Election Day

Today is Wednesday, November 5th. I am at least 15.5 hours ahead of you, America. I will be watching, with the rest of the world, as the results come in from this historic election. (Most likely I will be in a local pub for the whole of the afternoon, drinking a pint with the bartender bribed to tune in to CNN.)

I never fully realized, until living on the other side of the world, exactly how important we are. As I've mentioned in these previous months, the people I've met here are well-versed in American politics, culture, current events, and history. I don't think it's just because I'm surrounded by educated people; the general interest of the nation is palpable. There was an excellent post that summed it up very well on Daily Kos today, which I highly recommend reading if you want to know how they feel.

Americans have influence they know not of. Sure, we say we "know", but truly you don't until you witness it firsthand. People have come up to me and asked me if I've voted. People who, with trepidation, ask me if I voted for Obama, worried that I will say no. People who tell me they wish they could vote too, and that my vote is also for them.

Our politics is no longer confined to ourselves or our shores. We have come to a time when our vote counts for more than just us, but for Aussies and Brits, Indians and Iraqis. They hope, as I do, that our country will finally be put on a new path, a better path, one that respects, aids, and collaborates with the world. One that can finally break loose of the confines of the isolated past, and move into a 21st century, global society. Our vote matters most to us alone and always will, but increasingly, and forever, it will matter to them.

Election Day, November, 1884

If I should need to name, O Western World, your powerfulest scene and
show,
'Twould not be you, Niagara--nor you, ye limitless prairies--nor
your huge rifts of canyons, Colorado,
Nor you, Yosemite--nor Yellowstone, with all its spasmic
geyser-loops ascending to the skies, appearing and disappearing,
Nor Oregon's white cones--nor Huron's belt of mighty lakes--nor
Mississippi's stream:
--This seething hemisphere's humanity, as now, I'd name--the still
small voice vibrating--America's choosing day,
(The heart of it not in the chosen--the act itself the main, the
quadriennial choosing,)
The stretch of North and South arous'd--sea-board and inland--
Texas to Maine--the Prairie States--Vermont, Virginia, California,
The final ballot-shower from East to West--the paradox and conflict,
The countless snow-flakes falling--(a swordless conflict,
Yet more than all Rome's wars of old, or modern Napoleon's:) the
peaceful choice of all,
Or good or ill humanity--welcoming the darker odds, the dross:
--Foams and ferments the wine? it serves to purify--while the heart
pants, life glows:
These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships,
Swell'd Washington's, Jefferson's, Lincoln's sails.

- Walt Whitman

You are more powerful than you realize. Do it for yourself, do it for you family, do it for your country, and do it for the world. VOTE.

The Great Ocean Road: Day One

Continuing from Melbourne...

Tuesday dawned overcast and cold. And by dawned, I truly mean that I arose at sunrise. For the next three days I would be travelling back to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road, a stretch of coastline that is famed for its beauty, and we started early. Because it is incredibly popular, many tour groups routinely take this route back and forth from Melbourne to Adelaide, and I joined one run by Groovy Grape. It turned out to be a great decision, because the size of the group was smaller than other tours, and the people I went with were amazing. Everyone was young and international: I met people from Holland, England, Belgium, South Africa, Germany, Austria, and Quebec (she was adamant about that point). My friend and I were actually the only Americans. I hadn’t realized how much I’d been missing the camaraderie of people in their early-to-mid 20s until I was surrounded by them again; Adelaide as I’ve known it really lacks the 20-something crowd.

As we left Melbourne I knew the weather would not be on our side; it started to rain before we even got very far. We stopped at a small diner for some breakfast and continued driving until we hit Bell’s Beach.

Bell’s Beach

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Bell’s Beach is internationally known as one of the best surfing spots in the world; it is home to the Rip Curl Pro Surf and Music Festival, the longest running surfing competition in the world. One glance and you can see why; the waves seem perfect for surfing, and this is coming from a person who has never surfed.

We continued driving, and the ocean front that opened before us was beautiful. We arrived at the entrance of the Great Ocean road by mid-morning. The road was built in memory of the “Diggers”, or Australian servicemen, who died during World War I. The construction of the road, starting in 1919 and lasting until 1932, also provided much-needed work to those returning from the war. The road also opened the coast to the rest of Australia. Previously, travel between the coastal towns of Victoria was incredibly difficult, relying mostly on water commerce and travel. The road made these towns accessible to the outside world.

Sign

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

We made a short stop at a nature preserve, where we saw koalas hanging out in the eucalyptus trees and colorful and very gregarious birds.

Can you find the koala?

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Koala

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Birds

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

After eating lunch in the town of Lorne, we drove into the rainforest of Otway National Park. It’s surprising to find a rainforest in this part of the country; I’d expected them to be confined to the more tropical northern and eastern coasts. We took a short hike through a bit of the place, and I learned that this temperate rainforest is home to the Australian mountain ash, a species of tree that grows to a massive size, and some of the largest ferns in the world. Lovely place.

Rainforest

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Driving again down the coast, we made our way to the first of the coastal rock formations we would visit on the trip: The Loch Ard Gorge. The gorge itself was not incredibly impressive, though interesting. However, the story of its naming made the visit worthwhile. I won’t relate it here, but for those who are interested...

Loch Ard Gorge

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

At that point, the clouds that had been threatening us intermittently all day finally released, and we got soaked. Rather than going to our next destination, the Twelve Apostles, and freeze while we waited for sunset, we decided instead to stop and unload our things in Port Campbell, our accommodation for the evening. After doing so, we hauled ourselves back into the bus to watch the sun set on the Twelve Apostles, the world famous limestone rock formations on the coast.
It was bitterly windy and cold, and the group of us huddled together for warmth and a respite from the biting wind. Because of the heavy cloud cover, the Apostles didn’t get a chance to “do their thing”; the rocks change color during sunrise and sunset, and it is supposed to be stunning. Despite this, they were still very impressive.

Twelve Apostles

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

We returned to our accommodation, a small house very near the water, and ate dinner around the fire we had built. The evening was spent in good conversation with my new friends, followed by a warm and comfortable bed; the next day we’d be getting up early to go back to the Twelve Apostles.

Sunset

From Melbourne & the Great Ocean Road

Best Picture Ever

What does this picture show? It is not just that, if trends don't markedly change in the next 48 hours, Obama will be winning the Presidency by a huge margin (touch wood), nor the more novel fact that Virginia is going blue...

It is the fact that Arizona is leaning Republican. McCain's home state isn't even a strong bastion for the candidate. Two more days...