Melbourne weather is retarded (Dad-i know you just cringed cause i used that word...but it is). One day it will be 40 Celcius (over 100 F) and the next day there will be such a cold wind I have to wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt!! BUT that said, i really like it. I will always be a New Englander at heart, so constantly changing weather is in my DNA. For example, yesterday I wore jeans, today I am wearing a dress because just the thought of wearing so many clothes makes me sweat.

Anyway, yesterday I got a phone call from my german friend Kiki. I actually ignored her call at first because it was a saturday and before 9 am, but then she sent me a text saying she was in Melbourne! I never really got to say goodbye to my friends in Bondi since moving down here was a bit of a quick decision and it just became harder and harder to organize getting together since I lived so far away from them. My group of friends split up and headed in different directions around Australia (most of them up the coast but at different times) and I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to be seeing any of them again before I left. So, it was a great surprise that Kiki and Vicky ended up making their way down here! They had started going up the coast, but said it was all just the same thing (beautiful beaches and national parks one after the other...oh dear) so they decided to come down to Melbourne for a bit of a change. They have rented a van and are living out of it at the moment, I saw it and I am definitely jealous! It is awesome! There is a bed in the back, a sink, and kitchen type place, everything you need for the best road trip ever. Rob and I ended up going out for dinner with them in China Town and this morning they came over to take advantage of the free breakfast at the hostel and take a shower. I was glad to actually be of some use to them! Kiki and I went for coffee after, got to catch up a bit on what's been going on in our lives and then I had to say my first real goodbye as they are driving up to Adelaide today :( We are hoping to be able to meet up in Germany around June, but that is a long time away so who knows. But, Kiki did promise me about a million contacts in Germany so, dad, dont worry about looking for emergency contacts there- i have plenty!

Yesterday I went with Rob's friend, Dan (who lives in Melbourne), on a drive through the Yarra Valley Vineyards. I have some gorgeous pictures that I am going to try and upload now...but I am using the library's free internet and may or may not get kicked off for being on too long...ah the life of a backpacker! Its amazing how quickly you get into extremely rural areas once you leave the city. The vineyards are only about 50 minutes outside of Melbourne, yet there are only large farms surrounding them. We stopped at a fruit farm and got some great cherries and blackberries. Dad- They even had pure cherry juice there! Remember how you would always search for that for gout?? The sign even said "Good for arthritis and gout". I almost bought some to mail to you. The blackberries were amaaazing and so cheap! $6 AUD for a huge plastic container ( thats about 4-5 dollars?)

I am leaving Melbourne tomorrow night for Canberra. I booked an overnight bus ride through greyhound, leave at 9pm arrive at 7 am. I am also going to be couchsurfing there, so I dont have to pay for accommodation! This will be the first time I am doing it on my own, hopefully it was be a good indicator of if I will feel comfortable enough to do it in europe by myself...we will see. I am staying in Canberra till friday and then I'm back to Sydney!

I am now going to attempt to upload my photos since I haven't been thrown out of the library yet....