So first things first let me tell you a couple of things I absurdly missed in my last blog. Firstly at the noodle markets I served a celebrity by the name of Brett Ratten. Yeah I had no clue who he was either but Cider Man told me that he was a former AFL player and now a coach of an AFL team. The other story I forgot to tell you was about Brooke, the awesome girl I worked with at the Noodle Festival, she created or made it in to her own a dance move known as the microwave. It was sensational, spectacular, probably the best dance move I have ever seen. Luca got some video footage of it so will hopefully be able to show you all sometime. And also while I remember if you ever visit Lord of the Fries in Melbourne of Australia always go for the sweet potato fries or the Chunky fries with the gravy and cheese sauce that was absolutely mind blowing. Actually it appears I missed quite a lot from my last blog as another couple of stories have crept into my head. The first was we went into a bar in the centre, I think called the Carlton. The unique thing about this place was that it was filled with giant stuffed animals like a Giraffe and an Ostrich with a pearl necklace on, still it was a nice place to go. My second story involves the comedian Chris Lilly, now I'm not too familiar with his work, but apparently he is really good in Ja'Mie and Summer Heights High. Anyway Jack gave me a call to say he was in Federation Square doing a DVD signing. Knowing Jack and Brooke both loved him I toddled off down there to try and get them some signed stuff for Christmas, unfortunately I got down there a bit late and the queue had already been sectioned off, I tried pushing in, but obviously people had been waiting there hours and were not impressed by blatant cheekiness. I was about to admit defeat and then had the idea of passing my merchandise to someone already in the line to sign. A few rude people later and I was in. Two girls were very happy to do it for me, they even said join the queue with them but I was too wary of security who semt to have their eyes on me at all times. Still I managed to get a couple of DVD's signed which I thought made Top Banana Christmas presents.

So now that's out of the way let me tell you what's happened in the past few weeks. Let's begin with maybe my perhaps most exciting story. Yes I went to visit Ramsey Street, the set of Australian soap Neighbours. I was accompanied by Ellie and Tom. Both didn't really have a clue about Neighbours. Elli had watched two episodes and Tom not even a minute of the show. So they didn't really share my enthusiasm for the show. Our tour guide for the trip was a Northern Irish chap called Jerry. He had great enthusiasm for the tour even though he had been doing it for six years. He had great knowledge of neighbours telling us interesting facts such as it's the most watched oversees show in Iceland and also that it has the highest ratings for any television programme in the UK. When Kylie and Jason tied the knot on the 8 November 1988 episode, with the UK broadcast being watched by 20 million viewers. Not even EastEnders or Coronation Street can top that. It was a fair drive from the city to Pin Oak Court, which is the real name of Ramsey Street. The houses are actually lived in by people too; any filming done there is just on the street, anything inside is done at the studio. We had a quick drive through the studio first where we got to see the garage, the post box where Susan Kennedy collapsed when she got MS, Grease Monkeys Diner and Bric-a-Brac Shop. We then headed down to Ramsey Street; my initial reaction of the street was that it was a lot smaller than it appears on TV. It felt really surreal being on the set of a show I really liked when I was younger and I had a real urge to play street cricket. Unfortunately we were never able too. After numerous amounts of photos posing with the Ramsey Street sign and outside various houses of the current cast and reminiscing about old cast we headed to St Kilda where we met a former member of the show - Ben Nicholas who played Stingray. He answered questions, posed for photos and was generally a sound guy even though I didn't really remember him from the show. All in all it was a great day out, going to the Neighbours set was high on my list of things to do as soon as I got over to Australia and I was happy I could tick it off the list. My Neighbours adventure was not over though as the week after the Elephant and Wheelbarrow in St Kilda held a Neighbours trivia night. I went down with Christy and Tori, a girl I met at Ellie's BBQ a few weeks ago. The Neighbours Trivia night cost a hefty $40 for entry and there was the promise of meeting three stars and you got a free beer. The night was ok, I wouldn't say it was worth $40 but I did get to meet Ben Nicholas who played Stingray again, Harley Bonner who plays Josh Willis and my future Wife Carla Bonner who plays Steph Scully. The interesting thing is despite looking about 25 Carla is Harley's Mum in real life. They looked more like brother and sister. After we met the stars we took part in the quiz, which was a bit of a farce in truth, and then we were treated by a musical performance from the one and only Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) and surprisingly he was actually really good. All n all the night was good fun, but I wouldn't go unless you liked Neighbours as the $40 could possibly be spent on better things.

