We love Melbourne!

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Melbourne, well what can I say...it’s a great place!

We were so looking forward to meeting up with our friends Becky and Dan, who we met in Thailand. They were living in Northcote (Suburb outside of Melbourne central) they rented a big house, with a swimming pool and with some great people. Here we met Lo and Danielle-Canadian's, Eric-Swedish, Laura-Scottish, an Asian couple and a few young Asian's in the outhouse (totally illegal, as was a number of things in the house...the landlord Brendon, who I called Neville, was totally dodge!) Anyways, we stayed with Becky and Dan for a few weeks, rented the tiniest box room 😊 but it was nice to be able to use the toilet and shower whenever we wanted! We also met some of Becky and Dan's friends, who they knew from home...it was nice to feel a part of some where again!

So the Job hunt started, Geoff has been working so so hard as a labourer-you actually earn more here labouring than you do at home as a qualified electrician-ahhh! He works every hour he can get...I'm so proud of him! The agency sent him to a site before Christmas, and after Christmas the company employed Geoff full time, up until we leave!
I have been doing bits and pieces, working for a hospitality agency, which is fine, except I am NOT a natural at serving at 5*. It was fun before Christmas, as I got to work at the U2 and Jay-Z gig at the big Etihad stadium. I also worked at a few Christmas functions, which were so glamorous and posh!! Also got to work Bon-Jovi, serving Daiquiris, which was pretty cool! Over Christmas I worked with a little boy with Developmental delay, trying to get him off his bloomin Wii and venture into the land of the living...was a challenge to say the least 😊 I still work some days with him, and others I do the hospitality thing.

So, let’s talk about Melbourne...It’s a lively cosmopolitan city, full of little boutiques, quaint little cafes and restaurants. It’s got soooo much character and personality, so cultural, so vintage! The bars are great, the atmosphere is inviting as are the people, the majority are very friendly! It feels pretty much like home here The various gardens are stunning, as is the breath taking skyline. We visited a place called Lentils a few times, which is a donation restaurant. It serves vegetarian meals, which you help yourself too, and you donate as much as you want in a box as you leave...they also serve you cake and coffee...bloomin marvelous!!

Geoff and I have enjoyed exploring Melbourne; we visited the Eureka Tower which looks over the city. We got up to the 88th floor just before sunset, and watched all the city light turn on...it was pretty magical.

With our friends, James, Amy and Eric we visited Phillip Island to watch The Penguin Parade. Every sunset, there's hundreds to over a thousand wild Little Penguins that emerge from the sea and march across the beach to their sand dune burrows. The Little Penguin is the world’s smallest (and cutest) penguin, it is amazing to watch them build up the courage to cross the beach! So sweet!

After living with Becky, Dan, Lo etc we decided to move out-because Neville was crazy! A few examples, as a landlord he use to just walk straight into the house uninvited and turn up outside our bedroom door waiting for us, he wouldn't give us keys to the front or back door, he made about $50 a month profit on our internet bill, the front room was locked and full of his wife’s stuff, the Chinese people in the back had to pretend they didn’t live there when the inspectors came, etc etc, you get the picture!!! Can you believe that he’s actually a lawyer...hmmmm scary!! Anyway, so Geoff and I moved into shared house, with a brother and sister, Michael and Danni. The house was on Westgarth Street, at the end of Northcote high street. It was a great little place, Geoff and I had an en-suit, which was a big step up from sharing the bathroom with 6 other people. We stayed in the house for just over a month, and then decided to save the money and move in with Sue and James. Sue is Mums oldest and dearest and James is Sue’s son 😊 They live in a lovely place in Hillside, which is about 40mins away from the city by train. Two nutty dogs also live here, who are Geoff's new best buddies! Living here has been wonderful. We stay here for nothing and in return get lovely meals cooked for us ever night...Couldn't get any better...Sue and James are great people, and I am sooo glad we got the opportunity to get to know them better!

Geoff and I spent Christmas in Melbourne, at our friends, Becky and Dan. Overall there were 10 of us, and we spent the day eating and taking part in silly games! The weather was fab, so we got to play about in the pool too. It was a great Christmas, considering we all missed our families...being in the same boat helped!
We spent New Year's in Sydney. A few of us rented a car and drove up there. Geoff and I met up with our friends Jemma and Blaire, who we met on the West Coast. It was AWESOME!!! We watched the fireworks, whilst sitting right next to harbour bride. They were Phenomenal! We stayed with Jemma's mum for a few nights, it was great to catch up with them again. Such a laugh!

We recently went on a road trip with Sue, up the Great Ocean Road! We had a wonderful time. Geoff and I slept in Sues caravan, which was 1st class compared to Muppet-bless him! We visited the Twelve Apostles, which are giant rock stacks that rise from the Southern Ocean. They have been created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the mainland that began 10–20 million years ago. The Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually eroded the softer limestone, forming caves in the cliffs. The caves eventually became arches and when they collapsed rock stacks up to 45 metres high were left isolated from the shore. Unfortunately, only 7 still stand. Geoff and Sue weren't overly impressed by the rocks! Haha! We also visited the Triplet waterfalls, in Otways, which were beautiful. We decided to get a closer look, leaving the trail and making our own down to the first fall. We jumped over rocks, balanced on broken logs, was all very bear grylls! Sue and I returned to the path and made our way up to the second and third, but Geoff, being the wild man, found his way through the overgrowth and bush all the way up to the third, then proceeded to climb the waterfall...they were extremely beautiful. There's something so calming about waterfalls. After the falls we visited the Otway Fly Treetop Adventure, which is a nature based rainforest Tree Top Walk offering a bird’s eye view of the Otways Rain forest. It was such a hot weekend, I think we all caught a bit of colour...well Geoff and Sue did 😊.

Geoff and I worked a festival on Sunday 13th Feb, called Good Vibrations! We collected/scanned tickets and got to witness the very bizarre array of people! It was a fun day...

Geoff and I later decided to go on different paths..so I flew to Sydney and met a friend I hadn't seen for four years...and Geoff decided to stay and work in Melbourne for a little while, then off he went to Cairns.

Goodbye Melbs!

We also had to say farewell to our dearest friend Muppet...oh we had our ups and downs but you were a brill little van!! Take care, u crazy stroppy awesome camper!

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