Tuesday, January 17 - Lost between the heat and the aquarium

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Hayden was up super early for work, while I got to sleep in and then laze around for a bit organising some stuff while I still have access to the internet! Had a quick but awesome chat with someone back home.
I left my bigger bag behind and headed off into the 35 degree heat... got lost (sort of) pretty quickly but then that is kind of how I roll. I found a music store where I picked up a copy of a Melbourne band's (Darth Vegas) album that I'd been looking at online previously, except it was crazy cheap, then found this... well let's call it a 'nerd store' that I'd seen the last time I'd been to Melbourne, all the Who, Trek, Star Wars, DC, Marvel, Anime etc etc you could want! SO MUCH GEEK... and so much self control as I walked away with nothing... but a couple of Dr Who comic books.
I headed down to the aquarium (tourist) there's a definite contrast between the modern, arty, affluent Melbourne with homeless camps under bridges and piles of rubbish lying around down by the waterfront.

The aquarium was great fun... not sure if it was worth the price but I guess I spent quite a few air conditioned hours looking at fishies, sharks and big smilie rays. There was a crocodile there that was so impressive. it was sitting underwater completely motionless, you couldn't even see it breathe... every so often it would slightly raise or lower it's head... bloody creepy!
After the aquarium I got lost again then found my way to Hayden's place again. Hayden escorts me to the train station and I take the time to enjoy the scale and diversity of Melbourne... I obviously spent too much time enjoying this because I missed the train, so Hayden and I took a walk to have a look at the harbour.
I catch a later train and mix reading my book with checking out the landscape, it's so dry and endless, punctuated with oases of wet greenery.

I hop off the train at the Woodend station and see someone who looks like my friend Tracey and her son Walter, don't have my glasses so I squint at her a bit, then realise that it's not her and she's probably getting freaked out by this random guy squinting at her. Almost immediately I start to wonder if I was supposed to get off the next station Kynetown. Again my total lack of net and phone use strikes me, and this time there's no WiFi to fall back on. The lady at the station is lovely and as helpful as she can be, but there's nothing to be done for the time being.
SUCCESS! A phone call came through from the Kynetown station with Tracey on the other end and within a few minutes she pulls up (the REAL Tracey, not her doppelgänger) and we're away. We head back to the house on the farm, unfortunately Tom is feeling a bit unwell but still manages to be pretty social. T&T's son Walter and I bond over a mutual appreciation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Voltron.
After a delicious meal (healthier too than I'd sometimes go with when travelling) Tracey and I had a couple of wines and had a good catch up, reminiscing about the epic metropolis of Palmerston.

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Photos

wall o glass
One of the more impressive, moody rooms in the aquarium

Woodend station
A nice area... except when you think you might be stuck there with no water and no contact with the outside world