When we brought tickets for the Neighbours tour and quiz night we got two free Eureka Tower passes/ Eureka Towers is an s a 297.3-metre (975 ft) skyscraper and offered great 360 degrees of the city. Eureka Tower is named after the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion during the Victorian gold rush in 1854. This has been incorporated into the design, with the building's gold crown representing the gold rush and a red stripe representing the blood spilt during the revolt. The observation deck (Eureka Sky deck 88) occupies the entire 88th floor of the Eureka Tower and is the highest public vantage point in a building in the Southern Hemisphere at 285 m (935 ft). Sky deck 88 also features an attraction called 'The Edge' - a glass cube which projects 3 m (10 ft) out from the building with visitors inside, suspended almost 300 m (984 ft) above the ground. When one enters, the glass is opaque as the cube moves out over the edge of the building. Once fully extended over the edge, the glass becomes clear. It's fair to say due to my fear of heights I wasn't the most comfortable in The Edge. I highly recommend going u to the sky deck and seeing the wondrous views of Melbourne. My personal favourites was seeing the sports stadiums, an also seeing the park where we used to work at the Noodle Markets, which were now pretty much wrecked.

I'm afraid not everything has been good news though. It perhaps the most devastating thing that has happened to me in Melbourne - I had to pay for a tram. After months of fare dodging I walked on to a tram to be greeted by a woman in her orange hi-vis and chip and pin looking device ready to check peoples myki cards, so with a huge disappointing sigh I had to touch on to the tram. Still paying once for a tram in two months is not too shabby. So it's around Adi 936 v 1 Tram Operators. I also had to say goodbye again to my good friend Tom Ellis who had been staying with me. Tom is a great guy and would be missed in Melbourne. He was a yes man; he'd always be up for doing something even though he'd be struggling for money or whatever position he was in. A great example of this is the Neighbour's tour, he hadn't the foggiest about Neighbours, and at $50, which was quite steep for a guy out of work, but still he chose to come along. But unfortunately for Melbourne and me, he was off up to Noosa to spend Christmas with his Auntie, Uncle and Niece. We had a bbq down on St Kilda beach for his last night, where I was introduced to some of his friends he met while Banana Farming. This would go on to be invaluable; friends were leaving Melbourne faster than Usain Bolt doing the 100 meters and this proved to be a nice injection of people into my friend circle. Out of the people I met, there was an Irish guy called Matt and two Irish girls Grace and Cliona (pronounced Cleaner). Other people I met included two girls called Shona, Big Mike, Jack and Lauren. A night ensued the following weekend with a few of these at place called Veludo in St Kilda. Matt, Grace, Cliona, Lauren, a girl called I instantly took a shine too Nat and myself partied the night away. And Grace, Matt and Cliona invited me over for Christmas Dinner. An offer I gladly accepted and I was thankful I would not just be sat in my pants, alone, with a pot noodle on Christmas Day.

