In which I go to the Bush

Wednesday marked the start of yet another new Australian experience. 
The day started out with me packing up my things once more. I only spent a single night back at Wendy's place, as I was to head out to the bush to spend time with my other relatives, Rosie and Steve.
Wendy picked me up on her lunch at 10am, and drove me to Upper Ferntree Gully where I go on a train and headed to Rollingwood. I would meet my rellies later at a pub, and Rob would bring Winnie down for a bit of a lunch. 
I mooched around a shopping centre for a while, grabbed a coffee, flirted with a charity seller, and then managed to get lost around five times trying to find this darned restaurant. Asked quite a few people for directions, and eventually I managed to get there, in thirty-plus degree heat so I was incredibly relieved to get inside.
But the thing is, that Rob and Win hadn't arrived yet, and because I'd never met them I had no idea what Rosie looked like, nor would she recognise me for the same reason. I asked the reception-staff if there was a booking under Jordan, but there were no bookings for Wednesday. So I explained to them that I had no idea what my family looked like, and I kept taking desperate looks around the seating area, why I don't know, because it's not like I'd have recognised them even if I saw them.


Thankfully a woman noticed I looked like a tourist (still don't know whether or not to be offended by that) and came up to me and said 'Are you Kathryn?' to which I relievedly said 'Yes! Are you Rosie?' 
Turns out it was her daughter Lucy, but close enough for me.


I got myself a drink, and then Rob and Winnie turned up and we ordered food. It was a decent meal, and it was nice to hear about Lucy and Lochy, Rosie's son. He was having a hard time of it at the moment with dental issues, and had recently come out of a dental-hospital after an operation-type-thing. Didn't sound like much fun, and I'm sure it wasn't for him.


At two-ish, we parted ways. Rosie dropped Lucy off at her new home in Preston, and we visited Lochy as well to see how he was doing. He'd only come out of the hospital either that day or the day before, so was still a bit groggy I think. We didn't stay long, and I didn't say much because 1) I didn't know the guy. 2) He'd recently had an operation. 3) His friend was over called Merlin.


Seriously, that was his name. His real name was Merlin. How cool is that? I wish I'd been blessed with such fortune. I'd never met another Merlin before, so I was quite happy about that.


After Rosie and Lochy caught up, we headed to Rosie's place, a two hour drive from the city. It's very strange how quickly the scenery can change in the space of two hours - everything went from green to brown, from lush to dust, from... I can't think of any more analogies. But you get the picture.


The bush is so different to the city. Well I mean, of course it is, but you don't quite comprehend it until you see it for yourself. Everything is spaced out so much - you have to travel a way to get anywhere. It's also so barren. There are just fields and fields of brown - mostly wheat and barley - so everything looks sort of the same. It's what people typically see when they think about Australia, just minus the desert. We weren't far in enough to see the desert. That is to be saved for another time.
The area of land I was in was actually one of the largest sites of gold mining ever in the world. Melbourne was built off of the profits of gold in this area; loads of Chinese people emigrated for the biggest Gold Rush in the world. However, if you didn't know that, you wouldn't figure it out from the landscape. There's nothing there really to tell you about it, other than a tourist miner's trail, and a museum dedicated to the Chinese workers.


Well I just potted about on Wednesday. Found roos in the yard, which was rather exciting. 
Oh, I'm not sure if anyone has seen the original Clash of the Titans, but if you have, you may be interested in this. The mechanical bird given to Perseus as a guide makes a mechanical-sounding trill. I have discovered that the origin of that bird-call is the Australian magpie. Being so nerdy, I was quite excited to find that out.


Thursday was hot. I'd slept on the couch the night before because there were a tonne of bugs in the room, and that didn't sit well with me. So I took my blanket and kipped on the couch. As such, I was awake incredibly early - like, six AM. I didn't want to go back to my bug-filled bedroom, and seeing as it was still dark outside it didn't leave me much to do except play on my netbook.
Eventually though, light did come. And I'm pleased to say that when sunrise happened, I was outside the house, ready and waiting for it. It was spectacular; such a breath-taking moment.  The sky turned orange and red and pink, shading the clouds over the trees, and it was just so magical.
Coupled with the fact that there were still kangaroos in the yard, I thought that was a pretty decent start to my bush-stay. 


After Rosie woke, we wracked our brains for things to do, and eventually decided upon visiting a mineral spa half an hour away. Only thing is, with my still-healing tattoo, I wasn't meant to submerge it in water for two weeks, and it hadn't yet been that long. I assured Rosie that I could wrap it up in cling film though, and it sure did look funny. As I swam in this mineral water I kept nervously checking to see that it was alright, which of course it was. On one of the layers of cling (I wrapped it about six times over) some air had gotten trapped, and there was a little pocket of oxygen in the water, which looked very amusing. I'm not too sure what onlookers thought of it, but I'm increasingly finding that I don't give a stuff what strangers think anymore, which is great. I can proudly go somewhere by myself and not worry about whether I look like a loner or not. which is an excellent feeling.


We swam lengths of the pool, and sat in the mineral-jacuzzi, for quite a while. It was a lovely relaxing experience, helped along by some soothing meditational music that reminded me of my home back in England, and all the amateur meditation I'd do in my bedroom. which was kind of bittersweet.


After the spa, we had a little snack in a nearby cafe. I had chips, and Rosie had dorito-things with some kind of salady stuff. Whilst we were eating, the skies decided to open, and it rained. By God, did it rain. It chucked it down with such ferocity that even Rosie was in awe. Apparently it doens't happen like that often in the bush, but it would be my luck for it to happen whilst I was there. I do so love the rain.
And I hope you detected my sarcasm in that last sentence.


Well, the rain didn't stop me from buying an ice cream. Wild dingoes wouldn't have stopped me from buying my ice cream. A gorgeous Magnum of vanilla and honeycomb encased in milk chocolate. It was delicious, and I was much carefuler with this magnum, considering the last one I had ended up as a white splodge on the pavement of King Street back in CBD.


We eventually made it home, stopping a few times alongside the road to wait until a heavy dose of rain passed. Again, there is not much to do at Rosie and Steve's place, and since it was raining we were confined to the house anyway. So again, I ended up playing on my netbook, which translates into watching past My Little Pony episodes.


Friday was another slow day. but had an exciting start - Wendy had agreed to go and see Lady Gaga with me, and tickets went on sale that day! Needless to say I set my alarm and had the internet ready to go. We'd agreed on what tickets we wanted, and that we'd see her in Brisbane. That would mean a flight to Queensland by Wendy, but she's assured me it wont be a problem so I'm trying not to feel so bad about it.
Anyway, I managed to snag us two tickets ;) We are totally going Gaga on June 14th! Although, this does mean that I'll have to extend my stay. Not that this is a bad thing - this is a very very good thing. I'm just not sure how long I'll be extending it for yet. Watch this space.
Turns out that Wendy also got us two tickets... We are both just so efficient that we took charge and both got tickets. Ergo, there will be some Gaga tickets going on sale soon. Hopefully we'll be abe to make a bit of profit from them ;)


Anyway, Rosie and Steve had a guy over that day, filling in their dirt-drive way which had lots of dips in it due to heavy rainfall over the years, so going for a drive was out of the question for the moment. There was nothing wrong with a walk, however. So I trekked down the drive and out of their land, turned left and walked. I walked for a fair distance, observing the same brown fields and the same brown verges that lined each property. It wasn't much to do, but it was a walk. And as I said, the bush has a sort of rustic charm to it, so it wasn't so bad.


After the drive-man had gone away (after a break over a cup of tea, and telling us about an operation he'd had on his private parts in quite intimate detail), Steve said he was headed for a meeting in Castlemain, and would I like to be dropped off? So yes please, I would.


