Day 204-210: Melbourne
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
36
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Melbourne,
Australia
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Got up just before 10 and packed up to move rooms, hadn't really unpacked much knowing that I was going to have to move rooms this morning. In the ended I ended up next door so could have left the stuff on the 4th floor rather than carting everything up to reception (which is on the 6th) and then back down again....it's another 4 bed dorm, 3 others in it already - none of them there when I got in, looked like they'd been in the room for some time, it had that lived in look! Decided that I needed to go for that jog I should have done yesterday, plus the weather was good too so changed and went out. Ran along the river for about 30 mins stopping a couple of times to do press ups and sit ups, guess it's cheaper than going to the gym. It was a nice run too along the river and gave me a chance to see a bit more of Melbourne.
By the time I got back it was about 11.20, showered and needed to go to the Coles Central round the corner to get some stuff as I had no juice or milk. Had also arranged to meet a guy I'd been chatting too - Fran - for lunch at 12.30 so didn't have much time, in fact by the time I'd been shopping I didn't have time for brekkie and went straight out. Ended up having a Boost as the first meal of the day. It was Fran's lunch break so he only had 30 mins, he bought some lunch and we chatted for a bit...arranged to meet up for a drink after work. I wandered back to the hostel as I'd gone out in a t-shirt and shorts and now the sun had gone in and the wind had gotten up it was freezing...so got changed.
Then went out for a wander over to Federation Square and took a few pics...jumped on the City Circle tram which is the free tram which unsurprisingly runs in a circle around the city centre...it's mainly a tourist thing really but handy for jumping on and off and orientating yourself. The only place I jumped off was the Docklands area....it's kinda in development with new apartments being built, it's also the home of a big stadium called Telstra Dome too. wandered around for a bit taking a few pics then jumped back on the tram and went all the way round back close to Fed Sq where I got off and wandered over to the Melbourne & Olympic Parks - home to the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), Rod Laver Arena (Australian Open Tennis) and the Vodafone Arena....and some other stuff. Not really much to do other than look at the stadiums, most of it is shut off as there's no events going on. Wandered around for about half an hour before catching a tram back to the city.
Went back to the hostel to cook dinner about 5...honey lemon chicken no less, then just chilled in the room for a bit before going out to meet Fran. Met one of the guys in the room - Olly, English guy looking to get sponsored and live in Melbourne - hence why he's been in the room so long. Apparently there's a French guy called Pierre too who I think I saw around the hostel when I first arrived, nice chap tho, friendly and chatty which is good - better than 'Ssshhh' man from the YHA! Anyways, went out and met Fran where we had a couple of drinks, he was knackered from a long day at work so didn't want to stay out too late...was back at the hostel just after half 9 and was pretty knackered myself. Read for a bit...then another guy from the room came in, think his name was Simon, can't remember now - another pommie bloke anyway but only there for a night before going off for a few days. We chatted for a bit then he buggered off and I went to sleep.
Tuesday 05/04/05:
Got up just before 9 in an attempt to catch the free breakfast which runs from 7-9....a few scraps of bread around and some spreads, bugger all cereal and the milk had all gone...tsk! So had one slice of toast with peanut butter and an orange, very healthy! Showered and went out on today's mission - for a change I'd actually thought about what to do. Started in Fed Sq again but this time actually went into the buildings. Started at ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image>...rubbish! Bugger all there unless I missed something but the signs seemed to indicate that I'd found everything there is to do, just one interesting exhibit showing some short films of the area from various decades. Only hung around for half an hour before moving to the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) which is free to enter.
This was much more interesting, got on a free guided tour which started at 11 which basically whizzed us around the gallery in an hour. The gallery holds all Australian art including indigenous paintings which was the most interesting bit. Really helped to have a guide tho, explaining what things were, putting some background into the exhibits, especially the aboriginal art which is very abstract. Had a little wander after the tour and then moved on to the Arts Centre mainly because it was holding Kylie: The Exhibition - a free exhibition of Kylie costumes, pictures, awards and memorabilia. The centre isn't part of Fed Sq but is only a short walk over the river nr Flinders Station. The exhibition was excellent, it was amazing to see stuff you've seen her wear in videos and on stage close up - and my god she is the tiniest woman in the world! Seeing really Grammy's, MTV Awards, Brits, etc, close up was cool too. Photography was banned for 'security and copyright' reasons...so took some surreptitious pics before being arrested and questioned for 2 hours.......well the last bit isn't true but I did take the pics.
