Alreet! Back at work again today, working hard of course so time for another blog me thinks. Lovely Irish Meghan was leaving so she arranged a gathering on a Thursday at the Asian Beer Cafe, which is basically my best bar ever especially on a Thursday as its $1 for champagne for ladies. Amazing!! For you brits at home $1 is 65p haha!! Amazing!! Who said Australia was expensive eh? So there was Meghan, Sarah, Tom, Charlotte, Danny, James, Brucey, Tommo, and some others there then Martin came and met us later on as he had been at the Grand Prix free practice sessions day. We all got ourselves some amazingly cheap pizza for tea and hit the alcohol!! I think me and Sarah that night drank approximately 100 glasses of champers between us oops. Ok maybe not that many but it was quite a lot to be honest, I think 12. It was brilliant. Sarah was also insisting on buying us all shots of melon midori shooters which were amazingly good. It all ended up getting a little messy of course, this is what happens when drink is so cheap here!! We ended up seeing loadsa people from work which was canny it really is the place to be on Thursday night!! I ended up posing in a wheelbarrow and the security were straight over to get me out of it haha. I have no idea how they saw it as Asian Beer Cafe is huuuge! There is so many rooms and areas. We figured they must have cctv on the wheelbarrow! I also did a wee bit of Uncle Mao posing with my arm up! (google Mao if this statement is confusing for you people) anyways next thing you know the lights are being switched on and its time for us to leave i have no idea what time it was, but I think it was pretty late!! Poor Martin had to go to Phillip Island the next day on a trip which I think was slightly traumatic for him having to get up nice and early after that many bottles Bintang! Lucky for me I wasn't at work until 10.30 the next day which wasn't so bad as it meant I could have a nice wee sleep before going to work and gave me time to sober up. However the next day I think I had the worst hangover ever in my life apparently $1 champagne isn't the best kind to drink, on my way into work I got myself a huge bar of chocolate and some pop and hoped that I would eventually feel better, Sarah was also feeling as ill as me. We were all suffering well and truely! We were then offered NOE at work which stands for Nick Off Early so I asked if I could finish at 5 instead of 6.30 as I didn't really want to lose any pay. So i got that agreed but actually ended up leaving at around 4.45 as I started getting really desperate to leave. By the time I had left though I had of course arranged to meet Brucey for tea and some drinks. So I met him and we went to Grill'd for some food which was nice I got an amazing chicken Caesar salad! And I felt better a little bit after eating some good food. Then We ended up going for a beer on southbank which did not go down well. I think it took me around 1 hour 30 mins to drink and I just could not bear to drink another so off I went home to my bed to hopefully recover for tomorrow which of course was Saturday and i was going to a PARTY!!

So on Saturday I woke up had an amazing lie in and I felt almost brand new again, it was quite a nice day sort of and I went to the shop for some cheap drink for the party. I got myself some pear strongbow which is so lovely. I don't know if it's alive in the UK but it is good!! I also stocked up on my favourite childrens chocolate cereal - chocolate curls!! Mmm! Happy days indeed. I then ended up having a lovely afternoon nap to prepare myself for the Scouse House Party that night, this was a disturbed nap as my flat isn't to far away from the Grand Prix racetrack and the qualifying was on that day so all i could hear was car noise!! So loud!! My windows are NOT double glazed at all so the noise just sounded like there was F1 cars driving past my flat. The weather had also changed dramatically into to some kind of storm weather. Full on rain and wind. I was not a happy bunny at all. I hate bad weather - especially when I am trying to have a nap!! I eventually got myself up and spent some time getting ready, doing my hair even putting on some makeup which I literally never wear at all her apart mascara occasionally! I had arranged to meet Shauna outside flinders station so we could walk on up to the party together. But then when I stepped outside the flat in the rainy tornado wind, and saw my tram go past. I realised wearing my pink dress and flat sandals I was gonna get soaked oh dear and it was so windy an umbrella would have never helped. Luckily for me a Chirstmas miracle happened and a taxi drove down my street at the exact moment I have started to be attacked by mother nature so I flashed my leg and he stopped of course so I jumped in, I had zero cash on me but luckily in Oz all yellow cabs (very NY) have card machines so no need for coins haha!! So off we went to Hardware Lane Party Central. Obviously the Formula One had just finished so the traffic was manic and crossed with the crazy weather it was crazy out on the roads but I made it there for a mere 12 bucks which wasn't too bad at all, especially considering he had no idea where it was!! He kept driving and checking his road map book which was concerning me ever so slightly, he did only almost run over one man on route and he did also sing happy birthday to me as he said it must be my lucky day as he should have never been anywhere near my street but by chance he had ended up this way obviously by the karma police as i am a good citizen and deserved a taxi just at that moment. What a sweet man. Unfortuntely Hardware Lane is not accessible for cars so he had to drop me off at the end so then I did a lovely run complete with my bag of Wine, Cocktail mix and Cider all the way to their flat (all 3 yards) and in I went!! In the meantime I had text Shauna saying sorry love I will have to see you at the party as I can't make it to flinders because of the horrible weather. So when I got to their house I was obviously still a little wet despite the taxi saving. So i cracked my cider open and got on with it. It was a legendary party we all danced to 'The Song' and we resumed our dancing stations and danced like it was 1999. We also played a lot of drinking games. It turns out I am terrible at flip cup but not so bad at downing goon which is very bad. We all danced and ate beetroot dip (the aussies bloody love their beetroot!!) we had DJ Kyle on the music putting some excellent tunes on all night long. Me and Sarah spent a lot of time dancing on top of the fireplace and also we did some crabs!! Good times indeed!! We then played more flip cup and downed more goon mmm. The cocktail mix I had brought was orange smirdoff mix it was horrendous I could barely drink it so I just didn't. I don't think anybody liked it to be honest!! Bad times indeed!! People then started to look a wee bit ill, and next thing you know Brid is teaching people how to Irish dance and is continually irish dancing everywhere. It was hilarious!! It was also a sad night as when I left it was the last time I was gonna see Brucey and Tommo for aaages!! I will see Tommo end of April when he gets back from Philippines before I leave for Perth but that is a good 6 weeks ago, and Brucey is going to Vietnam, then to New Zealand. Then by the time he comes back to Oz I will not be here either as my year visa will be up and I will most probably be in New Zealand. Oh dear so sad goodbyes were had. I miss them so much, they've now been gone a week tomorrow and its so weird, I was out with them at least twice a week everyweek since I arrived. And always spend my weekends with them. Boo!! Shame on the travellers whose visas are up!! After the party I headed home to bed for some lovely sleep ahead of my day at the Grand Prix!

