Waking up in a king size bed was an absolute treat after my previous nights sleep in the back of a Toyota Corolla.. and I was waking up in one of my favourite cities again.

Melbourne was still reeling from what was initially thought to be a terror attack when a car ploughed into pedestrians on the sidewalk outside Flinders Street Station. However, this initial thought was quashed when it turned out the driver was just mental due to a drug addiction.

Pretty scary that it occurred late in the afternoon at around the same time I arrived just half a mile from where I was staying.

Anyway, I was back in Melbourne for the next 7 days and where I’d also be spending Christmas. For the next two days I’d arranged to catch up with my good mate Olivia, who I initially met in Fiji and then stayed with her when I visited the city in Victoria at the beginning of September. She’s a ball of energy and a great laugh so I was buzzing to catch up with her again.

Olivia finished work for the Christmas holidays that Friday afternoon so it was the perfect time to meet up. We met on the tram and headed straight to St Kilda beach to meet up with her friend Lorraine and a few others.

After sinking a few beers and chilling in the sun, we hit a bar called Lona where we ate some grub and carried on with the booze late into the night, before I eventually headed back to the hotel.

Following another nice long sleep in the king size it was time for round 2! This time Olivia’s close friends were having a house party in Prahran which I was also invited to. I made my way down there late afternoon and the party was already in full swing when I arrived.. decks set up under the garage roof, music booming, drinks flowing and people dancing in the garden.

I also got chance to catch up with Matilda, a lovely Swedish girl who I lived with for a short time while I was staying at Olivia’s back in September. It was great to see her, as well as Olivia and Lorraine again, and we partied into the night. I called it a day just after midnight when things were starting to really cut loose. As always, I had a wicked time meeting up with Olivia.. it was awesome to see her again over the previous couple of days.

It was Christmas Eve and I was on the move again, though not too far this time. I was moving into an Airbnb apartment I had arranged on the outskirts of St Kilda where I was meeting Ria. She was flying down from Brisbane so we could celebrate Christmas together over the next 4 days.

It was great to see her again after having left Brisbane 2 weeks ago. We woke up together on Christmas Day, exchanged gifts and cracked open the champagne. It felt really odd being away from family and friends at Christmas.. it was the first time I’d ever celebrated it apart from them. It was also odd it being warm and sunny! Australian’s don’t celebrate the day in the same manner as we Brit’s do, and there’s definitely not as much emphasis on it either.

Our day was spent over indulging on treats and booze while I nurtured my 7 hour slow-cooked beef in red wine sauce. I have to say, it was bloody good, but a lot of effort for a meal that’s disappeared in 10 minutes!

The next day was the main reason I’d returned to Melbourne for. It was the start of the most famous fixture in world cricket.. the Boxing Day Fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England at the 100,000 seater Melbourne Cricket Ground.

It has long been a dream of mine to witness this particular fixture and I was so excited to be finally attending it despite England having already lost the Ashes with two games to spare.

It was a roasting hot day, the MCG was packed, and the atmosphere was superb! I had a great day, and I think Ria enjoyed it too even though she has no interest in cricket. She even managed to fall asleep while the game was being played. Ha!

For our last day in Melbourne we headed over to South Wharf to have a mooch around and do a bit of shopping. The only thing we came back with was a belly full of chicken after a Nando’s in the city centre.

Our time in Melbourne was up.. Ria and I left later that evening on a flight back to Brisbane. The next seven days were pretty low key there, even our New Year’s Eve celebrations were too. Brisbane’s nightlife isn’t particularly “happening” so we ended up watching the midnight fireworks over Southbank from the Victoria Bridge. They were nothing of the spectacular variety that the larger city’s of Sydney and Melbourne have to offer, but they were still good nevertheless.

A spot of shopping, cooking some nice grub, a trip to the cinema and dining out at Jamie’s Italian in the CBD kept us occupied for my remaining days in Brisbane.

The next leg of my travels begin tomorrow when I start making my way to Nepal, where in a few days time I’ll meet with a tour group and climb to Mount Everest Base Camp.

By leaving Brisbane it also meant i had to say a sad farewell to Ria. In various stages throughout my travels we shared some fantastic memories which will remain long in the memory, however, it is now time we go our separate ways.

Back on the road again tomorrow.. it will be a bit of a slog to reach Kathmandu by going via Bangkok, but it’s one that I’m really looking forward to.

See ya xx