Yo yo yo yo. . . . . . Back again. . . . Yeah baby!

Well, as ever my life has been a little crazy again since my last update. . . .Before I get started, I would like to apologise for the omission of and important event the weekend before last. . . . Yes, me and Pete went to see and AFL game at the MCG. . . . . Sorry a Australian rules Football League game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground stadium. Now Pete reminded me of this on an email saying that is ok in Thailand, etc. . . . Now the subconscious reason that I may have left it out could be that it was the biggest load of crap I have ever seen. . . . They can?t even fight properly. . . . . So without wanting to offend any Australians too much I am going to leave it there!

Again, being as we on the subject of sport, let?s just say congratulations to Derby County for making the playoffs and commiserations to Leeds. . . . Yes Graham, I may be the other side of the World, but I can still give you grief. . . . Please however do not be suicidal, it?s just not worth it?!?

Thanks however for the constant flow of massages, they do make me smile! Oh yeah, talking about messages on my board. . . . . Noods, thanks for the insight into your recent adventure into the European underworld, it did make me smile, however please note that the journal is family friendly, so informing people of your sore bits probably isn?t too much of a good idea. . . . ! Made me laugh though!

So, what have I been up to. . . . . Oh yeah, that?s it. . . . I said I was meeting up with Benny and a few of the boys for a steady one on Wednesday night. . . hmmmmmm. . . Well, it all started ok as I popped over to meet up with Benny and Pete at Pete?s place. Erica was there also and her mum had popped round for some wine tasting for the wedding. . . . I was asked for my opinion (Being a wine buff ? NOT), however I did manage to choose the correct one! Josh turned up, we finished the wine and then headed out to meet up with the others for a Vietnamese meal and more wine. . . . Rob turned up with a friend Michael and we just ate far too much food. . . . ! David turned up later and more food was consumed before we realized that we were the last ones in there and they were hovering up around us. . . . . !

It would have been a steady night as I had promised myself, however we all headed back to Rob?s for some Whiskey and Brandy. . . hmmm. . . . Many hours later, some games of table football and poker, there were some bottles of spirits looking decidedly empty. . . hhmmmmmm. . . . . Bed was calling. . . . . !

I woke up in the morning, needless to say with a sore head and headed out for my customary breakfast. . . .It didn?t help the situation. . . . I then got a call from Dennis and Kate, the friends I had meet on Sunday and they invited me out for the afternoon. . . . I said ok, as long as we don?t drink. . . . They said they couldn?t promise anything, but what that we could take the ferry up the Yarra river to Williamstown. . . . I thought that would be good and accepted. . . . . . When we finally got to the city and to the ferry point, we were told that we had missed the last one, then it starting raining, then it started to chuck it down. Hmmmm. . . . We then decided to head to one of the city?s largest towers to go to the lookout. . . . We did however pop into a bar on the way to get out of the rain. . . . . . Many hours later and after we had seriously attacked happy hour (5 or 6 Mojitos) we did manage to get to the top of the Rialto tower and the night skyline was pretty awesome!

The evening continued into the city for lots more drinks as we met up with Craig and Jen. We saw quite a few bars, some with live music. . . . I got a call from Benny, so met up with him later and shared a taxi home, as we were both a little worse for ware!

Friday, I picked my rental car up a little later than I had hoped then legged it to the airport to pick Xanthe up. . . . She had also been out the night before, so we were both a little dopey, to say the least!! I showed her around a little bit of Melbourne, then we got some food from the supermarket, but ended up staying in and cooking, as we were both knackered. Me more so I think?

Saturday, we went to Jackie O for breaky (great food) then helped Chrissie move some furniture in the shop before heading into the city. . . . We had a plan! We walked round for a bit then managed to get the Ferry to Williamstown (remember the one I missed the other day?). It was really nice to see the city from a different angle and Xanthe seemed to enjoy the views also. . . I was explaining all the points of interest (Pretty much making it up as I went along ? But she seemed to like that). We got to Williamstown, a little sleepy suburb of Melbourne and didn?t walk too far before stopping at a café for a bite to eat and coffees. . . . . We also sat in a nice restaurant over looking a bit of the marina and shared a bottle of wine while we waited for the ferry to take us back! We were only there a few hours, but the ferry journey was nice!

We got back and got showered and changed ready for Rob?s party. . . . . We headed over there a little fashionably late and had a great laugh with everyone. I met up with a few people from the first time I was in Melbourne and Xanthe seemed to talk to most people. We all got a little drunk and Benny took over the tunes department to get everyone dancing, needless to say I gave it my best shot and Xanthe, well, the girl can move, yeah baby! We finally threw the towel in and crashed out of there at (I don?t know ? 3am ish), shared a taxi with Josh and hoped for small hangovers, as we were heading off up the Great Ocean Road in the morning. . . . . !

I was surprisingly good, and Xanthe was a little woolly, but we did manage to get away in the morning, be it late morning though. . . . . We stopped off at a places of interest and had a power snooze on the grass at Lorne before getting to Apollo Bay. We sorted some accommodation out, had a little walk and got some food to snack on, then headed back to the digs, as we were both done in. . . . . I know it?s sad, but we had a cup of tea and watched a bit of TV. Xanthe crashed out completely for an hour or so, before we headed out for a meal at a really nice seafood restaurant. We were gonna eat at Café 153, where Ben works, but he had failed to mention that they are not open on Sunday evenings?!? The food however at ?Vista? across the road was really good. . . . . !

In the morning we did manage to get to Café 153 for breaky and we met up with Ben. . . It was good to see him again and he managed to sit down with us for a bit before making our breakfast. . . . . Bless all the guys there also, as they didn?t want us to pay. . . . !

We hit the road again and I took Xanthe to see Gibson?s steps, a great beach that I like and then the 12 Apostles before we had to nail it back to Melbourne and to the airport. . . . I said goodbye for now to Xanthe around 6ish for her flight back to Sydney, then headed back to ?Base? backpackers for the week. . . . . ! Hopefully gonna chilled tonight, however the room I have been put in looks a little crazy. . . . . If no one is there later, I will take a photo! It looks like a bomb has gone off!

Anyway, I am tired, so gonna go now. . . . Will be in touch soon guys. . . . Please keep the messages up, they make me smile. . . . ! Ciao for now!