Blog

Well, what have I been up to then? Eh?  Lots of silly shennanigans.  All sorts of crazy sh*t.  I have truely fallen for Melbourne in a big way – I could happily live here for a while longer for sure, if I had the money and a friend in the Visas Department that is.  I don’t, so I plan to enjoy every moment here that I get, because it may never come again.  So far, I have been doing just that…

 

 

 

Staying at a place called Bev & Mick’s Backpackers in South Melbourne, I soon found myself a job across the road in a Deli, serving olives, sun-dried tomatoes and what-not to market revellers, most of whom (including my work colleagues) can’t decipher my tricky Northern English accent: I find myself asking customers if they would like a ‘Beg’ instead of a ‘Bag’, as the latter often causes a puzzled expression to appear on their faces.  My hostel is quite small, and due to its cheap rent there are many long-term residents housed within its shabby-but-cozy interior.  The whole place is like a large backpacking family in some respects, most people seeing eachother every day before they head out to work, propping up the bar or lounging around the pool tables.  You get to know people very quickly, and they get to know you very well.

 

Pin Oak Court, Melbourne (a.k.a. ‘Ramsey Street’)

One nice sunny day a group of us hopped in a couple of cars and headed for the world-famous televisual mock cul-de-sac of ‘Neighbours’ fame that is ‘Ramsey Street’.  It’s a real street, and real people live there believe it or not.  No Harold, no Paul Robinson, just a bunch of recognizable houses in circular formation that are a lot smaller in real life than you’d ever imagine.  The place was tiny!  We got a few snaps and headed out before Helen Daniels arose from the grave and began chasing us on a broomstick.  Honest.

 

The same day my gorgeous Finnish friend Mari arrived from Sydney to come and be adopted by the Bev & Mick’s family.  Once she’d settled in after a little while we took a day trip to the seaside suburb of St. Kilda – it’s a bit like Brighton, but with hippies and a half-decent sandy beach.  There’s lots of shops, cool-cat cafes & bars and a generally relaxed vibe.  Several weeks later we returned on the night they held the St. Kilda festival: various stages hosting music acts, fairground attractions, plenty of partying and about 300,000+ people.  Excellent.

My 26th Birthday! (Old git partying hard)

Yes, I’m now 26 years old.  On Friday 9th February Bev & Mick’s held a fancy-dress Pyjama Party which coincided with my birthday. 

 

About half of us got dressed up like total pricks and got stupidly drunk.  I had a great time, Mari bought me cake and everyone sang the ‘ol number in the bar.  Embarrassed but humbly thankful I was.  I had work the next day but that didn’t stop me being a rather naughty boy… I reckon it was my sexy outfit that did it for the ladies…

In the meantime I’ve also played cricket on Australia Day in the middle of the road outside the hostel, rode a seven-seater bicycle around South Melbourne and finally learnt how to play Street Spirit by Radiohead on the guitar (it’s only taken me ten years!).  Things are going great for me in Melbourne at this time.  I live in a cheap boozer, my workplace is across the road, the city kicks ass and I’ve even met a great girl… (clue: see above photo  😉 )…

…now get back to work you nosey sods.

J.

Tags: Australia, Random Stuff, Travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at 11:29 am and is filed under Australia, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.