Hi Everyone,

I am sooo sorry that I haven't been updating you about my travels any earlier, but I tell you traveling can be stressful!

After saying good bye to John in Sydney, I took a night bus to Melbourne. I am now almost 3 weeks here and love it.

I booked into a backpackers that seemed to be the nicest one around according to very direct comments online about all the other places. It's actually not too bad, a bit dirty at places but at least the staff and people here are quite nice. The hostel is also located very centrally, in the city centre and central business district, so very close to all amenities. I share a room with two french girls who stay here for longer. Actually one of them is already 7 month here. We have quite a lot windows in this room, so it's bright too. Alex, one of the french girls, is always preparing the FREE food in the hostel, sponsored by the hostel of course. Apart from basic jam and toast breakfast we get everyday, they have Wednesday's Pasta night, a big breakfast Tuesday mornings (bacon etc) and Pancake Sunday. Not bad really and I always try to be on time.

Luckily for me as soon as I arrived here I was able to start working for a transport consultancy called UrbanTrans. We basically work for the 'other side', in the private sector, and we are bidding for work from the government. This doesn't actually look to bad here as Queensland transport just made $40million available for travel demand management projects for the next 3-4 years and much of it is allocated for personalised travel planning (my area of expertise). So the choice may be for me to choose living in Surfers Paradise (the place with the best weather all year round) if we manage to get a bit of work from them. Maybe though my thoughts and hopes are a little far fetched, but we will see!

My work conditions are really good. I work 3 ½ days a week of which I need to be in the office for two days only. The other time I can work from anywhere as long as there is an internet connection. So I've been spending a considerate amount of time in the cafés of Melbourne that offer free wireless internet. Though my way to work is really great actually. It still takes about 45min to get to the office; however, 15 minutes of it includes a walk along a beach. The trains are also not packed and there is never a queue to purchase a train ticket in the morning. It's brilliant!

Well, the office is basically at my boss's house. He lives there but as we are now three people in total, he is looking for an office in the central business district, the centre of Melbourne. He also thinks he will get a few more employees in the next three years, so it's looking good. Well, there is also David a friendly guy who is married with children.

Anyway, in the mean time I made some friends here at the hostel. There is Melanie from Germany, Joan from the Netherlands, Tom from England and Bronwyn from New Zealand. Apart from a few others, those are the people I hang out with most. We've been visiting the bars and clubs in Melbourne, art galleries, exhibitions, markets and suburbs of St Kilda and Brunswick Street. This city is really fantastic. There is sooo much to do and it has a great vibe. It's so beautiful at night too, lights everywhere! Melbourne also seems to be the best place to find the best restaurants. So I decided that I will go to a nice restaurant once a week and try all the different cuisines they have. Surprisingly it is not loaded with Thai places only as the rest of Australia, there is a good mix of Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, European, seafood/fish and apparently also a German restaurant somewhere. Will find that and have a schweinehaxe with sauerkraut and dumplings! At the market we found a deli shop that sells loads of German products too, but it's quite expensive. The bratwurst with sauerkraut tasted just like home! …I do miss it!

Being a backpacker, we drink and eat a lot at the hostel, which is fun and cheap. I learned to play poker and also win occasionally, though my bluffing isn't great especially after a few drinks. Mind you my pool/billiard skills are getting a lot better after three glasses of wine though, as I beat two guys in a club recently. They were pretty shocked actually but it made my night especially as my reward was free drinks for the rest of the night! He he...

Lastly, all the traveling has but a bit of weight on me. Some may say 'good for you', but actually it's not good for me! Have you ever sat on a normal table and chair for a long time when having belly fat? I mean three rolls of fat!?! It actually hurts! So I went to play squash last week and now try to join a Volleyball club. It's got to come down somehow.

Also during my first week here, I bought a bicycle for $100 including helm and lock. Best deal ever, especially as it is still so new that I may be able to sell it for a profit in a few month time!!! So now I am cycling everywhere. It'll be especially handy for when I move into a flat share by the end of the week. It's in Burnley close to Richmond, a major entertainment area, and only 4km to the city centre.

More about that another time.

Lots of love Andrea xxx