Everyone Wants Gout - 30th Oct - 11th Nov 06

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Brrr, the weather was very chilly, so being back on the road again wasn't ideal, especially was The Beast has a cracked muffler meaning that carbon monoxide could potentially be leaked into the car, so we had to drive with the windows down at all times - oh the joys of backpacker cars! The stunning scenery did something towards making up for the frostbite but thankfully it only took 2 days to reach Melbourne, a lot less than anticipated, as I was starting to wonder how much longer I could cope with the 3 of us crammed into a 2 man tent for body heat!
We were heading to Melbourne for various reasons but primarily to catch up with Kate, Claire and Tim who we'd met a Hoa's Place in Vietnam. The girls very kindly agreed to put us up as their house and have been legendary with their hospitality. They have a lovely place in Richmond, very close to town, and it was a real treat to have a few creature comforts such as a T.V, sofa, washing machine, bath and bed! They also have an extremely mischeivous 9 day old kitten called Oscar, who's provided us with endless hours of entertainment as well as a fair few scratches!
Wednesday was our first night in Melbourne and the girls had arranged a BBQ and for Tim to come over for a few bevs. Unfortunately when it comes to Tim there's no such thing as a 'few' bevs. He was the drinking games master in Vietnam and nothing has changed. Within 10 minutes of arriving his trademark catchphrase "I've got this game" was uttered and it was downhill from there on!
Whilst the poor girls had to work the next day (I have no idea how Claire made it as she was passed out face down on the lounge floor when I went to bed!) we decided to make the most of the luxurious surroundings and chill out watching DVD's, catching up with e-mails on the FREE internet (!) and generally trying to avoid the hammering rain outside. That evening everyone opted to stay in for a Team America viewing session, whereas I went to meet Martin and Ems from AXA who were also in Melbourne for a couple of days. The last time our paths had crossed was in Laos and it was great to see them again and catch up on each others adventures. We were so lost in conversation that we hadn't realised it was closing time and we definitely weren't ready to leave, so luckily Ems managed to convince the barman that a lock in was in order and we sat there happily until about 1am!
By Friday the weather had cleared up and realising that we hadn't just come to Melbourne to see the inside of the girls house, we ventured out into the city. Since the previous Sunday in Sydney I'd been getting severe pain in my right big toe and hobbling everywhere, barely able to walk and in absolute agony. It would come and go but was so bad when we got to town that I had no option but to get it looked at. And the diagnosis - Gout! Gout?!!! I thought only men over the age of 50 and WW2 soldiers got gout, but apparently I can too! The doctor explained that it was caused by incresed stress levels, which would make sense, what with losing my passport and changing my travel plans etc. He didn't mention anything about it being alcohol induced, but I've been reliably informed (mostly by my mother!) that this can also be a factor - hmmm, nah, must be the stress! I was tempted to ask for a 2nd opinion but since the 1st one had set me back $70 I hobbled back to the boys mortified and explained what the doctor had said. God love 'em - they did their best to keep straight faces!
Determined not to be beaten by the gout I spent the afternoon hobbling behind the lads as we checked out some of the city's major landmarks including the impressive Flinders Street Station and the bizarre Federation Square. Just behind Fed Square was an open air exhibition of one of my favourite photographers, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, who takes arial photos of varying subjects and locations, and a good hour or so was spent having a mooch around there.
That night the girls took us into town for some delicious cocktails at a great bar called the Kitten Club - it was so nice being somewhere a bit smarter for a change as opposed to the traditional backpackers bars, and I was very quickly adjusting from life on the road to life in the city - maybe I won't find London so difficult after all!
On Saturday morning Wigg flew in from Sydney and the boys spent the day playing X-box and being boys, whilst us girls hit the high street outlet stores for some girly bonding and serious shopping for dresses for Tuesday's Melbourne cup. We had a great afternoon trying on all sorts of monstrosity's and eventually struck gold in Target - Australia's version of Primark! Delighted with our purchases we had another BBQ back at the house and were treated to more drinking games courtesy of Tim, before heading out to sample some of Richmond's nightlife.
