Ian's Back, Ian's Back!!

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My arrival back in Melbourne was no where near as depressing as last time. It was, however, five in the morning so the hostel was closed, but they still used the same door code sequence and I was able to get in and watch music videos on Channel 10 until the reception opened.

Unlike England, office buildings in Australia have no security. I suppose they don't have to worry about some idiot leaving bombs lying around. At lunchtime I went to the staff canteen in the State Bank Centre for a nice subsidised meal and met a couple of the people I used to work with. They obviously told the boss that I was back in town as next thing I knew, I got a call from the temping agency telling me that I was starting work the following day. I certainly fell on my feet with that job!

Whilst in Melbourne, it was surprising how many people from my travels turned up, which was handy given the mass exodus to Sydney. This included the three Germans I'd met at Airlie Beach and the three English girls I'd met at Coober Pedy, who also stayed to work. Everyone seems to follow more-or-less the same route.

The weather gradually started to pick up as summer came rolling in and some days the temperature hit 40ºC. We start to suffer back in Britain when the temperature is way below that! We're not used to it of course (I took great pleasure in hearing about the weather back home) but also our attempts at air-conditioning are laughable compared to the Australians. Walking into an office or shop was like walking into a fridge.

The ever-militant bus and tram drivers were on strike more often than they were working again, but they were well justified and the whole city was behind them. A new scratch card ticket was being introduced which meant that there would be no conductors and you would have to buy books of tickets in advance from shops. Things were getting very heavy with, for example, break-ins at the tram depots with trams abandoned in the city centre, bringing everything to a standstill. Drivers were also refusing to check scratch cards and, of course, no one was scratching them so the cards could be reused.

I had exhausted most of what there was to see in Melbourne the last time I was there. The main tourist trap remaining was the Penguin Parade and I also found time to visit the Stock Exchange - again, something I would be unlikley to ever visit in London.

I stayed in Melbourne until January, which meant that I would be there for Christmas and the New Year. Work came to an end on 22 December when there was a huge great party in our office. Everyone took in some food and drink and the resultant spread was huge. We pigged out, but stood no chance of getting through it all, so us poor skinny backpackers got to take some of the remains home.

I met the three English girls on the 23 and we took my share of the leftover booze down to Brighton beach (sounds familiar) and spent a good chunk of the night drinking. Sitting on Brighton beach at two in the morning drinking - do you ever get feelings of dèja-vu given that that was quite a frequent activity during life at Brighton Poly.

The main event on Christmas Eve was the Carols by Candle-light concert. Only a relatively small number of people could see the concert but there were over 200,000 of us in the park listening. We all took some beer and some candles and sat out in the open air singing along to the carols. Now, there is no way in hell that you would want to do that back in England.

We did get to see some of the concert however as some very resourceful Australians had taken a TV with them (and two sofas) which they had plugged into the overhead lights. The police didn't give a damm. Afterwards we went to midnight mass and then we all sat outside the hostel drinking and talking until four in the morning.

Christmas is a family time, but as the hostel was full of English people who were 12,000 miles away from their families, we had a big party with a buffet and more beer. Afterwards, an Australian girl from the State Bank had kindly invited me to her family's Christmas gathering so I went along there for a barbie (am I sounding like an Australian now or what?) and more beer.

Boxing Day was a right-off for just about everyone in the hostel and we stayed in bed feeling sorry for ourselves.

One thing that amazed me about Christmas in Australia were all the cards with snow, snowmen and Santa in a thick red coat. Not exactly appropriate here. There were some of Santa in surfing shorts and, of course, I sent these to everyone back in England.

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Photos

Chistmas Lights
Collins St at night just before Christmas

Carols by Candlelight
Enjoying the Carols by Candlelight concert

Hard at Work
Working at the State Bank Victoria

YHA Hostel
The Melbourne YHA hostel on Lonsdale Street