Beaches and Cricket

It's been a while so I thought I'd update you all on how chilled out I've been recently.

After another (and eventually last) week of work I didn't find too much time to socialise or do anything of particular interest apart from a pub quiz and a few beers here and there etc. However I did have the pleasure of having Mr Karl Kennedy from Neighbours (real name unknown/forgotten to me) perform with his band in my hostel bar which is always going to be a good story to tell.

The next major event was the Grand Prix in Melbourne which has create much envy from a lot of people and an event that was a really great spectacle to be apart of. Despite the cars being ridiculously fast and having to endure what felt like minor whiplash at the end of 52 laps it was a really great day out. Of course, Lewis Hamilton winning was a huge bonus but having a car break down in front of me on the warm-up lap was a particular highlight of mine. The only problem I found was after 20-odd laps or so when everyone started pitting it was impossible to tell who was in what position and who had/hadn't pitted etc - even with big screens and live commentary it only fell into place for me with 10 laps to go, by which time Hamilton was at least 3 seconds clear of second and 30 seconds clear of 3rd. Would strongly recommend anyone to try and get to one of these though, especially a street circuit - I personally would love to go to Monaco one day.

After letting my boss know that I wanted to spend time travelling again instead of working, I found that I had time to spend again, who'd have thought it?!

 The week consisted of lot's of sun essentially. I think the people of Australia genuinely believe that 25 degree's is cold and so everyone seems to have the attitude that every day of sun is going to be it's last and this has translated to the travellers - obviously.

A day at Brighton beach (a 10 minute tram away, not a flight back to England) was as laid back and relaxed as you can expect with great views of the city from a distance and walking past a wedding spot in which we saw 3 ceremonies taking place.

The rest of the week saw the celebration of St Patrick's day, something that I, or any other of the English guys, had never celebrated before but it seems like every Australian and their friend were out somehow - even if it was a Tuesday night, amongst another beach trip and somehow more cricket.

The cricket is a bit more acceptable now as it's the business end of the tournament, so with 4 quarter-finals came 4 days of sitting in the sun and watching it. This included my 4th and penultimate trip to the MCG to see India destroy Bangladesh, the team that knocked England out so their loss didn't sadden me in the slightest. The Semi-finals are on Tuesday and Thursday before the final on Sunday and with the best 4 teams still in it, it's anyone's tournament which is exciting, but means I can only spend 3 more days watching cricket - bad times.

With the end of the World Cup fastly approaching it's that time again where I'm having to look into moving on and it looks like the next stop is Tasmania. While no plans are concrete, by the next time I've submitted a blog I might have a special guest for you - stay tuned.