Castlemain is a small town with a quaint feel to it, about ten-fifteen minutes drive from their place. There are tonnes of independent shops, which I'm a great fan of, and lots of little cafes. I grabbed a mocha and a cheese toastie in one of them, and was served by a lovely young man, whom I think was rather surprised when I took my plate and mug back inside after I'd finished with them; most people tend to leave it on the table, but I don't like to make people clear up after me, even if they are paid to do it. I think it just encourages the customers to leave their clutter, and I think that's rude.


Anyway, I headed off to discover more of Castlemain. There were two parks nearby - one with a playground on it, and a larger one with a skatepark. There were little antique shops that weren't so little once you got inside - it was like the TARDIS effect where the front doesn't tell the whole truth about the inside. There were awesome things in that shop - everything from brass doorknobs to old toy cars, from old records to art-deco lampshades. 
I even saw a lamp in the shape of a Greek goddess, which completely made my day. The thing is, it could have been either Athena, since it had the war helmet which is one of Athena's symbols, seeing how she was born from Zeus' mind fully decked out in armour; or it could have been Aphrodite, since it was holding a clam shell, and Aphrodite was born of the sea foam which that could have resembled. I shall never know which one it was, but I do know that when I have my own property I want something like that in it.


Anyway, I dove into a little book shop and bought another John Marsden book, the author of the Tomorrow When the War Began series. Just a little one, small enough to fit in my pack. I then went to another cafe, got another coffee and started reading. After I'd finished my drink, I made my way over to the large park and settled down in the shade and carried on. It was a very nice way to spend the afternoon, and I've found that I really don't mind my own company, which is lovely.


That evening, Rosie and Steve had their weekly meetup with their friends at the pup in Newstead village. They reserve a table every Friday, and up to eight people turn up for a meal and a natter. It was interesting meeting some 'local' Aussie people, but in truth the only real Australian was Gary. He was a fun-loving guy with a twinkle in his eyes, and liked to laugh a lot. I liked him, he was funny. 
The two non-Aussies were from Scotland and Wales. Seriously, the amount of British people I've met whilst being here is crazy. Seems like Oz really is the place to be. Anyway, the Scottish guy had a beard down to his collar bone, and you could hardly see his mouth for all the facial hair surrounding it.
I don't reckon the Welsh guy counts himself as Welsh, seeing as he moved to Oz when he was about two, but he still sounded quite British to me. He must have picked it up from his parents or something.


I had my first parmagiana that night. It's origin is probably Italian, judging by the name, but it's the most common pub dish in Australia. And darned tasty, too. It's chicken fillet in breadcrumbs, with a tomato puree on top, and then that's topped with melted cheese. Served with chips (I politely declined the salad), it's quite easily one of the best meals I've had in Australia thus far. I'm going to make parma a big thing in England when I get back - it's too good not to have on our menus.


Saturday Rosie drove me to the train station in Castlemain, and I went to Bendigo, a town a fair big bigger than Colchester. Bought a sleeping-bag compressor which I'm going to put my clothes in to make room in my pack. You basically shove (ahem, fold) all of your clothes in, do the cord up, then pull the straps down as far as you can, and the air gets expelled from the sack and everything becomes compressed. Neat, eh? 


I wondered around, but I wasn't as impressed with Bendigo as I had been with Castlemain. There just wasn't the atmosphere about the place, as is the way with all moderately sized towns and cities. It was all very mainstream, with chain-shops and not much else.
I did visit a cathedral whilst I was there though. The Sacred Heart Cathedral, and it was just like the ones back in England, except newer. I lit an electric candle (that brought a wry smile to my face) and put a dollar in the donation box.


Eventually I got back to the house, and Rosie and Steve were preparing for a small party-of-sorts. The group from the pub the night before, plus a few more, were coming over for a get-together that happens once a month at Rosie and Steve's place. Everyone brings some food and/or drink that they've prepared, and again just have a good catch-up. It was quite a nice atmosphere, as it usually is between friends. And I found that I have something in common with the Welsh guy and another woman - we were all connected by Boxted.


I'm not even kidding. When Welshie visited Britain on a sort of working holiday, he harvested apples near the area. The woman's ancestors lived in Boxted before emigrating to Australia in the 1800s, and I have a good friend there. The woman was rapt - she wanted to know everything about it, which was a bit difficult for me seeing as I've only been a few times. She wanted to know about the church there, the pubs, about everything. She's never been there, and only recently found out her ancestors lived there.
I said that it was a small village, with mostly elder people in it. The sort of place where everyone knows everyone else, and the sort of place where kids don't really want to be.
She gave this sort of satisfied nod as if I was confirming what she's researched or something, which gave me another wry smile. I've been getting a few of those lately.


Anyway, we had dinner, which comprised of Steve's home-made chips, which were delicious, chicken, Gary's sausage rolls, Barbara's tropical fruit juice (I avoided due to large lumps of fruit in it) and Barry's erm... something. After that it was dessert, and someone had made cheesecake. I found some ice cream in the freezer, and Rosie found some chocolate sauce, you know the cool stuff that solidifies when it touches the coldness of the ice cream, and happily nommed away two bowls... small ones, of course.
I kept myself to myself, and thought about things like arranging with Wendy when I'd be getting picked up on the next day. It was the end of my stay in the bush, as tomorrow I was headed back to Wendy's place in Melbourne.
True enough, Wendy rang me later, and I smirked to myself as MY LITTLE PONYYYYY!! rang out across the living room, and the adults were like 'What on Earth?'. I casually sauntered over to my mobey and was like 'Sup', playing it cool whilst sniggering internally at the confused adults.
It's little things like that that keep me happy in a place where I don't know too many people.


Anyway, it was decided that I would get the twelve train from Castlemain to Melbourne, which was an hour and a half journey. I was going to entertain myself by writing my blog, and watching Pony videos. Unfortunately I did more pony-watching than blog-writing, which explains to you all why this is so late. My apologies again.


I have to say though, that nights in the bush are incredible to witness. Because there's no light pollution, you can just see stars and stars and stars. It was absolutely beautiful, and makes me rue the cities with their lights, where no one can appreciate the night sky.


So on Sunday, which turned out to be Rosie's birthday but no one told me because they hadn't wanted me to fuss about a gift and whatnot, I was driven to Castlemain and got a teensy bit emotional as I hugged my newly-met cousin goodbye. I don't think she noticed though, which was fine by me. Found a seat next to a nice Australian woman, and we made small talk until I went antisocial and plugged my headphones in.


I arrived at Southern Cross station at twenty to two, and my main objective was to get to Fitzroy to pick up that jumper I had ordered, which was ready to collect. So, I hopped on the 96 tram, remembering it from when Nic and I went there, and looked to get off at Brunswick Street.


Apparently, there's a section of Melbourne called Brunswick, which just next to Fitzroy. And Brunswick is not the same as Brunswick Street. So I had quite a walk back the way the tram had come in order to get to Fitzroy, which was not tremendously enjoyable with a rucksack on my back filled to the brim with clothes and wash-stuff and whatnot, not to mention that it was an incredibly hot day. Again, it's one of those things which only I am dumb enough to do.


Eventually I managed to get myself back to Fitzroy, and onto Brunswick Street. Found the Ministry of Style again, and picked up my awesome cyber-goth jacket, which looks amazing, if I do say so myself. It's black, with sleeves that flair out at the cuffs. There are shoulder-pads with three neon-blue plastic strips travelling their berth, and two strips on  the elbow pads. There are two plastic clasps going over the zip, between my chest and my belly button, and neon strips outlining them. It is just 20% cooler than anything I own.
I went and found a pizza bar after that, and chowed down on a margherita whilst watching the Iron Woman competition on a tv there. Gosh, the stamina that these girls have is incredible! First they swam out to sea, did a loop round a buoy, and swam back. Then they got a kneel-board and did the same, and then they got a paddle-board and did the same! It was awe-inspiring, but I know I shall never be that athletic.


I went and sat in the park for a while, the same one Nic and I sat with my new ukulele, and then went for a walk around the Royal Exhibition Hall next to the Melbourne Museum, where they had a backpackers expo going on. This meant that there were tonnes of stalls advertising tours, flights, hostels, camping gear... I picked up quite a few leaflets and phone numbers which will definitely come in useful during my trip.


