Ah, Melbourne! I was kindly taken in by Dimi and Laura Papettas, who you probably don't remember from the New York instalment of the blog that I updated - oh, over 6 years ago now(!) Anyway, they were the first pals I made travelling, and so will always have a special place in my heart (ahhh). They further cemented this love by providing me with breakfast and lodgings for my entire stay in Melbourne, which was incredibly generous considering they had known me for the sum total of about 3 days back in June 2012. So, big shout out to Dimi and Laura for being absolute heroes.
Also notable about the Melbourne portion of the trip is the fact that I went running for the first time in many months around the streets of St Kilda, the trendy suburb of Melbourne where Dimi and Laura lived. The run almost killed me, despite failing to reach a pace beyond 'suburban mom fast walk', and I undid it all by eating many local delicacies (which we shall get onto), but the main point of this tangent is that I can say I went for a run and therefore feel smug.
I arrived in Melbourne at arse o'clock in the morning and was immediately pulled into the excitement and drama of the St Kilda Festival, despite having about an hour of broken sleep on a coach. I write this portion of the blog as a 33, going on 34 year old woman and I MOURN for my previous energy levels. You wouldn't catch me doing anything like that now I'm a cantankerous old fart.
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| The festival, in Luna Park |
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| After a night of no sleep and a blatant mis-application of makeup |
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| Luna Park's famously bonkers exterior |
I don't actually remember what we did at the festival besides queuing for a long time to get my face painted, but it must have been fun, aside from the hideous crowds (which I have always been keen to avoid, even before my cantankerous old fart years). Aside from taking me to the festival, I cooked with Dimi and Laura in their flat, they took me out for a Greek meal (didn't disappoint!) and I have a vague recollection of attending a comedy night that was either hysterical or total crap.
Turns out I knew a few others in Melbourne too. Sammy from uni was a delight and joined me in Kooglhoupf cake eating at Monarch Cakes, as well as hugging yarn-bombed trees (see below).
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| There's no accounting for taste |
I was also reunited with Kerry, a lovely lady who was very kind to me when I first got to Queenstown (and introduced me to the deliciousness that is Milo). She almost persuaded me to stay in Australia for longer - I was really loving Melbourne, but I decided to be lame and crack on with the rest of my trip as planned #adventurefail.
One recommendation I must make - if you ever find yourself in Melbourne, or any other city try taking a free walking tour (NB: not strictly free - you pay what you think it was worth, or face lifelong embarrassment unless you're totally ballsy). We also did one in Kyoto, Japan and it was way better than any paid tours I've been on before, a great way to kill a couple of hours and get a low cost culture fix to boot. You're welcome.
After my whistle stop tour of Melbourne, I flew back to Sydney for another night at Jo and Alex's where I basically gatecrashed Valentine's Day - we all went to an ice cream shop that served ice cream containing pieces of fruit pie. What a perfect way to end the Australian leg of the trip, as I psyched myself up for South East Asia...