I woke up very early on the Sunday considering I had been partying like Prince all night. I made myself some amazing breakfast of chocolate curls. Obviously the weather was poop outside again and it was forecast for rain and wind. So I layered up and put 2 tops a hoody and leggings and a skirt on. I wish to god I had brought a hat to Australia as it was totally the coldest day I have experienced since I got here, the wind was BRASS. And I was outside in it from 10.30am until like 8pm!! I met Joanne and Janine at Southbank and while me and J9 went for hot chocolates and coffees from her bar Joanne went off in a strop and left us haha. Oh dear. So we ended up eventually meeting her at the entrance to the F1. We also met Joanne's brother and his mate there. We had a nice old wander around some of the stands, there was loadsa nice cars all lined up all over the shop obviously. Steven had got us all some amazing free lanyards complete with ear plugs attached so we looked like VIP's all day which I loved. Eventually me, J9 and Joanne went to go to watch some skate ramp section and we waited patiently in the stands for it to start and eventually there was announcement saying it was too windy haha so it was cancelled. Seriously. So we went to find a nice spot on the mound for the views before the F1 started. We posed loads on the winners podium and had plenty photos taken on there. It was probably the highlight of my day being on there to be honest. There was also a Disney Cars section which was fun!! Then the airshow started and the red arrows were good but then this huge scary assed plane came out and it was full on RADGE. So loud and noisy and went so fast it was like a proper fighter jet thing. It did this mad thing where it flew straight up in to the sky like proper straight up and then disappeared!! Oh my god madness indeed!! I was actually a bit freaked out by it I was quite convinced it was just going to come back to earth with a real bang which scared me tons. Bad times. Luckily that of course did not happen and around this time the sunshine came out for a whole hour and I enjoyed that time in the sun getting warmed up for a little bit. I hate being cold me hence the move to Oz haha. Eventually the race was about to start so we put in our ear plugs as I cant explain just how crazy noisy it actually is when the cars are going round. Its mad. And to be honest it wasn't amazing being there but It was good to see it and experience it for the noise alone. But no matter where you were you could only ever see one part of the track which is of course not brilliant and when it finished we didn't even know if it had ended or not?! Haha or who had won. There was not enough screens up at all which disappointed me as I would have preferred to have been able to actually see the crack. The commentary was being mega phoned out live on the track but the cars are so loud you couldn't even hear half of it. Which was very disappointing. When it was over (perhaps it was we weren't even sure) we ran for the tram basically and made it straight on one which is amazing and we went to Ludlow for a small beverage! I then got in touch with Martin and he came and met us for a bucket or 2 or 3 or 4 of corona which was nice! So we had a nice chilled out Sunday session for paddys day. The Scouse House generation were in Turf Bar trying to lure me there but unlike Sarah I had to go to work the next day so I was good and just stayed at Ludlow for the few many buckets of beer we had. I also managed to score some free drinks vouchers that night too which always makes me happy! Especially when they are for a bar on Southbank which is always pricey!! Happy days indeed! Must have been luck of the Irish that day for me. So yeah basically I do not recommend Grand Prix. My ticket was $80 which was poor value compared to the tickets for the Tennis Open they were $40 and you got way better access and it was hot. I do think weather always improves a situation when you need to spend a full day outside in it. So sun is always obviously preferable to cold wind. I am smart. Haha. So Paddys Day was also the last day I saw Martin too as he was leaving on the Monday to go to Adelaide with Clare. So many goodbyes in such a short space of time!! How rude!! Was it something I said?! It was lovely having Martin in Melbourne as nobody has my accent here at all so it was nice to hear familiar Geordie tones!!

