Hello again, Blimey I am in Australia!

Well it’s the 20th Jan and I am here in Melbourne. . . .What a journey so far. . .

So, I arrived at Melbourne International at around 11.00ish pm, went through all the usual and got my bag and mozied on out towards the taxi’s at sat down ready to call Chrissie. . . . Slight problem occurred. . . I checked the email she had sent with her phone number on and it turns out that there was a digit missing. . . . hmmm. . . . So it’s now getting on for midnight, I have tried a few alternative numbers, but to no avail. . . There was a very friendly lady on the information desk who kindly sent Chrissie an email explaining said problem and that I would get in a hostel for the night. See I was supposed to be staying with Chrissie for the first night and wasn’t booked into my hostel til the next day. . . .

So I tried Base Backpackers where I was booked. . . No rooms. . Tried somewhere else. . . . No room. . . . Somewhere else. . . . No room. . . You getting the picture right?

So it’s getting on for midnight and believe it or not I was still very chilled out and actually laughing at the situation. . . The airport bench was looking very comfortable!

But then, hallelujah. . . . The Cooee hostel had a bed. . . . Happy days, so off I went in a taxi. . . Got there and the happy chap on the reception desk kindly explained that the guy who told me there was a room had gone home and also got it wrong. . . There was a room, but in a female dorm. . . Doh! I kindly reminded him that I was told there was a room and that I had come from the airport and spent $50 to do so. . . . He offered me a double room on my own for $120, which was considerably more money than the said $28. . . . We negotiated for a while, I gave him the puppy eyes and said I would out first thing. . . .He got confused and ended up giving me the double room for $28. . . Bless him! So following on from Fiji, I had luxury for the night, a big double and great shower. . . Bliss. . . Welcome to Australia. . .

I did eventually get in contact with Chrissie, thanks to Benny. . . . . And we met up the next day. Chrissie showed me round St Kilda. . . .Quite a happening place, with a good vibe about it. . . We had a few beers and met up with David who she lives / shares with. David seems like a really cool guy. . . DJ and general cool dude! Seems to know a lot of people?!

So not really done much since, Chrissie’s had to work, so I have been entertaining myself. . . . Sitting in bars, watching the world go by, etc. . .

I popped into the centre of Melbourne yesterday to do a bit of shopping. . . Wow, it’s so cheap! I got a new phone (I have 3 now). . . . Then was feeling a bit tired on my feet so went to see the new Will Smith film, ‘In Pursuit of HappYness (the capital Y means something btw). Great cinema, very comfy. . . Good film, enjoyed it. . . ! Then I sat in a bar / restaurant on Federation Square and watched the wierdo’s go by. . . It started to rain, so ended up sharing a table with a lovely young lady called Maria. . . Very nice! So, the conversation started, she had done some traveling, etc. . . It was nice, she was very friendly. Her boyfriend turned up and I had a good laugh with him too. . . . They said they were off to a friends in St Kilda and asked if I wanted to share a bottle of vodka and meet their friend. . . Why not I thought. . . . Crazy, surreal. . . . So we jumped on the tram and headed back to St Kilda. . .

I got a few beers from the shop and we went round the friends. . . I stayed for an hour or so and had a good laugh with them, but Cameron (Maria’s boyfriend) had cricket in the morning and the girls looked so tired, so I said catch ya laters and legged it back to the hostel. . . .Was feeling a little tired myself. . . I didn’t want a drink in the hostel that night, as a Londoner girl had shown a bit of interest in me the night before and I wasn’t interested, so ended up chatting to a few people in my room for a bit before crashing out. . . !

So here I am now, blending in nicely sat in a coolio café, stealing internet access and loving life!

Meeting Chrissie in about an hour for drinks and to meet loads of her friends. . . Look everybody here’s a Pommy! Don’t mention the Cricket. . . Still got the Rugby World Cup to throw back at them though. . .ha ha. .

Anyway, Ciao for now people. .

Much love comin at ya from down under. .