Normal life in Melbourne

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I am an official Melbournian. I'm living in a house, have a job and do the daily commute. Gone are the hostel days of queuing in the kitchen for a pan, then queuing to get in the fridge, then queuing for a hob,then queuing to get a fork... you get the idea. I am also now able to shower without flip flops! Happy days. Thank you Tina for letting me take over your spare room for 7 weeks :-)

I feel I've properly settled into Melbourne life now. I have done the sight-seeing and tourist attractions Melbourne has to offer and instead I have a "normal life" as a Melbournian. I work, have a great circle of friends and have an amazing lifestyle. I am very lucky indeed!

This trip has changed me. Not dramatically, (I'm still the same food-obsessed, TV-loving and adorable girl you all know and love :-)) but enough for me to notice and feel different. I no longer obsess over the little things that don't matter. I have a much more positive attitude. I am more laid back. I have bucket-loads more self-esteem. I am completely confident in meeting new people and chatting away. I'm (very slightly) less paranoid about my weight and have a better body image. I've become more ambitious, more thankful for the things I have (rather than always focusing on what's missing) and I've learned to live in the here and now rather than stressing about what has been and gone or what is yet to come. I feel like a burden has been lifted and I can finally be completely happy. That's all I'll say for now at the risk of becoming too deep; I'm just so glad I came out here and did this on my own. It's made me a stronger and happier person and taught me things I know will carry me well throughout life.

Well - you didn't come here to read about my personal reflections of myself and life. You came here to read about what else I've bene up to and where my adventures have led me. So with that in mind, I'll start at Easter. Another road trip!!!

With Easter bringing 2 public holidays, we grabbed the opprtunity to again escape the city for a long weekend. Thursday evening, 4 of us piled into the car, cranked up the music and left the rain behind us heading south to Phillip Island. We arrived 3 hours later and checked into our family room and home for the next 3 days. We were right on the coast, in the heart of a small town called Cowes. So pretty. As much of a city girl as I am, it always feels great to breathe some different air (air that's not 75% petrol fumes) for a while.

I can sum up the Phillip Island weekend with the words "Nature" and "Wildlife". We saw kangaroos, koalas, seals, a cuckaburra, wallabies and, not forgetting, a possum that made me nearly soil myself when it jumped from it's bush over to me with a hissing sound. In the pitch black I feared for my life and screamed. Much to the amusement of Paul whom I was on the phone to at the time.

On the Friday morning, in glorious sunshine, we boarded a boat on a nice calm sea. Twenty minutes later we were sailing through the choppiest waters ever. Everyone around us was being sick into bags. Not pleasant. I just about managed to hang onto my lunch. The captain would count down till the moment we hit a huge wave so we knew what to expect; it was the cue to hold onto your stomach. After 30 minutes or so however the water really calmed down and we arrived at "Seal Cove". Amazing. Literally hunderds of seals in their natural habitat, who all came playfully up the boat. It was incredible to see. The journey back was much smoother and we all re-gained the colour in our faces. We headed back to the hotel for a snack and a lie down before our evening wildlife adventure.

Phillip Island is home to the largest colony of penguins in Australia (around 32,000 of them!) The "little penguin" goes out fishing all day and then, at sunset, comes back to the beach and waddles back to his burrow until sunrise when it's back out to sea. We were able to head down to the beach to watch all the penguins return home. Amazing. We sat in the dark in awe and silence as hundreds and hundreds of penguins began to appear on the beach. We got very close to them and it was great being able to watch them in their natural habitat. No wildlife park or nature reserves. Just real penguins, in the wild, doing their thing. Was incredible to see.

We rounded off our full day of widlife spotting with well-deserved fish & chips in town. Yum.

On the Saturday we did a little shopping around town, just browsing all the little coastal town shops. Grabbed a coffee and a muffin and then got in the car. We headed out to a koala sanctuary. We were able to get up close to them, though most were just sleeping. Every so often a kanagroo bounced by. That's become quite a normal thing for me now. A couple of months ago I experienced sheer glee at the sight of a kangaroo. Funny how quick you get used to things in a new country. Opposite the koala place was "A-Maze-N-Things". It reminded me of "Ripley's Belive It Or Not" back home. Think freaky facts, mirror mazes, tunnels, games, giant slides, a clock that goes backwards and a huge outdoor maze. I felt 10 years old again and it was awesome.