Well, Wendy picked me up at about five-thirty from there. She and her friend Linda were just on their way back from a Roxette concert in Sydney, and picked me up on their way back from the airport. Roxette is an old-school band from the 80's, for those of you who don't know.


After dropping Linda off it was a forty-minute drive back to Wendy's place. And as much as I'd enjoyed my time in the bush, I was glad to be back where it was lush and green and tree-y. Thankfully the puppies were more excited to see their mummy than me, so Wendy got the brunt of that.


It was just a chilled evening, and we were all in bed by half nine. I seem to be going to bed at around then each night now, and feeling that it's late if it gets to ten-fifteen. I swear, I swear that I shall not become an early-bedder-early-riser. I shall not. It's not how I roll - not now, not even. Period.


Monday I set about finding a job. Had a look at the local online jobsites, and phoned the Harvest Trail Hotline. They said it would be hard to me to get a farming job if I didn't have a car, which I don't. And thinking about it, it will be hard for me to go to any job if I don't have a car, so that's something I need to think about. Buy a car, get a job, get my funds back up, and carry on with my trip.
I also booked myself in for a few courses in Melbourne. The first is called RSA, which stand for the Responsible Service of Alcohol, and is a certificate you need in order to work in any bars or pubs in Australia. It's a four-hour course, which I'll be doing on the 2nd of March. I'm rather excited about it, too. It'll be good fun, I reckon. I'm particularly looking forward in the practical training of how to make cocktails ;)
The other course is on the 8th of March, and is three hours long. That's the Coffee for Beginners course, which will also be rather fun. Proper coffee-making equipment! I'll finally know Starbuck's secret to their marvelous mochas! Rather keen for it, as, you all know, mocha is the only coffee worth drinking.


I made about twenty copies of my CV, and the next day went to a place called Knox, which is where Wendy and I went to the cinema, and handed a few out. It was mostly to cafes and small restaurants (I'm hoping one called Secret Recipe will take me on, ethat's my number one), and I was able to tell them that I'd be doing these courses soon, which would hopefully make me a whole lot employable.
I also did a cheeky one for Toys R Us, but that wasn't a serious one, and I don't expect anything to come of it. At least I can say I tried, though.


But, how did you get to Knox? I hear you cry. Well, I drove. Wendy walked to work and left me her car for the day. I gotta tell you, I'm so thankful for the sat-nav. Obviously I had looked up my route on Google Maps first, but because I had the sat-nav I could relax a bit more and concentrate on driving rather than always looking for sign-posts.
It was also the first time I've ever drove an automatic. They're the most popular car out here, automatics. A couple of times I went to put the clutch down and then realised it wasn't there when I met the floor. And also, I was thankful that everyone does the speed limit and not go over. They're incredibly tight on speeding in Australia, so everyone does the same speed. This meant I didn't have to worry about the guy behind me getting impatient, and we just moved in a steady convoy to Knox, which was a twenty minute drive, I'd reckon. I was flipping glad to have arrived, I can tell you.
I mean, I'm perfectly qualified to drive because I have my license. But it's very different when it's someone else's car, in a place you don't know, and especially when it's not a manual and is a bit bigger. But I got there and back without injury, so all was well.


Well, that's my Wednesday to Tuesday blog. Again, sorry it was late. I'll try to get on top of that for next time. Also, I hope things seem a little clearer with the extra added details I've put in. All this John Marsden is rubbing off on me!

In which I get a tattoo.

Wednesday, the day after Dracula's, Nic and I got on a tram in Fitzroy and hiked down to St Kilda. It's a little beach town with lots of night life. We explored the town after dropping our stuff off at the hostel, seeing as we couldn't check in till around one thirty.


It's known for it's cake shops, and by God is there cake. Four shops, practically all next to each other, all selling nothing but cakes and coffees. One could certainly get fat in St Kilda. We had a mooch around some shops, and I bought my own portable wi-fi set. It's a bit crap, but I don't have to pay a stupid $4 an hour that the hostels charge. Seriously, that's a lot of money, and the time goes so quickly. This way, I can spend as much time as I like (as long as there's signal). I have had problems where I just can't connect, but apparently that could be down to confined spaces such as hostel rooms. 


Well we walked around, and soon discovered that there was a tattoo parlour nearby. We both wanted a tattoo, and decided to go take a look. Had a chat with the guy at the counter about prices and sizes, and then went to a park with my new wi-fi, and checked out designs.


After much debating, I decided on a funky gecko one, and Nic chose a blow-your-mind-awesome-socks phoenix one. For an hour and a quarter, I sat whilst a guy from Suffolk drew a gecko on my ankle/foot. It was incredibly painful, and I may have had two bouts of tears. It didn't help that the guy joked at times, but looked incredibly serious when joking. For example, when I asked 'are we nearly done yet?' when I could clearly see that he had nearly finished inking it. When he replied in the stoniest voice "Nope, I have to go over it again after I've done this", I started crying. His colleague noticed, and said 'No, no, he's just joking!' and gave me some chocolate. Win.
The guy afterwards said that he had inked wussier people than me, but there weren't too many. Still, I'm happy with how I handled it. I'm a silent crier, so I just made faces and occasionally went 'Ow, ow ow'. But other than that, I was cool. Here are some finished photos - one gecko, two gecko, three gecko, four.
It turns out that I swear more when I'm in the car and on rollercoasters than when I'm having a gazillion needles stabbed into my foot. Weird, huh.


Nic had hers done too, and it turned out fantastic. It is, quite honestly, one of the best tattoos I have ever seen. They did an amazing job with it. We're both immensely happy with our tats. I'm chuffed with mine, because it symbolizes what an amazing journey I'm on at this point in my life. I'm a happy bunny :)


On the way back to the hostel, we stopped at McDonalds and had a satisfying dinner, and then had a well-deserved Cold Rock. Bought some Glad Wrap (cling film to you and I) and some sellotape, and have been taking care of it ever since :) It's a beautiful thing.


All of the girls, apart from one, in our dorm were English, and super-friendly. The most friendly backpackers we had shared a room with. A lot of them had met on their travels and they just stuck together, which gives me hope for my future hostel stays. Tatiana was from Canada, and I think Nic was in love with her accent. It was quite cool, but we must not forget that Canada spewed out Justin Beiber. Their credibility has gone down somewhat.
One of the girls that day managed to get a job in a call centre. She had a script to read, but sounded terribly rehearsed when she did it. I wouldn't mind doing it because it'd be a source of income, but what would put me off would be the grouchy people that immediately hang up or get pissy with you. There has to be more glamorous jobs...
Well, there are :) Tatiana has a job at the Spaghetti bar, and one other has a job as a head chef in a cafe :) There is hope for me yet.


That night we went for a stroll. Past all of the cafe's and bars, and down towards the beach. There's a great big parkland with a few playgrounds and huge grassy areas next to the beach, and we happily took a walk through the park. We had some music going on loudspeaker, and I ended up dancing and to everything that came on. It was a lot of fun - wandering though a big park in the dark, no one in sight, singing me little heart out. You don't need alcohol to have a good time.


So, Thursday Nic and I just wondered around St Kilda, stopping every few metres to check our tattoos. We had to stay out of the sun as much as we could, because it is an open wound after it's just been done, and is incredibly sensitive - a.k.a easily sunburnt. And needs to heal slow-like. So we stuck to the shade, and then took a walk down the pier at St Kilda. 


The pier is very beautiful - a decorative cafe at the bottom, and behind it is a path to some wild penguins that live in some rocks. It stands over blue ocean and little rock pools, and fishermen gather to try and get a fish or two.


