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Our last Aussie city...
Entry 79 of 85 | show all | print this entry |
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...And so the road trip was over. Our last destination in Oz, Melbourne. Having driven a grand total of around 8200 km to get here from Sydney, it'd better be worth it!
We dropped the camper off in the suburbs - it was a tearful moment - and were reunited with the arduous task of carting our bags around once more. We caught the train into Flinders St Station, and then a tram to St Kilda, where we had a free night in a hostel... thanks to the Whitsundays/Fraser Island package we booked in Cairns, a lifetime ago!
The tram was only small, classically English, and was driven by a driver with a forced English accent, in which he delivered a series of highly amusing caustic comments at various points throughout the trip, such as "Apologies for the delay, folks, the tram driver in front has stopped to scratch his crack." This was so surreal compared to the cold and unpleasant experience of English public transport!
Whilst the hostel might have been one of the scruffiest places we'd stayed in in Oz, it was free, so it was all good! The place was only half full, so we quickly became acquainted with the residents, and had a great night staying up playing pool and loud music, and chatting away to them. The hot showers were predictably fabulous, having not had one for days, as was ordering a $5 large pizza, and not having to cook the same thing on our gas stove as on the previous 18 nights!
After about 3 weeks of going to bed about 9.30 pm, staying up till 3 in the morning was almost an unprecented experience and I collapsed in bed. Lucy however was still living it large, and stayed up to watch the England vs Israel game at 5am!
So when she came to bed at 8am, I presumed we wouldn't be up to much in the day, other than sleeping it off.
How wrong was I. We checked out by 10, and caught the tram back into town, alighting on Flinders Street where we checked into a new hostel - much busier this time.
We dumped our bags and found a tres sophisticated cafe in the self-proclaimed "foodies paradise" of Melbourne and ordered a spot of brunch, and sat back, watching the world go by and reflecting on our time in Oz, and even stretching as far back as Asia.
Melbourne seemed so stylish compared to Sydney, it was only natural to undertake some shopping. I bought a few presents for people before we met up with Zara and her friend from Uni in Federation Square. Acting on her local knowledge we got the train out to Southern Cross Shopping Centre, and ending up in bargain frenzy, Luce and I buying loads of stuff as cheap as chips. Zaz and I didn't even start shopping at first, just chatting away and catching up - it was awesome, like we'd never been apart. Zaz shot off for work and we vowed to meet up the next night in town.
Back at the hostel I cooked up some food while Luce caught up on some sleep. At the table we started chatting to a guy called Tim, who ending up telling us a variety of stories from his travels throughout Asia... making us wanna go, obviously. We decided to head out, to see the city at night, but we were obviously in the wrong district, and had a hard time finding somewhere to go. Eventually we popped into a lounge bar for a drink, but were soon driven out by its irritating electro techno music.
Our penultimate day in Oz commenced with a walk up the Yarra River to the MCG, and then a tour of the ground conducted by one of the members, wearing a daft blazer, similar to something one might find a Butlins entertainer in.
 
The ground was indeed massive. We got to stand on the hallowed turf, and viewed the pitch from each of the different stands and tiers. There were people on the pitch busying themselves with painting logos on, ready for the AFL semis the next day. We were hoping to go, but unfortunately it clashed with our flight home :(
 
Anyway, the tour was approximately an hour and a half, and we visited the player's boxes and changing rooms, the nets, and the video rooms, some of which were adorned with honour boards for every single honour going. Dotted around were various memorials to famous cricketers - eg, Bradman, signed bats and balls from significant tests at the MCG, pictures of old Ashes teams, and memorial artwork. We also visited the library, and the "Long Room", where all the posho members congregate on match days, ending up in the museum, allowed to wander round at our leisure and admire the interesting artefacts from cricket, AFL, and the Olympic and Commonwealth Games that have both been held here.
I imagined it to be completely immense and overwhelming when full for a game, one day I wanna go back for one - the AFL final would be insane!
Being high up also allowed for great views over the city...
 
After that we resumed normal Melbourne activity - shopping! More presents were bought, and we stopped for lunch at a Japanese noodle bar, providing a throwback to the Asian days...
From 4 to 5 we visited an exhibition entitled Living Elvis, which featured an hour long film, a juxtaposition of clips from famous flips and songs, all intertwined to make a film about video piracy, featuring Elvis going back in time and a somewhat indiscernable storyline... I lost the plot a bit, but it was still entertaining as you could never predict what was coming next.
We met up with Zaz about 12, in the bar next to the hostel. We then moved on, after admiring the statues of the Melbourne streets (!) to Lounge Bar, where we were the night before, but downstairs this time, where there was way more people, and slightly better music. We danced the night away, stumbling back to the hostel about 5.30 am for an hours sleep-ish, before getting up to pack all our stuff together and check out, departing for the Neighbours tour at an unearthly hour of the morning!
  
 
The bus reminded me of the Happy Coach to Nimbin! We drove 45 minutes to Vermont South, watching Neighbours documentaries galore - including classic moments like Life Mechanics, the plane crash etc etc. First stop was at Erinsborough High, where locals were nonchalantly walking their dogs across the playing fields as if this wasn't part of the sacred Neighbours set!
 
Phil our driver put to bed some rumours then, and told us a few up and coming storylines (I won't be able to watch for months now, back home), and then we drove past the studios, and shortly after that, out to the street itself - Pine Oak Crescent. The street looked tiny... I'm not exaggerating - it was weird! We got pics in front of all the houses, and held the sign proudly above our heads, and then posed in front of the bus. Oddly, there was a security guard there 24/7, protecting the street! One of his jobs was to guard the lemon trees - you can only take lemons home if they fall off the tree and are on the floor - you can't pick them. Lucy got one off the floor to take home... wench!
 
 
After more DVDs we arrived in St Kilda to be met by Janelle from Neighbours, woo. She'd dyed her hair brown and for 10 seconds, noone recognized her! We got pics and signed postcards and asked a few qs, before being dropped off back in the city centre for, guess what... more shopping.
Blowing my final dollars on some killer boardies, we then attempted to immerse ourselves in culture by visiting a photography exhibition of famous people, and then back to the Elvis exhibition to actually look at the exhibits this time. This itinerary was interrupted and paused to watch a Noise for Darfur protest march, and listen to some of the speeches.
 
Returned to the quaint little street filled with cafes that we were in the other day, for "the last supper" and a chai latte, mmm, sophisticated! Zaz and Andy sent texts saying goodbye... it was so sad, we really didn't wanna leave. :(
The airport bus came around 7ish, and we got to the airport before 8, spending our final change and trying to prepare ourselves for the long flight and miserable return back to England...
So long Australia. :(
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