Next to the Arts Centre is the NGV International - part of the NGV but in a different building, again the main collection is free. The majority of it didn't interest me but joined in with a guided tour of Grotesque: The Diabolical and Fantastic in Art which had some ridiculously old medieval illustrations of evil things, etc. What did interest me was the Andy Warhol's Time Capsules exhibition. Had a cup of tea and a lovely smarties cookie and paid the $12 to go in. Basically the exhibition has been created for hundreds of cardboard boxes which Andy used to hoard stuff....loads of interesting letters, newspapers, books, postcards, notes, bric n brac n nics n nacks and things! Spent the entire afternoon wandering around until the gallery closed at 5.
Doesn't get dark until about 7 at the mo so thought I'd also squeeze in a visit to the Observation Deck to catch the city by day, sunset and night. It's Melbourne's equivalent of the Sydney Tower - but on the 55th floor of skyscraper. Took the lift the same amount of time to do 55 floors as it takes the hostel life to do 6! The view from the top was excellent, Melbourne doesn't really have the landmarks to spot like Sydney but the views are good across Port Phillip Bay and over to the mountains. Hung around taking pics through sunset and until it got dark, finally coming down about 7. Caught the tram to the hostel and dropped my stuff off. By this point all I'd eaten was breakfast and a banana so was particularly hungry.
Wandered over to Chinatown and get a bargain $7 serve yourself dinner....very nice and you can pile the plate as high as you like, tho of course I was very restrained. Wandered around Chinatown for a little while and stumbled across the Hoyts - it's half price Tuesdays at the mo so checked the show times and saw Robots was on at 8.30 so I was just in time to watch it. Enjoyed it tho I must be getting real old coz it seemed all a little too frenetic in places! Jumped on a tram to the net cafe after the film to do the usual updates, plus chatted to Josh (guy I met for coffee on my first full day) and he kindly offered to drive me down the west coast tomorrow so that's Wednesday sorted. Got the last tram back into the city and went straight to bed.
Wednesday 06/04/05:
Had a pretty crappy nights sleep, couldn't get to sleep for ages, then was woken at 5am by one guy chit chatting with some woman outside the door before rolling into bed, then Pierre got up for work at 6 and I had and apnoea attack just before 8....marvellous! Had planned to get up about half 8 as I was getting the 9.23 train to Cheltenham which is where Josh lives. Had brekkies, showered and left the hostel at 9.17...amazingly I caught the train with 3 mins to spare....bloody good job the hostel is so close. The trip to Cheltenham too 30 mins exactly and Josh picked me up from the station and we headed along the coast.
First we went back on ourselves back toward Melbourne to a place called Brighton - sounds familiar! It has one of the most photographed tourist sites in the state supposedly....a beach hut with an aussie flag painted on it. There's a whole row of beach huts there, typical little English style ones. Basically the morning was spent meandering down the coast, we stopped for a coffee in Mornington drinking by the pier and wandering round, also stopped at a picturesque place called Safety Beach finally ending up in Portsea and Sorrento. We got Fish and Chips from the Village Store which basically did everything: supermarket, newsagent, takeaway, tourist information, video hire....and ate it out on the pier...beautiful location, clear blue water and sunny skies, lovely way to have lunch.
Drove back up toward Melbourne stopping off at a lookout up on a hill called Arthur's Seat....famous for Arthur's Chair which is like a ski lift thing which takes you up the hill and down again with some great views of Port Phillip Bay. We didn't do the life but did go to the top where the view is fantastic. Then we jumped on the freeway and headed back toward Cheltenham, stopped off a Josh's place to have a snout around, very nice little 2 bed house...he had a dance class to teach at 5.30 so dropped me off at the station and I got the train back to the city.
I thought it was free BBQ night tonight at the hostel but turns out they've stopped it now summer is over, replacing it with free pasta on Tuesdays...which I missed! Laid on the bed for a little while to relax, had a little chit chat with Pierre, sounds like he's doing a shite job, just packing and lifting books but guess it keeps him fit - god he's toned!! - and he say's it pays $70 an hour!!! Not sure if he's got his translation or something wrong but that's a shitload of money. Then went downstairs to chuck together some chicken, cashews, veggies and noodles concoction...was very nice actually. Last stop for the evening was to the net cafe to review the pics I've done so far and start up the Melbourne photo album....again not a very late one.
Thursday 07/04/05:
Had a bit of a lay in this morning, it's a big buffet breakfast on Thurs apparently, but I thought it best I didn't go down coz I'd end up eating more than I needed to, plus was knackered for some reason. Got up just before 10 and decided it was high time I went for a jog. Ran to the Kings Domain, by the river and back to the city, similar route to last time but only stopped after 30 mins to do some push and sit ups. Ended up getting back to the hostel about 11. Jumped in the shower then had a late brekkie. Decided to go to the Scienceworks Museum and Melbourne Planetarium today and get there via ferry rather than train, hence getting a trip up the river too.
