Melbourne Life... continued!

Next on the cards was Easter, Katy came down from Sydney for a long weekend.
Was quality having Katy down in Melbourne always quality, we had a some great nights out in St Kilda, back in Temperance for 1 of them with Stevo, Katy, Nirmala, Ben, Tom and I. Chris NG on decks, live Sax and Josh and co on vocals - MINT!
Again tho it wasn't all boozing! Managed to get out into Melbourne to do some sightseeing... went up Eureka Tower which is the tallest builing in the city - amazing views!

The weekend after Bens Mum, Brother and Aunty came to Oz to visit for a holiday, which was great and I know something Ben was really excited about. Ben, Sam (Bens brother) and I got a round of golf in where I well and truly showed off my zig zag approach to golfing... why go straight down the course in one swing when you can zig zag across it all the way! Its the golfing future - you heard it here first! Its was the Melbourne comedy festival which is massive. Hundreds of venues all over the city showing off the full range from well known standups to random little scetch shows to open mic nights. Was massive and really well organised. We went to a few shows at random, few acts were great and 1 or not should stick to the day job!

We all also went up to Sydney for the weekend and had a great weekend there... we did the bridge climb which was AMAZING! Best views of the harbour for sure, bl00dy high though, how someone fell off when building it and survived I'll never know!
Great to see the "Dorman Long - Middlesborough" stamp on all the steel of the bridge as well!

A few weeks later we all went to an AFL game at the MCG - Carlton v Collingwood... ermmmmm ramdom game AFL but it was a great experience! Couldn't live in Melbourne for so long and not attend a game at the MCG. As I was living in Carlton had support Carlton (See Hinds I can do it!) - we lost, got our ass kicked to be fair - but hey ho!

A few weeks after that I organised a wine tour in the Yarra Valley... Katy and Danny boy came down from Sydney, Stevo, Tam , Nirmala (aka Fruit Loop), the Spences the everone in Gaff were all in attendance! Another GREAT day! Had a coach to our selves and visited some great winaries... favourite of the day the Maddens Rise Winary which is little organic place which did a great Shiraz - Highly recommend it! Ended up back at Stevo via curry house in Fitzroy although the curry is a bit of a blur! :o)

Its customary in Oz for ExPats to have Christmas in July, as this time of year is mid Winter and its cold enough to actually feel like Christmas should do - COLD! Unfortunately Ben and I would be back on the road by mid July so we brough this random customary occassion forward a few weeks and had Christmas in June in the Gaff. This happened to fall at when the world cup was on so it was just like boxing day footie. Quality day (apart from the result - England - Algeria!!!!! Need I say more.) had Christmas stockings, loads of Christmas food and a few drinks naturally.

Watching the world cup down under meant most of the England games at 4am KO times! Found some great bars that were jam packed with England fans and had great atomosphere watching the games. Just shame about how we played.

Last few weeks in Melbourne flew by unfortunately - Finshed up working at Epworth, had a great time working there and met some great friends who I will defo stay in touch with. Had a few leaving nights and said my farewells to a great bunch.

Absolutely loved living with Kelly and Macca,so happy it worked out that when we got there they were looking for a place.It was such good house which was always a fun place to be with great banter. Will miss summer nights sitting out having a beer or glass of wine. And the winter nights all sat in with a box of wine watching DVD's. Will miss 108 Palmerston alot! See you guys at the airport in Newcastle when you come home next year!

In typical Watson fashion we had a few leaving parties - a few more great nights out in Melbourne, a few great after parties and really nice meal out in Fitzroy. Big thank you to all who came

I was in 2 minds about leaving Melbourne, really sad as I will miss the people and the place alot, but also excited about getting back on the raod and traveling the east coast of Oz, and making my way home to see Family and friends. Really had a great time there and made some great friends. Big special mention to Stevo and Tam, Nirmala, Sam, Katy, Kelly and Macca who made Melbourne what it was - GOOD TIMES!

Next up - East coast of Oz - Flight to Cairns - back on the raod and back in the tropics!

Much love
Ravey
x x

Ben's version of events......

