Blog : Melbourne

It was kinda weird getting on a plane in sydney to go some place new after wed been hopping on greyhound all the way down the east coast, every couple of days! It was an internal flight that we got from the sydney domestic terminal and i cant remember whether i blogged about already or not but il skim over it breifly, just in case i didnt and also maybe not to piss off the fathership too much - hed get to the airport a day early if he could to bagsy the extra legroom seat! So basically the long and short of it is we didnt really leave ourselves that much time for a hell of a lot of queuing and on an empty stomach thats not pretty! We all were grumpy and starving and the queue was just endless! We gobbled food in silence in the airside food court, me more sushi (ive become attached) and the girls falafel wraps or something... And then we headed in the vague direction of the gate and sat down to charge up the iPhone juice! We then got ourselves our first personalised airport annoucement "would miss Oates, Vidal and lawson please come to the boarding gate blah blah blah" not the best start back on planes!! But we made it to Melbourne and the flight was only a tiddly but late and not even because of us... A combo of a headwind and missing the take off slot at sydney airport!

Als dad met us literally as we walke off the plane, we hadnt even had a wee, collected our bags or christ even done a food in teeth check on each other! I didnt know that in domestic airports as a non traveller you can pretty much get everywhere apart from board the plane, with out a ticket! It was a good reunion and our bags came out quickly which saved any awkward chat, but i doubt there would have been as he was a funny guy, sarcastic and liked to take the piss of Al so obviously we warmed to him! He drove us three to his house, in Healsville, which was about an hour or so outside of actual Melbourne city.

His house was huge, loads of garden, amazing views, big patio and sunbathing spaces, although we were seeking out the shade as we had arrived to an Australian heat wave... It was 40C or something ridiculous! We also had our own bedroom which was a complete treat and literally seconds after seeing the bed that kate and i were gunna share i could have cried it looked so comfy!! No bunk beds, no squeaking when you wriggle, no loud snoring and a duvet you can actually use without getting bed bugs!! Amazing!!

On the bed was my parcel from home too... Yes B and mum it did look like a shipment of cocaine! B had used more tape than he had box, it was impossible to get into it and after ten minute of struggle i gave in and had to use the penknife Als dad offered! It was so exciting to have a little parcel, well little in size not weight! I was so intrigued as to what was in it other the crucial items id asked for - hair braiding kit and more denim shorts! It was like having loads of xmas presents, mums were all in clear plastic bags and super useful-big old granny pant knickers, perfect for sleeping in as commando plus nighty in a dorm does not fly for me and a head mosquito mask that i think she made (?) i love it, thank you soo much!'i must be the tastiest person alive as ive been bitten to shreds all the way down the east coast and now have incredibly attractive lumps and scars over my legs, arms, shoulders and back! And both mum and B sent me books and the boy sent me the best two other presents in the whole wide world... Magazines and s*** loads of them!! I actually think my withdrawal symptoms from celeb gossip and articles about fat people's sex lives had gotten to the shakey shakey stage! And an iTunes voucher to buy new tv - incredible and probably the most valuable present ever! Weightless yet hours of entertainment to keep me occupied! And enough to cover the first season of the killing... Yeah buddy! Thank you wonderful boyfriend :)

We had a nice dinner with Als dad and family, it was almost a christmas dinner... Roast chicken, potatoes, the lot! And it was delish! Just what we all needed and i dived in for seconds and thirds! We had an amazing chill night watching grand designs!! And drinking G and T, it was heaven! I also started trying to teach Als six year old lil sister how to plait and together we made her a cute little friendship anklet! It did make me feel quite homesick though and i went to bed pining to just nip home for one afternoon and get my lawson household fill and a battery charge!!