They're in the same building in a suburb called Spotswood which is kinda west. Went down to the ferry jettys on the river behind the train station and got a one way to Spotswood. We trundled down the river toward the bay going past the city, casino, docklands and then going past Port Melbourne which is a proper working port and not particularly picturesque, in fact once you were out of the city area it wasn't very pretty at all....probably more to see going up river inland. Anyway got dumped off at Spotswood and it was a short walk to the museum. At the moment it's school hols so as you can imagine it's all pretty busy - but even outside of school hols these sort of places have school parties visiting so you can't get away from the buggers. The Scienceworks part was pretty good, obviously aimed more at kids but some good exhibits and very hands on. The Planetarium show I saw was basically a trip through the solar system looking at the planets followed by a talk about the sky at night at the mo....all pretty good tho I think the Cape Town one was slightly better.
Left about 2 and wandered toward Spotswood station.....the main street is next to the station, it's all very 'local' there so didn't hang around long, luckily the train arrived only 5 mins after so went straight back to the city. Sat in Fed Sq and read the free papers for a little while then went for a wander up Swanston St to the Half Tix box office which as you can probably guess sells half price and discounted tickets for shows. It's Melbourne International Comedy Festival time at the mo so there's loads to go and see, trouble is I haven't heard of most of them, there are a few acts from the UK but they're mixed in with international acts. Anyway in the end decided to go and see the Best of the Edinburgh Fest which has 3 acts so at least if one is shite you know they'll be another on the way....only cost $14.55 which isn't half price but still cheaper then usual.
Went back to the hostel and cooked up some dinner then just relaxed in the room before getting changed to go see the 8.30 show. The gig was in the RMIT Capitol Theatre which is an amazing place inside, just the most bizarre facade on the walls and ceilings which you can kinda make out on the pic on the website. The gig itself was pretty good, my favourite was a Welsh guy called Rhod Gilbert who was very funny, I preferred him coz it wasn't shouty swearing comedy, much more subtle and very clever. We were out by 10 so it was a pretty short show. Bored with nothing to do so went back to the hostel and sat in the TV lounge, FOX8 was on which can usually guarantee some trashy American rubbish...and it did - watched the end of Temptation Island 2 and then America's Next Top Model was on which was great!....went to bed after that.
Friday 08/04/05:
Up a bit earlier today having breakfast before 9. Went to the Melbourne Museum in the morning getting there about half 10. They had an exhibition called Dinosaurs from China which I wasn't that bothered about seeing, however my YHA card got me a student rate so thought I'd go take a look - only $8 for museum entry and the dinosaur thing. In the end it was quite interesting, some massive exhibits and when you think these things were actually walking around, and how long ago it was, it's pretty amazing really. Then wandered around the rest of the museum for a good couple of hours, not all directed just at kids which was good, one of the best bits was an exhibition by college students working in media and visual communications. The museum also has the original kitchen set from the Robinson's house in Neighbours.
Wandered around the museum area which is in Carlton for a little while, stumbled across a street lined with restaurants and cafes so stopped there to have dinner at the Baked Potato Cafe....and I'm sure you'll never guess what I had. Afterwards jumped on the tram to the QVM to get some more fruit, veggies and meat. Discovered the Deli area this time which I hadn't seen before, loads of chocolates, cakes, pastries, bread, cheeses, etc....I was in heaven, I gave in and bought a little fudge. As the net cafe is opposite the QVM I ducked in there to update the usual before heading back to the hostel just after 5. Done a little bit of shopping at the Coles round the corner and sorted out some dinner. Didn't have much as I had the jacket spud for lunch.
Showered and went out to Collingwood in the evening. There are a few gay bars in the area but they're all spaced out, not on one street. Didn't have a map on me but had a rough idea where everything was....but a little unnerving walking around in badly lit streets in some suburb I've never been to before. Started off in the Gay Trade Bar....I mean the name is enough to put you off but thought I'd take a look. It was pretty quiet, in fact about 8 people in there so grabbed and drink and sat down to read the local rags. Then all of a sudden two muscle marys jump up on the bar and start dancing, which I'm guessing was planned as they'd put on the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy theme for them to dance to. I say 'dance' in the loosest sense of the word, they couldn't actually dance to save their lives, maybe they were too tense from lifting weights all afternoon, one guy attempted to pole dance but was basically just walking around it...I was almost tempted to get up there and show them how to do it! Anyway, the song ended and they jumped off and everything returned to...er....normal?
Unsurprisingly I didn't have a second drink there, moved on pretty quickly to The Peel, walked through the doors and saw about 3 people in there - and it's not as if I was really early, it was about half 10 by now. So ducked straight out and went to the final stop which is practically opposite the train station I got off at - The Laird - and there were loads of people in there, which is maybe why the other places were dead. It's Victoria's only men only venue, they had to get a exemption from the Equal Opportunities Act especially, and it's also the kind of place that actual men go to, rather than 12 year old effeminate queens.....so my kinda place. The only problem was that it seemed difficult to talk to people, I'm not good at that at the best of times but everyone seemed to be in groups of friends so almost impossible for me. Did get a bit of eye contact here and there but no one said hello.
