Four Seasons in One Day
Apparently it's not unusual for Melbourne to experience "four seasons in one day," as a few local Melbournites pointed out to us. But the weather they'd experienced in the last 72 hours we were there was a bit unprecedented. On Saturday we had rain, gale-force winds, and hail, plus a bit of sunshine every 30-45 minutes or so. Just last week, they tell us, the weather was terrific, sun was shining, and it was a marvelous 25-30 degrees (Celsius that is). But all that changed by the time we got here. As you’ve probably gotten by now from previous posts, the theme of our trip to Melbourne has been the weather (and more cows!).
We arrived in St. Kilda at our Shabbat hosts with plenty of time to spare. While the sun doesn’t set until at least 7:45pm, the Jewish community likes to bring in Shabbat early, so we made sure to arrive with enough time to relax and shower before ushering in the Holy Sabbath.
Our hosts were spectacular. My sister-in-law spent a semester in Melbourne in 2002 and was “adapted” by this family during her stay. So when she told them we were coming to Australia on our honeymoon, they graciously opened the doors to their home for us. As soon as we were greeted at the door, there was instant chemistry—no awkward hellos, just a pleasant feeling of being “at home” with people you don’t really know, in a home that isn’t yours, and a city that is thousands of miles away from familiarity and comfort. After a busy week of endless hours on planes, in a car, and very little resting time in one place at once, it was comforting to know that Shabbat was almost here and the only responsibility we had was to shower and get dressed.
Shabbat itself was great: we had dinner Friday night with our host family and a family friend. Conversation was good and flowing and we learned a lot about the Jewish community in Melbourne. Turns out that after Israel, Australia had the highest rate of Holocaust survivor immigration after World War II. On the flip side, Melbourne boasts the highest rate of aliyah to Israel than any other city in the world.
Following with the theme of the week, it poured on Friday night. The men returned home from synagogue soaked pretty well, and it was only a 5 minute walk. The next morning was no different: as mentioned earlier, gale-force winds, rain, some hail, and pockets of sunshine. It was incredible! Our hosts informed us that Melbourne was in the middle of experiencing a bad drought and strict water restrictions were in force. But oddly enough, this rain didn’t really do much besides for water the grass, probably because it wasn’t a constant downpour. Regardless though, the talk of the town was the odd weather pattern Melbourne was in the midst of experiencing.
On Shabbat, we spent part of the day with other people in the community and we also got a nice 3.5 hour nap in. Apparently we were both quite tired. Between havdalah at 9:01pm and the time we turned in (after 1am), we learned all about rugby, watching New Zealand pull off one of the greatest upsets of all time beating Australia in the World Cup, and had a terrific supper with other members of the community, as our hosts hosted what turned out to be a small dinner party. Despite the obvious age difference between us, our host’s daughter, and everyone else in the room, we had a fun time, talking politics and learning more about Melbourne.
On Sunday morning our hosts were gracious enough to take us shopping to help us prepare for our upcoming trip to Cairns. Since there is no Jewish community up north, we needed to take food with us for lunch and dinner for three days. So we bought packaged cheese, a loaf of bread, some deli meat, and snacks, figuring we can buy fruits and vegetables once we get to our hotel in Port Douglas. As we packed our bags and prepared to leave, we thanked our hosts for a lovely weekend, for taking us in, and taking such good care of us. Anyone planning a trip to Melbourne and needs a place to stay for Shabbat would be lucky to have them as their hosts.
We arrived in St. Kilda at our Shabbat hosts with plenty of time to spare. While the sun doesn’t set until at least 7:45pm, the Jewish community likes to bring in Shabbat early, so we made sure to arrive with enough time to relax and shower before ushering in the Holy Sabbath.
Our hosts were spectacular. My sister-in-law spent a semester in Melbourne in 2002 and was “adapted” by this family during her stay. So when she told them we were coming to Australia on our honeymoon, they graciously opened the doors to their home for us. As soon as we were greeted at the door, there was instant chemistry—no awkward hellos, just a pleasant feeling of being “at home” with people you don’t really know, in a home that isn’t yours, and a city that is thousands of miles away from familiarity and comfort. After a busy week of endless hours on planes, in a car, and very little resting time in one place at once, it was comforting to know that Shabbat was almost here and the only responsibility we had was to shower and get dressed.
Shabbat itself was great: we had dinner Friday night with our host family and a family friend. Conversation was good and flowing and we learned a lot about the Jewish community in Melbourne. Turns out that after Israel, Australia had the highest rate of Holocaust survivor immigration after World War II. On the flip side, Melbourne boasts the highest rate of aliyah to Israel than any other city in the world.
Following with the theme of the week, it poured on Friday night. The men returned home from synagogue soaked pretty well, and it was only a 5 minute walk. The next morning was no different: as mentioned earlier, gale-force winds, rain, some hail, and pockets of sunshine. It was incredible! Our hosts informed us that Melbourne was in the middle of experiencing a bad drought and strict water restrictions were in force. But oddly enough, this rain didn’t really do much besides for water the grass, probably because it wasn’t a constant downpour. Regardless though, the talk of the town was the odd weather pattern Melbourne was in the midst of experiencing.
On Shabbat, we spent part of the day with other people in the community and we also got a nice 3.5 hour nap in. Apparently we were both quite tired. Between havdalah at 9:01pm and the time we turned in (after 1am), we learned all about rugby, watching New Zealand pull off one of the greatest upsets of all time beating Australia in the World Cup, and had a terrific supper with other members of the community, as our hosts hosted what turned out to be a small dinner party. Despite the obvious age difference between us, our host’s daughter, and everyone else in the room, we had a fun time, talking politics and learning more about Melbourne.
On Sunday morning our hosts were gracious enough to take us shopping to help us prepare for our upcoming trip to Cairns. Since there is no Jewish community up north, we needed to take food with us for lunch and dinner for three days. So we bought packaged cheese, a loaf of bread, some deli meat, and snacks, figuring we can buy fruits and vegetables once we get to our hotel in Port Douglas. As we packed our bags and prepared to leave, we thanked our hosts for a lovely weekend, for taking us in, and taking such good care of us. Anyone planning a trip to Melbourne and needs a place to stay for Shabbat would be lucky to have them as their hosts.
posted by elanit | 6:21 PM
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