"Go on, the 'Pies!"

  Melbourne, Australia
Friday, May 23, 2008

Melbourne is a great city in which to spend some time doing 'normal' stuff after a stint in Asia. It's very laid back and not at all up itself but it has a real buzz about it and there are masses of entertainment options. As a result, I've spent the past week doing 'ordinary' things and also having a social life, which is very enjoyable at this stage in my trip!

May autumn

this one's for you, Susan!

John's house is in a lovely, hilly area of the city, full of streets lined with trees, from which heaps of crunchy Autumn leaves have fallen, so, stunned by volumes of brown and orange leaves in May, I've been literally skipping along, giggling as I stamp and jump and kick my way through them... wonderful stuff! But the attractions inside the house are just as exciting... there's a washing machine! That was great craic! And a coffee machine... yessssss! A bath... how luxurious is that, after months of Asian showers! (Even Lush shops to enliven said bath...) A pile of 'Father Ted' dvds beside a large screen (great, once I'd spent hours figuring out all those buttons... Steve, it reminded me of times spent in your London flats, working my way through your comedy collections... after I'd figured out all those buttons...!). A Proclaimers dvd!!!!!! An enormous computer screen on which we passed a wet Saturday watching clips of Mr Benn, Tingah and Tucker (anyone else remember them?) and other gems, on YouTube. A fridge, stocked with a broad selection of local beers. And a kitchen, full of good utensils, just waiting to be used... after my Asian stint, it has been a joy to be able to cook my roast veg lasagne, bean and pesto bake and other fave dishes... I was even loaned a fiddle to mess about with (when the house was empty, naturally...) It was becoming hard to leave the house!

cocktails with Simone

But I did... and I've taken trams around the city streets; sat in the sun at several coffee shops along the wee lanes, where a large proportion of the population seem to spend their time eating, drinking and chatting; sampled chocolate from the speciality shops; browsed in the shops and bought boots (of course); ridden along the cycle path beside the river into the city to wander through the 'Buddha Festival'; been to hear a Katie somebody, with wired hair and an incredible voice, in a live music venue;

a couple of small beers

been to hear the Soweto Gospel Choir in concert; had coffee and breakfast with lots of people; spent a day at the zoo with John's sister, Carol, and her ESL class; bought wonderful food and micro-brewery beer at the South Melbourne Market; sadly turned down an invitation to play my fiddle with a pub band (they hadn't actually heard me play when they invited me and I thought it would be unfair to ruin their reputation!); walked around the rocky coastline of Phillip Island with Len, my acupuncture friend; caught the new 'Indiana Jones' film (any thoughts, Fiona and Gail? I thought he still looked pretty good with the stubble, sweat and hat, even at that age!) (Steve, you must see it, there's a great shot of some chickens when they land at Nasca...)

modelling the Magpies scarf

But the highlight of my Melbourne stay took me totally by surprise... it was, of all things, a football game! But not as I know it. I still have very little comprehension of how Aussie Rules Football works, but sitting five rows from 'ringside', in a crowd of 72,000, amid palpable anticipation and excitement, watching a floodlit match in which 'my' team (I was given a scarf and told who to shout for) completely thrashed the current champions... well, it was just fantastic! I had an absolute blast. "Go on the 'Pies !!!!!!"  (Being close enough to see the beads of sweat glistening on the bulging biceps of the vested players only had a slight bearing on my enjoyment of the game... honestly!)