I woke up today planning to head up one of the two famous towers in Melbourne, the Eureka or Rialto. The plan was to chill out most of the day at the hostel, then in the afternoon when Dave was finished house hunting we could go up the tower and catch a beer afterwards.

I got up, got ready and headed up to the roof in the hostel where I spent most of my day. Recently, I have been having some real trouble with LloydsTSB and international bank transfers, meaning I cannot withdraw cash out here for use as a security bond on a share house. I bumped into Phillip for the first time since being back at Melbourne Metro and we got chatting.

He told me that he too was having real trouble with his German bank. His situation was worse however, as not only could he not withdraw cash, suddenly his cards have stopped working at stores and resteraunts as well. He has an Australian bank account and a job, so he can get by without his German bank, however he has no access to his savings now. He was saying he had spoken to a number of people over the week to try and resolve the issue, but that it was causing real problems.

I have to admit its nice to know im not the only person dealing with this rubbish. Its infuriating to know its the 21st century, the world is connected with the internet and we can do amazing things - yet banks cannot get money moved across the world correctly even after 3 weeks of fighting. It is very frustrating.

Thankfully, I am not in a position that I do not have access to my money and although this banking situation has resulted in me postponing my plan to find a share house, I can still get by just fine, so no need to worry. I spent the rest of the day relaxing waiting to hear from Dave and taking a few photos from the rooftop of Melbourne Metro.

By 8pm I received a message from Dave to say he was just back from house hunting and was I still up for catching a drink. I headed out down through the CBD just after sunset and met up at Flinders street station. We crossed the road and caught a drink in the pub opposite, and although we were too late to head up the Eureka tower (we rescheduled for Friday) we had a good night.

Ian.