Melbourne

So, the mini-holiday was over, and it was time to settle down, get some work and replenish the rapidly depleted bank account. Don't you hate having to do that after a holiday? Thankfully, Paul, Laura and Stewart had arrived in Melbourne before me and done all the hard work in finding an apartment, and after the hovel we had lived in in Sydney, this apartment was absolutely gorgeous. So when I stepped off the bus into a city absolutely heaving with people (the Grand Prix), I had a comfy bed for the night...

Melbourne is situated on the Yarra River, a wide silty brown thing and home to the oddly titled Moomba festival for a few weeks in March. Thankfully this was the year that they brought back the 'Birdman Rally', so I was able to watch a bunch of mad Australians throw themselves off the bridge.

The climax of the festival was the huge street parade on the closing night. This obviously captivated Paul, Laura and Stewart...
After wandering around and exploring Melbourne for a few days I started working after siging up with Mactemps in the City (now Aquent Partners), and worked non-stop from that day onwards.

Melbourne is very green with loads of parks and gardens that were really nice in the hot weather, and our apartment was situated right next to the Botanical Gardens, home of this statue of Edward 'Weary' Dunlop - we weren't quite sure what he was weary about but he looked like he needed some company, so we took his picture.
A bit too much work in my working holiday for my liking, but it gave me the chance to meet some (mostly!) nice people (you know who you are...)

But it wasn't all work, work, work you know, and at the home of Aussie Rules Football we saw the Carlton v Collingwood grudge match, along with 80,000 other people at the MCG. My education in AFL is almost complete and I can now sit through an entire match without being completely bemused. I am worried.

And then, come April, Melbourne became home to the International Comedy Festival, where I saw Craig Charles and Ed Byrne amongst others. This particular photo is from one of the free comedy sunday afternoons on Southbank. Four hours of free comedy, in the sun, with ice cream. Lovely.

There are a few bridges across the Yarra, as you might imagine, like this little footbridge (right). When the sun is out there are some fantastic views up and down the river from these various places. The picture on the right is looking away from the city, towards the MCG (those floodlight thingy's).

This is the Australian War Memorial, also in the Botanical Gardens, a lovely memorial built after WWI, caught in the afternoon sun.

One of my many jobs involved meeting Julian, a guy who started my moral debauchery by taking me to the Caulfield racecourse in Melbourne. I am glad to say that I won 25 dollars over the day - although I did spend 30. Not bad for a beginner, though?

On FA Cup final night we managed to find ourselves in the sports bar of Crown Casino, which was showing the game live. After my tales of the racecourse though, Stewart got bitten by the gee-gees. This is a picture of him being beaten by a 12 year old on the race game (although he would no doubt tell you otherwise).

One of the touristy things I did in Melbourne was to go on the Puffing Billy railway, out in the Dandenongs. The day was only spoilt by the fact that I had to go with Stewarts mad friend Pearl, after everyone else chickened out, leaving me in the lurch. Sometimes I am too nice.

...and here I am, doing my David Copperfield impression in front of one of the steam trains...

This was the mad friend. Afraid of having her picture taken? Hmmm...

And for those who have forgotten what I looked like, here I am looking particularly frightened for the camera (it was being operated by you-know-who).

And now, another highlight of the trip! This is Harold Bishop, from the hit TV series Neighbours, who we met on Neighbours night in a pub in St. Kilda. As you can probably tell, this was late on in the evening, when everybody was getting pretty 'jolly'...

...and Phil Bloke(?) too. I now socialise with stars, darlings.

Stewart was also there, but he succumbed to the power of free beer that was on offer from his staff party! Weak willed, I say.

But a different night, a different pub - this picture was taken by a drunken person (as you can tell by the angle). So Melbourne is finished, but not forever, as I will be back. It was a great three months where we felt like we 'lived' somewhere instead of travelled through. I met lots of fun people through working and it looks like I will be dragged back there, kicking and screaming! But, it started to get cold and our thoughts travelled north so off we head to Cairns, via Adelaide and Alice Springs. The adventure continues...

In Between   Melbourne   Great Ocean Road