Stayed there until about 1am.....couldn't be bothered to pay for a taxi home and had missed the last train so went to Wet on Wellington and slept in one of the rooms there...much cheaper and much more convenient.
Saturday 09/04/05:
Left Wet at 7am and caught the train back into the city. Had a bit of brekkie at the hostel and went to bed for the rest of the morning, stuck the ear plugs in and slept through to half 11. Had some lunch and then put the washing on so stuck around the hostel while that washed and dried. Had it all done around 2 and as it was a gorgeous day caught the tram down to St Kilda to go for a wander. Walked along the beach from the pier toward the town and then walked down Acland St which is the main strip with shops, cafes, etc, treated myself to a gelato, 3 flavours; Ferrero Rocher, Amaretto and Chocolate....how could I resist??? Meandered around for an hour or so....and still feeling a little knackered from the previous night I went and laid down in a park in the shade, think I had a little nap too while I was there...all very chilled and a very nice way to spend a Sat arvo.
Caught the tram back to the city about 6 and cooked up some dinner in the hostel. Couldn't really decide what to do in the evening, thought about going out to Collingwood again but the whole hassle of getting ready, getting the train, trying to get home - couldn't be arsed in the end. Watched some telly in the TV lounge for a little while, 'Amazing Race' and 'The World's Most Amazing Videos!!!!' with extra dramatic American voice over. Crap all on after that so caught the tram up to the net cafe and sat there for the rest of the night talking to a couple of friends in the UK....home about 1.
Sunday 10/04/05:
Had thought about getting up early to go for a jog this morning....it was mainly a thought tho and ended up staying in bed till 10. There's something about that hostel, I think they put a sedative in the air conditioning, I've never felt so lazy in a hostel before. Anyway, today is footy day, had booked the hostel trip to go she an Aussie Rules game at the MCG. It was only $13 for a ticket compared to $26 normally...which is ridiculously cheap when you consider how much it costs to get into a UK football match! Had some brekkie at 10...then realised it was free pancake brunch at 11 so had one of them too, gotta make the most of the free stuff! We all met in the TV lounge at 11.30 where they played a video explaining the game and how it works....well it was more a video stating the obvious, in fact when explaining the rules the video handily explained that "the winning team is the team who scores more points than the other"!!! There's a shocker!
Then we walked over to the MCG - bloody hot outside too, about 31°C - not the kinda weather you wanna be walking in the sun for half an hour. Got chatting to an American guy called Ross on the way there, it was his first match too. He's studying at the Uni of Newcastle at the mo for a few months as part of an exchange with his college in Minnesota. He's got a couple of weeks off so is cramming in Melbourne, Alice Springs and Darwin. Nice bloke, quite young tho I think, I felt old....but we hung out for the match and watched it together. It was Essendon Bombers vs Hawthorn Hawks today, estimated crowd was 40,000. We were on the top tier of the stadium up in the heavens, but it gave a great view of the field and the screen was directly opposite so could see close up stuff too. We arrived early, about 12.45 and the game wasn't kicking off until 2.10, but as we were in the public stand it's first come first served as far as seats go so we had to get there early to get decent seats undercover out of the sun.
Had a beer before the game - a beer before a footy match, don't ever let be said that I ain't one butch bloke!!....and a pie, so a very healthy day so far with pancakes, beer and pie. Just before the game the weather changed completely, it was expected but it dropped about 8 degrees and the clouds came over, the wind picked up and it pissed down. Good job we were undercover, tho we did get a little rain on us when the wind was blowing in the right direction. The game itself tho was great, really enjoyed it, not close enough to see all the boys in their vests and tight shorts which was a pity but funnily enough I actually enjoyed the game too!! Hawks were way behind but then game back in the 3rd quarter to take the lead, but eventually lost by 2 points, really close and really tense game which made it all the better. Match finished just after 5 so walked back to the hostel with Ross, he's only here for a couple of days so gave him some ideas of stuff to do. Turns out he's actually staying in the Friendly Hostel which is the sister one to where I'm at.
Went to the supermarket to get some stuff for dinner and cooked that up, chicken, potato, onion and salad....very nice. Again had no idea what to do this evening, in the end I jumped on the train just after 9 and went to the Laird...it was dead as, thought there'd be a few more people around even though it was a Sunday. Ended up only staying an hour or so before getting the train back. Had a cup of tea and a cookie when I got back....felt all cosy and nice. Went to bed about midnight....plans for next week, well gonna do the neighbours tour thing, probably Phillip Island and move to Prahran at the end of the week.
