I’m currently in the process of blogging my holiday to Melbourne, which will be backdated to the days of the actual holiday. This means they won’t be the most recent posts, and you may possibly miss them altogether.
As such, I’m posting the links here for you to bring them to your attention. I hope you enjoy reading about my holiday!
I have just arrived back home after a superb weekend in Melbourne with friends of mine. I’ll be working my way through all the photos so that I can write about my experience and share it with you, stay tuned for that. The posts should start appearing sometime this afternoon, provided I don’t choose to go nap instead.
Napping is looking like a very appealing option though.
In typical Kelsbells form, coming home was a spectacular affair. Tina picked me up from the airport, and after dropping her off at work I came home. And sat in the driveway. And wondered where my house keys were.
Shit.
I pulled out all my clothing and searched my bag, then did it again. Then checked my handbag again to make sure. Then did it again. No keys. Blah. I messaged my housemate to check if she would be coming home for lunch today (she normally does, so the potential was there) then made my way into the backyard. The dogs went crazy when they saw me, and I was so relieved to see that Missy was looking well and good. I played with them for a bit, then went and brought my stuff in from the car around the back. I love that we have a pergola area with easily accessible powerpoints, so set myself up on the netbook there for a bit. Eventually my housemate came home and let me in – hooray!
So for now, I suppose it’s time to load up the photos, edit them and get them uploaded so you can see them! There’s a few night shots that I’m excited about, hopefully they came out as good as they look on the LCD on my camera. Fingers crossed!
Or maybe I’ll take that nap now instead.
Click here to view Day 2 (Part 1)
After a wonderful morning visiting the Mandala winery, we met Jens at home and headed into the city for the Faulty Towers Dinner Experience, the first show we were to see during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. We hopped on the train and arrived into the city where we then had to swap onto another line. Knowing how fast Jens walked I was determined to keep up with him as best as I could, so ran alongside him with Kim and Julie not far behind.
That distance was to make all the difference.
At the top of the stairs Jens and I asked the station worker if it was the train going to our particular location, which he advised it was. We immediately jumped on it and beckoned to Kim and Julie. Unfortunately, the doors snapped shut in the next second, and we were whisked away, leaving Julie & Kim behind. A few minute and a few phone calls later Julie was on another train headed in the same direction (Kim had actually remained behind as she was seeing a different show that night). Jens and I arrived at our destination, hopped off then attempted to find the platform Julie would be arriving on. We eventually found it, and when Julie’s train disembarked I saw her at the far end of the platform. I kept waving madly, but unfortunately she didn’t see me and the next second disappeared from sight as she followed the crowd upstairs.
Jens and I immediately ran to the street, but it was too late. We’d completely lost Julie.
When I awoke the room was still incredibly dark, and at first I thought I had woken up hideously early. A quick glance on my phone told me that it was actually 8.30, possibly the latest I had slept in for quite a while! The black out curtains in the room where I was staying were definitely effective.
I got up and went out into the kitchen, expecting to have to sheepishly apologise to Julie for having slept in. What I found instead was that she wasn’t awake either! Resigned to the fact there wouldn’t be any further sleeping for me, I showered then attempted to make myself a coffee. Their coffee machine was pretty darn impressive, but without knowing exactly what I had to do to froth the milk I decided to make a long black and just add some milk in. It was sufficient in fulfilling my need for caffeine, although I was thankful when Julie showed me how to make cappuccinos later. After a little while Julie surfaced, and I was treated to an incredible home-cooked hot breakfast (I haven’t made myself a hot breakfast in a long time, so this was a big treat for me).
Julie making breakfast
It tasted as good as it looked
Once she had showered it was time to head out for the day. We were headed into the city to pick up another friend, when disaster struck. We had taken a wrong turn, and unfortunately it meant that Julie was going to have to do her first hook turn.
If you want a proper definition of a hook turn, click the previous link. To see how pretty much every person from every other state in Australia responds to hook turns, I refer to Fat Pizza:
We managed to get through without killing anyone, hitting a train or sustaining any damage to the car, thus we considered it a complete success. One quick stop later we had Kim in the car, and we were on our way to the Yarra Valley region to visit a winery and have some lunch.
Last year two friends of mine, Jens and Julie, moved to Melbourne in order to properly start their lives together as a couple. While I was thrilled for them, it meant that I wouldn’t be able to see them as often as I liked. Well, moreso Julie. Jens lived in Sydney so I didn’t get to see him all that often, though I would have gladly caught up with him more if I could. So when they rang me to tell me that for my birthday they’d purchased tickets for me to fly to Melbourne for a weekend away I was completely stoked.
When the day of departure came, I was pissed to find out my flight had been cancelled. Pissed is probably an understatement. After lots of stuffing around I managed to organise a flight with Jetstar instead, but due to the flight leaving later in the day it meant that I missed out on our first planned item – an ice hockey game. Jens and Julie decided to still go to the match, and after I landed I would catch a bus into the city near where the stadium was, where we would all meet up. The plans were set.