After I last posted on here, I recharged my sleep batteries with some kip and it was about 6pm by the time I had surfaced from my very comfortable bed (you can't go wrong with a YHA can you? ....unless you're prone to bland/predictable overdoses) and had a shower to wake me up. I hadn't eaten any lunch and dissapointingly, the blueberry yoghurt I had bought for my breakfast had exploded in my rucksack (in the style bananas so often used to explode into my school satchel) so I decided to treat myself to a meal out... and what better place to do it than the greek precint in central Melbourne!! Wooohoo! I found a restaurant with the typical naff blue and white checked tablecloths (LOVE THEM) and some great greek music and ordered bifteki with lots of tsatsiki and salad. nom nom nom. Sadly, on the way to said restaurant, there happened to be an amazing greek cake/pastry cafe and the scent of syrup and almonds had me instantly..... i had to go back there for desert! I ordered a big hunk of almond baklava from a young waiter who gave the greek nod of the head and motioned for me to take a seat. What can I say about it except for "yummy!!" I proceeded to waddle with my food baby around china town which is very close to the greek precint and then took a few trams to see the city at night before I went back to the hostel and collapsed in my bed from food overdose.
On Monday, I checked out of the YHA and took my backpack to the main train station to store it there for the day. The lockers turned out to be $12 for 24 hours so I went to the information desk to ask if there were any cheaper ones and the nice man there said he would look after it for the day - he must have been about 65 and looked like he would have a lot of difficulty hot-footing it with my 25kg backpack so with my valuables safely in my rucksack I left my backpack with him and set off. I put in a load of washing into a laundrette to pick up on my way back to the station that afternoon and then wandered round the CBD mostly. I saw things like Federation Square, Parliament House, the city cathedrals, the Docklands, the theatres, the public gardens etc etc. Melbourne is a lovely city and all those things were very attractive but I am a little bit tired of the forced tourists routes and seem to now get more enjoyment out of wandering around and discovering hidden charms and the real character of a place
At about 5pm I picked up my backpack and made my way to James and Garrett's place on the tram. I was greeted by a very suprised James - although I had text him to say I was on my way, he was convinced I wouldn't have made it all the way without needing detailed directions. Ahah! I am navigator extraordinaire, don't you know?! James gave me a sparkling water with sliced lemon (at this point I was already extremely impressed with the James and Garrett hotel!!) and we talked about nonsense for a few hours - it was only when Garrett got home from work that we realised how much ground we had covered and just how much nonsense we had talked about... including exchange of information on the timtam slam and the range of alternative confectionery! I was then presented with a visitor information pack (love it!) full of leaflets about the city and surrounding areas.. I had a look through and was struggling to decide what to do when I found a leaflet on the city's laneways. Decision making over - I love exploring laneways and markets etc and I also decided to pay a visit to the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image). Garrett just "threw together something quickly" for dinner which was absolutely amazing - lentil, bacon, goats cheese, sundried tomato, rocket and herb salad with fresh bread. Ooh and I tried my first olive! Very shameful seeing as I am half greek BUT I'm pleased to report I thought they were delicious! On Tuesday, I had my own personal tourguide (James) and we set off to explore the laneways. We'd had 2 beautiful coffees and were in a really funky cafe come art gallery (they serve coffees out of a converted campervan!) when garrett caught up with us. We read papers and chilled out and then went seperate ways - I spent hours in book shops and exploring the laneways and then met up again with James and Garrett for lunch - vietnamese Pho soup (delicious and SOOO cheap) Oooh Ooh Ooh. At this point, I must point out something which Garrett WAS THE FIRST TO DISCOVER and the rest of the world has copied him. Shame on them. Sat at lunch, I admired James' watch - a digital watch with a built in TV remote! wow! It turns out Garrett spotted it on tv (or a film?) and James bought him one as a gift (and also having liked it so much, Garrett bought James one in return.) Now it seems loads of people are wearing them.... but don't despair boys - I know the truth that you were first to discover them and shall share it with everyone I meet. haha!
Anyway.... after lunch, I went to the ACMI which I thought was brilliant - lots of interactive displays which was good for me seeing as I get bored so easily and lots of really good short films etc. Around 6, I met up again with James and Garrett - they gave me directions to a bar in Croft Alley which they had discovered after following a city graffiti art tour! James had text me with directions..."from chinatown turn right, turn right and follow the alley - it is covered in graffiti and looks deserted but perservere" I'm glad he had told me to perservere otherwise I would have wondered where the hell he was directing me to! At the end was a bar which looked dubious - the sign outside was "The croft institute" with a painting of professors in labcoats and you couldn't see in the murky windows. Anyhow, it was closed for a further 10 minutes so we went to another bar first - a really funky little place called Section 8 - the bar is made out of a container and the seating and tables made from pallets, oil drums and cushions, brilliant graffiti art, lanterns and fairy lights, colour everywhere, a brilliant atmosphere and great music. We then went back to the Croft Institute which turned out to be one of the best bars I've been to - It was so quirky - full of things like candles in lab beakers, testtubes and bunsen burners in glass cabinets , the tables had labsinks sat in them and it was all done in a science/hospital theme - maybe sounds weird but it was cool as. The ladies toilet felt a little creepy though! It was up 3 flights of stairs, all the doors and windows on the way were frosted so you couldnt be sure what was the other side and it was very quiet except for the distant bass line of the music coming from downstairs. In the toilet cubicle there were big steel lamps creating an eery lighting effect and by the sinks was a huge hospital bed, made up with a clipboard on the end! We had some wine there and then set off on a mission to find a restaurant which had been recommended to Garrett by a friend. We had some difficulty finding it but a nice lady called Liz who ran a shisha bar in the same area gave us directions... hmm... it was closed :( we went back to Liz who gave us directions to another middle eastern restaurant - it was a bit of a walk but 100% worth it. Garrett ordered a brilliant selection of food which we shared and lots of food and good conversations later, we all waddled out of the restaurant very happy indeed.
On Wednesday morning I left quite early for the airport and got a flight to Sydney which is where I am at the moment. Last night I sorted out my luggage and have packed half of it into a box and sent it home by sea freight. It should arrive about the same time as me! I had noodles with steamed vegetables for dinner (thanks to Darren I have discovered a really good brand of noodles which are only $1 per packet! woohooo!) and a hot chocolate from the $1 machine in the kitchen. I really like this hostel, it was built in 1848 and has lots of original features. Although it's a bit run down and its a good 25 minute walk from the city centre it's got so much character and the staff here are so kind. I forgot to set my alarm this morning and I woke up at 11am!! Whoops! I have spent most of the day checking all my stuff. I lost my sleeping bag yesterday and also seem to have lost my raincoat somewhere along the way!!! i know I had it in Noosa but I can't find it. Boo Hoo - I have no coat for New Zealand now! I leave tommorow morning (Friday) for Christchurch and will stay there a couple of nights and head off early on Sunday for Picton to meet Calli!!!!!!!!! Woooo!! VERY EXCITING!!! We will head straight off to Nelson and are booked on a 'wine tour with Roy' on Monday 1st March... so many exciting things to look forward to in New Zealand and I am going to write down every penny I spend so that I dont go so over budget like I have done in this country!
For now, it is now about 3.30pm and I'm going to head to some markets to have a wander around, come back here to the hostel for another dose of noodles and then probably go the the Opera House for one last look! (That is one tourist attraction I can't get bored of!) xx
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