Nic and I strolled up, and a fisherman cast his line. I saw it out of my peripheral vision, and was like Heh, in a movie that'd go through my leg or something.
Well, it didn't go through my leg, but another two centimetres lower and it would have pierced my thigh. Luckily, the hook got snagged on my shorts instead. I just kind of stood stock-still for a while, and then this Chinese fisherguy (or some Asian fisherguy) came running up to me spewing apologies left right and centre.
In a sort of stunned-haze I didn't make a fuss. Said something along the lines of "Looks like I'm the catch of the day!" and just watched as he struggled to unhook me from the metal.


In hindsight, I hope his bloody line snapped.


Well we walked up to see the penguins, but only got a glimpse of two that were hiding away. We then walked back down the pier to escape the sunlight, but got cornered by an old guy in a wheel chair. He started going on about how girl backpackers always lay on the beach or the grass to get a sun-tan, but have their legs open. 
Well yes, that is generally how one lays when sunning. Knees up, legs bent.
This guy then went on about how all of the sex offenders of Victoria (the state that Melly is in) come to St Kilda to photograph the unsuspecting backpackers, and how he had made it his personal mission to alert all young ladies of these nefarious fellows.
And also, to Stay away from Pervert Park! That's where they getcha. They wait for girls to go into the loo, and then pounce on 'em and rape 'em cause they're not quick enough to pull their pants up.
I mean, this guy is like seventy-odd. Claims he can't read or write (but I don't believe that for a second), and was preaching on about how the police force are shoddy and do most of the raping and stuff, and get away with it because of their position.


I wasn't very comfortable listening to this guy. I mean, which ever beach you go to in a world, someone somewhere will have a camera. It's just the way it is - it's part of the beach package. I wasn't going to let some jaded old man put me off sunbathing. It was a disturbing encounter.


Well, we went into the town, to Acland Street. We went to one of St Kilda's famous cake shops, and I got a slice of choccy cake and Nic got a slice of apple pie. I had so much trouble finishing it because it was so darn rich. But finish it I did, and enjoy it I did even more. Choco cake is good cake.


We headed back to the hostel and just chilled for the rest of the day. Played a lot of Uno, and learnt the first few notes of My Little Pony on the ukulele. Nic also taught me the well-known notes of Smoke on the Water, which should please my dad immensely. The uke will be fun to learn, I feel.


Nic left on Friday morning to go back to Brisbane, and I was to meet my cousin Wendy and go stay with her. She got on an airport-shuttle bus at 10 past 10, and we said a sweet goodbye. I wasn't meeting Wendy till 5, so had quite a lot of time to kill. I went back to the tattoo shop to ask a few questions, and then grabbed a few mochas at a cafe. Had a nice chat with Malice on Skype as a catch-up, and then meandered down to the park where Nic and I had walked two days previous, and had a bit of a sunbathe whilst reading a book. That was until around two, when I grabbed my things from the Coffee Palace, and got on a tram to Flinders Street Station.
I must confess that I did not pay for my ticket on the tram. I didn't have any coins, and no one had any change. I shamelessly stayed on the tram till I reached my destination, and gleefully had my head out the window the entire way. I'm such a tourist.


So I got on a train, and after 59minutes arrived in Upper Ferntree Gully. Wendy drove to meet me, and after an excited hug we got back to her place in Rowville. Met the dogs, five-month William (named after my great uncle Ted) and two-year Tess (short for Tigress). They're a bundle of energy, so we just dumped my stuff and took them on a quick trot around a nearby track to get them to expel some excitement.


Wendy and I then went to a nearby shopping complex to pick up some chicken nuggets and some potato Smileys (!!!), coco pops, choco milk, and of course some Pony biscuits. I now have six stickers out of thirty :D Exciting times for Merlin.


We got fish and chips for dinner, and just caught up about how we each were and what we'd been doing since we last saw each other. Wendy has been to the UK twice - once by herself when she was sixteen, and another with her step-sister when she was a bit older. The first time she visited, I was five years old. That's kind of trippy, if you think about it. I think she was around twenty the second time, which would make me around nine. I was a teeny-tiny itty-bitty twurlin-Merlin.


Wendy is as awesome as I remember, if not more. She's cuddly and just lovely, and I remember holding her in a sort of role-model, idol kind of regard when I was younger. I guess I still do, because if I can become half the person she is, I shall consider myself to be an incredibly lucky girl.


On Saturday I slept in. Wendy and Geoff went to help a friend of theirs to move house, and then went to a house auction of a friend of theirs, so I had theirs to myself. Slept till about ten, then after a bowl of coco pops and choco milk took the dogs around the track. Came back and watched Ella Enchanted, which I now know to be a silly but fun film, and learnt some stuff on the ukulele via the internet. Had lunch, and then watched Stardust, one of my favouritist films ever. 


It was a very chilled out day. My cousins Rob and Rory came over for a bbq in the evening. Rob is Wendy's dad, and Rory is her brother. I'd not met Rory before but he's very nice, and we had long nerdy chats about comics and stuff so that was good. Rob had come over in the summer of last year, so I had already met him.
I tried pear cider at the bbq and found it was alright. A bit odd, but okay. Still haven't found anything that compares to my Schnapps and lemonade. Well, I don't think there's much in this world that can compare. It's Archer's, after all.


Sunday, Wendy and I drove up to visit my great aunt Winnie. My grandad's brother was her husband, which is how we are related. Winnie is Rob's mother and Wendy's grandmother, and that's how we're all tied in. She's absolutely great - the life and soul of the party. You can say something, and then she'll remember a song with that line in and will start singing away. She's not got any teeth either, and makes incredibly amusing faces as a result. She was saying how her philosophy is to always look at the brighter side of life, and to be happy no matter what comes your way. 
It's something we could all do with trying.


Wendy dropped me off at Rob's place, and we went for a bit of a drive around the area. He showed me where he volunteered at a radio station (he's a presenter with his own show) and we recorded a promo of me saying Hi! This is Merlin from Colchester, and you're listening to Yarra Valley FM 99.1 so that will be played on the air occasionally, which is very cool. It's helping me on my way to world domination ;)


We went for a drive around the Dandenong mountains, a very picturesque drive. Great views out over parts of Victoria. 
Mountains are nice and all, but not tremendously my scene when we're in a car. I didn't get out to take a look, because I could see from inside the car. It was pretty, but a view is a view.


We got back to Rob's place, and he went and had a kip. I lost myself on some ukulele sites online, and spent a happy hour or so learning stuff by LIGHTS and even a Florence song (only for you, Bestie). I can also do the Axel F song. Older people will know it as the theme from Beverly Hills Cop, whilst us young'uns will know it as Crazy Frog. Either way, it's still pretty damn cool. And I'm still working on the My Little Pony theme, which is coming along quite nicely.


We went and had pizza for dinner, and I got in Rob's good books by observing that the place was happy to sponsor local clubs and activities. By suggesting that they sponsor the radio station, Rob will love me for the rest of my days. Clever Merlin ;)


I watched the end of Lilo and Stitch, and then we watched New Girl. After that it was the recent Clash of the Titans, with Sam Worthington (the guy from Avatar). Twas very good, as I'm a big Greek myth fan. I got very excited when the original mechanical owl from Athena in the original movie made a cameo appearance. I'm a nerd like that.


I kipped on the couch that night, and tried to calm myself when I woke to the sound of Rob hoovering up a huntsman spider. They're great big things that aren't dangerous, but look like they should be. Thankfully he got rid of it, but it's scary that we have to check his car when we go out to make sure one isn't going to drop onto our heads whilst we're plodding along. 


So we've now moved on to Monday. Rob and I headed to Healesville Sanctuary, which is home to Australian animals and reptiles. So naturally, there were kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, wombats, dingos and tazmanian devils. Oh, and I saw my first ever real-live platypus! They are amazing. So weird and fascinating - they've literally got a duck's bill on their face. They're right out of the dinosaur period, in regards to fashion. Webbed feet, a duck's bill, and a beaver's tail. God was definitely high when he created them, and I think that's absolutely fantastic :D They also are one of only two animals in the entire world that lay eggs but feed milk to their young. I think that's how it goes, anyway.
So naturally, I bought some platypus earrings in the shop when we left. It seemed like the right thing to do.


