Melbourne!

Our holiday has come and gone and now I can't do anything but think of when the next will be. Somewhere warm hopefully. Somewhere like this....

we set off at an ungodly hour of the morning. Our flight left at 6am which meant we had to be at the airport at 4.30am! We made it on time (a miracle for me!) and Marty sat down to his "Red-eye Special" breakfast. I consoled myself with coffee and a slightly manic demeanor.

Melbourne was amazing though! Our apartment welcomed us with a fresh pool of vomit on the doorstep. Conveniently the outside of the building looked like a face so it all worked well...

Throughout the week the vomit dehydrated and rehydrated depending on rainfall so there was a steady commentary on the Welcome Vom by short-term residents and visitors alike.

We were 200m from Smith St in Collingwood so everything was easily accessible. Marty and I arrived a few days before Jen and Emma so we got ourselves accustomed to our new surroundings and also ventured into town. We checked out the Victoria Markets which had a jaw-dropping deli section with cheeses, breads, meats and an amazing array of other items...

We munched down some Boreks and Turkish bread and sat happily gazing over the Hello Wigs - Take the Beauty shop across the road...

That same afternoon we headed to the museum/Imax to watch Hubble 3D which was spectacular. Some of the images were so beautiful I wanted to cry! Before it started we wandered around the dinosaur/insect section of the museum. The spiders freaked me out. I wish I didn't have this awful phobia of big spiders because I find them fascinating but it honestly makes me feel physically ill.

We didn't have much time there before Hubble 3D started but we went back a few days later with Jen and Emma to finish it off. I still managed to miss quite a bit of it :(

Anyway, the next day Marty and I wandered along Smith St and over to Brunswick St which I remembered from my first trip to Melbourne about 5 years ago. We found a little chocolate shop and were so amazed by the chocolates that we sat down with a basil creme thing and a wild berry thing as well. And then we were told off for taking photos so here is an illegal photograph of the chocolates...

We met up with Nik near his uni and walked into town to have a beer. Nik showed us a cool rooftop bar (The Rooftop Bar... haha) in the middle of Melbourne so we sat there and watched the sun set over the city...

Leslie turned up a bit later and once we were sufficiently beered we went to Chinatown and gorged on dumplings and some awful vegetarian duck that was stone cold. The dumplings were awesome though....

The next day Jen and Emma arrived and we put the Duty Free to good use...

Emma's friend, Mima, came to visit and we headed off to Brunswick St to meet Rosie and Max who had recently returned from New York. We discussed their travels and some interesting comments that they had overheard from their window and then headed to the Napier Hotel (where Marty and I had stopped for a beer a few days earlier) for dinner. The Roo had been highly recommended by several people so Marty couldn't resist. It was a great night though, if not slightly cold...

The next day was the day we went back to the museum. We had some subtle posing along the way...

And some not so subtle...

And then we saw the spiders.... bllleeeeuuuughhhh...

Which I have no problem with if they are stuffed...

And we had our first morphed mirror experience of the holiday...

We saw some wildlife which was not wild...

After another taste of Chinatown's finest, Marty went bouldering (rock climbing minus the ropes) and Jen, Emma and I went to the Tim Burton exhibition. There were grass cubes...

And a scary snake....

And a Luna Park-esque entrance way into the exhibition....

No photography allowed inside so you'll just have to trust me when I say that it was amazing! His sketches and little stories/poems are incredible. I highly recommend it.

That night we had arranged to have drinks at the Grace Darling Hotel just up the road from the apartment. There was an AFL match on that night so the place was packed with screaming fans. A Magpies fan came in dressed as a teddy bear. I'm not sure why. It all got a bit expensive and chaotic so we headed back to the apartment to carry on with the Duty Free. Some specatcular cocktails were created...

The next morning we woke and headed for Brunswick St to get a tram to the Ceres Market. The buildings and graffiti along the way is pretty cool...

Dogs are everywhere in Melbourne, it's so nice to see. But within the central Ceres Market they are not allowed...

Ceres is an organic market positioned directly underneath HUGE power lines...

It was quite funny. I managed to get some lip balm though and a free sample of deodorant that was like sand and in the shape of a starfish. I threw it out.

We all walked back to Rosie and Max's apartment along the river bank and through a soccer field...

We all finally got to meet Tess who is super cute and does the silly run that Mono does but she is so much smaller. Cute!

We had lunch at the cafe under ZRosie and Max's place which was really yummy. They forgot my sandwich but were so apologetic that I actually felt bad. But it was well worth the wait! Nom nom.

The only logical thing to do after lunch was to go shopping. Rosie, Emma, Jen and I wandered all over the place. Rosie is a great tour guide. We would have got completely lost I think and also missed out a whole lot of good places. We all purchased a few things and ventured back to Smith St to indulge in some Vietnamese at the Coconut Palm. More food.

We were almost dead by the time we got home. Food comas all round. But it was gooood.

On our last day we went to St Kilda and went to Luna Park...

And had another morphed mirror encounter...

Last time Jen and I were in Melbourne we went there but didn't go on any of the rides. This time we did this one...

See Jen and Emma in the front screaming?? Fun times...

And we also went on the wooden rollercoaster. Marty politely declined this ride and instead went on the spinny one in the background here...

We had all agreed to put on an unimpressed face when we got to the part of the rollercoaster where they took a photo of everyone. I almost couldn't hold it but Emma's face is absolutely classic...

You should see the one of the back carriage. All the passengers are laughing and smiling and Emma is right in the front of the shot with that face on. It is hilarious. We were all in tears from laughing so much when we saw it. It is legendary.

Once our ride tickets ran out we headed back into town to pick up a dress that I had put on hold. Marty and I had a $6 hot chocolate at Koko Black which was awesome. We met up with Nik again at the Rooftop Bar and again watched the sun go down over the city....

And then we raced back to Smith St to get to Trippy Tacos in time to have the best quesadilla in the world! The last time we'd been there I was so full that I couldn't finish mine. I was really disappointed in myself so we had to go back and get more. God damn they are good!

Unfortunately we had to leave early the next morning. Jen and Emma were staying on for an extra day. We got to the airport and made it home (atrocious flight into Wellington though!) and had to drive straight back to the farm. When we arrived we found a foot of water covering the back lawn and the aviary and an insanely fat dog. We think he must have got into the pig food (after the pigs had torn the bag to shreds and eaten half of it themselves). He was very unwell for a few days and he hasn't learned anything from it.

Anyway, dinner time for me so ta ta!

K :)