Anyways I have no idea what I did after that, apart from catch up on my sleep and go to work!I did get to spend alot of money I don't have on underwear one day too as I won a voucher a few weeks ago from a competition at bar near work where I have my corporate card for. It was for $100 in this fancy shop, so off I went on the hunt for the shop. After visiting two shopping malls I eventually found it and it was so expensive! All the Bras were from $99!! Mad. I did manage to find a nice set in the sale for $90 and then with the remaining cash I got me some grannyfied knitted tights to keep me warm haha. So nice lingerie and granny tights! Oh well. I was well impressed anyway. Fancy buying nice underwear when i am poor backpacker haha. Happy days for sure!! After my amazing shopping extravaganza I went round to the Scouse house for tea where Sarah made the best fried rice I have ever tasted, she is amazing! I went round so me and James could get on our farm work search for Perth. We placed an advert on gumtree advertising how experienced we are, we are experienced in both strawberry farming (which we did in England...) and cherry tomato farming which we did whilst WOOFING in Adelaide. Haha. Oh dear. I feel that going strawberry picking in England counts as working at the farm, which is how we gained that experience. And also we gained our experience in Adelaide (where neither of us have actually been) from Charlotte and Danny as that's what they did and they are going to tell us all they know about it - so basically it's not that much of a exaggeration. You have to be smart in these situations which we are definitely one step ahead in that field. We also rang some farming agencies who told us when we arrive we need to register with them asap and to pop in to their job shops. We also need to find some accommodation we can afford whilst awaiting our farm work, i am going to try to find us a hostel that we can stay in for free in exchange for a few hours a day work from us both as that would well save us a fair penny or two. So hopefully that is something we can manage to sort out. We decided we are going to go for definite between the dates of 8-10th May as thats when James work contract is up. So we are getting our plans sorted and our acts together!! Very good of us.

I then continued to work all week and not go out - very impressed. Me and Sarah have been on a alcohol free week since Paddys day which is 8 days today we have been dry. Its our work party on Thursday so it will be over with then for sure. Yesterday was Saturday and I managed to pick up a shift at work so I was in 7-12 where I caught up on life, applied for some jobs, wrote a letter to my parents, paid my rent etc. I got a lot sorted out I was so impressed. After 25 mins of no phone calls it was 11.59 and I was about to clock off when I got a phone call from a wee man originally from Sunderland. I ended up being on the telephone with him for 20 mins which was 20 mins after my shift ended boo. Bad times. Although I do get paid for that time which isn't so bad. So after that I went to that awful place I hate that steal my cash (the post office - so expensive here) to post my letter etc. Then went to collect Sarah from her lovely house so we could head off on a lovely trip to the aquarium. Our lovely friend Brid works there and she promised us FREE entry woohoo. So off we went on route to the Aquarium. We got there finally and Brid passed us our 'receipts' so we waltzed in, its like $35 each entry so we saved so much money!! You go straight into the penguin section which we loved, they are so cute. They are like sweet little old men bless them I was so impressed!!! They were playing in the snow too so I got to see my first bit of snow this year which was nice after hearing all about it non stop on my Facebook haha. We also saw a penguin having a poo to which was pretty entertaining haha. We saw tons of amazing sealife (amazingly) loadsa freaky seahorses, and we touched star fish, and then went to the large sealife section where there were sharks, sting rays, crazy big fish and eels. It was amazing one of the sharks was like heading straight for us proper watching us from the tank it was well scary, the sting rays are always my favourite though they have the cutest little smiley faces ever i love them so much!! We saw them being fed by the divers it was very exciting. On our way in we had posed for some amazing photos against a green screen so went we left Brid presented us with our very own photo book complete with all of our amazing pictures of us posing with the sealife!! For FREE. That was a nice saving of $35 too so in total a trip to the aquarium for 2 including photobook should have cost us $105 but it cost us not a penny. How we love Brid and our friends in high places!! We then went for a nice wander around the DFO at southbank then went and met Danny and James in a rooftop bar on the beautifully named Rainbow Alley. So we had a drink in there, then me and Sarah grabbed a Sushi Roll whilst they stocked up on drink for the night and then we went off in search of a bar near theres called Nord. When we found it, it wasn't open so we went to Grill'd for our tea and we all had amazing Burgers and chips the food is amazing in there!! We then went back to their flat and we lay on the sofas and watched TV. Which is bliss for someone who has a laptop only. We watched Game of Thrones and then some Celebrity Juice then I headed home for sleep as I was of course at work at 7am again this morning!! I am just about to finish my shift now so I can enjoy my Sunday! I have no idea if its nice and sunny or what outside as this office has very bad views of an apartment block so I cant actually see the sky from the window so annoying! Hopefully its nice and sunny!!

So anyways guys i think thats enough of the crack for now J big loves xxxxxxxx