Melbourne

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If I can refer you back to a previous entry in which Darcy and I almost and sort of got fined on a train from Debrecen to Budapest, you'll know that I'm really good at not getting fined. This is a story very similar to that, and I feel like very few people have two of these stories. I have two of these stories.

I took the bus from the airport in Melbourne to Southern Cross train station. I got myself a coffee because sleeping on planes is impossible, and I had a long train ride ahead. I got on the train to Frankston which is pretty far south of Melbourne, set my bag across from me on the seat, took out my kindle, and read my book. About halfway through the journey, three (3!) very official-looking inspectors came on board. They asked to see my ticket. I'm used to this from Hungary because this randomly happens all the time. I got out my ticket card and handed it to them. The woman looked at it and swiped it through the machine to make sure it was good (it was good). The man behind her told me I had my feet on the seat. I apologized and took my feet off the seat. He then pointed to the tiniest sign in the world and told me it was against the law to have my feet on the seat. More apologies from me. The woman who checked my ticket told me she would have to write a report and asked if I had any ID with an address. I apologized more and gave her my drivers license. She asked how long I had been here. "I just flew in this morning. I'm so sorry, I really didn't know." "Do you have your plane ticket?" "YES." I pulled out my plane ticket and gave it to her. The man behind her told me it was a $230 fine to have my feet on the seat. My jaw dropped to the floor. The woman handed me back my license and plane ticket and said, "you clearly just got here this morning, so we'll give you a warning, but next time it won't work out so well." I thanked her A LOT and promised to never do it again and glared at my feet for betraying me like this. When they left the woman behind me leaned forward and said, "$230! Seems a bit much!" THANK YOU FOR EMPATHIZING, FELLOW HUMAN.

I got off the train at Frankston after that traumatizing experience, and I met Julie on the platform! So here's how I knew Julie (if you read my last blog, this story will seem very familiar.) Back in the summer of 2014, when I was traveling around Europe, I was in Barcelona. I did the whole American thing where I taught everyone in my hostel a drinking game, which led to my first hostel family and one of my favorite nights ever in the history of my life. Julie was there representing Australia, and she was the first one to jump in with me when I suggested skinny dipping in the Mediterranean when no one could make a decision about what to do. Fast forward to this past June when Julie messaged me telling me that she and her boyfriend Dylan were coming to Budapest! So they did, and they stayed with me for about a week, and we had a lovely time. So when I posted on Facebook that I was coming to Melbourne, Julie insisted that I stay with her. And here we are on the bottom of the world.

She drove me to her place in a town called Mt. Martha, which lies on the bay and is BEAUTIFUL. I met her mom and her sister, Kristine. I took a nap after my long morning and then woke up and went to a look-out point with Julie. We sat and talked for a while before heading back to her house. Dylan came home and he and Julie took me out for fish and chips (with chicken salt) on the beach.

My second day in Victoria was spent at The Pillars. I made the mistake of telling my mom that's where I was going for the day before I went, which led her to researching all the deaths that have occurred at The Pillars in the last 5 years. I told her we were just going to see them, not necessarily jump off. I lied. We drove about 5 minutes to these cliffs where a lot of people sat sunbathing and jumping off into the water. The water was crystal clear, and the views were amazing. We started by jumping off the lower point--only a few meters. I determined that it was SO FUN and climbed back up the rocks. We jumped off the higher point, which was about 7 meters while Kristine took pictures and videos. We hung out in the water and watched people do backflips off of where we had just jumped from. Terrifying. Once the adrenaline stopped pumping, we climbed back up. Kristine's camera hadn't caught my jump, so oh darn, I had to jump again. Huge bummer. Loved it. We went back to the house to shower and relax. Julie had to go to work, so Kristine took me out. We drove around the peninsula, stopping at a lot of beautiful spots on the sea and in vineyards. For dinner we had chicken parma and wine. Then we went to the shop and bought all Aussie snacks so that I could try as much stuff as possible. Most of it was delicious, most of it was weird. Then we went to the drive-in movie theater and saw Deadpool while we gorged on all our food. Awesome night.

