Hello there, sorry, yes, I know it's been a while. . . . And when I get messages on my board from the Angel in Berlin, I know I need to act. . . . ! Hey Sofie!

So, what have I been up to, well. . . . What haven't I been up to, would be easier to explain, which is why I probably have't wrote for a while! I am struggling to remember what I have been up to, needless to say, many drunken sessions, yeah baby! So my last up date was about 10 days ago, blimey, errrmmm! OK, so I had just dropped Xanthe off at the airport and was hoping for a quiet night. . . . . You know what, I genuinely can't remember what I did! Basically, the consisted of chilling out through the days, probably meeting up with Benny for brunch or beers, followed by an evening out with either Benny's lot or my new friends Dennis, Jen, Craig and Kate?!

More specifically, I did finally meet Ben's very good friend Mick (Now named Daddy Mick, as he has a beautiful baby son of 6 months). We hooked with him a few times, which was really good. . . . . We had a few meals out at night, including a curry night with all of the footy lads. . . . Was good to meet some new faces!

The following night we went out with Big Bad Bobby, Rob Nixon, a really good friend to celebrate him taking a job to stay in Melbourne. . . . Ben's Mum and Dad had also arrived this week for the wedding and we saw them  a few times in the week including this night. . . . . Following the meal, we all went to see a band play, some friends of Benny and his family. . . . . Again, it was coolio to meet some more of Benny's friends, however I wasn't really feeling it, so slopped off pretty early!

Towards the weekend now and the wedding on Saturday. . . . . You could feel the excitement amongst all the guys, as their best friend was about to get married!

So, it's now Friday and there are a few more things to do. . . . . . I picked up my suit, a very nice brown pinstriped number, that would look awesome with my pink shirt. . . . . Early evening and we were off to Mick's for a BBQ. . . . Benny's Ma n Pa were in attendance, as well as David and Andrea, who picked us up and Big Bad Bobby. . . . . It was a very pleasant, quiet do, Benny did the cooking on the BBQ, with some of the other gents in close watch, myself included. . . . We were starving! We left there about 10.30ish for the last party before the big day and that was for Josh as he will be leaving Australia for European shores soon. . . .

Now Beware UK. . . Yeah, Josh is heading your way. . . . A big lad with Strawberry blonde hair. . . . . Lock up your daughters, he's a bad lad. . . Now that's not to say I don't like him. . . I love the guy to bits, he is so cool it is crazy, but he can be dangerous. . . . ! Seriously though, if you ever get the chance to meet him, the pleasure is all yours, Great guy! So, enough giving Josh a big head, where was I. . . .

Oh yeah, Josh's party, just a quiet affair baring in mind the big day the next day! Hmmmm, quiet affair. . . . . . Well I got in a around 2 am, but hey, the wedding was not til 3pm, so I had a good lie in planned. . . . The party was coolio, a good laugh and a few Jager bombs! Enough said!

So, to the wedding day. . .. . . . I had a bit of a lie in as promised, then headed out to my favorite café for some food, etc. . . . . I read my book for a bit in the glorious sunshine, before heading back to get changed into my suit. . . . ! Yes, I did look pretty good. . . ! hahahahaha. . . . . I then walked up to Chrissie's, as we would be going together and she was getting picked up. . . . . At Chrissies I saw David and Tamara, which was nice and I was able to chill out and cool down for a bit before we got picked up. I got a little hot on the walk up!

We got picked up and got to the church around 2.50pm and just stood around chatting with everyone before we got ushered into the church. Now I know the bride is allowed to be fashionably late, but half an hour. . . . Pete must have been pooing himself. . . ?!?! But Erica did arrive and Wow. . . . She looked stunning!

The ceremony was also something else. There seemed to be a connection with everything that was said, all the reading were nice and there was an excellent choir to help the singing! You had to be there to appreciate it, but it did really touch me and I felt honored to be apart of their very very special day!

So Mr and Mrs Kritikides emerged from the church through applause and had their photos, etc. . . . I managed to fight through the crowd eventually and congratulate them separately, before we headed off on the nearest tram to the city, as the reception was at a venue near Federation Square. We hit the square and spent an hour or so in Transport Bar. . . . . . I managed to finish off 4 pints of their finest Guinness before we headed to the reception, where they insisted on giving us all free drinks. . . . . . I dropped onto the red wine. . . . A very nice Pinot Noir. . . . . . Don't ask how many glasses I got through, but hey, we were celebrating. . . . . The evening was great, with lots of dancing (Greek Style of course), some of which I managed to get involved in. . . . . We had a great time and more importantly, Pete and Erica did. . . . The speeches were fun and the evening seemed to go to plan perfectly! I seemed to chat to loads of people and hopefully didn't embarrass myself too much. . . . . ?!?

The reception ended around midnight just after Pete and Erica went off to do their thing. . . And the younger crowd headed into town. . . . . After some deliberation and some smooth talking from Benny we all got into a club called the Platform (for free). . . . . It was a kind of underground dance club in the old railway arches. . . . . I loved it, as I hadn't been out clubbing properly for some time! After many more Jager bombs and beers, the night was buzzing. . . . . . I did get home eventually, not sure what time, but I did make sure I got Chrissie home safe! What a day - Awesome. . . . . . Congratulations Pete n Erica! I do have some photos of the wedding day and I will put them on my journal, I think there are only 2 of me, as they are not from my camera. . . . . But enjoy anyway!

So, needless to say, Sunday was a bit of a wash out. . . . . I did get up and get out eventually! I had a sort of engagement. . . . . To meet up with some friends of Bekky. . . . . Zoe!

Before that however, I popped into my café and had a coffee while dropping on the internet to purchase a flight to Sydney. . . . . . More on that later. . . .

So just before midday I met up with Zoe and a couple of her friends. . . . . I was supposed to meet with her, when I first arrived in Melbourne in January, but for some reason, I never called her. Anyway, we did meet this time and can I say, it is shame we didn't meet earlier, Zoe and her friends seemed like really coolio people that I would get on well with. . . . . We had brunch together and shared stories of travels, etc, but to be fair, non of us were really feeling it, as we had all been out the night before. . . . . . I did however promise to meet up with them again on my return to Melbourne!

Later on Sunday, I headed into the city to return my suit and then decided to g to the cinema. . . . . A nice place to chill for a few hours. . . . I saw the movie 28 Weeks later. . . . Not really a movie you can chill to, but still good to watch. . . Bit gruesome in parts. . . . ! That evening I headed up to the Espy to see a great band I had seen before and also to meet up with Kate and Jen. . . . . . We had some food and my conversation was shocking. . . . The night before had caught up with me, so we called it a night and I headed off to bed. . . . . hmmm, yet another restless night sleep ahead in the backpackers!

Monday morning and I was supposed to be on my flight back to NZ. As mentioned before however, I purchased a flight up to Sydney instead for Monday evening!

So that was Melbourne. . . . Again. . . . . I may have left some stuff out, but hey whatever. . . . . . It was great to be back there again and to be apart of the Stag Do and Wedding. . . . It has also been great to see Benny again and catch up. . . You forget how much you miss ya mates. . . . Cheers Ben. . . . See ya soon dude!

So off to Sydney. . . . . Ciao people!