It’s been a busy, busy week or so. But fun.
On Friday last week my friend Phil arrived on the Melbourne leg of his mini world-tour. He was here for a few days, so I have had some fun having the odd meal and drink with him. Also, a trip to Melbourne Zoo! I felt that I really had to get some blatant tourism in. We got there really early, and managed to avoid the school kids and screaming children for the first couple of hours. I got a tiny bit worried when a kangaroo grabbed my scarf (they're cute but kind of scary), couldn’t find the cassawarys (I'd been told to look out for them), and was shocked by how small the duck-billed platypus was (I have been the focus of much ridicule since I admitted that I thought they were enormous, whale-sized creatures). We finished up with an awesome meal cooked by Janet and Henry, our friends from Oxford who now live in Port Melbourne – from whence I almost missed the last tram home. Lesson learned… always be aware of what time it is!
This past week has also seen me get really into Aussie rules footy. I just need to work out what team to support. It’s tough! Everyone has an opinion, and there are so many teams (mostly Melbourne based), but no one seems to support the team for where they’re from. I have been to two AFL games this week. Unfortunately, both of them Collingwood (Magpies) games as I was with Collingwood supporters, and both of them saw the Pies getting absolutely slaughtered first by Saint Kilda (Saints), then Carlton (Blues). Still, I’m more or less down with the rules now, general admission tickets are cheap and it’s always a fun afternoon!
I’ve also managed to catch a band called The Skylines twice this past week. A friend is in the band and I’d had other friends bigging it up no end for months. It had a lot to live up to… and it did! Awesome evenings had by all (except for the poor souls who missed their last trams home (detecting a theme here?) – I’m lucky because my last tram is THE last tram) with lots of shapes pulled on the dance floor. I’d walked past the bar so many times and never even noticed it was there… Melbourne is just one of those cities.
Other than that, I have spent the week in various coffee shops; found awesome cheap food in the form of dumplings at Camys Shanghai Dumplings in China Town; tried out Danny’s Burgers – the burger bar opposite my house which is always full regardless of what time it is – which is just too good for it’s proximity to my house; actually got my lazy butt out for a run along the Merri Creek and discovered the el cheapo gym down the road from my house; saw the New Star Trek movie (better than I expected), watched more episodes of How I Met Your Mother and Entourage in one sitting than I care to admit to (not sure when I became a TV junkie), had a bit of a Wii tournament where I managed to more or less destroy my shoulder again taking a swing at a baseball; and interviewed for a new housemate as two of mine are moving out in June. Unfortunately (for my back/leg and also for the poor guy who was viewing the house at the time) I managed to fall down the stairs whilst carrying a cup of coffee. Top tip: don’t walk down wooden stairs wearing socks and carrying a cup of coffee, especially if you have a hangover and are talking to someone at the same time.
On Thursday, Sarah took me for a drive to the Dandenong mountain range out to the east of the city. It was great to get out of civilisation for a little while, even if the weather was really rubbish. We drove up to a town called Olinda, where we ate at a coffee shop that served steak pie swimming in pea and ham soup. It’s actually an awesome combination. Who knew?! We headed up to the view point on Mt Dandenong, where we discovered the view is a bit restricted on a cloudly day (but still pretty remarkable - see the photo), and took a walk through the forest (where we randomly came across an old plane crash site), before heading down to the town of Sassafras for cream tea and then back to the city.
