Final Days in St. Kilda

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Hi everyone,

Thought it was time for an update as it has been a while since my last entry, and so much has happened since the last blog.

As of December 8, I moved into an apartment with three friends I had recently been bunking up with since my arrival in St. Kilda. By this time we were all very tired of hostel life, and all felt it was time for a change. So we decided to get out and get a place together.

I will spare you the details of the first apartment we moved into for two weeks. It was brutal. Very minimal indeed. Definitely not fit for any human. As a result of my complaining and crying, I was given a new nickname. “The Prince.” Apparently nothing was good enough for me. And they were dead right. We could do better than this! Despite the irritating nickname, my high standards and persistence paid off and I was able to get us into the swanky “Bernini” apartments. These condo style flats were very hard to get being right in the heart of St. Kilda, and very well known for their parties and laid back rules. Everyone wanted to live there. I thought we would fit right in. Here I would live for the next four months with my new found brothers: Martin “Bad Boy” Westerman, 29, from Tasmania, Mark “Piwls” Seleny, 24, from England, and James “Stinky” Simmons, also from England. Other stories, in great detail, and pictures of the adventures in Bernini, (the name of our apartment) can be read on the travel journal of my long time friend Jesse Bradstreet*. Being a much better writer, he is able to go into much deeper detail than I. He finally arrived at the end of February so we could start our journey across Australia. But first he had to experience a bit of St. Kilda living without a few interesting experiences. *(www.jessebradstreet.com)

I can’t say enough about the times I have had with these guys. From spending Christmas and an unforgettable new year eve on the beach, to Thursday nights as Base, or our pet lizard Zilla, we did and saw it all. This group of guys helped make my stay in Melbourne a great experience. The last six months in Melbourne have been crazy and incredible. An unforgettable experience.

I certainly can’t forget to mention our two wonderful Brazilian friends’ Amanda and Bebe, who became very close to us (well mainly Jimmy and I) our last three months in St. Kilda. They won’t be forgotten. We sure do miss our free cakes and pie’s Amanda! P.S., the Portugese isn’t going so well . . .

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and it dawned on me that it was time to leave Melbourne. For the next month Jesse and I searched high and low for a camper van to travel around oz in. After looking at about five vans, sorry Bob, good news, it’s a no go, we found what we thought was a gem. It was a 1985 Toyota Hiace camper van with a pop top, low kilometers, no rust and a perfect interior. What could go wrong? It was just what we were looking for, but without the extras. This meat no tents, pot, pans, chairs etc. Bare bones. After mulling it over, we decided it was a go. Both of us were just itching to hit the road and find some new adventure. Little did we know what we had in store for us. A whole wack of cash later, and a few days of waiting on the edge of our seats, and the van was finally yours.

This brings us to April 18, 2006. This marked the beginning of our Australian road trip.

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