Melbourne

The flight from Singapore to Melbourne went swimmingly. I was genuinely excited to be in Australia and raring to see what it was all about. Even though it was 1am on arrival, the weather was refreshingly cold having become so used to the humidity of Asia. Unfortunatley, the weather hasnt been good since I arrived, and a part of me feels that I have yet to experience true Australia. We caught a taxi which took us to a hostel called "The Beach" which was in St.Kilda. Immediately, the place struck me as being good fun. It was nice having no difficulty communicating with the reception staff. Our room was a 10 bed dorm but we were the only ones in there. The entire place was of a really high standard. An absolutely lavish bathroom and carpeted floors! Its funny how everyone misses stupid things from home when travelling. I had kind of missed the homeliness of carpet (as stupid as it sounds). After a great nights kip, I awoke suprisngly early (even earlier than the other two!) and went downstairs for a chicken and cheese toastie and a glass of orange juice. All the bar staff seemed really cool- majoritvely students or travellers who had come over with a working permit. Mistakenly, Katie and Luke didnt see me in the bar having breakfast, and so I spent the day exploring St. Kilda on my own. The place seemed really cool, laid back and filled with travellers. Having said this, there was one crazy woman who i refer to as trolley woman. She was living on the streets and when i walked past her she sqwarked at me so loudly! " GET OFF MY TROLLEY RAAAAH!". A little fazed, but mildely ammused, I picked up the pace of my walk, bought this raspberry squishy and made my way down to St Kilda pier. I stumbled across a place named as "free internet" and couldnt pass up the chance. Here I met a few Australians, all of whom were cool and easy going. Ive felt more at home in Melbourne than I have anywhere else (and yet, further from home than ill ever be). The hostel is placed on Fawkner street which leads its way down to St Kilda beachfront. I basically spent most of the day walking around, getting a feel for the place and feeling utterly disgusted at the price of beer (same as home!). That night we started in the bar underneath our room. Feeling that the bar was full of clives (businessmen who wear suits), we went in search of somewhere more our scene. Walking for 20 minutes, we were told to head to ESPY bar, somewhere for people our kind of age. We found that people at ESPY were a little weird. The whole place reminded me of a place near home called the Agincourt. Dark, dingey and full of Australian kids with crazy haircuts, it wasnt ideal. Katie lifted our spirits after a little prep talk. She said that we were fortunate enough to be on the other side of the world, and all we can do was winge about the price of beer and the awful band on stage. With a new lease of life, and after watching this crazy girl dance by herself to the band- we made our way to the other side of St. Kilda. On our way past a pub, I asked 2 Australians where was best to go. After a little chat (and being called a wingeing pom about 5 times) we mad eour way inside and had a drink with them. They were a good laugh, and seemed so laid back in their approach to life. We asked whether they cared about having our Queens face all over their money. Their reply was "Nah- who cares!". I wonder what people would say if George Bush was on the pound?! In the pub a hilarious cover band were playing some old time classics. Although they were songs I recognised, the entire atmosphere of the gig couldnt have been different from home. Although the majority of the crowd seemed my age, there were men in suits dancing like 15 year olds and older chaps reminding me of myself 5 years ago! It was really strange to be in such a mixed audience when at home, music scenes are so individualised to a certain trend of people. Hilariously, Katie was dragged on stage by some crazy dancing girls and the annoying singer. Looking extremely awkward she swayed around and eventually made her way back. Saying bye to the Aussies, we went out in search of a kebab. We stumbled across the best kebab i the world, so different form homes. Over here, the meat is good quality, and you dont feel like your being overwhelmed with grease after one bite. If a little strange, it was generally a good first night in Australia.