One of the main things that you have to do when in Melbourne is the infamous Neighbours tour which takes you to Erinsborough High, the studios where it's filmed and of course Ramsey Street - surely any child of the 90's dream?! At the set we got a surprise 'meeting' with one of the cast members. Eagerly hoping it would be Harold or Dr Karl Kennedy, we were fairly disappointed to see Dylan Timmins standing there. Still, we hung around for the obligatory chat and photos. To be fair, he was a really nice guy, asking everyone questions about themselves, if not a little over the top! When Claire and I went up for our pic, he asked me to tell him all about myself - now, any of you that know me well will know how much I fear speaking in front of a group of strangers, so at this point I immediately froze! Suddenly there was a shout of 'she's got gout!' from Ross and I wished I'd had the courage to speak up beforehand - how embarrasing! Not too sure how to deal with that revelation, he smiled nicely for the camera and instantly got the next group of people up! Our trip over to Ramsey Street was delayed a little by one of the tour leaders backing her van into ours and smashing the rear windscreen, but we eventually made it there only to discover how small it actually is! From there we went directly to the Elephant and Wheelbarrow in St Kilda for the Neighbours night where we got to meet the legendary Paul Robinson as well as Elle Robinson (one for the boys!) and Stingray!
Back in Richmond we met the girls, Tim, their housemate Steve and some others at the Nash where they were taking part in the trivia night under the name 'Team Gout' - For the love of God! ....
Another prime reason for visting Melbourne was the much anticipated Melbourne Cup which we went to on Tuesday. Cup day is a public holiday, so the girls and Tim were able to come along too and it was a great reason to get dressed up and start drinking champagne at 10.30am! One of the highlights of the day was checking out what everyone was wearing and pointing out the fashion disasters - like a live version of Heat magazine! Not having any luck with things of a betting nature I pooled my resources with the girls and we got a whopping $11 return! The lads did much better however, winning about $350 combined, and treating us girls to yet more champagne bless 'em! Not that it was needed as we could barely stand by the end of the afternoon! Once we'd had some dinner we'd sobered up slightly, until Tim suggested more drinking games and it once again went downhill! After popping back to the house for a reason none of us can remember, we ended up in the Nash until about 2am before collapsing in bed!
Wednesday saw Wigg flying back to Sydney for work and the rest of us refusing to leave the house, with the exception of the girls who had to go to work - oh the hardship of backpacking!
We'd planned to leave on Thursday, but decided to stay and watch the Melbourne Victory vs Perth Glory footie (or soccer as they call it here) game at the Telstra Dome. The stadium was amazing - so plush and clean, but it was obvious that it isn't a primary sport here, with an extremely slow placed and clumsy game being played - a bit like watching the Baggies (sorry Dad!) With Australia being so huge you don't really get away fans, so the local fans at each end tend to have chanting contests between themselves. The supporters were amazing and were on their feet and chanting for 99% of the game, and when Melbourne finally scored in the last 5 minutes the whole place went mad with streamers and confetti and flares! If that happened every time a goal was scored at home there would never be any football played!
Whilst the lads chose to spend their last day on Phillip Island checking out the penguins, I decided to make the most of being in a house for one more day and have a few farewell drinks with the girls and Tim before heading off down the Great Ocean Road.
I'll be back

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Photos

Oscar
The World's most mischevious cat

Pretending to be Japanese Tourists outside Erinsborough High
L-R: Bulk, Wigg, Me, Claire and Wayne

Federation Square
Very strange looking

What a legend
With Paul Robinson on Neighbours night

When you start drinking champagne at 10 am everything is hilarious!
Kate, Claire and me at the races

She has got gout
L-R: Claire, 'Dylan' and Me

Looking a little smarter than we did in Vietnam
L-R: Kate, Tim, Claire, Bulk, Me and Wigg

He was really funny
With Stingray on Neighbours night