12/6/10

Woke up at 6 am and went down and messed around on the internet and read my book for an hour. Richard had said the previous morning to wake him up and we would play basketball at 7 am so at 7:15 I decided to head up to the room to see if he really wanted to get up and play some basketball. As I entered the room he was just heading to the door to come and look for me. We went down and got the basketball from the front desk and started shooting at the court. We played a few games of around the world and I tried to make it a bit more fair and challenging to me by playing left handed. It was nice just talking and shooting baskets and I realized that I had pretty much given up basketball in the last year since I hurt my ankle last year around December first. We played and shot around until 8 am then we left to go feed the meter since Richards rental car was parked on the street and the meters started getting enforced then. We feed the meter with enough money to last three hours. Then we went back in and decided to play tennis on the mini tennis court which also had the basketball hoop. This helped remind me how bad I am at tennis and how I have no touch. The ball goes flying or it goes into the net everything else is painstakingly awkward for me. It was fun and I could tell that Richard was pretty good with a racket. He and Caroline both play like 3 times a week back home in Holland and they also play some doubles tournaments together and they have even won a handful of local tournaments. We played around for 15 minutes until I had a freak accident...OK just a scratch but as I was hustling to get the ball that had went out of the court towards the pool I had snagged my wrist/hand on some metal edge from the fence so when the girl in the bikini wearing a Santa Hat (Seriously....at 8 am on a Monday morning she was laying out near the pool by herself) threw me the ball my hand was bleeding pretty good. I had to stop playing while I tried to get the blood to stop and it was in a tough area so I could not just put a band aide on and continue. At around this time Caroline showed up and Caroline and Richard started to play tennis against each other. They are both pretty good which may have something to do with them playing a few times a week. I had fun watching them while I tended to my newest wound. I had to catch my shuttle for the airport at 10:40 am and I needed to be checked out by 10 am. The reality was setting in that I would have to say good bye and be on my way to Melbourne. It occurs to me that I am sounding like a big wuss but I have enjoyed spending time with my new friends and I am a bit sad to leave. I know I will keep in touch and see them again in the future but who knows how long from now that will be. I packed up my stuff and Richard and Caroline even waited around to see me off before they left. I brought my bags down stairs at 10:30 am and the shuttle bus was early and ready to pick me up. Early, that never happens!!!! This lead to a bit of a rushed good bye with Richard, Caroline, and Jeppe but Stacey and Lena did not make it down in time for me to have a proper good bye before I had to get in the van since the driver was not willing for me to take any more time. The shuttle ride was boring and I had to change to a larger shuttle in the city. I got to the airport OK and my bag was just barely under the 23 kg limit to travel.....I was a bit worried about that one but I made it. The flight to Melbourne was nice and seemed to go quickly. I had a window seat and I sat next to a nice lady that was flying home to Melbourne after she was up near Brisbane for a wedding. She gave me some good tips for Melbourne and what I should do. I took the shuttle bus from the airport to the city and then I needed to find somewhere to sleep. I figured it should not be to difficult with it being a Monday night and all. I would soon find this logic of mine to be WRONG. The first place I lugged my enormously heavy backpack was the Nomads Hostel. They were full and sent me on my way. Right around the corner was a YHA so I checked with them and they were full but had a double room I could have for $90 a night....nope not interested, I had them check with the other YHA in Melbourne and he said they were also fully booked. I asked the guy where else I should try to find a bed for the night. He gave me a map and pointed out a few other areas with hostels I could try. I was not interested in lugging my backpack full of lead all around the city so I asked him "If you were a betting man which would you try next?" He thought about it for a minute and then pointed to the place outside the city and said that with it being a bit of the city path it might be my best chance. That was good enough for me so I set off. It took me 15 minutes to shuffle my way to the hostel and on the way I happened to come across an amazing red Ferrari convertible parked behind some crummy warehouse. I had to stop and get a closer look and take pictures......it was quite a site and I momentarily forgot the weight I was lugging around on my back. When I arrived at the large building which the hostel was located in I quickly ditched my bag to the ground and asked if they had a bed for me. I sure hoped they did and I was in luck they had one for me. I booked and paid for two nights and found out that it came with breakfast in the morning. The place I was staying was called Urban Center Accommodations.

