Tues 28/11/2006

Managed to sleep a bit on the flight after watching Superman; well actually it was the Singapore Slings that sent me to sleep!! I woke back up though as I wanted to see the movie ‘My Super Ex-Girlfriend’ wish I hadn’t have done though now as it was quite boring so once it had finally finished I was back off for a well deserved sleep.

Finally hit the tarmac in Melbourne after a decent flight, the weather outside looked ok, well it looked awesome actually, sunny and not a cloud in the sky.

Checking into Australia is some what of a task though, every person you meet wants to know where your staying, who with and if you have a contact number whilst staying in Australia???

I wasn’t sure whether it was normal procedure or the fact that all the staff was woman and the fact that I am… well erm…me???

Anyways finally made it through after nearly an hour inside there, coming out of the airport was kind of weird as the electric doors open and there are a million people on the otherside! Everybody took the left turn as soon as they passed through the door but unintentionally I took the right turn, well in fact it was the wrong turn but it was my right! I was free at last to roam in this beautiful country which I may add is freezing right now (14 degrees)!!

Met up with Stephanie whom I had previously met in India and we caught the bus down into Melbourne’s CBD, catching another bus sounded quite stressful to me considering I had spent over 24hrs on one traveling from Phi Phi (Thailand), through Malaysia to Singapore, but it was ok on this one as civilization had a place here in this country!

Arrived in the centre and off we went to find our hotel, Steph had booked it and as she wasn’t a backpacker anymore but a Sydney Lady I knew it would be ok! It was too but we couldn’t check in until 14.00 and it was now 12.00 so we dropped our bags, well my backpack and her travel case and wondered off into town for some food.

We found a nice little restaurant and it was so weird hearing everyone speaking English, well Australian. Being able to slightly comprehend what people are talking about was something that hadn’t been coming so easily to me and now I could almost understand everyone. I had a Pasta and Chicken dish which was delicious but then came the bigger shock to the system, the price!! I had been used to paying around a pound for a very filling meal, now I was expected to pay nearly seven pounds…..not good!!

Checking into the hotel was a good feeling as it had an executive (ish) feeling to it, well anything would I suppose after staying in my little basic room with just a bed and a fan for the past six weeks. As I had been traveling since 08.00 on the 26/11/06 and it was now 28/11/06 I decided to have a little nap.

Three hours later we woke and decided as it was so cold I needed to buy a jumper of some kind as all I had was shorts and T-shirts and of course a pair of jeans that I had bought in Singapore! I managed to find a nice warm hoody in one of the surf shops so I was happy and now warm, I couldn’t believe how cold it was not only because its Australia but its supposed to be summer here and even more weird I was probably the brownest person here so to all you Pale Brits don’t let these guys ever put you down they are just as pale if not worse!!

Back at the hotel I was so tired that again I decided to have a nap before going out for something to eat. For three hours I had some of the weirdest nightmares and woke up several times scared to death for which I am going to blame the cheese so guys I don’t recommend eating that stuff before sleeping!! Waking up again at 21.00 we both decided that we couldn’t be bothered getting ready to go out so we stayed in bed. I woke again at 23.00 and decided I MUST have a shower; it wasn’t fair on those around me as I hadn’t had one for nearly three days.

The shower was so great, warm water which was something I hadn’t felt for a long time and the fact that you could control the temperature was even more of a luxury. I was in there around thirty minutes as I didn’t want to get out because it was just so nice, well actually the real reason was I was so smelly and dirty I had to clean over and over again!!!

Wed 29/11/2006

Steph woke me around 09.15 to go have breakfast. The first time I had slept after 07.30 for a long time so after thirty minutes of rolling around and moaning (by this I mean complaining…calm down!!!) I finally got up.

I had so much for breakfast as missing tea last night I was so so hungry! I had fresh fruit, toast with peanut butter, toast with jam, cereal and a cup of Tetley tea. After breakfast I had another shower, I just couldn’t get enough of this washing thing especially in warm water, in Phi Phi the water was so cold that you only showered when it was absolutely necessary!

Once ready we caught the Tram to Chapel Street in the Prahran area. Here were some very nice little boutiques selling more original clothes, so my mission was to find a few nice tops as here in civilization I couldn’t get away with wearing three day old smelly t-shirts that looked like they had seen better days! I achieved this mission in no time but something that came a bit weird to me was the fact that the shirts in a size small were too big for me which was quite worrying as before I left the UK a medium was too small! However I was prepared to shop all day and so Stephanie had to get me away from the area to stop me buying more!! I was hungry with all this shopping but we decided to wait until we got to St Kilda for food.

Waiting for food was a bad idea, firstly because we had to wait for the tram, secondly because we got the wrong tram and thirdly because we had to do a bit of walking to find a decent restaurant once in the St Kilda area!