We got back from the Sanctuary at around four, after stopping for some excellent chips on the way back. Rob mooched around on the computer, and I found Gnomeo and Juliet on TV and put that on. It was very good - a bit too much emphasis on Elton John, but good none the less. I did think that Gnomeo's voice sounded very rehearsed at times, but it was an enjoyable film.
I then had the difficult task of choosing a film to watch. Rob's house is like a branch of HMV. It's full to the brim with records, cds, dvds and videos. Literally. There is a room which has bookcases lining all four walls, each stacked alphabetically with DVDs, and even then there are sacks on the floor. There's more DVDs you could ever watch in a lifetime in that room. There's another room full of videos, and another full of records. There are also a bazillion CD stands, all full of old-school music, and about seven guitars.
Rob is what we call a hoarder.


Eventually I picked out Lord of the Rings. I've never seen it, but have fun playing the games where you kill everything in sight. Quinn and I used to play it on the GameCube and have races to see who could kill more orcs. Fun times.
It was a good film, and the effects were good, but I wasn't tremendously fussed by it. Frodo annoys me no-end, and so do his little furry Hobbit friends. I mean what kind of pillock lights a fire at night when you're being hunted down for agents of pure Evil? 
I guess what I mean is my life hasn't been changed now that I've seen it.


Tuesday we went up the Dandenongs again, but this time not through forest-y bits, but towards little towns. We stopped in a village called Emerald, and I had a mocha and a muffin at a little coffee shop. We met two holiday makers there, from Hampshire. Seriously, the amount of people I've met from England is just stupid. I mean, the guy that did my tattoo was from Suffolk of all places, and studied and worked in Colchester. There I am getting my foot stabbed and he says 'So do you miss the Hole in the Wall?' which was trippy. It really is a small world.


Anyway, after the coffee we went and got an ice-cream each, and then I went to board a Steam train called Puffing Billy. The track runs through the mountains, giving great views over Melbourne. And I know I said a view is a view when it comes to mountains, but being on a steam train makes it infinitely better. All the bouncing as the wheels go over the track, the wind in your face, the smell of the steam coming from the engine... there's nothing quite like it. I sat on the window ledge and had my legs dangling off the side the entire way, and I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed it. I'm such a gangly thing that occasionally tall plants on the grass verges caressed my feet as we chugged past. It was such good fun.
Even the conductor was from Manchester. He'd been in Melbourne for forty years, and now that he was retired he volunteered on the train. That is a retirement plan I could definitely look forward to. I had a nice chat with him about England and what my plans were, and he was very impressed :) He even gave me a student-priced fare instead of an adult one, which saved me around $6. He was a lovely chap.


The train pulled into Belgrave, where I met up with Rob again. I bought some post cards and went and got another mocha at a cafe, and wrote about my train-trip. It was very good for me, and I had a brilliant time.


I'd finished my stay with Rob, and he dropped me back at Wendy's house that arvo (afternoon). Said hello to the dogs again, and Will was incredibly excited that he kept jumping up. Unfortunately, he tore the earring from my ear and ate it.
...
Well I didn't know what the Hell to do. I stood there flapping around for a few minutes, before I gathered myself together and called Wendy, who after laughing at me called her vet. Because the earring was so small it wont affect the dog, which is what was worrying me. He'll just get it out of his system eu de naturale. But I shan't ever be wearing that earring again, which is a shame because they were beautiful, and a Christmas present from my parents.


Wendy came home from work at around five, and we had a laugh about Will. Geoff was working that evening, which sucked because it was Valentines day. So Wendy and I decided to go out to the cinema instead. I wrote a quick CV on the computer to hand in at a fast-food place called Grilled, which Wendy said employed loads of people on a temporary basis, which would be perfect for me.
We saw The Vow, with Channing Tatum and the girl from the Notebook. It was a good film, sad in places and amusing in others. It meant something to Wendy, who actually knows a couple that happened to. It's so unfortunate and cruel that you don't actually think of these things happening to people in real life, despite the fact that the Vow was based on true events.


 Well, there we go. Everything that happened until Tuesday the 14th, Valentines day. I'll try and be better next week and have it up on Tuesday again. My apologies that it was late.

Fitzroy and Dracula's!

Tuesday morning started off with lovely chats with Maddy and Bestie, and it was good to get a quick catch up with them both. My bestie got an offer from Southampton Solent University :D So mega proud. She's going to one of the top animators ever, you know. They will never have seen a talent like it.


After that I mooched on facebook for a while, being careful of the time because you have to pay for internet by the hour at the Nunnery. It was the same at King Street, so I presume it will be the same at the Coffee Palace in St Kilda, where we will be heading Wednesday for two nights. I'll be sorry to leave the Nunnery and Fitzroy, as it's such an interesting part of the city, but I'm keen to be by the beach again.


I know I said that Fitzroy is amazing, but I never really explained why. Well, I'll give you that explanation now. It's a mixture of opposites - retro and modern, sophisticated and scruffy, posh and goth. The retro clothes shops are everywhere, with 20's to 60's clothing all hanging on the rails patiently. The retro look is common here, as it is back in England at the moment. When people run out of ideas they look back to what worked in the past, and that's where this fashion has come from. 


But then right next door to the retro shop, there'll be a shop all in black. There are quite a few gothic shops in Fitzroy, and Mal you would love it. Nic's taken me into almost every one we've passed, and even I have to admit that some of the stuff can be classy, even if it's not what I would wear personally. I never realised how expensive goth clothing is - there were corsets there for around $300 and more, which is just crazy. If you wanna be a goth-goth, you gotta have the money.


There are lots of little independant shops here, and that's refreshing too. Rather than seeing the high-street retailers again and again, and not having too much choice in where to shop, in Fitzroy there's so much choice you won't know what to do with yourself. Most of it is tremendously expensive, but still, the choice is there.


There is an awful lot of graffiti here. There are some rubbish scribbles and tags of bored teenagers looking to break some petty laws, enough to get them into trouble but not quite enough to be badly punished for it. But mostly, there's a lot of graffiti art. Some of these pictures are incredibly good. I'd never really looked at grafiti as a form of art, and maybe that tells me that I've been narrow-minded about the subject of art, but these are so good that they can't not be classified as art. You know the really famous traditional Japanese painting of a roaring ocean with huge waves? Someone has recreated it on a wall, and it looks amazing. There's real talent in graffiti, if it's taken seriously.


The buildings here are a lot different to the ones in Queensland. These look more English, with Victorian-style architecture and designs. There are small balconies with metal railings, and they just look so quaint. It's such a lovely area of the city.


Well, Fitzroy is just awesome. I much prefer it to the central city, and would recommend it to anyone. Nic and I were happy just strolling around and taking a look at things, and sometimes that can be part of a holiday too. You needn't have a solid plan for every day as long as you're having fun. It's important to slow down and look at the scenery every once in a while, otherwise you'll miss things.


