Blogs from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania - page 379

2nd July 04 Another week, another dollar. After work today, rob and I left for Melbourne. Some strange poeple on the train. I got boredd so I got tipsy. Had a great plan to strip but naked and run around the train to liven things up. I realised it was a bad idea when I stopped laughing to myself and everyone was looking at me. Did a cross word thing with rob. Got of the train at 19.40. We met Sonja around 9. She picked us up in the car. She looed so beautiful and stunning that I couldn't think of any words to say. So instead, I just said Hiya. NICE ONE!!!! Mind you, she didn't have to dress up, she looked just as beautiful wearing a tracksuit!!!! The night was fantastic. We went to ... read more

A warning to the reader: At times the content of my enteries may contain more than 'check-the-box' travel stories. To your dismay, it is entirely possible that you will be exposed to the thoughts and emotions (and general streams of consciousness) I experience on my little journey. Whilst, I hope that you will often find it to be entertaining, uplifting, inspiring, witting, funny, heart warming or just a little sad, I very much intend to use this as a resource to look back upon, and see just how far I manage to go physically and personally. So please just do as most people often do, and close your minds when you feel uncomfortable about getting to know the way I sometimes work...... With that little caveat out of the way, it's time to see where I am at. Well, I ... read more

I woke up very early (just to see that all of my luggage was intact hey!) and then made a move down to the Queen Victoria Markets. Now…these are the true markets. Back in the day, Paddys Markets used to be like this but who knows what happened. It’s all gone to shit because all they want to sell is merchandise instead of the markets down here-fruit, vegies, and animals. There are guys standing on boxes of fruit, throwing grapes at passers-by to get their attention. I made a purchase of a bunch of bananas at $1/kilo-score! There are heaps and heaps of fruit and market vendors here, fresh fish, fresh cheese, dairy and they totally outnumber the fashion and merchandise stalls! I take an opportunity to buy Toni some more snow domes (footnote 4/3 ... read more

The first thing that struck me about Melbourne was it's tram network. Never having visited a city with working trams before, this gave the whole city a different atmosphere - with wide roads and relatively little traffic on them, making it easy to get about by foot - not to mention the curious way the cars have to turn. In order to turn right, they have to remain in the left hand lane, then swing out when the coast is clear(ish). Much like Sydney, Melbourne had it's fair share of backpackers and hostels, and plenty of languages other than English were being spoken on the street. There was a problem though, you could hardly last a day without recognising someone, in my case from my hostel in Sydney. The phrase ' you'll never escape Glebe' became ... read more

St Kilda I thought was a nice place. It was here that I realised I wanted to study and live in Australia. Why not? I mean it is my nationality, I wouldn't need a visa here. I loved Melbourne. It looked clean, it looked easy to get around and the people were friendly. The cake shops were lovely. We went to ski at Mt Buller but honestly, the snow was horribly icy, the slopes were crowded and it wasn't the best place to ski. The countryside around Victoria was beautiful, all the sunsets seemed to explode in highlights of golds and oranges and pinks. I still want to live here. One day I will.... read more