I then went off exploring once I had dropped my bags at my room and I was hoping to be able to book some kind of tour the next morning

I went north of town which is the artsy area of town and the vibe and small cafe's reminded me a lot of the Uptown area of Minneapolis. I walked around but was not much up for eating around here so I got back on the train and headed to the southern end of town by the beach where it was more about getting a pit at a pub. This was more my kind of area and as I walked through one neighbor hood I saw I sign that said travel internet. I stopped in and worked with the owner Princey on getting a tour booked for the next morning on the Great Ocean Road. It was a full day tour that included lunch and I decided to book this tour instead of doing one of the islands or going on a wine tasting tour. I was glad he was still open and by just before 9 pm I had paid for the tour and happy to have this settled. I then went and found a little pizza place called Leo's and I ordered a special they had for the night called Mix Grill. It was a whole lot of meat (Pork Chop, Lamb, Steak, Chicken) and some potatoes and a pitcher of beer. My waiters name was Scott and he saw me looking over New Zealand brochures I had just picked up from Princeys and he told me that is where he was from. I told him my situation and asked him for advice on what I should do. He gave me very useful advice and I decided that I was going to do what he suggested and so I was done thinking about New Zealand for the night since I had somewhat of a game plan laid out for me now.

I was nearly home and I noticed that it was 10 minutes to 11pm and the casino which was located right down the street did some type of fire show from its tower every night from 7pm to Midnight at the top of the hour. I decided I should check this out. I hustled over to to the bridge and saw a guy taking night time picture of the city skyline with a fancy camera and tripod. I asked him if he was also waiting for the fire show. His name was Michael and he told me that he was pretty sure they did it only on busy nights.....I was a bit bummed but I told him I hoped he was wrong. WELL, WELL it seems in this rare case the tourist was correct....the show was short but it did happen. I chatted with him a bit and found out how little of Australia he has seen even though he has live in OZ for 20 years...WOW! I then decided that I should give the casino a once over and see how it matched up with Las Vegas joints and all. I would have to say that being on the floor I could just have easily been walking inside of one of the Vegas casinos the size was large everything was the same. I watched some people playing Baccarat for a while but beside a lot of money being lost I have no clue how this game works. I then decided to go check out the poker or card room. It was located down the escalator so I went to see what it was like. I was some what intrigued when I saw people playing at a poker table but instead of a dealer they had monitors in front of them flat against the poker table. No Dealer, No chips, all done on a computer screen but you could see the people you were playing and still chat and try to read them like you would in normal poker. I liked the fact that this was small binds at like 25 and 50 cents and that it was also no limit. I also wanted to know how this worked so I went to the cashier and got the minimum stored value card for $20 and then I joined the table. The other tables were set up just like a regular card room and I was not all that interested in messing with that tonight. I sat down and started to play....which was a lot of fun for the first few hands. You see your cards by touching the top of your cards with your stored value card and then they are revealed to you. Once you remove your card they are back and hidden. I was folding a lot and not getting much to play with. I found it kind of interesting to view past hands and see what I folded and what hand won or at least what showed if any. It was starting to get late (around 12:30) I knew I had to be up early in the morning and I figured I should try to get some good sleep because sleeping on a driving tour in which I was paying good money to see would be very stupid. I did not want to just throw my money away but I wanted to find a hand to chase and if I went down no biggie I would head home. I got a Ace and a Seven off suit while I was in the big blind. I went after it along with three others that played the hand. I got no cards to help me and I ended up going all in and that was the end of my night. It seems I can loose money in a casino in OZ just as easy as in the states.

Home and to bed since I needed to be at the tour companies building at 7:30am which is a 15 minute walk from my place. That also means that I would miss out on the free breakfast...OH well!!!