Then there was the free walking tour. Tom had gone by this point and I found myself at a loss end on Sunday afternoon so after finishing my book Twitchhiker by Paul Smith I decided to head to the city and partake in one of the free city walking tours. The idea of the walking tour is it works on a tips only basis, so at the end of the tour you pay what you thought it was worth. For backpackers this is a cheap way to get to know a city for free, if you have the balls to walk off without giving a dime at the end. I did and felt horrendously guilty about it. Our tour guide for the trip was a guy called Matthew, now I feel since I've been travelling and been on many of tours and also having the added advantage that my Dad is probably the best tour operator in the world makes me a worthy critique of tour guides. Now Matthew was ok, what he lacked in humour and jokes he made up for in facts and knowledge. He just didn't seem overly enthusiastic about the tour though, not like Jerry who did the Neighbours tour and I think that if he had been slightly more like him he would have made heaps more money in tips. Anyway on to the tour, the tour started at the state library a place I know quite well from my time job hunting. We then headed down the Melbourne Laneways looking at some of the street art. Some of the most interesting pieces were a stereo octopus and a series of space invaders, if placed on a map make a picture of a space invader. Matthew also told us about the gold rush and the marvellous Melbourne boom, amongst stories about the Robin Hood of Melbourne - Outlaw Ned Kelly. On the tour we also go to see China Town, famous buildings such as Flinders St Station, federation Square, Eureka Tower, Princess Theatre, Parliament House, Melbourne Arcades, Royal Exhibition Centre, The Melbourne Cricket Ground, The Town Hall and randomly a swimming pool that overhung a roof of a hotel. Matthew also gave us good information about the city it's founding and more recently about the underworld. One of my personal favourite stories from the tour was about a guy called John Batman. I had already seen places such as Batman Park and Batman Street and was hoping these would be named after the superhero, but no they were actually named after this John Batman fella who purchased 6000 acres of Victoria, the state where Melbourne is situated back in the 1800s. When deciding a name for Melbourne, one of the other suggestions was 'Batmania' which I also found quite amusing. Melbourne does have a habit of naming street after famous people, most of the main streets are named after people who help set up Lonsdale such as Bourke (Sir Richard Bourke), Collins (Lieutenant-Governor David Collins - not the guy I use to work with at Dawson Rentals), Lonsdale (William Lonsdale - the first administrator and magistrate in Melbourne) to name but a few. There are also lanes such as Dame Edna Lane, AC/DC lane and Brabham Lane named after a famous Formula One Driver. Overall if you have an afternoon or morning spare I highly recommend going on a walking tour, it lets you get to know a history and its city much better, they give recommendations on good and unique places to go, meaning my Melbourne to do list has got slightly longer with such things as The Berlin Bar and going to see the controlled explosions outside crown casino, and it can be done as cheap as you like. As touched upon before you pay whatever you like or feel the tour deserves. Now I paid nothing but I definitely didn't think the tour was worth that, but I'm a backpacker and can't go chucking around money willy nilly.

Before I knew it Christmas was upon me. Normally in years gone by my Christmas Eve has consisted of me going out and have a few cheeky ales until the early hours of the morning and waking up with a steaming hangover. This year would be different though. Why? I had to work. It wasn't as bad as it it sounds for working public holidays I would be on $50 an hour give or take. I finished work at 7 and headed straight home and undid my presents which various travelling compadres had left me and from what my Mother and Father had sent over. It was quite weird, it's the first time I have opened presents on Christmas Day alone and the presents and thought some people put into my presents got me quite overwhelmed. Especially when I opened a card from my nephew and niece which had pictures of them inside. My Christmas presents ranged from the random (lime jelly) to awesome (Football Manager 14) to the downright ridiculous 'why would I want that present' (an Irish themed tea towel from my mum and dad) But overall I'd got far more than I ever expected and like I said was overwhelmed. I was still high on adrenaline that it was Christmas morning so struggled to get some much needed sleep, I think I got around an hour, before meeting Matt and his two Irish roommates Grace and Cliona. We made our way to Aoife's (another Irish girl) house where we would have dinner. The house was amazing, it's hard to describe but it had full length windows, a balcony on the second floor that looked over the dinning area and kitchen. A huge living room. It would be awesome for a Basford Day. The food the girls also prepared was also awesome, turkey, stuffing wrapped in bacon, roast potatoes, sweet potato, carrots and gravy. It was missing a few things such as peas, pigs and blankets and of course mash potato but I couldn't grumble. I'd gone from looking like spending Christmas on my own with a pot noodle to a massive Christmas Dinner. After dinner we made our way down to the beach where I met scouse Danny who was back in Melbourne for Christmas and he was totally wasted. I also Met Christy and Sam and proceeded to have a few beers. I couldn't have too many though as I was having to work again that night.

Work wasn't the most pleasant of experiences that night after just an hours sleep all day. At one point I was that tired I got under the desk and had cheeky half hour sleep. I got home the next morning and fell straight to sleep on the sofa. Two hours later I was woken by a phone call it was Braydon, he had arrived in Melbourne and was here to go to the Boxing Day Ashes test with me. I went and met him and we made our way to the MCG, the world's largest Cricket Stadium. And is only second to Lord's as to the amount of test games played there. The Ashes were already lost for England after a series of dismal performances most notably with the bat, but there was still pride to play for and nobody wants to lose 5-0. Plus The Boxing Day test is arguably up there with one of Australia's biggest sporting events along with the AFL Grand Final, Melbourne Cup and State of Origin. We made our way in and I was immediately impressed, I had been told that there is not a bad view at the MCG and I can believe that, it was a great stadium. I powered on through the day despite probably pissing Braydon off complaining of my tiredness and enjoyed the days Cricket.. England was batting and put on 230-6. The atmosphere was electric at the end when Australia's man of the moment Mitch Johnson had the new ball and took a couple of late wickets. It was a great day and for only $55. Braydon was eager to go out after the cricket, but once again I had to go to workso we headed back to my gaff where Braydon was staying while he was around and I got another cheeky hour sleep.