We marked our last night in Cowes doing what we do best; dinner and cocktails. We found a great little restaurant right by the sea which also had gorgeous lychee-based cocktails. So good. Though I don't even want to repeat how much they cost. As we all sat there eating, sipping and chatting away I realised just how much I love my life. I will be so sad to leave my friends. If only someone could invent teleportation so I could be anywhere and see anyone at anytime.

Our final day on Phillip Island was Easter Sunday and what better way to celebrate than with a visit to the local chocolate factory?! We got to design out own flavours, make our own chocolate, play with the chocolate stenciler and daydream about standing under the choclate waterfall with our mouths wide open. Mmmm. I felt so sick afterwards, but that's how you're supposed to feel on Easter right?! We headed home. Another awesome weekend and another place ticked off my tourist list.

So I've finally moved out the hostel, but I met some great people there who are "long-termers" like I am, and we do loads together. We go out for breakfast/brunch a lot, pub, museums, cinema, shopping, stay in with a movie, take it in turns cooking dinner for one another. All these fairly normal activities are just so much better in Melbourne. I love that this city, well this country actually, doesn't really do chain bars/restaurants. Everywhere is independant and has it's own character. It's what I'll miss most when I go home. We love exploring and finding new great cafes. There is one called Toast about 5 mins from where I live who do the best strawberry pancakes in the world! And for just $9. I've finally got the lifestyle I have always wanted. It'll be hard to leave when that time comes.

As much as I love Melbourne, I didn't come over here just to live and work. I came over here to travel and experience the things this amazing country has to offer. Being such a massive country (the whole of Europe can fit inside Australia and there'd still be space) each state is so different. I have my trip all planned out and I can't wait for the adventure to start.

I'm leaving Melbourne 19/06/2013. My contract at work ends that week and I think it'll be time to move on and feel like a tourist again. I'm flying to Adelaide in South Australia, where I have 4 days to explore. Hopefully I'll meet someone where I'm staying to be my friend for 4 days. Though travelling alone doesn't scare me. It's only 4 days.

After Adelaide I'm joining a tour of the outback. It's via a tour group company that's comprised largely of solo travellers so plenty of new friends for the week. My tour departs Adelaide and travels up to Alice Springs right in the centre of the country. It's all outback and is strongly Aboriginal. Think lots of desert and not much else. We do stop at some great national parks though as well as a kangaroo sanctuary, Ayers Rock and various other places. Going to be so different to what I've experienced so far. My tour ends in Alice Springs, where I will stay overnight before then flying to Brisbane, back to the east coast in Queensland.

I am in Brisbane for a few days before joining an all inclusive trip to Fraser Island. It looks absolutely stunning and I can't wait. White sand, turquoise water, waterfalls... paradise. After Fraser Island it's back to Brisbane for 2 weeks or so to explore the city. Then I'm flying to Cairns, further north of Queensland. I have given myself a treat for when I'm there and booked 2 nights in a 4* hotel. After months and months of quad-share hostels, I figure by this time I'll need the break. For 2 days I plan to sleep in my comfy bed, watch TV, order room service and use the hotel gym and pool. Not very "adventure", but it's the little things like being able to watch TV, shower in my own bathroom and get changed in my room rather than a cubicle that I miss when in hostels. Two days in a hotel will put me back in touch with normal-ness I think and I can't wait.

From Cairns I am joining another group tour. This one takes me around Cairns, up to Cape Tribulation, then to the Great Barrier Reef before setting sail around the Whitsunday Islands, where I'll be living on a boat for a couple of days. Again, the area looks like total paradise. I'm looking forward to the relaxed break and not having to work.

My final stop will be Perth. After that everything on my list will be ticked off and I'll be ready to go home. Back to my family, back to proper Cadbury's chocolate, back to the NHS (which I will never ever take for granted or moan about) and, of course, back to my wonderful boyfriend Paul - I can't even describe how much I miss him.

The next blog will most likely be as I leave Melbourne. Not sure there'll be much more to report until then. Sending everyone back home lots of love xxxxx

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Photos

The 4 of us
Me, Mel, Tina and Gem