So after just shy of 24 hours in the air, I touched down in Melborne International Airport, NSW, Australia. It looked like any other airport: labyrinth, smelling of industrial lubricants and disinfectants, and full of stressed-out foreigners. My first impression was that it was less organized by far than a US airport; the queue for customs sprawled all throughout baggage claim with little rhyme or reason, and I spent a few panicked minutes trying to find my way to the back of the line. At this point I was profoundly alone; since my seat for the 15-hour flight was in the last row of the aircraft, I was one of the last to get off and so lost track of the other Arcadia kids. So, it was a tremendous relief to meet Sadie, a third-year Bio major at Bucknell, also going to UQ. I thought I was the only Bucknell student there, and was starting to suspect I was the only UQ student too. 

Two hours later saw me through customs and into a giant mob of college kids, shepherded by Maz and the other Arcadia staff.

From there, we crammed our checked luggage into a van and our carry-ons into a bus and drove south to St. Kilda, a beachside town populated largely by rich folk. Along the way I saw some comforting sights: yellow triangular traffic signs and people texting by the side of the road.

It was different enough, though, in its own right. Evidently, engine output is measured in wattage, which is handy for me as dealing with horsepower in any flavor of calculation is a damned nightmare.

St. Kilda was probably a pretty common touristy area, because a deck of cards cost me $8 and they sold penis-shaped ice cream cones.
You’d think someone would have caught that before they started selling it. I understand the idea, but really.

They also have some really, really weird shops. This one sells confectionaries and legal advice.

This is really unfortunate.

A small group of kids and I ate at a Portugese restaurant called Nando’s, which I thought was local but later learned that it’s a pretty sizable chain. It’s a step above fast food, but not that high of a step. Consider Jack in the Box, maybe.

Later, we strolled to the beach, and encountered this thing for the first time:

This thing is like a mullet on wheels: business in the back and party in the front. I remain perplexed by this vehicle, despite having seen quite a few of them since that afternoon. I simply can’t wrap my head around it. Who would purchase such a Frankensteinesque mash-up of an automobile? The question haunts me to this day.

After we settled in at the hotel, we went on a hike through the bush and found a mob of kangaroo. (Video in the next post, Tumblr does not appear to take kindly to it)

yo whassup man
you wanna mess
you want some of this mate
Ill mess you up

Kangaroo are like ninjas: there are 20 of them in this picture.
Here is some graffiti of a kangaroo

Later on that night, we went down to the beach and saw the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in the history of ever. (Another video in the next post).

Suck it, Freas Hall.

This is Maz, by the way. She’s great.

I forget who these kids are.

Awesome.

So, day one, I saw kangaroo and the sunset, I ate an ice cream cock and met some cool tolerable people, and I finally got to sleep after about 36 hours. Good day.