We were up and about relatively early the next day as we had lots to cram in and energetic six year olds are very good alarm clocks... Manufacturers should take note of that... It is much harder to ignore jumping on the bed and shouting than it is a simple honking sound! We breakfasted and then jumped in the car and Als dad showed us the sights of Healsville, a really cute centre of the Yarra valley, with lots of little independent cafes and boutiques. We went and saw the big resovouir and a very old damn, which i was terrified might blast open at any point! And we went and paddled and played stepping stones at badger creek, a little stream in a national park that is beautifully clear and f***ing freezing cold! We tried skimming stones but with a pool of about 1m round, it didn't really work! But Becky enjoyed being around us big girls i think! Then we went to the animal sanctuary which was great as we got to see all of the native animals that we hadn't managed to see and it made the girls a lot happier with the fact we bypassed the $90 Brisbane Steve Erwin zoo! We saw kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, wombats, possums, kookaburras and about a million other animals. It was a really cool animal sanctuary, as none of the animals were in actual "cages" like zoos, they were more protected behind roped off areas or you walked through a big fenced off home to birds and bats and although we didnt see any, probably a s*** load of spiders too :/ we were there in the middle of the day and it really was quite hot so we did have to have a few sit downs and ice lolly stops as we went round! I have a new found love for the simple lemonade lolly! In the afternoon we hopped on the car as went to a family friends house to have a dip in their pool and a relax... I accidentally fell asleep with my gov wide open, right at the table where, when i woke up, loads of people were sitting and chatting around, oops!

We had another good dinner when we got home, tuna pasta bale - i need to make that more as its yummy! And we spent the evening chilling again and catching up on some of our life admin...! Messaging people back, booking up hostels, uploading pictures to our snapfish account (yeah mummsy, theres new ones!) and looking at places to go with the boys when they come out to visit us next month :) i also out the hair-braiding kit to good use and did two really cools ones for Becky and KV. I was actually quite proud of them!

The next day kate and i caught a replacement bus, a train, a tram an a taxi into the centre of Melbourne to give Al some space with we dad for a couple of days... After our nightmare journey on non-air conditioned public transport and in 40C heat we finally made it to our hostel and checked in... The hostel, habitat hq was cool, kind of an Eco one but the rooms were small and jam packed with stuff and bags and clothes and everything already! We went for a wander around St Kilda where we were staying, a place loads of people had recomended to us and we found lots of independent clothes shops and millions of fancy European looking cake shops. There was a cool atmosphere in st Kilda and it was obviously the place lots of backpackers went as well as locals... It was such a hot afternoon though that everyone was crammed on the relatively small beach instead of the town and we could only walk around for so long! We were complete tramps and sat outside the automated doors of an air conditioned bank to eat our late lunch - falafel salad obviously! (Doing pretty well with my no bread still!) We then had a bit of a crisis and had to dash home as KV had lost her iPhone and so we pulled the room apart, tipping our bags upside down and everything, to no avail... A little knock on the door though and the friendly receptionist was stood with it in her hand and have it back... Kate had left it at the front desk as wed been checking in! Oh dear!

KV decide to chill in the hostel common room after that and i went back for a second wander and looked round the old fashioned amusement park in front of the beach and went in search of dinner... We made the most delish food ever and considering most of the ingredients spread over three meals for me, relatively cheap too! We had some Japanese bbq marinated salmon fillets with a sushi salad - lettuce, tomato, cucumber, grated carrot and avocado and a soy sauce dressing! It was unbelievably yummy!! We then did a quick turn around and jumped into a tram into the city to meet up with one of my uni housemates Mox and her hubby who are living in Melbourne at the mo and had very generously offered to take us out for Shisha. It was cool because they took us to a part of the city we hadn't discovered yet and kate and i liked getting the tram up the main road in the dark because its easier to spot the cool shops lights! We were very naughty though and didn't use our myki - the equivalent of an Oyster card - as all our credit ran out! We sat inside and i really enjoyed chatting and having a massive catch up with Mox about everything and Vish was so lovely and relaxed and it made me feel like i was back at uni again, chilling in the living room! Mox and i reminisced about the time she first tried Shisha and then her having a Shisha pot herself and using a sock to cover over the smoke detector on her room! We had such a giggle and the time flew, before we knew it, it was about 2am so we went to catch the tram home, but manage to miss it in amidst goodbye hugs and thank yous at their kindness and generosity (thank you soo much mox!!) so we had to chase it down the street on the tram behind! And swap at the next stop!