If I thought work on Christmas Day was bad, Boxing Day was doubly worse, I had roughly 6 hours sleep in the last 72 hours and it was beginning to hit me. Once again, I had a cheeky nap under the desk, which made me feel worse. 7am came and I was able to clock off and go home. 4 hours later I was awake again and after a round of Bacon and egg sandwiches was heading into the city with Braydon. I decided to take him on a tour of Melbourne's unique little pubs. The first stop was the Tram Bar, opposite the Botanic Gardens. The bar is pretty much what it says. It's a tram converted in a bar with an outdoor seating area. Our next stop was Chill On Ice Bar Melbourne. I was most excited about going here but in truth it was probably my least favourite bar of the day. This was because the entrance fee of $30 was in my opinion rather steep even though you got a free cocktail. Still though it was an experience going into the bar where everything was made from ice and the average temperature is -10, the glasses, the bar, seats and there was random ice sculptures of things such as Darth Vader and The Hulk scattered around. The next stop on the small bar crawl was ponyfish Island. This was a pub located under a bridge and in the middle of the Yarra river. The prices were reasonable and the bar offered great views across the city, it was my favrite of the day and I highly recommend everyone takes a visit there. From here we grabbed a lord of the fries and then headed back into St Kilda where we went to the Espy for our final beer. I was again flagging and in need of sleep and in my tiredness might have snapped a bit at Braydon. It was out of order really and have since apologised. He battered me on Fifa his Huddersfield beating my World XI 4-0. I told him I let him win to make up for my behaviour but really he just out classed me and I was awful, I blame the tiredness. I had another cheeky hour and then was off to work which was much better than the previous two nights, maybe it was down to the can of energy drink I had.

I woke up the next day after a much needed sleep. Braydon was heading back to Sydney that evening so we had a few games of FIFA, the games were much closer though I still only won one game and that was via a penalty a shoot-out. Then ehaded in to town where we went for a beer at a quirky little bar called section 8. Section 8 was down a little back ally and the seats and table were all made from pallets, and random old barrels. We headed to Southern Cross Station where Braydon got his bus ticket to the airport; we still had a bit of time so headed to the bar at the Station called Network for another cheeky beverage before waving Braydon off. It was unfortunate Braydon was leaving on my night off. As I met up with Matt, Nat, Lauren, Shona and Christy and had a cracking night in Fitzroy. We went to Perseverance, a place where we ended up so many times after nights out at the Noodle Markets. After it had done we all headed back to mine, drank some more, played some s*** head which I dominated much to Nat's disapproval, watched a movie, ate sausage and egg sarnies and I eventually got to sleep at 10am.

It appeared I need some sleep and didn't awake again until 8.30pm just in time for me to get myself sorted for another night at work. It would be the start of a run which would see me do six shifts on the trot. Meaning that yes I would be missing New Year's Celebrations. It was a bit of a disappoint seen as though in 2011/12 I spent it in London, 2012/13 in Sydney, but 2013/14 I would be sat behind a hotel reception guest filing managers reports and such things. I didn't do much that week apart from sleep and work, but at the end of the week I was greeted by the great news that my good friend Tom Ellis would be returning to Melbourne that weekend. An epic night followed starting at my gaff and heading to the Elephant and Wheelbarrow in St. Kilda and once again ending at my flat where we drank some more, watched a couple of films and I shared a surprise kiss with Nat. The surprising thing about it was that Nat was sober! And then on Sunday Matt came round and we had a play on guitar, I learnt a few chords and I can now play wonderwall and seven nation army. Albeit very slowly and retardly. But eh practice makes perfect.

I also feel I should give you a brief summary about the suburb of Melbourne which I live in - St Kilda. St Kilda is known to Melbournians as Melbourne's playground. St Kilda is home to one of Melbourne's finest beaches, Luna Park, A penguin Colony and heaps of cafes. Restaurants and bars. St Kilda is full of all sorts of people too, a lot of the neighbours cast stay around St Kilda, backpackers are also plenty, but there are also the dodgy sorts too and prostitutes are rife about town. It's still a safe area and a great place to live in Melbourne in my opinion. If anyone was looking to live in Melbourne, I'd definitely recommend St Kilda or Fitzroy.

Anyway until next time stay safe and take care

Adi

xx