So we just left South East Asia behind for the next chapter and next adventure of our trip. Australia! Our first stop was Sydney. I really like Sydney and a real culture shock after travelling around the poor and feral parts of Asia. There Skyscrapers everywhere in the CBD highlighting it as the business capital of Australasia, but contrastingly it is also a very beautiful city, with stunning views and world famous beaches, Sydney Harbour, Sydney opera house and Bondi beach are the more well known, but certainly not the only.
One of Dave's friends Katy allowed us to stay at her apartment in Rose bay which had a great view over the harbour, it was a great place to stay and Katy was a brilliant host to us. We stayed in Sydney for about 3 weeks, during that time we went to Dan Bleakmans stag do, Dave went to his wedding at Palm beach and we celebrated Dave reaching the big 30 mark at a club called the Chinese Laundry.
We left Sydney, enroute to Melbourne which was going to be our base for the next 6 or so months. We were excited about what the next stage was going to hold for us. At the airport we were greeted by Dave's Brother Steve and his girlfriend Tam. Like Katy, they both very kindly said that we could stay with them until we got on our feet, unlike with Katy we were resident with them for much longer than all thought. We had arrived in Melbourne just before Christmas and had got settled into Aussie life before the big day. I'd like to say first off that we had a brilliant day for Christmas, but the Aussie's just don't do Christmas like the Brits. It was certainly a novelty wearing a Santa hat and sunglasses Christmas morning being at 38 degrees.
In Melbourne there is a festival each year on New years day called Summer Dayz, so we kept it relatively easy for new years eve and had such a wicked time on New years day.
Once all of the end of year festivities were out of the way Dave and I knuckled down to find a job and at the same time somewhere to live, the former was far more difficult that we had anticipated. It seemed every job that we applied to refused our applications because we were not permanent residents, even - rather hypocritically - if the job was for a 6 month contract, we spent day after day applying for jobs that we could do with our eyes closed but for weeks we got nothing. I finally managed to get a job in a telesales office selling electricity and gas. I quit this job after 3 weeks as the job was reliant on making sales from vulnerable people like the extreme elderly and it didn't sit well with me. In the end Dave had landed a job working in a hospital IT department, and I had found a labouring job building exhibition stands.
Steve and Tam had been amazing to us in the 8 weeks that we had stayed in their house, and I enjoyed it very much, but now we both had jobs it was time to move on. In the weeks previous I had met for the first time a couple that had been friends with Dave and Steve for a long time back in Newcastle. Kelly and Macca had moved to Melbourne around 9 months before and were living in a shared house that was at times difficult. It had been brought up in the conversation, and it was suggested that we should get a place together. It turned out to be a fantastic idea and all 4 of us moved into a 3 bedroom house in a suburb of Melbourne called Carlton. We had a brilliant time in that house, and Kelly and Macca were amazing housemates. They made Melbourne experience what it was. Kelly and Macca actually got married while we were there and it was such a great day, with Dave pulling out all the stops as the best man (Kelly and I am sure Macca shed a tear or two).
Within the first couple of months 6 of us that included Katy, Kelly, Macca, Dave, Tiny and me took a road trip down the great ocean road. We hired a Campervan and had such a wicked time. It was one of the single most funny trips I have ever been on. Everyone was on top form, it'll be a trip I'll remember for a long while to come.
I was also extremely fortunate to have my Mum, Brother and Auntie come to visit me While I was in Melbourne. It was so nice to see them after such a long time. Especially my bro. After I had seen the great ocean road we hired a car and showed them the stunning coast line. I also wanted to show them all of the bars that we had been visiting, because that had been a big part of our Melbourne experience (well to be honest our entire round the trip but that's by the by). Dave and I also went to Sydney to see them off back home after a wonderful 2 weeks with them, Amazingly Mum treated us to do the Sydney Harbour bridge climb, so Sam, Dave and I climbed to the top of the bridge for the best cinematic views of Sydney. it was spectacular. Sadly I had to say farewell to the family as they headed back to sunny England, knowing that I'd be back with them in 4-5 months.
After the initial worry about getting a job and finding somewhere to live, Melbourne was a great place to be, it now has to be one of my favourite cities. It is one of the coolest, most bohemian cities I have ever been. The bar culture is quality and has an amazing vibe to it, it actually reminds me a little of Manchester in some ways, but It'll be a city that will always be in my top 5, because of the people and the memories.
Take care all, Till the next time.
Love Ben
x x x x