It's been a busy week and a half or so with limited WiFi opportunities so this is the first time I've had the resources to actually write one of these - I can barely remember what's happened.
Okay, so I last signed off after the St Kilda Festival - jheez that seems like ages ago. Since then I've done far too much to go into everything in detail so I will be doing some skimming, apologies.
The week after that was generally pretty chilled and laid back. For the first time since I'd been in Melbourne the weather was starting to show its true colours after a week full of sun. With the standard 'four seasons in a day' kind of weather really starting to live up to it's name. On the whole though, minus the odd thunderstorm and overcast day it was the standard 30ish heat so no complaints.
After spending 4 hours in a classroom obtaining my Responsible Service of Alcohol License, which was tedious to say the least when you have a ridiculously basic 20 question multiple choice paper to complete to gain the licence itself - especially as I could have answered all the questions before taking the course anyway. But its out the way now and means that if I want to work somewhere that serves alcohol, it's now a bit easier. (It's compulsory to have an RSA licence to work in bars/restaurants in Australia)
Then followed a couple of exploration days with some guys from the hostel who had spent too much time at the beach to actually see the city so I took the role of tour guide and saw a few bits that I hadn't seen myself so there's always a bright side.
Then followed a cricket based few days (shock!) which started with a free warm-up game at the MCG for Australia V United Arab Emirates which was probably a bit of foreshadowing for the England game in hindsight with Australia thrashing the UAE. This was followed by another free event at the Sidney Myer Music Bowel which was reasonably impressive in itself. The World Cup Opening Ceremony itself wasn't as great as it could have been but was an event I can say I've now been too.
Friday saw my Welsh friend Kelly go home and surprise her family in Swansea so we thought we'd treat ourselves to the tallest building in Melbourne before she left which was an experience similar to the Shard. She was also ridiculously scared of heights which made the experience a little funnier as well. They also had 'The Edge' - a 3 metre glass box that extends out of the building, I wasn't too much of a fan but again, I can say I've done it. Friday also saw my first ever trip to a casino, I absolutely loved it but there's no need to go into much detail about that...
Wow, not as much skimming as I expected to do there... Well done if you've managed to read this far I haven't even started the road trip yet...
Sunday saw the start of the road trip. Becca and Emily had already left on Thursday to do the famous Great Ocean Road (Definitely Google it - its worth it) and because of the England game I arranged to meet them at the other end via train as they then worked their way back along it (I don't think that makes sense - I'm tired, sorry!). Andy would love this place, it's full of stacks and arches and various coastal landforms that saw my Geography A-level come out in force and follow in my uncles footsteps of explaining every kind of landform and how they occur etc.
The following day saw us catch the ferry over the (river? Sea? Not too sure, maybe a bay??) and a short drive to Phillip Island which was amazing. More coastal landforms were seen and explained and pictured, followed by a koala conservation which was ridiculously cute, then followed by a trip to a chocolate factory - no words are needed here, it's a bloody chocolate factory.
That evening was perhaps THE greatest thing I have ever seen. Every day at sunset on Phillip Island over 600 (apparently over 1000 in Winter) of the World's smallest penguins come back from the sea after a day's hunting and waddle up the beach to their nests for the night. If anybody can name anything better than 600 penguins struggling to get up a hill for a couple of hours you win, it was awesome and I genuinely can't think of a better way to spend an evening. Unfortunately camera's aren't allowed because they hurt they penguins eyes so this one will just have to stay in my head unfortunately (or Google).
Tuesday saw a fair bit of driving after playing with the kangaroo's at a nearby conservation park and we headed to some hot springs for some relaxation. Who'd have thought that 3 hours sitting in 40 degree pools would make you so much more tired than before you went it??
Tuesday was followed by a nice day at Melbourne Zoo with the girl's friend Becky and the last day of the car was an hour's drive to a kids dream. A maze, mini golf, frisbee golf and games all in one place it would be stupid not to go.
DONE!
Sorry for rambling on so much, again, well done if you made it this far. I'll make sure to not leave blog entries this far apart in the future and will try and get back into the routine of 1 a week again.
As usual all pictures will be up on Facebook and I hope you are all well.
Until next time
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