So yesterday I left New Zealand after spending a great day with uncle Chris and Carol. We went to a place called Piha which had a beach with black sand and a volcanic formation which was called lions head. Chris and I went for a walk through the bush at kitikiti, near Glenesk, it was called Glenesk because the first man who bought and leased the land was Scottish and named the area after his place of birth. The walk lead us to kitikiti falls, during the walk we saw the smallest waterfall (you couldn't even call it that) and we were so disappointed because we thought that was the main attraction but after turning a few more corners we found the big waterfall which was beautiful. We then had to do a bit of scrambling to find the path again! We had lunch overlooking Auckland which was beautiful.
Got to the airport and said goodbye to Chris and carol, I hate goodbyes! well I think I have bad luck at airports....I got frisked which have me the absolute giggles which obviously was not the correct thing to do so I got a few funny looks then I was walking aimlessly around the gates and a emirates lady came up and asked me where I was meant to be so I told her my gate and she turned me around and pointed me in the right direction!
My friend picked me up from the airport which was great and took me to my hostel. I'm sharing a room with 3 German girls (and one guy is having a sleepover with one of the girls, great!).
Waking up today in a foreign city and not really knowing anyone is so odd but so liberating! I got up and went for me free breakfast. I made my first friend called Vicky who is also working in Melbourne!
Today I have been wondering around Melbourne city taking everything in. I sat at federation square for a while which is a lovely area. It is the Melbourne cup today which is a big horse race so everyone is dressed up to the nines and there seems to be a great atmosphere.
I am currently sitting on Bourke street listening to live music. They are such a cool band, one guy began by playing drum sticks on a telephone box, floor and lamp post. They also play the guitar, tambourine and drums. When they stop another band down the road begins! Love it! A lady started talking to me after I had been looking at my map for about 10 minutes (obviously I look lost), it turns out she is from Dorset, is 48 and has been travelling Australia and living in Melbourne for the past year. I have just had such a great chat with her about life, and positive attitudes and thinking (which anyone who knows me will know how much I enjoyed this conversation). She has told me how easy it is to make friends here and a few things to check out! I can't believe I'm going to be living here for the next few months, so exciting! So another guy has just started to play his guitar and sing, he is wearing a train drivers hat and occasionally taps a banjo! So cool!
The rest of the day I just wondered around and got to know the area. I sat in federation sq for an hour or so on a deckchair, there was so much going on so I could just watch the world go by.
Walking back to my hostel was amusing, well looking back it it, I stupidly wore my new converse shoes which was not the best idea considering I walked around all day long. So of course I had about 10 blisters on each foot so I was walking really awkwardly and my shorts kept riding up, bearing in mind it was cup day and everyone was dressed so beautifully, I did stand out like I sore thumb!
That evening I went to the bar with 2 girls that I met and we ended up playing pool with a group of Australian guys which was a lot of fun, although I think it is going to take me a while to get used to their humour!

So day 2 in Melbourne started off very well, for chatting with some more people over breakfast, when you are by yourself everyone seems so friendly! I went into the CBd and sorted a bank account and handed my cv out to a few trendy looking bars so fingers crossed I get a job soon!
I'm on my way to meet a friend then we are going to the beach. I happily got on the train, knew the train station that I needed to get off at and jumped off when I was sure they said the name, and then called Dave to find out where he was....when he couldn't find me and I couldn't find him, I turned around to check the name of the station and realised that I had got off at the wrong station! It's so typical of me to do something like that! But at least I can laugh at myself! So here I am back on the train heading for the correct station...or so I hope! I will get to the beach at some point!