That's why at the moment I'm sitting on the balcony of the hostel, just outside our dorm, looking over Fitzroy parkland with a ukulele on my lap and a smile on my face. The sun is shining, it's a beautiful day, and I'm in a beautiful place with beautiful people. Life doesn't get much better than this.
~~~~


Tuesday night, we went to Victoria Street, and went to Dracula's. It's a comedy gothic-cabaret, and it was amazing. It was thrilling, exciting, enticing and incredibly sexy. I now have a new-found appreciation for cabaret and burlesque, and will certainly be looking into seeing more shows in the future.


Like I said, it was gothic-themed. As such, all of the staff were dressed like vampyres, but not in the traditional high-collar I vant to suck your blud style, but really cleverly done. They were all wearing corsets (even the guys) and had extreme eye-make up and dark lipstick. They were in character too, as our usher described it as a human zoo where there would be a feast, but not for the audience... 


We ascended some steps and took a miniature ghost-train to the auditorium. How cool is that? I think they said they were the only place in the world to have transport inside to the viewing station. I spent the entire time clutching Nic's arm with my head down, avoiding looking at anything because I'm such a wuss. It was actually pretty scary though - from what I did see, the figures were incredibly detailed, which meant a lot of blood and guts. Yum.


Nic and I were directed to our seas, at table 302. The tables were pretty small so don't let the number fool you. It's very cleverly laid out - on the east side there is a large-ish stage, and running down from that were six or seven very long tables with chairs either side. That was where most of the people were sitting. At the end of the tables, there was a gap for waiters and waitresses (called Drakulettes) to walk through, and then there were three small raised levels, like layers, with two chairs on each. We were sitting next to each other at the very back, but that was a good thing; we were on the highest level so we had a clear view of the stage. I felt sorry for the people on the lowest level because they'd have a hard time seeing anything with tonnes of heads in the way.


There was a certain Drakulette that amused Nic and I greatly, because he was completely dressed as a she-vampyre. It was done so well that I had no idea until he yelled out 'Hey!' in an incredibly deep voice, which was so amusing. He even walked like he was on a catwalk, kept smoothing his leather skirt down, and was generally just so funny. He was a highlight of the night, for sure. God bless transsexual goths-vampyres.


There was a three-course dinner wih pre-entertainment music, performed live by the guys and girls that would be dancing for us later. It was called Spine Crusher's Jazz Band, and they performed loads of songs but with their own jazz-twist to it. It took a while to figure out what they were singing, but I managed to peg Aerosmith's Walk This Way, Gnarles Barkley's Crazy and Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out. I was a bit sceptical when Britney Spears' Toxic was performed, but it wasn't too bad, surprisingly.


The Entres food consisted of chicken tandoori with summer vegetables in a weird poppadom-like-thing-that-was-shaped-like-a-bowlers-hat. I'd never had tandoori chicken before, but it wasn't too bad. Normal chicken is better, but that stuff is alright. Needless to say, I didn't eat the summer vegetables.


The main course for me was oven-grilled chicken fillet in a light champagne hollandoisse (or something beginning with H) sauce, with a specific ype of bacon that begins with P (it was salty and yummy), with summer vegetables and on a bed of creamy mashed potato. Well, the chicken was amazing, and so was the H sauce. The P bacon was also really good, and I'm proud of myself for trying different foods. Dessert consisted of a dark chocolate coffin with coconut and raspberry mousse inside. I gave Nic the mousse but enjoyed the chocolate immensely.


We got a free cocktail and souvenir because we'd picked up an advertisement card in the hostel at King Street, and that was called the HellFire. That was a blend of strawberry and mango liqueur, built over ice with orange juice, lemonade and grenadine. Oh my stars, it was so damn good. It didn't last too long, but considering that it would have cost $15, it was the only one I had. I did have a shot calle the Coffin's Nails, which was made of butterscotch schnapps and baileys. That was tastey, but there was some weird stuff in it which I think was meant to be an imitation of the veins behind the eyeballs, and that was hard to get down my throat. But down the hatch it went, and I even got to keep the shot glass. Score!


Nic and I had a photo taken with some of the Drakulettes, and it came to be that two of them were actually in the show! That was quite cool. One was a fit drummer, and another was a fit singer. There was also a regular waiter, but because he wasn't performing in the show he doesn't get that much of a Huzzah.


The show itself was called Sin and Tonic, and it was just so good. There was stand-up comedy which had us all laughing in disbelief and audacity of some of the jokes. My dad would have definitely appreciated the humour, and as such so did I. It was rude and sometimes dirty, but really quite funny.


The performers were two girls, two guys, a drummer and a guitarist. The things that they did were just fantastic - sometimes clever, like when the girls performed with a mirror; sometimes touching, like when they sang Jar of Hearts and had her sitting in a giant heart, and had ballet in it imitating the real video; sometimes sensual like when they performed E.T on a revolving wheel; sometimes funny, like when the guy sang a song of French loss of love, and just spewed out every french word he knew.


It was incredible. Dracula's is a must-do when you visit Australia. There's one in Melly, and one on the Gold Coast. They do different shows, so you could go quite a few times and not see the same show. I'm definitely considering seeing the one on the Gold Coast too when I travel back up the East Coast.
The finale was great - we thought we had ended with The Rolling Stone's Sympathy for the Devil, which was explosive and sexy, but then they whipped out an awesome version of GaGa's Bad Romance, and just brought the house down. These guys are talented. It was worth every penny.

Surf's Up! ... To Melly!

After the thrills of Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday was pretty average. Nic had a doctors appointment in the city, Sharon was at work, Kirsty was at school and Pete was off taking the maybe-boat-buyer on a trial sail. So it was just me and the dog.
I wrote some post cards out, read some fanfiction and browsed Equestria Daily before heading outside.
 Thankfully, it was a lovely sunny day, so I took a long swim with Wookie on the surf board and sat in the sun and read my book - My Dear, I wanted to tell you. It's about a working-class boy for falls for a middle-class girl, but then commits a shameful act and instead of coming clean, he decides to join the war effort and get sent to France.
It's a good read but not my usual genre, so I can't recommend it too highly. It didn't grip me, so it wasn't fantastic. But the characters are mostly based on real people, and that makes it a very thought-provoking read, even if I didn't like the story too much.


Nic came home, and we took another swim and she was teaching me how to dive. It was going quite well until I whacked the bottom of the pool with my head. That was the end of that for one day. Nic came out shortly after a surfboard whacked the back of her calf and made her leg numb. Yay for hardcore swimming.


Pete managed to sell the boat! How awesome is that? This cements their trip to England, which is great news :) And what a lovely bundle of money to suddenly find in your bank account. Happy days there :)


Just had a quiet evening not doing much, and went to bed at around 9:30. Like, what? That is so unlike me. I was feeling a bit under the weather so I'll blame it on that. I am not going to turn into one of those Early-to-bed-early-to-rise people (lovely as they are). Merlin's do not go to bed before ten-thirty. Fact.


Thursday went off to a slow start, but eventually Nic Pete and I ended up at Dicky Beach on the Sunshine Coast. (Totally click the link - you can move the orange man onto the beach to get a proper look). 
The waves were huge, bigger than any I've seen on any British beach, and the water (whilst cold) was not a shock to the system, but rather a pleasant sensation. I could totally get used to things here. 
There are apparently underwater currents called Rips which pull people out to sea. In some extreme cases, people have died trying to escape them and not being able to. The rips were pretty big on Thursday, and Nic said that more than once we had been pulled into one. I had no idea, but if Nic was then I must have too since we were swimming together. Exciting/scary stuff.
We had body boards with us, and eventually I sort of got the gist of how to ride the surf (actually I still have no idea). Turns out I'm not a natural at it, so there goes my theory of being a mermaid in a past life...


I treated us three to fish n chips, and Nic and I had a caramel milkshake each. That was our biggest mistake of the day; it was so sickly sweet that when I finished it I felt immediately ill afterwards. We had to go sit on the beach for half an hour for the worst of it to pass. I'm writing this five hours later and still feel queesey. I think it must be a sign that milkshakes are evil and I'm not to have any more for at least two days after this blog gets posted. Doesn't cover Cold Rock though ;)


