Blogs from Hawthorn, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

Last weekend our plans to head down to Philip Island to ee the penguins fell through so we took the train the Royal Melbourne zoo instead! We weren’t sure if we really wanted to go because caged animals isn’t really our thing but we heard that a lot of the animals were rescued. It turned out to be a lovely day- the weather was glorious and I got to see koalas, kangaroos and a platypus! The bush area of the zoo is open plan so you can walk right up to the animals if they come near the path. I stroked a friendly roo, who was surprisingly soft and smooth! When the zoo shut we were going to head back home but someone mentioned that we could see the small penguins at St Kilda beach, which ... read more

So the weather has been a bit unpredictable hee (as is typical of Melbourne!) mostly sunny with a few days of cloud and even a bit of rain! (Apparently there was even hailstone on Christmas day!) My lovely friend Sal was in Melbourne so I met up with her at St Kilda (the less posh backpacker area) and we went to the beach, shopped and ate! It was really nice to have some quality girly time after living with boys for the last few weeks! I have to say the shopping is pretty poor here and quite expensive- as most things here are. I miss cheap shops like Primark and George!!! Matthew and I had some time off so we decided to do a bit of walkin around the city from St Kilda up to Port ... read more

Hellooooo everyone! Long time no.. blog. Anyway, I thought I'd start this bad boy up again, considering I am once again traveling.. sort of. I'm actually really just living... in a different country. However, this country is surprisingly similar to the States, so don't expect any teeth to get knocked out while trying to ford a mighty river or any life altering revelations at the peak of a Laotian mountain. My highlights thus far have been fairly mundane to the average human being. To me, however, these highlights have been AWESOME! Outstanding moments include: purchasing, moving, and constructing a bed; getting my first casual employment placement; finding a house, moving into said house (see aforementioned construction of bed), and loving my housemates; and meeting lots of fun new people. While these things may seem boring to ... read more

I've written something just for you guys, because I really appreciate your time listening to me rant about careers, and, hopefully, supporting my new sport blog. I enjoyed writing it, and I want to write more travel/observational/fun stuff, so your ideas, requests and suggestions would be much appreciated. Before we start though, and I know, I'm so predictable, but please have a look at this week's two entries: www.sportisglobal.blogspot.com Thank you! Now you may proceed, to FIVE things about Australia - I think you'll find that's more than enough: Driving We drive on the left here, so it's basically the same and nice and easy to adjust, right? Right? Wrong! Where to start with life on the road in Melbourne? The famous trams, of course! No, I didn't know Melbourne was famous for trams either. They ... read more

Hi All, Dad is just helping me setup my travel blog. We are off in a week. Max... read more