Finally we found a decent place and again I was Mr Boring and had the chicken and pasta, it had a nice sauce though ‘Princess’ was its name! After dinner we decided to go for a stroll along the beach, I saw the famous Luna Park which is a theme park and had an amazing entrance, the mouth on that guy was so big it was almost comparable with a few girls I know back in the UK, not mentioning any names! Also on the beach were a few people sunbathing, these people had to be stupid or English. I mean it was just so cold and the wind-chill made it even colder, so cold I had to put my hoody on! We sat and watched some guys windsurfing which was very cool especially when they got good ‘air’.

After freezing for over an hour we decided to catch the tram back into the CBD to have a look around the place. After hearing Jamie Oliver had opened another ‘Fifteen’ restaurant here we decided to go find it, and that we did!! Steph being a ‘Dag’ (a socially inept person) she was going crazy at the sight of the place and had to go inside for a look around, apparently Mr Oliver was a hit over here!!

Not happy with an exclusive tour of the restaurant she wanted to eat there, on the phone unfortunately she was told how ‘fully booked’ they were and how there was a ‘waiting list’. I knew she wouldn’t have to worry as she was with me and I always bring good luck or as a very good friend Mr Jones Junierre once said I ‘always come out smelling of roses!’ That I did too as they phoned back to pass on the wonderful information that they could accommodate us tomorrow evening at 20.30!!

Near the hotel we decided to stop for a coffee at a little side street coffee house, I was so excited, it was cold (ish) the whole atmosphere oozed Christmas and the fact that Christmas is around the corner made everything just great!! I also went and bought some smell good (perfume) from one of the department stores which was gutting as days before I was looking around the duty free section of the airport but decided against buying some as I already had some, but I decided I was bored with it and so had a change.

For the evening we got ready and caught the Tram to Brunswick Street in the Fitzroy area. Apparently here had the best food and the most weirdest shops, well the weirdest shops part I could understand as there were gimp suits in every window but the food was all Asian and having just spent four months there I decided to give it a miss! We had a wonder around the place until nightfall then caught the tram to the Crown Casino Complex. Looking over the night skyline is just amazing and then to top it all off they have a tremendous fire show from the giant chimneys! Inside the venue was also amazing, we caught the end of a very festive Christmas show and I found a giant decorated tree which made me feel so good inside. I was starting to get a little hungry and so was Steph so we decided to eat. Hypocritically I got Vietnamese food which actually turned out to be nearly an all you can eat dish, basically because for nine dollars you could choose anything you wanted so I decided to try everything on the menu just to see what I liked the best. I tell you what though the lady behind the counter didn’t like me the best, that’s for sure!!

We walked back to our hotel and decided to watch one of the dvds I had purchased in Thailand. The movie of choice was ‘Jackass two’ the laughter was short lived as the laptop died after ten minutes and I hadn’t purchased a converter for here so we just went to sleep!

Thurs 30/11/2006

I was the first up this morning and was supposed to be getting woken up by Steph at 08.30 so we could beat the breakfast rush and get some Muesli but in fact I woke her at 08.45. Luckily we got the Muesli and had another great breakfast before setting off across town to the post office to send my Padi Dive books home, too many forms to fill out so I decided to give it a miss today and do it tomorrow when I had more inclination to do such a boring task!

The weather had picked up today and it was much warmer so I changed out of my trousers and put on my shorts and headed of to the Queen Victoria Market, I was a bit apprehensive because when I hear the word market I have visualizations of the Leeds City Markets and the people, smells and sights etc. This place was so different though because all the things that were on sale were items such as caviar, cheese and some of the best cuts of meat I have ever seen!

After a wonder around the markets we decided to go for a coffee at ‘Hudson’s’ coffee house, in the city its always nice to take a break and watch the world go by whilst enjoying a nice Latte!

As it was a big night tonight we took a nice stroll back to the hotel to get washed and changed. I was happy to just wear my shorts and T shirt but Steph wouldn’t allow me to so I too had to get showered etc, again I didn’t mind getting in the shower as it’s just so nice!

We headed over to the restaurant at around 19.30 even though the table wasn’t booked until 20.30 and the walk would take a maximum of ten minutes but Steph was just so excited we had to get out of that hotel room!

The restaurant inside was so nice, we got talking to a young man who worked in the bar section, Steph had a million questions for him the poor soul. Well I thought he was poor until he tried jumping on the band wagon claiming he too had had a bad childhood. The best he could do was the fact that he didn’t get the game he wanted for his Playstation in 2001, then he went on to claim he and Jamie Oliver were almost family, well you would think so the way he spoke about past events!

For the meal we decided to go with the degustation tasting menu, this way we could try all the different dishes and see what we thought was the best.

