October 7 & 8

October 7th- drive from Apollo Bay to Melbourne

I was truly blown away by how beautiful the drive was. The Great Ocean Road is definitely something I need to come back to as well, drive the other way to Adelaide though.

I watched the sunrise, sent a voice memo of me being sleepy to Mackie, and worked a bit, then headed to Melbourne. I know you guys are pronouncing it wrong when you read it... Mel Bin. I stopped in Geelong (this one too, just know it hehe) and got some good views. I was going to get some Cat Merch but remembered I don’t have room in my suitcase, so I’ll get some shipped up to me or something! Ben, you convinced me. I’m a fan now, I’ll try to keep tabs next season.

I went and explored an art gallery, a Chinese grocery store, and walked around the river, found some botanical gardens, and enjoyed the trees for quite some time before heading to dinner. I didn’t bring a book with me, so I played Duolingo chess with myself until my food came haha. I got to watch the sunset over the beautiful city and really enjoyed it. I felt quite lonely again, but I realized that my loneliness is strongest when I don’t interact with people. I do really love people and when I want to interact with them—if that makes sense.

I had an early-ish evening, spent it reading in my room. Needed a chill night before a short flight to Sydney.

• 

• 

• 

October 8- Sydney

Back in Sydney, this time I actually got to see quite a bit of it. My flight from Melbourne was actually quite nice, but I found out I had ANOTHER travel error, yes. Jess is really crushing it with dates! Moral of the story is, I need to slow down (thanks, Liz). Sarah also gets a big shout-out as she helped navigate all of that rescheduling as I got to go and enjoy my time in Sydney.

I toured the Opera House and found out the lore about how it was built. Fun fact: NO ONE died while it was being built. OSHA today is shaking in their boots that people cannot be safe on a job site and not die. The architect who came up with the original design had to leave the project halfway through the build due to some politics, and a local architect came in and completed the project. Their teamwork on it is truly incredible. When listening to some of it, I was moved, truly. The fact that the original architect never got to see his work of art completed and fully built crushed me, gutted. I have a love for architecture after learning about it from my dad. I thought about sending him pictures, but if he’s reading this, I hope it brings a smile to his face.

It is truly a magnificent building, and I couldn’t believe all the intention that went into it. Even the small intimate space that the original architect created was renovated during COVID to ensure it was made to be what its purpose was, and even had art from the architect hung up as well. Without my dad, I don’t think I would have been able to truly appreciate the work that went into the building or been as heartbroken to not be able to ever see your work come to life.

I’ve been reading a book called We Need Your Art by Amie McNee, and it’s really got me thinking about our culture and how we truly do need to be surrounded by all types of art, that art is what makes our society truly happy, and without it, we’d be miserable. Truly that is why AI is so hard for me to get behind. I use it at work to help me navigate algorithms of social media. That’s it, though; some people use it as a search engine, some people use it to do everything for them.

It’s so hard to see, so many small businesses around here use it for flyers and marketing materials. The shame I feel for them. I’d rather have their road signs here (literal yard sign with something that just says “donuts 2km”) than seeing AI slop. Even hairdressers are using it; how can I trust that you’ll cut my hair if you aren’t even using a real person’s head to show your skills?

A hill I’ll die on.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Back to the book, it has me thinking about how important culture is and the experience of us as humans with other humans. Not just for entertainment but for moving us, healing us, and bonding us.

Writing this blog has allowed me to pretend I don’t know people are reading it (if you look back, I’ve been writing for a little over a year now on this site) and writing what I truly want because it’s about ME. It’s my trip, my journey, and my blog. It’s for you all to see and hear about what I am experiencing, but I bet you didn’t think you’d be getting the insides of my brain along with cool photos.

With one full day left here, I want to leave you all with these thoughts.

What would you be without art? How would your day look without music, art on your walls, the social media that you consume, the nails you have, the dancing or singing you do when listening to music, the jewelry you wear, TV/movies/books you consume? What would you do without it? Could you live without it?

During this trip, I’ve made a point to only support local arts, most shops (other than the supermarkets) locally owned as well. The thrift stores were a bit harder, but I went to the ones that support local charity (should have made more of an effort to try to go to Keira’s mom’s place, next time!). I think that is something else I’m going to try and make more of an effort of when I get home. I do try my best to shop local, shop small, and women or queer-owned. I have to give myself some credit for that; I try to use Amazon as least as possible as I can.

I’m going to spend the next couple of months really downsizing as well, going to need to find the needs and get rid of the wants. I am very excited, honestly. The next chapter of my life is truly about to begin.