Following Mox and vish's advise, kate and i got up early the next day and caught the tram into central Melbourne and had a really nice wander up flinders lane, which had loads f cute breakfast cafes and vintage shops and around the main shopping streets, Swanson, Bourke and Lonsdale although we didnt want anything so window shopping didnt keep us amused for long and we headed up to the queen victoria market, which is apparently the largest market in the whole of the Southern Hemisphere! It was a combination of borough food market, billingsgate fish market with load of meat too and then there was all the fruit and veg, souvineers, clothes and general tat! We must have spent about three. It four hours walking around it! We came across a dollar donut van and as we were hovering around outside some lady came up to Vidal and told her they really were the next donuts in the works and we should have one! That sold it to us and we both had one, which was absolutely delish, sugary on the outside and crispy and soft with plum jam in the middle! Laaavely!

We wandered back down the Main Street, making mental notes where to take Al the following day when she came up to join us! We got caught in a big parade going on as well... It was a Muslim day of remembrance and a precession of all men in black took over the whole of the road blocking it to all traffic, they were chanting and singing too... It was really interesting to see! Back at the hostel we had the same sushi salad again but with marinated chicken instead this time and we enjoyed chilling out, having a glass of goon and reading magazines :)

The following morning we had a bit of a kerfuff with Al arriving to find there were no more beds available in the hostel even though wed checked the day before and had been told there were which was annoying... But we put her backpack in one of the storage lockers and thought wed worry about it later as the hostel nearby had no spaces either... We went with her dad to the casino and incredibly generously he gave us $50 each to play with at the £2.50 roulette table... We all desperately wanted to win and i kept religiously putting my chips on mine and Bs lucky number - 33. But it didnt come up and it was probably the quickest lost $200 ever... Kate and i felt so guilty we paid for his burger at lunch as a sort of sorry!! We had burgers at a restaurant on the southbank, very similar to our one! Although mine came in a bowl as i didn't want the bun!

We took the tram after wed said our goodbyes up to lygon street (where wed been with mox and vish for Shisha) and wandered down, looking at all the Italian restaurants and we got to a little gelataria which had been so busy late in the evning when wed past it the other day so we all went in and they had a huge selection of fruit sorbets and ice cram made from soy so i was in my element and branched out my usual lemon sorbet and had grapefruit, apple and coffee, which were all delish, although perhaps not all together, a bit of an odd mix!! kv had a bit of a traumatic experience though as she dropped her iPhone and the screen smashed :( we wandered back to the min street and went in search of a phone screen protector to try and hold it all together! And then hopped on a tram back 20 mins or so to st Kilda and had a quick wander and a gorgeously refreshing strawberry cider in one of the pubs with a nice garden and a DJ playing! We couldn't stay long though as we had to go back to the hostel as get outlet warm clothes on as we then went to an outdoor cinema screenin of Hitchcock in the botanic gardens, with our picnic and goon box... It was such a good night, we all curled up on scarfs and pillows wed stolen from the hostel and watch the film which was about the making i f Psycho, with thousands of fruit bats circling above the crowd of 2000 say! It was such a lovely end to our time in Australia but bloody freezing too! We dashed back to the hostel and dropped off our big bags and went for one drink back in the st Kilda pub garden before calling it a night and heading home. We managed to smuggle Al into the hostel and she bunked in with kate so managed to get a nights sleep in a bed for free! Result! She locked her self out accidentally in the morning too but that was great because none of our dorm mates were even any the wiser either!!

We got up for free breakfast on the morning of our last day, mainly to justify the $3 soy milk i had brought and barely used as i couldn't drag myself out of bed before breakfast ended at 9am each morning! I had to pop down to the post office and post my shoes and some clothes home as my backpack was beginning to feel very cumbersome, but i didnt want to just throw stuff away! I needed to walk as well because i was fuminga t the discovery that someone in the dorm had stolen my iPhone charger from my bag... The lost annoying thing in the world as it had my adapter plug attached to it, which is very difficult to replace in Australia (because they don't have english converters obviously, their pin configurations are ozzy!) and then after i had cooled down and got back to the hostel, we jumped on a bus to the airport and prepared to say goodbye to Australia and hello to Singapore on our first international flight of the year! Melbourne we have loved you and are desperate to come back already!!