My third day, I went into Melbourne. My friend Michelle is a counselor at my camp, and we were counselors together in 2009. She came and visited me in Boulder in 2010. I thought, "huh. She lives in Melbourne," so I went into the city for the day hoping to meet up for drinks later. I took the train in and did not put my feet up on the seats. The train turned out to be a pain because part of the track was shut down for maintenance, so there was a replacement bus for a good chunk, and let's just say I listened to a lot of podcasts and was easily able to finish my book. I spent the day in Melbourne walking along Brunswick Street, which is one of those hipster-y streets like Kings Street in Sydney that I LOVE. Full of cool bars, cafes, vintage shops, and design shops. I was completely in my element and so happy about it. Each alleyway running perpendicular to the street had beautiful graffiti as well. Michelle texted me around 5 and said she was coming into the city. I made my way down to the most touristy area and sat on some steps waiting for her. I popped into a church and walked in on a wedding (oops) and then made my way to the steps through loads of Chinese tourists. I saw Michelle and we were reunited and I love seeing camp friends in real life (another camp friend visited me in Budapest for a long weekend. So fun (see blog post about camp)).

Michelle and I went to the river that cuts through the city and went to a bar called Pony Fish that is at the base of a bridge in the middle of the river. We had a couple ciders and caught up on each others lives for the past 6 years. We walked through the city where I dropped her off at a restaurant where she was having a birthday dinner with her friends and then I headed back to the train station to go back to Frankston. Julie had texted me and asked me to get a bus to Mt. Martha, so that was the plan. She sent me the bus number and everything. Unfortunately, my phone that had 86% battery decided to completely drain itself on the train ride back, so I didn't know the bus number.

Here's a fun story. I get off the train and with the help of some very nice policemen, I get on a bus to Mt. Martha. Except I don't know my stop. I try to explain it to the bus driver, but I don't actually know where I am or what the address is. I found Julie's number on my iPhone in an old message, so I ask to borrow the bus driver's phone. It's about 9:30 pm at this point. He writes down the number and then radios the bus office so they can call and find out where my stop is. Meanwhile, these 18-year-old kids are on the bus, so I ask to borrow one of their phones to call Julie myself. I get an answer on Dylan's phone, and Julie is on the phone with the bus company. Turns out I got on the wrong bus, but she told me to get off at the Mt. Martha shops, and they'll pick me up. Everyone in this situation was incredibly nice to my poor lost tourist self. Eventually it was just me and the bus driver on the bus, and after all the commotion, we're best friends and chatting away. He mentioned that his son lives in Austria and he and his wife are going to visit him in December, but his wife is kind of worried about the cold. I reassured him that December is the absolute best time to be in Europe because CHRISTMAS MARKETS. He cheered up about it significantly and said he couldn't wait to tell his wife. Changing lives around the world. That's me! We got to my stop and Julie and Dylan picked me up and took me home. We had glasses of warm milo (chocolate stuff) and chatted for a couple hours before going to bed. They both had to work the next day, so I said goodbye.

My last day in Australia I finally figured out how to get access to my work visa. I printed out the thousands of pieces of paper I needed (I was getting into New Zealand!) and packed up all my belongings. Kristine and I spent the day driving around to different vineyards and wine tasting (I tasted, she drove). I tried 5 wines at the first place and then we went to three more places that had no room to park. Finally we landed somewhere that was serving lunch. We put ourselves on the waiting list (20 minutes) and I tasted some wines at the bar. We walked around the sculpture garden and then had lunch at the restaurant, which was delicious tapas. We went back to the house around 4, and Dylan was awake, so he drove me and my stuff to Frankston where I got on the trains and buses to go back to Melbourne. I put my bag in a locker and bought a bus ticket for the airport. Then I met Michelle and we walked around for a while before going to a really tasty burger place. I ate a kangaroo burger. I saw no kangaroos in Australia, but I ate one, so that counts I think. We then went to a bar and had a drink before Michelle had to leave because she had work the next day. I finished my drink and very slowly walked back to the bus station. I got on the bus, went to the airport, got on my plane, and moved to New Zealand to spend at least the next year of my life.

Thanks, Australia!!

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Australia
Looks like a grand time.