Highway to Hell...

---

..or Brisbane, whichever comes first! That's right. folks, the plan is to up stakes and head off to Brisbane. As excited as I was by the idea of Melbourne, unfortunately the reality has quite lived up to it. Melbourne is a lovely city, don't get me wrong, and I've seen some great stuff, but I'm not really feeling the character of the place. Maybe it's too much of a big city for me, I don't know, but I'm hoping to have more success in Brisbane, and also warmer weather!
Like I said, Melbourne itself is lovely. Particularly by the river than meanders through the city. There's a lovely boardwalk which must be littered with people during the summer. By the Crown Casino complex, they even have these pillars that send up huge gouts of flame on the hour, every hour once the sun goes down. It's pretty spectacular, and fairly hot too! Myself and Ness had a nice stroll along the river on her last day in Melbourne, and we even went up the Eureka tower, the tallest residential building in the Southern hemisphere, and it's top ten floors are coated on the outside with 24 carat gold, impressive, eh? Well, the views from there certainly are, and Melbourne looks even prettier, which is hard to imagine. And the views and pictures of the sunset we got, well sometimes there just aren't words. For an extra $12, we could have gone out into this glass box which is suspended out over the city, but the vertigo I was already feeling was plenty, plus we were true backpackers, unwilling to spend even more money! And no matter what anyone says, I can feel that minute sway that all tall buildings have, and it freaks me out.
Had myself a stroll around the CBD - central business district - which is pretty much where the hostel is. Two main streets, Elizabeth and Swanston, have enough restaurants and shops to make most women weak at the knees, but we all know my preferred habits! Books here cost anything up to $30 new, and are around $15 in second-hand shops! Of which there aren't many that I've managed to find so far. A lot of shops here seem to specialise, so there are Romance Book shops, Foreign Literature second-hand stores, etc. Finding my type of second-hand store has proven...elusive. As for DVD shops, only one has even vaguely caught my interest, and that's not great for choice either, woe is me! Add all that into a lack of good nightlife, and I'm sure you can all understand my need to move on!
A pretty short blog entry this time, maybe it will help balance out all the reading that was involved in the last one! I hope the pictures help give you an idea of what I'm talking about looks like, and like I said, comments let me know you care! Peace, out.

---

Photos

Eureka Tower
Sunset from the viewing platform in the Eureka Tower

Comments

[Tracey]

Glorious Sunset
Heya, finally able to add a comment. The picture you posted is absolutely gorgeous. I hope Brisbane will be more lively for you, woulda thought Melbourne would be a lively hotspot but obviously not. No mention of salsa clubs or anything so am I to assume you feet are only made for walking!!!!

[Madanne]

Not even made for walking, trams are great! Although the city is so damn big that you end up with the feet walked off you anyway. No, no salsa yet, but I checked out the scene in Brisbane and it looks promising. Seriously, how can the biggest salsa scene in Australia not have a salsa club on a friday night? Madness, I say!

[Edel]

Your rep preceded you
Obviously the word that Anne the Salsa Diva preceded your arrival in Melbourne and they decided that they could never measure up to your dance floor moves, so Melbourne Salsa hit the dust :-) Hope Salsa goers in Brisbane are ready for you babe!

[Madanne]

Already stumbled across a place by accident near my hostel, and I'm pretty sure it was a place I had noted to check out when I was still in Melbourne, planning to come up, so that's pretty cool! Not sure about the standard, the group I saw last night didn't look great and they had been doing it for a year. Maybe I just can't remember how bad I was after a year!