Melbourne!! Sunday 31 March...

Somehow I managed to drive us to Melbourne with Vanessa navigating. We ended up parking up and wondering around the town before we went to meet this guy who said we could couchsurf at his. We only realised that the clocks were half an hour ahead of Adelaide when it was about 6pm so then made our way to his house. We found it fine, using my tablet and the downloaded google map (this has proved VERY useful!). He seemed really nice, and there were 2 other German girls staying with him at the time, who weren't quite so friendly. In fact, at one point we were all in the little living room, and everyone sat there in silence...I can't deal with the awkward silence so ended up talking the whole time, trying to get everyone involved in the conversation which was Hard work to say the least! So I got a text from Ema who was at an Easter party. She invited us so we decided to go as it was better than staying in the apartment with some grumpy Germans! There were Irish and English at the Easter party, and Ema was the only Aussie, I couldn't believe it. It was so nice to catch up with her though, and weird to think that last time I saw her was in Saigon. She was good though, studying hard for a few assignments and at the time she was going out with Irish guy (but she split up with him a couple of days ago now! Typical Ema!) The night was good, but we decided to leave when everyone started getting a little too drunk and glad we did now because Ema said they ended up having a massive food fight and covering the house and each other in a load of food. Nice. Back at the apartment, the guy was really nice and had blown up the mattress and put a sheet on the couch which I slept on. It was surprisingly comfortable at that. I think I got the good deal as the girls were complaining the mattress deflated within 2 hours of lying on it. Hehe.

In the morning we got up, had some toast and left to the city. We went to visit a scabby bungalow at this old mans house as the rooms were cheaper than a hostel, but it was a really old scabby house, the man looked like a murderer and...well, it just wasn't nice! So we ended up checking into Flinders hostel in the CBD. It was nice enough, great location and had free breakfast in the morning. It was about 4pm by this time, so I went to meet Louise for a coffee. I met Louise in Na Trang, Vietnam with her boyfriend and ended up spending New Years Eve with them. They are a great laugh so it was great catching up with her. She was trying to find a job in Melbourne but struggling. Her boyfriend was washing cars 6 days a week...and I don't think they really have any plans after that! In the evening Vanessa and I met up with their Candadian friend they met in Cains as we bumped into him as soon as we arrived in the city. He bought a German guy with him and a guy from New Zeland. We just ended up having a cider in the pub down the road which was quite nice and normal J

Tuesday 2 April I helped the girls pack the car, jumped on a free shuttle bus for a tour of the city and then went to meet Ema and Louise for a good old catch-up. I travelled with these girls in Vietnam for about 2 weeks after Lottie abandoned me. They were good fun and was so nice to see them. We had a coffee and lunch with Diane also, who I met in Vietnam and wondered around South Bank...and we may have stopped for another coffee, or should I say Chai Latte now J I'm addicted to Chai Tea and Chai Latte...its so good, but not good for a travellers wallet! When I left Em and Lou, I went to Joels Dumplings Leaving Party, which was not far from my hostel. It was in a place called Shianghai Dumplings, I think its really famous, down China town street. I stayed at Joels parents in Adelaide and he was down for a couple of days when I was there. He is very pompous and his vocabulary is a tad more advanced than mine, but somehow we managed to get on ok! I didn't tell him I didn't understand what he was talking about half the time, but a smile and nod seemed to pass fine! Oh and the dumplings were amazing. He had invited about 12 people so it was nice to mingle with a few random Aussies. Then there was just 4 of us who ended up grabbing a cake in Starbucks at 11pm. Starbucks was packed!! Crazy days. I love Melbourne because its always busy, there are always people eating out, walking around the town, its also a city that never sleeps...I like it!

On Wednesday 3 April I got up and decided to stroll around the city and follow Diane's tips of where to go and what to see. I just walked and walked and explored the East suburbs. It was great and the sun was shining too! In the evening I met Amelia and Mike for dinner in a Italian down Lygon Street. We managed to get 2 free drinks each and some garlic bread thanks for Amelia not wanting to eat thereJ So I ended up paying $22 for dinner, 2 glasses of wine and a garlic bread. It was great to chat with them and they seem to be enjoying life out here! We finished off our drinks and went to meet Diane for a couple more. Mike took us on the wrong tram so we ended up walking a fair bit,..but it was all good fun and we managed to see her for an hour or so before we got kicked out the pub. For some reason they were closing at about 11pm! Not happy! The taxi back to my hostel was about $12 but at least I was safe and Amelia and Mike were not going to let me catch the tram back in the dark.

