June - Visits between ADE-MEL

Rosanna

My June started out with a trip to Adelaide to visit Oliver. This was the first time I was visiting him since he moved there in May and I was eager to meet his landlady/roommate (and especially her dog) and see what he had been up to. We rented a car for the weekend so that we were able to explore more than just Adelaide. I arrived on Friday evening and after quickly meeting Oliver's landlady we headed to town to meet up with a couple that Oliver had met through our WA friends the Barrett's. We had a lovely evening with them over some dinner and drinks.

On Saturday we visited Victor Harbour and the Granite island in the hope of spotting whales (which we didn't have any luck with unfortunately). We also wanted to see the horse drawn tram that takes visitors to the island. The island was beautiful and it was a warm and sunny day so we enjoyed ourselves a lot. For lunch we drove to Port Elliot, which was a cute and sleepy surf town. On our way back we stopped at Serafino Wines and Cellar Door in McLaren Vale for a quick taste of some wines.

On our way to Victor Harbour

The horse drawn tram which takes you on the Granite island

Beautiful views on Granite island

Ollie on Granite island

Reunited and it feels good!

On Sunday we decided to do a hike up to the Mount Lofty Summit which turned out to be a bit harder than we had expected, but we survived and the the view over the city was definitely worth the hike!

Two happy hikers

Jump!

We made it!

At the Mount Lofty Summit

Returning to Melbourne wasn't actually that bad since I knew that Oliver would come to visit me in two weeks. The next weeks I spent working, working some more and again working. At work I run my first field work alone and the study was done at ACMI (Australian Centre for the of Moving Image) which is Australia's national museum of film, video games and digital culture. I took the opportunity to visit the Screen Worlds- exhibition we were surveying, which presents the history of moving image and was actually quite interesting. 

The view from our office in CBD

At ACMI Screen Worlds exhibition

Fair enough, I did also do some exploring in the city over the June weekends. There was one really warm Sunday I spent lounging on the St Kilda beach and another when Katherine and me went to see the State Library of Victoria and the Cat Café Melbourne, which is the first cat cafe in Australia. On one evening we also relaxed at the St Kilda Sea Baths, which has a public swimming pool as well as some therapeutic baths. One can also run for a dip into the sea from there! 

Sunny St Kilda beach

Luna Park in St Kilda

The reading hall in the State Library of Victoria

State Library of Victoria

Katherine playing with the cats at Cat Cafe Melbourne 

Cats and boxes go together

Sunset at St Kilda beach

Before I knew it was time for Oliver's visit.

Oliver

The first weeks in June I really didn't do much, my days revolved around work and going to the gym. Of course I spent some time with my landlady Dushe and with Rosanna when she was visiting. Otherwise it was a pretty laid back June until the third weekend, when I went to Melbourne to visit Rosanna. 

It was the Mid Summer weekend in Finland, which is always a big party weekend and traditionally consist of spending time at summer houses, going to the sauna and swimming in a lake. We knew that we weren't able to do quite the same in Melbourne but we did our best to go out as much as possible and see our friends.

The first night we spent with our roommates Katherine and Richard drinking wine and eating cheese. It was great to catch up! On Saturday we met up with my friend Arvi and his wife Mari from back home. Arvi is Melburnian and they were there to visit his family for the Finnish summer. Mari was also doing an apprenticeship for her sociology degree. We started the night out from Federation Square with some African music followed by dinner in a Japanese restaurant and beer in a couple of excellent pubs chosen by Arvi.

Wine and cheese with roommates

Federation square

Enjoying African music at Federation Square

At the pub with the lovely Browns

Melbourne is famous for its active music scene

On Sunday we visited the St Kilda Sea Baths, which was the first time for me and second time for Rosanna. After a dip in the sea we were knackered and headed for dinner in St Kilda.

The next day it was time for me to fly back to Adelaide. Luckily we had already scheduled Rosanna's next visit for mid July so I knew it wouldn't be long before we were reunited again.