On the beach after I felt a little better, Nic was experimenting with her camera, taking action shots. So Pete and I were the guinea-pigs of this test and had to jump off of various sand-hills and dance on the beach so that she could capture cool photos. They are very amusing, especially as (because I'm such a fool) I didn't bend my knees on one particular jump, and apparently THAT REALLY HURTS! and I fell over and rolled a couple of times on the sand pathetically moaning "My knee! OUCH! MY KNEE! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEG!" which is not the most dignified thing I have ever done.
It didn't get much better when Nic said "I'd give you a hand but I don't want to get sand on my camera."
You can tell I'm totally loved here, can't you? :P



Friday was my last full day in Brisbane. So to show my appreciation to Sharon and Pete for welcoming me into their home and family for the past three and a half weeks, I baked a cake. 


It was the same recipe that I used for Kirsty's birthday cake, but this was the first cake that I'd ever baked without any kind of supervision whatsoever, which was quite a big thing for me. It consisted of a layer of dark chocolate, with a  teaspoon of coffee in it, a spread of blue icing sugar, a layer of white chocolate with a teaspoon of vanilla essence in it, then coated with tonnes of milk chocolate. To finish up, I wrote THANK YOU in big blue icing. 


I was quite pleased with it, even if the white chocolate layer had sunk in the middle. I did some research as to why this happened, and have deduced that it was because I whisked it too much, letting too much air into it. I mean, how stupid is that? You have to get air in the mixture to make it fluffy - but don't do too much else it'll collapse! Well, frankly that's ridiculous. How am I meant to know how much air a cake needs? Bah.
Nic and I decided to head into Brisbane city as she had a guitar lesson at six o'clock. We headed to Ferny Grove and hopped on a train.\


We had a Maccy D's for lunch (again), then headed to a CD shop to look for a band I have recently discovered called LIGHTS (capitalisation and all). It's a Canadian sof-electro group fronted by a girl with an incredibly soft voice. If you imagine the kindest gentlest person you can think of (or Fluttershy), and give them a singing voice, this would be the result.
Well anyway, we found one of their CDs, but I wasn't going to pay $26 for it so it stayed on the shelf. Amazon or Play when I return to England, I reckon.


(Sorry if I miss out any Ts, the button on my keyboard is sort of broken. Need to get that fixed somewhere.)


After a while Nic and I decided to head to Southbank to go to Max Brenner, which Nic had not yet been to. I was wearing my You've got the emotional range of a teaspoon shirt, and the guy behind the counter there said "I like your shirt, isn't that from Harry Potter?"
Why yes, yes it is. This guy was kind of cute, too, and so with a bit of daring and reassuring and bribing from Nic, I wrote my mobile number down on a serviette and left it on the table after we finished. That was one of the most spontanious things I have ever done, and I was rather proud of myself for it. Yay for being a daredevil!


Nic then had her guitar lesson, and on the way there we found a few people busking. There was an Australian woman in a flowing red dress playing good but mournful music on a cello, and a strapping young English guy playing joyful tunes on a mandolin. After Nic went for her lesson, I had a chat with the English guy and gave him two dollars. We had a nice chat and he said he had busked his way across Australia - well, from Sydney upwards. I mentioned that I was heading to Melbourne and he said he hadn't been there but would have liked to. 


I did ask him how long he played for each day, and apparently he turns up at Southbank at 5pm most days, and plays till around 11pm. Then, he heads down to Fortitude Valley where all of the clubs and bars are, and plays till around 2pm. He said that drunk people are very generous - he's had people emptying their wallets on him and giving him $50 notes, which is insane but wonderfully so.
\
I didn't know how long Nic would be at her lesson for so I didn't wander too far; not that there is far to wander in Southbank, as it's either shops or swimming pool. I sat with my legs dangling in the pool, and got out my notebook and jotted down some creative musings, including a map of what my own country would look like (complete with states and a Capital), a drawing of a fruit bat as they were flying overhead in their dozens which was incredibly cool to watch, two poems and a picture of a pony. I did that for around an hour and a half before I decided to go see if Nic had forgotten me and left without me.


Turns out she hadn't - the guy was just a bit of a talker. He is Australian born and bred, but has a stronger British accent than even I do. I'm not quite sure how this is possible, so I put it down to him watching tonnes of old English television shows, and putting it on to be different from everyone else.


We then found out that there was a market on Southbank plaza. How cool is that? It was a Friday night, around eight-thirty going on late, and there's a market on the river bank. There were loads of stalls - authentic Aussie souvenirs such as real kangaroo balls made into things like a bottle opener and a back-scratcher (the latter came with a real kangaroo arm and hand attached), and purses made out of cane toads. We left it all there. That sort of thing is not for us.


Other stalls included indian clothing, which would be good if you wanted to dress up as a belly dancer, earrings and body jewellery, badges, sweets, clothes, bags with inbuilt speakers... the list goes on. We had a nice little trip around the market place but eventually headed to our last destination of the day - Cold Rock.
Yep, to finish of my incredibly unhealthy day I had a small version of my new love - cake batter and caramel mud cake with chocolate brownie. And again, it was delicious. That pretty much sums up my time in Brisbane; delicious. Will be making a stop there again at some point for sure.


Saturday comprised of ponies and packing. I wasn't going to take my entire suitcase to Melbourne (which I have affectionately nicknamed Melly) with me, so some things had to stay behind, such as my Pony board game, souvenirs for the family, two of my four bikinis, two of my four towells, my platypus, a book and other stuff like that. Everything had to fit into my travel backpack, which I'm pleased to resport that with some shuffling and folding, it did.


Sharon and Kirsty drove us to Brisbane airport and dropped us off, and with a quick goodbye and some hugs and kisses we went to go check in to Tiger Airways.
The wait wasn't too long, and we had a Hungry Jack's to occupy us (the Aussie version of Burger King). I have decided to never order a chicken burger again - nuggets are always the safer option.  Because even when you say no salad they still give it to you, and you have to take it back because there's so much crap in it that you said you didn't want.
Therefore, if you want chicken, go for nuggets. Nuggets all the way. Plain and simple.
We ended up running to our departure gate. Go figure. There's a first time for everything I suppose, and now that is something I shall never need to do again. It is forever checked off of my bucket-list.


What was exciting was that we had to board the plane from the tarmac. I've never done that before, and have only seen it on TV and in the movies, so that was quite cool. Getting on and off the plane with the loud noise of engines running, and the fierce wind they create was a tiny bit thrilling for a country bumpkin like me.
We also had to adjust our clocks when we landed - Melly is ahead of Brisbane by an hour because they have daylight saving time, so get to spend more time in the sun each evening.


The flight only took us around two hours and twenty minutes, though it flew by (if you'll pardon the pun). I bought the book of Tomorrow, When the War Began to keep me enterained and it did it beautifully. It's a gripping book, and it's increasingly apparent that the film stuck to the book like glue, which is so refreshing in this day and age. It's well worth a look if Amazon or Play stock it. I doubt Waterstones would; it's an Australian author and I don't think they are too well known outside of Oz. It's a shame, because I hear there are eight in the series and they improve over each book.


Well anyway, we landed and found Wendy and Geoff :) It was great to meet up with Wendy again, seeing as the last time I saw her I was twelve, and also to meet her husband. He seems like a lovely guy with a cool sense of humour, so I think staying with hem will be fun, if not interesting.


They dropped us off right outside our hostel - King Street Backpackers, which is more or less just off the centre of the city. And let me say that Melly is huge. Brisbane is compact, with lots of things crammed into a small space, and pretty much everything is in Queen Street. In Melbourne, everything is spaced out to a huge degree, and seems a bit more classier. Arty-farty, as my Dad would say.


Well, King St Backpackers was small and cramped. We were in room 23, on the first floor. There's a lock to get into the floor, and then a lock to get into the room. Neither of which were tremendously efficiant and we spent quite a while trying to open each one, looking like proper lemons struggling with these locks. Then along comes a German girl and with a flick of her wrist the lock clicks open. Typical, huh?


We went for a walk in the city, and it was around half-ten. But honestly, I felt quite safe. When people get drunk here, they don't get disorderly like our Colchester people do. Of course guys were still calling out to us jokingly, but it didn't feel threatening like it can do back home.


