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Published: November 20th 2007
a day at the races!
view of the race course!hello again!
well sorry its been a while!!.. heres an update of the last couple of weeks…..
In the morning of the 31st Oct, I checked out of wake up and Natalie and I went to Hyde park and strolled round the sights of Sydney for the last time! (she was flying home the next morning.) At 3 o clock that afternoon, I got on the overnight bus, which was to be my home for the next 20 hours! God it was a long time!!!! There were only old weirdos on the bus so I didn’t even have anyone to talk too!!
But the journey got considerably better when we had to stop for a kangaroo crossing the road!!! woooo!!! It then got worse when, just as I thought I could never be more uncomfortable, and must be there soon, I saw a sign which said “800km left”, better when we had a mcdonalds stop and worse when the old man in the opposite seat started winking at me! and so it went on for the whole 19 hours!!!!
Ha!! So, we had a couple of stops on the way and I read about 56 billion books.. and then, at
8 the next morning we rocked up to Melbourne station!!! Yay!
I jumped in a taxi and went straight to the hostel, as I open the door, the Chinese girl I was sharing with, jumped out of her skin (and basically out of the bed) and shouted at me!! “arrrghhh”!! He he!! But to be fair, I was too shattered to even care and so I just lay down and went to sleep!!
That afternoon, I went into Melbourne town, it was freezing and raining… in fact, felt just like home!! When I got back to the hostel that evening I realised what a hillbilly place it was! These girls who were living there joined me into their group and I spent all evening trying to escape… honestly they were the strangest people ive ever met!!
The next day I went down to St.Kilda and decided I had to get out of the city so I checked into a hostel there (was a bit of a mission tho as everywhere was full due to the Melbourne cup). But I eventually managed it
The whole of Melbourne was buzzing, its basically one of the biggest events in Australia and the
the horses!
right at the finishing line! unfortunately none of these were the horses i bet on!! spring carnival racing lasts a whole week!
So, the next morning I headed down to St Kilda on the tram, a mission in itself.. as if lugging my bag around wasn’t enough, the tram broke down! And then I got on the wrong one and had to treck all the way back down the street but luckily this nice ozzie guy gave me a hand!! Eventually made it there in one piece. The hostel is called ‘home’ so its pretty nice when your walking back to see ‘HOME’ on a big sign!
I was in a 6 bed dorm and 3 ozzie guys were staying the night so we all went out for lunch and started on the beer! This carried on into the night and we ended up in an 80’s party (which of course, anyone who knows me, knows I loved!!). I even won a prize for my YMCA dancing (yup, far too much practise!!)
Ok, now to the really exciting stuff..!! on Tuesday the 6th I went to the Melbourne cup! I went with Henning, a german guy we met in Sydney, a few people from my hostel and a few from his. We met
vodka jelly!!!
me and Henning eating yummy vodka jelly! at 8 in the morning and got the tram to the race course, everyone was so elegantly dressed up with feathers in their hair (I contemplated stealing a few feathers from a road kill pigeon for a while just to fit in, but in the end decided to go for a few flowers!!) so we arrived at the racecourse at about half 9 and you’ll be proud to know the first thing we did was get a bottle of champagne! Although shock horror, I couldn’t get served so I had to wear a bright orange wrist band to prove I was over 18!! Clashed with the outfit but hey.. I spose it’s a compliment!! ;-) The races were absolutely amazing, the atmosphere was unreal, everyone was on high spirits, drinking and betting, and everyone just spoke to everyone else!
I placed a bet on each race and im not sure what I did wrong but lady luck certainly wasn’t on my side!! The first race I bet on two horses and there was a bit of an accident and they both fell over and had to get shot!!!! We set up camp right by the finishing line,
9so much better
than all the expensive seats up in the stadium!) so we were right in the mist of it all! When the racing finished, loads of people tried to run on the track (yes some naked), (and yes I was tempted!) but seeing as the police violently rugby tackled the naught people to the ground, I decided it wasn’t worth the risk!!
Instead I got caught by the party police who basically we’re there to cause havoc!! Now, I got called so typically English for this but the rubbish at the end of the day was unbelievable!!!!
So we were some of the last people there and as we left about 6 o clock, there was a live band playing outside so we all had a little boogie! We then got on a train and headed to federation square, which is the nightlife centre of Melbourne, loads of cool pubs and bars and stayed there for a while before heading back.