Thursday 4 April, I checked out of Flinders Backpackers as it seemed like most people there were living or looking for work 24/7 so it wasn't a very sociable hostel. There were a few nice guys, but it wasn't really doing it for me so I left and decided to try out St. Kilda. On my way out, I bumped into Joe who was the New Zeland guy I met on the first night. We ended up strolling around the city, and showing each other the street art we had both discovered before trying to get internet signal at Federation Square - this is a great meeting place, always people chilling outside and it has free wi-fi, even though it never seemed to work for me! It was so hot we ended up chilling and chatting there and watching this street artist crack jokes on the public He was actually quite funny, I don't normally like those kind of street acts! I eventually jumped on the tram to St. Kilda and checked in to a hostel called Base. It was awesome there! Definitely a place I would recommend to people and much more sociable. In the afternoon I wondered around the town, down the beach and in the botanical gardens..it was very pleasant! Joe came to meet me in the evening and we went to see the penguins at sunset - we managed to see one hopping from rock to rock I was so happy! My first penguin sighing J yey! Then we grabbed some good old fish and chips (I was going to cook but he persuaded me into buying fish and chips, which wasn't a bad shout- they were delicious for $8) It was ladies night in the hostel bar, so we went back there for a drink. When Joe left I went to change and spent the rest of the night in the bar, having $4 glasses of red wine, chatting to random people and getting to know the guys in my dorm. It was a cool night, I was so glad I moved from the CBD. Bed time was about 4am though L I was tired in the morning...

At midday we went on a hostel trip to Victoria Market and ended up walking around looking for free food. We managed to get 3 tiny pieces of cheese and that's about it! I bought some grapes, a couple of apples and a pear! It was nice to feel healthy again after nutella nutella nutella! Lol. I had organised to meet Ema and Lou in the afternoon so then made my way to North Richmond where we enjoyed some good old Vietnamese Pho. The portion sizes were 10 times bigger than the true Vietnamese portions, but I wasn't complaining. The beef was also delicious! We then went for happy hour down Chapel street before tucking into 2 $4 pizzas to share....they were good J Chapel street was full of life and the pizza place was cool too - it was a really chilled out bar place and upstrairs it turned into a dance floor in the evenings. I trammed it back to the hostel at about 11pm and sat and chatted to the guys in my dorm who were all dressed up and ready to go out, but ended up staying in chatting all night. I drifted off to sleep at some point, I was shattered!

I was up at out by 10am, and went for a jog around Albert park. This is a gorgeous lake and the road around it is the track for the grand prix which is pretty cool. There were tons of runners, dog walkers, sailing boats on the lake, and a massive sports centre with all kinds of activities taking place including basket ball and table tennis. It was a really cool centre!! I jogged back to the hostel at about half 11 and jumped in the shower to cool off. The guys in the dorm were heading to the beach so I joined them for a bit before wondering off and exploring a few more areas of St. Kilda. Then I went to Amelia and Mikes house for some yummy lamb and veg! The house was really cute and cosy and it was so good to chill on a sofa, have a glass of wine with them and enjoy some good old home cooking. They also had picked up my bank card which was a blessing so I could actually do some online banking at long last. On the way back on the tram I got chatting to 3 Aussie girls who were dressed up for a night out. They ended up inviting me to go out with them, so I did. We went to this cool bar down Chapel street which looked like a livingroom and everything that was in the room was for sale. It was a really cool place, dimly lit with some great live music...and to top that off they bought me cider! The clocks went back so I got an extra hour party time...then I went outside to catch the last tram back. This Welsh guy approached me and asked if I knew how to get back to St. Kilda. I said yes, jump on the tram that I am about to get on. He was convinced I had missed the last tram so we ended up walking back together...untill we did actually find a tram passing by that was heading to St. Kilda. It was such a random but fun day that day! The amount of people who talk to you is great...I think it helps walking around on your own sometimes, as I don't think you would get the same experience when you travel with someone 24/7.

