I fought to wake up this morning at 7:30am to get the breakfast included with my stay at the Claremont Guest House. I dragged myself out of bed, and headed down the winding staircase to the lounge / breakfast area to be greated with toast, fruit and cerial. Unlimited brekky for free is great, and I can eat a tonne.

Overall I am really happy with the place. It is in a fantastic neighbourhood and the rooms are clean and include wifi, a fridge, lockers and a TV. In fact I'd be happy to stay long term but for one major problem - the kitchen.

One of the most expensive parts of backpacking I have discovered is the cost of eating out. Therefore, within the first week of arriving here, I decided to set a limit of one meal out at a restaurant per day, the other would be prepared in the hostel and so much cheaper. Since then I have done well, keeping to this rule and minimising my spending.

'Kitchen' is a very generous description of what is at the Claremont Guest House. Really, all that is provided is a counter top and a microwave. Not long ago this would have been fine for me (I practically lived on microwave meals and chicken and bacon sandwiches during uni), but now I need something a little more nutrious, or failing that - filling. Not something you can get out of microwave meals.

After breakfast I cleaned myself up and headed out to Inspire 9. As I am now in South Yarra, Inspire 9 is just 1 train stop away, or as I prefer - 30 minute walk. I set out from the guest house down Toorak road and up Chapel Street towards the Chapel Street bridge and Richmond. On the way I passed yet more expensive cars, shops and apparently an office for Vogue Australia. Further down the road I encountered Lamborghini Melbourne. South Yarra is a very up-market place. I headed in to Inspire 9, after taking many snaps along the way from South Yarra to Richmond, and set to a days work.

After finishing up, I headed back to the hostel around 7pm and called Mark to see what he was up to. He was at Fed Square and was watching the Aussie open with an old house-mate from Sydney. He offered for me to come along and so I headed back into town and watched a great game of tennis on the big screens. I got back in around 1:30am.

Ian.