trial, and I went to do some training. The highlight of the trip was seeing some wild kangaroos out in the distance. Sadly, I had no camera on me to capture the moment!

Thursday I was starting to feel a bit bored and cooped up, so I took the tram down to the Central Business District in downtown Melbourne. I wasn't really sure what to do there, so I mostly walked around and enjoyed the people watching. It was the season "Footy" opener - a bizarre combination of Soccer, Football, and Rugby played on a Cricket field. I learned it was also the beginning of festivities for the weekend's Australian Grand Prix so the streets were packed!

Here's the main train station downtown, a famous landmark: Flinders Street Station


Across the street from the train station:


The Yarra River cuts through the downtown and there's a great walkway filled with outdoor cafe's and bars.


My view from an outdoor food court dining spot:


All in all, a nice night out in Melbourne. I'm hoping to have a weekend day with good weather to explore a bit more before I leave!!