We bought an incredibly cheesey pizza, and it was so rich that we couldn't finish it. The guy who sold it to us wanted to know how it tasted, so I told him it was perfect but there was a tad too much cream cheese. I hope he wasn't offended by that.


Melbourne's biggest mode of transport is the tram system, WHICH IS AWESOME! How cool is it to casually catch a tram to wherever you need to go? It's like stepping back to Olden England. And there aren't only tram trams - oh no. There are also resuaruant trams, where you can have lunch or dinner whilst being carted around the city; disco trams where a party is occurin' and moosik is blastin' whils being carted around the city; pole-dancing trams where... well, you get the idea.
It's very cool though, and me and Nic are gonna book to have dinner on a tram at some point :) That should be fun. Looking forward to it.


We headed for bed at around midnight, and had a very disturbed night. I woke up at random intervals all night long. Two girls opposite us came in at quarter to six in the morning, and they were very noisy. It wasn't even funny. There were sixteen beds in that small room, and I'm sure half of them could have been woken by these two girls.
I can't remember what time Nic and I rocked up in the morning, but I made sure to make as much noise as discreetly possible to disurb those two girls. Hee. I'm getting bolder and more mischeavous as I discover who I am, and I think I rather like it :)


We didn't really know where we were, and it quite quickly became apparent that we were both useless at reading maps, so we spent the majority of the day just happily getting lost in the city centre. We had fun though, and discovered a parkland and the huge shopping central that is Bourke Street. That is right next to China Town, and Nic got some rice-y stuff for lunch, and I steered us back towards unhealthy Subway and got a chicken sub. No brown sauce in Australia though :( Sad face.


The amount of people stopping to ask you if you have a spare dollar is crazy. The first time it happened I was by myself in Brisbane, and I stupidly went Err, okay then? Why? and they said their house had been robbed and they wanted a drink or some food. It was obvious that they were lying but for some reason I gave them a dollar anyway. That was the first and last time I plan for that to happen. Gotta get streetwise, girl!


Nic and I found a cinema so we bought ourselves some tickets to see A few best men which is (according to Nicky) a less crude version of The hangover. Since I have never seen the latter, I can't tell you if she's right, but I can tell you that this film was nothing special. I like to come out of the cinema with a feeling of 'Wow, I'm really glad I saw that', and it just didn't happen. There was a lot of crude jokes and gross scenes which I didn't really appreciate, but that's cause I'm uptight and a prude. Other people (like the other two couples there besides us) found it funny so I guess it's just me.
I think next time I'll go see that romance that's coming out soon. Nic pulled a face at it but she wont be with me by the time I go see it, and I don't mind going by myself to the movies. Well, no, I do mind. But I think I just have to pony-up and do it. Else I wont get to see my movie, unless I can drag Wendy there... *plan forming*


When we came out of the cinema at about half five, it was raining. Just spitting, you know? We decided it was time to head back to the hostel as we were both pretty tired. As we started walking back, it started pouring it down. It was quite a hike back to the hostel, and we were rather soaked when we finally made it back. We headed straight for the showers and got into our jimjams right after.
Pyjamas at six-fifteen. We know how to party.


We watched some Ponies for a while, and then it was time to go to the 7-11 (a convenience store) to pick up some necessities. These included a magnum, twirl, twix, a glue stick and a pack of uno cards.
I regret to say that I didn't get halfway through my magnum before it fell off the stick and onto the pavement below. I felt simply awful, and stared at the ground not quite believing that the lump of goo on the floor was my ice cream... It's one of those moments in life where you can't quite comprehend what has happened...


We made our way to the parkland that we'd found earlier, which wasn't too far from our hostel. I parked myself in the middle of a 4-way path-junction, and got some funny looks from passers by. But when I stood up and asked Nic where she wanted to sit, she said 'I don't know'. I didn't know neither, which was why I sat where I did. Avoiding decisions.
Well I'm sure you're not interested in where I sat in a park. So I'll pretend I didn't just tell you, and now proceed to tell you that Nic and I had a lovely few games of Uno. Epic card game, I love the man who created it. Or woman.


We got re-dressed for bed at around half eleven, and it was only Nic and I in the dorm. Nic was getting dressed, so I walked into the other half of the room to give her some privacy. To keep myself entertained, I did a little dance involving a bum wiggle and clicky-fingers. When I heard someone laugh, I realised that Nic and I were not the only ones in the dorm, and I had just shook my arse at a Chinese girl. Cue major embarrassment on my part and flailing apoligies flying through the air.


We settled down at midnight, when the german girls went out partying, and I personally had a much better night. Woke feeling pleasantly refreshed at eight am, and we gathered ourselves up, had some toast and were out the door with our backpacks on by tenAM, which is pretty impressive for us both. Managed to eventually catch the correct tram to take us to our next hostel-stop, The Nunnery in Fitzroy.


The Nunnery is amazing. It actually used to be a convent, and they've kept the entire Nun-theme running after it got turned to a hostel. There are statues of cupids and Mary's and little Jesus' dotted around, the clocks all have religious images behind the tickers, all the messages are signed 'Bless, the Nuns' instead of 'Thanks, the staff'. So i's a very cool place. The ceilings are high, the rooms are spacious, and you get much more comfort for your money than we did at Kings Street. Kings Street was $28 a night, and The Nunnery is $30. For $2 extra, you get a hell of a lot more. If you're coming to Melbourne, this is the place to stay.


Checking in was a task in itself though - they got the booking wrong and thought we were coming on Sunday for two nights for three people. Which is fantastically wrong, seeing as it's two people for two nights starting Monday. They managed to fix it though, and we got two beds in the same room although they're not on top of the other, they're on opposite walls. We can wave to each other from either side of the room which amuses my simple self greatly.


The people in our room are more friendly than the ones in King Street too. There's a guy from New Zealand, an Aussie, two girls from London near Heathrow, and a guy whom I haven't placed yet. There are twelve beds in the room with a big table and chairs in the middle, and it's just such a nice place to be. There's even a patio outside with a barbeque, a sun patio, and a balcony. There's a laundry room too, though I think I'll save my cash and do my washing when I get to Wendy's place. There's a big lounge area which shows sport, and Tuesday is movie night and you get free popcorn! Wednesday is Ice cream night, but we won't be here for that. Boo hiss...


We had instant macaroni cheese for pre-lunch, and it smelt like vom and tasted like old socks. YAY!


If your tired minds are still reading this, then read on to see what we did in Fitzroy!
We meandered down to Brunswick Street, which is the place to be for cafes. There are literally tonnes of them, no matter what cuisine you are after they will have it. There were even Afghan and African cafes, which was a bit like really? but there we go. We ended up having lunch in a place called Vegie Bar, which is a cafe catering specifically for (don't laugh!) vegetarians and vegans. 


Now, I am the least likely person to ever venture into a Vegie Bar. Because I hate fruit, vegetables, and salads. The only reason we went there was because it had a cheese pizza, and even then I had to pick the tomatos off. Such a chore.


But it was good despite that, and not very often can one admit to being in a vegie-only cafe, so it was something interesting to do, and more interesting to write about, and I'm certain more interesting for you to read rather than the same old Maccy D's and Subways.
I ended up buying a jumper, though it has to be custom-made so that won't be ready till next week (fear not! I can come back because I'll be staying with Wendy near Melbourne!), and a ukalele. Don't ask me why, but I now own one. It is going to be my destiny to become a world-class ukalele player. I have decided. Merlin's word is final.


There are more to Brunswick Street than just the cafes though - there are cool ships selling nifty gifts, though it seems to be an expensive part of the city. Twenyfour dollars for an A5 noebook? Jog on, mate.
What was disturbing is that we mistakenly found ourselves in an BDSM shop... twice. There were no warnings at all, just sudden BOOM! WHIPS AND ROPES! which is just creepy. Whole shops devoted to it? Just... ick.


We chilled in a parkland area opposite the Nunnery for about an hour or so, and it was a litle hub of activity - tennis classes, kickboxing classes, puppy-training classes - it was all going on. I tried to figure out how my new plaything worked, and Nic lounged and watched ponies. It was a brilliant way to spend an evening after an awesome day. The sun was shining, the heat was fabulous, and I finally felt - Wow, I'm in Australia.