I changed rooms after a couple of nights and lived with Mel, Lorna and Sandra who I got on with really well. I’m in an 8 bed dorm and its so much fun. Because this hostel is more for
long termers than people just passing through, its got a really great homely atmosphere. Every single night, everyone gathers outside, the guitars come out and drinks flow till the early hours!
I decided as I was going to be here a while, it was time to get a job, so after a day of traipsing around with my CV I got a job in ‘Greasy Joes’ (yeah I know, it sounds so classy and posh!) but its awesome, it’s a really cool, chilled out kinda bar / restaurant, so I’m waitressing there. Work about 5 days a week, some day times, some evenings and I get free food and drinks and everyone I work with is great.
Ok so a bit about the place… in the hostel everyone gets on with each other so well… as well as the girlies, there's 4 scottish lads (Craig, Euan, Rick and Simon) who are awesome. All of us work and so days off are spent on the beach or chilling in Acland street, and as each of us works in a different bar or restaurant… free food and drink flows!!! ;-) St.Kilda is a really sweet place, its got one main street,
which my hostel leads on too Greasy Joes is about 100 meters away, and the beach is ooooo, about 200 meters!! The night life is great, so we tend to stick around here, although we have been into the city once or twice.
We did have a little incident with one of our room mates stealing money from us (how rude!) and that made for quite an exciting night when we all finally confronted her and she left the hostel at 2 in the morning!!
Monday 12th was probably one of the best nights ever.. we went to Neighbours night!!!
Me, Mel and Lorna went, it was in the ‘elephant and wheel barrow’ and started at about 6 where there were some quizzes and other things we could vaguely hear going on! And then they introduced all the actors, there was Michelle Scully, Adam (was in hollyoaks), connor, and of course…the legend himself...Dr. Karl Keneddy!! So they all wondered around the pub (each with their own body guard!! Ha!!) and we got to have a chat and have photos, and then at about 11, Karls band came on! He was the singer and they did play some awesome
melbourne sky line
see, i do take some scenic shots!! songs.. I think he’s touring the UK soon, so keep your eye out!!!
anyway.. i will tell you a funny story.. i was just outside in the lobby bit and this guy came up and asked me if i could hold his camera while he went to the toilet.. well i waited and waited but couldn't see him, so i thought he must have gone back in, there was only one room in the bar, so for the next hour or so i kept my eye out for him to give it back, but he was no where to be seen and his mates didn't know where he was either, so i guessed he was preoccupied with something. Anyway, i was getting a bit worried so when i suddenly saw him i ran across and gave it to him... then realised there were two big police men behind him!! Basically, he was so drunk he couldn't remember giving it to me and thought someone had stolen it, so called the police!! ooops!! so we had to go into the 'back room' and explain the story.. i honestly thought i would be arrested (again!!) but they were very understanding and i
even got a few drinks out of the guy because he felt so guilty about all the trauma he put me through!! he he!
Its been getting hotter and hotter here… but the temperature suddenly jumped from about 28 degrees on day to 38 the next!!!! This was on the 17th Nov, so after I got about 50 people to sing happy birthday to mum (very harmonious!!) I found out it was minus degrees at home! (ha ha.. sorry guys!!) but this was also the day I decided to do some exercise (as my knees were finally on the mend!) it was really early and the girls were all asleep so I hired a bike and rode along the beach, (well, not actually on the beach as that would be slightly difficult!!) but along the bike path, it was gorgeous, winding along the sea, through parks etc, so I rode for about 2 hours and then had a little stop at the beach.. by this time it was soooo hot I actually thought I may not make it back!!! The flies were an absolute nightmare (im going to dedicate a whole blog to them soon!!!) but it was good
out in St.kilda
me and josh, 'Canadian dude'! to get out and about!! Finally got back to the hostel about 3 o clock and it was Lornas last night so us girls went out for a meal that evening, in beachcombers, which is a really nice restaurant on the edge of the beach, we had a lovely meal and few bottle of wine and watched the sun go down.
So that’s about it!!
I hope all is well with you.. its been great to hear from you, texts / emails / facebooks are always most welcome!!
Lots and lots of love x x x x x x
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Gem Gem
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Suprise Suprise
you don't need to go to the Neighbours bar mate! you're in a soap of your own! (although nearly in a place where bending over for it would not be recommended!) With regard to the races - if it makes you feel any better I put money down on a slug race the other day and lost a whole £2.50! gutted! (my slug drank guiness and liked it too much methinks! you would have thought it was in my family!) See you soon my love xxxxxx