So Friday was the big day! I woke up early, turned in my journal and went to The Art Vault to help hang our show. The space itself was beautiful. The floors still had their original wooden panels and they were very modern couches in the middle of the room. We organized the layout and hung all twenty pieces. The film crew got some good footage during that part and it was nice to see them again. Midday we finally got to leave and I went with the film crew back to school for some extra footage of me doing some editing and camera work. After that though it was back to the hostel to do some final packing and get back to The Art Vault!
We arrived around 6pm and the place looked even better than when I left it midday! Everyone was excited and dressed to impress. There were multiple people serving wine and refreshments. After looking at the art work for a while and mingling, our professors started with some speeches followed by the aboriginal performances. We all were called out one at a time and presented with a gift, which was a letter, a certificate and an awesome t-shirt!
This is a small group of the girls opening night:
Darren and I in front of my work:
The venue from outside:
(*sorry I couldn't post more pictures, it keeps failing!)
After a few hours there and a lot of pictures, a group of us went with the professors and educators to the pizza café. Mom and Grandma: I had the best pizza! There were whole slices of prosciutto all over my pizza; you couldn’t even see the cheese. I was in heaven and it was a good time out to celebrate.
Some people went to bed at this point but I decided to head out to a place called The Settlers with a few good friends and to meet up with a few locals. It was a really fun time but made for an early “morning” after only sleeping 45mins.
At 3am we left the hostel, 4am got on the bus, 7am switched to a train, 11:30am struggled through Melbourne on foot and trolley. Let’s just say I was pretty exhausted when I finally got to the hostel, but not too tired to go to a heated game of footie (Australian football), then to a pub for dinner and a long walk around the city at night; definitely a great way to finish off my study abroad program in the oz. Goodbyes were tough that night and the next morning but there are some people I will definitely keep in touch with!
The next morning (Sunday) I got up, packed up and waited for Tiffany to show up! Sure enough 2 minutes before 11am she came walking up to the hostel as I had arranged an 11am ride. Darren, one of our professors and now a good friend, was kind enough to come out of his way and pick us up from one hostel and take us to the next so we didn’t have to struggle across the city with all of our stuff. We got checked into our 4 share, walked into the room and saw a girl still sleeping in her bunk and I couldn’t fit my stuff into a locker so long story short, we upgraded to a private 4 share so we should have no worries. Darren then took us to the Center for Creative Photography in Melbourne. Of course I loved this place! There was a lot of work on display and it was such a nice gesture for Darren to take us there.
We parted ways from here, getting to walk a different part of the city because the CCP is north of the downtown grid. Tif and I stopped at a cute Italian restaurant for lunch and then headed back downtown on foot. I took her down to Fed Square and by the river. We did a lot of walking and now I’m sitting in my bunk winding down for another long day ahead of me tomorrow. 6:30am we’re on a plane going to Adelaide for a few days and I couldn’t be more excited! It’s just me and my best friend traveling through a new city!
I hope all is well back in the states and everyone is enjoying their summer…. Hopefully their WARM summer that is; that’s the one thing about down here, it’s so cold! But in three days I’ll be in 80 degree weather and enjoying every bit of it!
Until next time!
XOXO Kayla
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