Up Over Down Under Read Online Free Page A

with Frank calling out the sights.
    â€œThere’s the Bourke Street Mall.”
    â€œThat there’s Flinders Station.”
    â€œThose trees over there are the Royal Botanic Gardens.”
    Much of the city felt far quainter than D.C. She once read that the people who designed the city of Washington had tried to copy the great old cities of Europe. They created the mall after looking at Versailles in Paris and the monuments of Rome. The goal was to build a city that impressed the visitor with its power and grandeur, but the consequence of that plan was a city that didn’t function very well. Traffic was confusing, and the government buildings seemed to get in the way more than anything. Melbourne was nothing like that.
    The abundance of trees and small houses made everything feel very welcoming and manageable. Even the State of Victoria Parliament across from the Bourke Street Mall seemed approachable, with people sitting on the steps reading their papers and eating lunch. There was a charm that suggested that this was a city not meant to be visited but, rather, to be lived in.
    After they passed the Botanic Gardens, the shops facing outward became much fancier. There were upscale clothing stores and fancy-looking restaurants.
    I’ll definitely have to come back and spend some time here, Eliza thought as she eyed the designer dresses in some of the windows.
    â€œNearly there now,” said Estelle from the front seat. “This is Toorak Road, and we’re in South Yarra, which is where our home is.”
    A short distance farther and Frank turned and pulled into the driveway of a low, ranch-style house.
    â€œWelcome home!” Frank beamed, “This is our humble abode. We hope you’ll make yourself right at home.”
    â€œIt’s very nice.”
    It wasn’t as big as her parents’ house, but it was, as she’d said, very nice. By now the lack of sleep on the plane had caught up with her and she was feeling a little groggy and overwhelmed by everything.
    They pulled up the driveway alongside the house and parked the car in front of a small garage. Frank took her bags out of the trunk, and they passed through a little gate at the rear of the house that opened onto a back patio and pool area surrounded by an ivy-covered wall with large trees hanging over it.
    A door off the patio opened into a kitchen with a big table for eating and older wooden cabinets at the far end over the cooking area. Nick and Sam raced past Eliza and down the hall.
    â€œThey’re trying to be helpful. Your room’s right here,” Estelle explained, leading the way into a room off the side of the kitchen. “It’s a bit private from the rest of the house—it even has its own little entrance off of the patio. It’s Billie’s room, and I made sure she cleaned it up for you.”
    â€œI’m sure it’ll be lovely.” Eliza stepped into the room. She scanned the walls, which were covered with posters of surfers and nearly every environmental group under the sun. At one end of the room was a desk with a corkboard over it, and at the other was a twin bed with a big comforter and some fluffy pillows. There was nothing “girlie” about the room at all. In fact, if she didn’t know better, the room could just as well have belonged to a high school guy as to a girl. The decorations were all about surfing and saving the trees, and the sheets and covers were all in earth tones.
    Billie is in for such a surprise when she gets to my room, Eliza thought with a smile.
    â€œMake yourself right at home,” Estelle said as she patted a pile of presumably fresh towels that were stacked atop the bed. “There’s space in the closet, and the top three drawers in the bureau are empty. Why don’t you freshen up and come on out back, and we’ll have a bite of supper in about half an hour or so?”
    â€œI really should give my parents a call and let