I had as follows:

• Beef carpaccio, pepper grass, golden and purple beets, micro herbs and horseradish crème fraiche.
• Fantastic salad of black Russian, cherry and plum tomatoes, fried buffalo mozzarella, mint basil, rocket and aged balsamic vinegar.
• Risotto with pancetta, red wine, parsley and robiolo.
• Slow roast Bendelle organic duck, Nicola potatoes, baby cavalo nero and pan juices.
• Fifteen Valrhona star anise chocolate tart, Grand Marnier mascarpone and seasonal berries.
• Fifteen cheese selection with pear, muscatels and grissini.
• Coffee (flat white)

This was accompanied by two beers and seven glasses of water and was so nice!

After the meal we were feeling very lethargic so we made our way back to the hotel, we started to watch a movie but were just too tired and so went to sleep!

Fri 01/12/2006

Woke up late this morning, not sure why but was quite tired still even after ten hours sleep! Either way only thirty minutes of breakfast was left so had to dash.

Had to pester the little old lady who ran the kitchen as there was nothing left to choose from and believe me she wasn’t a happy bunny.

I had a quick bowl of cereal then went and got showered and dressed so I could go over to the post office.

At the post office I couldn’t believe another older lady in the spirit of Christmas, what a miserable person she was, all I wanted was to post my dive books home how difficult could it be? Well not as difficult as it was for her to crack a smile, either way I wished her a Merry Christmas and went on my way!

My mission for this morning was to find Chief ok sorry… Dad an Australian rugby top, wasn’t such a hard task to do as this was Australia so they were everywhere. The hardest part of the mission was that I had to go back to the post office to send it home, luckily I was served by a much nicer younger girl!

Once I had completed my mission I decided to carry on with a more personal task of tasting all the different coffee shops’ lattes in Melbourne so off I went to Gloria Jeans. Not bad but I have had better!

Felling a bit lethargic I made my way back to the hotel, such hard word not doing anything day in day out!! Back at the room I watched the Ashe’s and England didn’t perform too badly which is always good when you’re watching it with a Sheila!

Still feeling tired we decided to go for tea earlier, again we wondered down to the Crown Plaza area and even though I had promised myself I still went and ate in the Vietnamese place and once again it was horrible!

Nothing major planned for tonight so decided to buy a packet of peanut M&M’s and head home to watch ‘the forty year old Virgin’.

Sat 02/12/2006

Up at 09.00 for the last of the luxury breakfasts, so I stole a few of the packed cereals to take with me so hope the cereal police don’t catch up with me!

I packed my things and headed over to the ‘Elephant Backpackers’ hostel.

It was nothing special on the outside but very nice on the inside and only two per room, so guys if you’re ever looking for a place in Melbourne, go there!

I dumped my bags and headed of for another coffee tasting, this time it was a familiar place, not sure if you know it…’Starbucks’? The coffee here was the same as back home but it was warm inside and even better Christmas songs were on!!

A couple of hours passed by and I was beginning to get hungry so I decided to go to a very good friends favorite place! Yes that’s right Mr Big Arms, I went to Hard Rock Café, but I didn’t have your mate Dames favorite Hot Wings and couldn’t see B B either?? However there was a nice family in what you could have spewed all over!!!

After dinner I walked back Steph back to the hotel and said bye as she had to return to Sydney for work. Having watched some more of the ashes I decided to go watch those in a British pub I had found called ‘Elephant & Wheelbarrow’. Don’t know what it is with me and Elephants today but I’m certainly not going out looking for girls this evening if you know what I mean?

Had a pint of Kilkenny in the pub but it was just too cold in there so I headed along to ‘Bridies’ an Irish bar not far away. In here it was much warmer, so I stayed and watched the Ashes. There was more of an atmosphere in here and had a right laugh with the Irish, Scottish and English Barmaids before heading off feeling quite drunk to my hostel.

At the hostel I was feeling quite up for a big night, and although the angel on my left shoulder was telling me to stay in as I had to be up at 05.30 to catch a bus the devil on my right shoulder shouted louder to go out. I had to listen to the one who shouted loudest so off I went to another Irish pub the girls had recommended called ‘P J O’Brian’s’ just beside the Yarra river .

In there I continued with the Kilkenny as after a few I now had a taste for it, also it wasn’t long before I was approached by two fellow travelers Rachael and Danielle from Ireland.

After a few more Kilkenny’s, then some Coronas the girls thought it would be a good idea to go onto shorts!! Always seems like a good idea at the time so we sampled a few then went for a dance.

Around 02.30 my angel some how got the better of me and forced me to go home, however my devil did make me get a big fat tray of greasy cheesy chips before crashing out with them in bed!