G'day mate!

Onwards to Australia - the mainstay of my travels 6 years ago, and to Melbourne.. one of my favourite cities of them all.

This was my first time revisiting a country/city that I'd previously been to during my current trip, and I couldn't wait to be amongst city life again having spent the previous 3 weeks surrounded by nature in New Zealand.

For the next 2 weeks or so I'd arranged to stay with a friend who I'd met in Fiji. However, my arrival on Sunday night didn't quite go to plan due to the sesh-head nature of the person in question who requested to remain unnamed.

After a long tiring day of travelling which started at 07.45am in Dunedin, I arrived on the doorstep of this person's house in the Windsor suburb of Melbourne at 10.30pm.

Knock-Knock. Who's there? No-one!!

Knock-Knock. Who's there? No-one again!! Ok, very funny, now just let me in.

This game went on for a good 15-minutes. Several attempted phone calls didn't do the trick either. I was stranded!

"Have I been stitched up here? Am I being 'Punk'd'? Have I even got the correct house? Maybe I'm going to be part of the script for the next 'Taken' movie?" All the kind of thoughts running through my weary head.

Fortunately a kind barman invited me inside a nearby boozer to use the wifi where it turned out they were also running a hostel in the space above and offered me a cheap bed for the night. Super fortunate! Or was it?

Nope, not fortunate! Had I not already paid I'd have shot out those doors in a flash and been prepared to sleep in the gutter as I can only liken the place to that of a torrid, run down crack den! Yuk! Beggars can't be choosers though..

Waking to a long list of grovelling messages was a funny way to start the day after some much needed shut-eye. I hadn't been 'Punk'd' after all, I was just a victim of the weekend antics of the original sesh-monster.. aka Olivia Finn ladies and gentlemen! Haha

Despite cursing her a thousand times over I saw the funny side of the previous nights events, and Liv more than made up for it over the next 2 weeks by being such a great host.

There isn't many touristy things to do in Melbourne, it's just a great city to live in. With a wide variety of cool areas in and around the CBD and a huge selection of cafes, bars, restaurants, and shops to choose from, you're never short of places to go or quality nightlife.

Things got lively around the house from Wednesday onwards with the arrival of three of Liv's friends. Johanna and Matilda from Sweden, and Beth from Scotland were due to stay for the next month, meaning I was demoted to the sofa!

These girls, along with Liv, were a breath of fresh air. They're loads of fun, a bundle of energy, and have big hearts. While living under the same roof we became a little family for a short time, the girls becoming the mischievous little sisters I never had.. but a joy to be around.

Together, we had a few big nights out in the city and on Chapel Street in Windsor, an afternoon sesh in St Kilda, and enjoyed meals at home while tucking into some Netflix. While on other occasions Liv and I met for food and drinks after she had finished work.

Midway through my stay with Liv, I moved into a flash hotel amongst the skyscrapers in the sparkling Southbank area of the city. Not because I'd had enough of the girls tormenting me, but because I was meeting up with a certain young Kiwi lady again.. Ria!

We hadn't seen each other since she left Peru 3 months ago and now that she resides in Brisbane, she took the opportunity to fly down to Melbourne for the weekend to come and see me after she had finished work on the Friday. Amazingly sweet!

It was awesome to see her, and we had a great weekend together catching up, wandering around the city, doing a spot of shopping, going for coffee, and having dinner out.

It sucked to be leaving her again on the Sunday afternoon, however this time around it wouldn't be for long. In 5 days time, I'd be returning the favour by flying to Brisbane and staying there with Ria for 2 weeks.

Despite a dodgy start to my stay in Melbourne I had a great time.. it's a fantastic place to be. Revisiting places I remembered from my previous jaunt here was a cool trip down memory lane, and having the opportunity to get some sort of routine in my life again was a welcome change from the constant travelling.

Olivia is a great girl who I've got a lot of time for and she was awesome during my stay (once she finally decided to wake up from her coma and let me in of course!). Johanna, Matilda, and Beth were menacing, yet so adorable. And then seeing Ria again and spending the weekend with her was just the icing on the cake.

I may be waving farewell to Melbourne again but this time around it's only "bye for now", as I'm due to return over the Christmas period where I have tickets for the famous Boxing Day Ashes Test Match between Australia and England, something that has always been a dream of mine!

Bye for now Melbourne.. Brisbane here I come xx