The next morning, St. Kilda was holding Triathlon competitions so I was up at 8am. Now don't laught, because it's not a laughing matter, but I couldn't remember my padlock number so ended up giving up and just headed out in my PJ's. I did get a few odd stares and knowone did talk to me that morning, but it was so cool seeing the races, it reminded me of when I did mine. It was the same distances that I did too, but these guys had it slightly tougher as they had to swim in the sea and then run a fair bit on the sand to the bike stand! It was a great morning, everyone was there supporting each other and it was really sunny too. At 10am I headed back to the hostel to try and sort my padlock out...ended up getting reception to break it L. I went to visit the Shrine of Remembrance and the Botanical Gardens....both well worth seeing and I'm so glad I went. So impressive and beautiful in the sun. I got chatting to a girl in the botanitcal gardens who was also trying to figure out what was happening on a section of grass as many people were walking around with headphones in. There were musicians sat on the floor, one guy was playing a guitar, but you couldn't hear him...we then discovered a sheet that said you just have to tune into a certain radio station and you can hear the music they were playing! How cool is that! Shame I didn't have headphones so didn't actually hear them play but I thought it was a great idea. The girl invited me to a "Hooler hoop" party that evening so we exchanged numbers before I went to meet Lou and Em for Chai Latte (and a choc tarteJ) at St. Kilda. We sat on the grass in the sun chatting! I then headed back to the hostel and then went to meet Angie (girl from Botanical Gardens). She was with a friend...and we all headed to this "hooler hoop" party! It wasn't a hooler hoop party at all, she completely misunderstood. We went into this old warehouse that was dimly lit with tea candles and some cool electronic music, big cushions on the floor. It was so weird, there were a few people there, they generally seemed like real hippy people, with piercings everywhere and just hippy clothes too! We were all slightly confused but just sat down, grabbed some herbal tea and waited to see what the night would hold for us. We were then told to help ourselves to some food...which was delicious! Some vegetabale soup, amazing bread and noodle vegetrable dish too. For just $5, we could help ourselves. As we were eating this man was at the front of the warehouse and started creating some really cool electronic music with random bits a pieces he had gathered. Coins, broken speakers, metal rod, wires....crazy things, but he produced some pretty cool sounds with these things! I went up to chat to him when he finished. He looked scary, with long beard and hairy tram like..but he was a musician after all and they are all crazy like that. He was explaining how he made the sounds and that he used to play flute and guitar. One day he put his guitar down and farted...and the string on his guitar vibrated and made a sound. He found it so interesting he never played the flute or guitar again and began experimenting with sound waves and began to create some really cool stuff. We then listened to a younger guy produce some other electronic music. He turned all the lights off and everyone just layed down on the cusions listening to the sounds he was creating. This guy was sat down, he had an electric guitar a microphone that he used to make vocal sounds with and wind noises and he also had a laptop and computer type thing. I can honesetly say it was the best, most relaxing electronic music I have heard (I really didn't like it in University)..but it was so relaxing and he created some incredible sounds with just a few things. It was really inspirational. Not quite what we were expecting, as I'm not sure where hooler hoop came from, but I think the lady that organised it was a hooler hoop teacher, i think that's the only connection I could get from it! But the night was cool. I headed back to St.Kilda at 10pm and met with two American girls who were driving to Sydney the next day. I found them on Gumtree and decided to meet with them to see if I could join them in their road trip. They seemed pretty cool so I decided to go with them in the morning. Up at 7.30am, checked out of Base and made my way to our meeting point. I was actually on time, and they were running late so I sat and had a Chai Tea. We bought some food for the journey and then headed off by about 11am. They also picked up a French girl, so there was 4 of us in the car. It was a great trip, we stopped a couple of times, had some great chats about everything and anything, did a bit of yoga outside, went the wrong was in a McDonalds drive through, ended up buying a coffee and cake in McD's for $5 so we could download a Sydney map on our tablets...but the internet didn't work! Again. McD's really need to sort this out! I have experience this too many times in Oz. It's crazy that I struggle to find internet in oz, but in Asia it was the easiest thing ever. Anyway, somehow we made it to the city and I got them to drop me off by a bus stop. Ruby was a star and said I could stay with her, so I jumped on a bus and headed to hers. She met me and I was even treated to her home made lasagne J We had a quick catch up and went to bed. I'm now sat on her bed on Tuesday 9 April...I have been sleeping and looking on Gumtree to see what's about...and then decided I really should catch up with my blog postings as I was rather behind! So glad I'm all up to date now and hopefully you can all see why I have been such a bad friend, family member and not keeping in touch as much over the past week or two. I have had times where I really just want to skype parents and friends back home...so I hope to this week. Not had time to get homesick yet though! Miss you all but can't believe I'm out here in Oz...it still seems rather serreal to me J...can't wait to meet with Toby and Laura and Alex, more chats with Ruby (hoping to persuade her to do the East Coast with me!) and maybe meet a few more new people! Yipeee....I feel like travelling is SO in me. I have Loved doing random things, meeting random people, being crazy busy, experiencing new things, learning so much....ah, I can't say how much I have loved every single day of this trip so far. If you are reading this and haven't yet been travelling...try it! You have to, even if its a week away travelling but you MUST experience it!

ps. Melbourne has the most crazy cool street art and the best coffee shops ever down the cutest little alleys. Hopefully my photos will show you a bit of that! Also they have outside public BBQ's, skate parks, outside water fountains and then you have the beach just a 20 min tram away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre. St Kilda is a really cool suburb, with amazing cafes and restaurants, great cake shops. The place is like England on a hot summers day, when everyone wants to be outside and enjoy the weather. Apart from here, it happens pretty mush every day in the summer! It can get hot though, people were saying it was 40degrees a few weeks ago..thats HOT!

Ahhh love you all, from a happy and high Kelly P.!