The cinematic theme continues: we caught the showing of Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones, did some shopping, and then met up with a friend for dinner.
Some small notes for today:
- Dropped the car off for service. Still don't know whether I want to buy a fridge. This also means buying a second battery for the car. I'm really intrigued by it, and it'd be a handy luxury to have...
- On the way back from dropping the car off, walked through the fantastic Roma Street Parkland, a park that opened in late 2001 that's just wonderful. So much better than Birrung Marr [todo] in Melbourne as a 'multi-event venue'. Birrung Marr is sparse--a somewhat interesting bridge that doesn't lead anywhere much, some lumped dirt with grass in a vague amphitheater shape and a tree or two here and there. Very uninspired for the A$16 million they spent on it. Roma Street Parkland has the amphitheater... but lots of interesting hard surfaces in that stained concrete-steel-glass look, an exciting cable-stayed suspension bridge that's hung sideways, and many small display gardens covering fun things like a maze and a ridge of bottle trees. And Roma Street Parkland at least has toilets, so you don't have to pee behind the stairs like I had to do at Birrung Marr. I took lots of pictures.
- We transferred more money into our Australian bank account. The Aussie dollar at 55 US cents is getting a bit high, and seems like it'll get higher as the interest rates are raised here in Australia and the US sputters. When we arrived, the rate we got for buying the truck was 51.20 cents... while it's nice that it's rising so we'll get some of the money back when the truck's sold next year, the higher rates means that accommodation and other day-to-day purchases are now getting to be 10% dearer. We got an even 56 cents on our exchange rate.
- Met a Brisbear, Andrew, for dinner. Quite a pleasant guy!