The next day, we decided to make our way into Melbourne central via the tram. The trams in Melbounre are by far the best way of getting around. Although theres a place to pay for your ticket on the tram, no one seems to check you have a ticket. Being a poor traveller, I decided to blag it and not pay. After booking our train journey to Sydney, we made our way around Federation Square. The city is beautiful, great architecture, organised but with a great sense of character (something I did'nt experience in Singapore). We found that the 2008 comedy festival was currently taking place at the town hall. We wanted to go and see Ross Noble but tickets had all sold out. Instead, we got talking to a young bloke who happened to be performing later that night. His name was Stefan Popovic and i'd reccommend him to anyone. At only 10 or so dollars, his rants about people in the gym, awkward situations and a whole host of subjects was well worth it. That night Luke was feeling pretty ill with what turned out to be gum disease. Feeling fresh after the comdey show, Me and Katie decided to go downstairs and have a few drinks. Downstairs, there was a whole host of interesting characters. We had fun trying to analyse them (one of which I was convinced was my old history teacher) and eventually made our way to bed around 2.
The next day we had planned to go to an AFL (aussie football) match at the MCG stadium in central Melbourne. Coincidentally, we had chosen a match where the 2 sides are arch enemies, and the crowds would reach up to 70,000 people. It was Carlton Vs Collingwood. On the way down we met a Aussie Collingwood fan with his daughter who showed us the way to the stadium. Luke was wearing his Newcastle shirt and decided to support Collingwood because they also wore the famous black and white strip. To make things interesting, I supported Carlton, the underdogs who hadnt won in 15 games and were deemed to get thrashed. Me and Luke put 5 bucks on our own teams winning. Although starting badly, the fans begun to get Carlton going. Before we knew it, Carlton were kicking Collingwood into tommorow and the fans were going mental! We met some 15 year old Carlton supporters next to us who thought me and luke were "adorable foreigners". One of the girls was so sweet, she gave me her Carlton scarf because I was her lucky charm for Carlton having their first win in ages! I vowed to support Carlton for the rest of my life, and promised i'd go and buy a shirt. Back at the hostel, I was 5 bucks up from the bet, and made myself a celebratory triple cheese and ham toastie! Later on, we went downstairs for a drink and met Katie who had befriended this crazy 5 ft tall party animal called Nathan. Regardless of him being 31, he acted like a hyperactive 18 year old and kept buying us drinks! When I told Nathan that id be studying Psychology at Liverpool next year, he replyed " Wo! Dont mess with my brain man!!!". It was a good day for sport all round as Liverpool beat Blackburn 3-1. me and Luke challenged some serious Germans to a best of 3 pool game. Unfortunately, we were thrown by the tiny pool balls, and we got beat 2-1. I later met Katie in town in search for a Kebab. The kebab was a life saver, having not eaten for 6 hours. She happened to be with a couple of weirdos from the hostel , and made me come with her to "traffik" club. Although it wasnt the best ending to a night, me and Katie had a lot of fun messing around and being complete imature idiots. The next day was to be our last in Melbourne. Being made to check out at 10am, we had most of the day to wonder around and find something to do. Unfortunately, Luke wasnt in the best of spirits due to a recurring gum pain. We checked the time of our train at the station and found lockers to dump our stuff in. Earlier in the week, i had come across and exhibition called "game on" which was a musuem of video games and allowed you to play them all as they were when released. Not being so interested in video games, Katie went off to get her hair done! pff! It was great playing old classics such as mario on the SNES and pong - the first ever computer game. We met up with Katie around 4pm and i swore to find myself a Carlton football shirt. After a lot of searching I found one and instantly bought it, regardless of it setting me back 100 bucks! Even though it was expensive, im wearing it practically everyday and especially when Carlton play- COME ON THE NAVY BLUES!. Afer this, we went into central Melbourne and found a good food court. I decided to go for the healthy option and got a tuna wrap. Although it was tasty, it stands short in comparison to my new and fully endorsed love for Subway sandwichs. I must be eating 5ft of subway per week these days. The train was at 8 o'clock so we grabbed some snacks and headed down to the station for what was to become a 10 hour - sleepless train ride in upright chairs. Fun, fun, fun. I'd reccommend Melbourne to anyone. Its such an active place with a relaxed atmosphere to it. I've promised myself I will return when its in the hot season! Sydney is the next stop and ill be soon to write. All my love xx

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