old times
It was great to catch up with my old housemate James late last night (after my Star Wars mission). Just like old times, back in our weird little house in Perth, right down to the almost routine run into police, who even in Melbourne are a bit freaked out at late-night wanderings (apparently). Though they don't seem to care about all sorts of early-morning weirdos at the casino. Go figure.
Scribbled somewhere in Melbourne at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)

the epic walk
Melbourne's a big place (understatement). It's about the size I was expecting actually, but it's a lot of fun to check out. The city's pretty pedestrian friendly, so I spent about 6 hours today walking: Southbank, the casino, along through the CBD; the Queen Victoria Markets; the Daimaru and a bunch of other shops along the way.

I'm aching from the walk and carrying my bag, but I love it. There's something exciting about just arriving in a new city by yourself and exploring. I'll have to pick up a map tomorrow, otherwise I'll never make it back to all the great places I found today.

One thing I've noticed: everything's just bigger. And the Crown 'complex' is freakin huge! It just keeps going and going... The big foyer with the sound and light spectacular featuring fountainy-goodness is doing pretty well on the casino-tackiness meter. Impressive, but tacky. Maybe it's just me. But I'll probably head down there tonight and check out Star Wars (finally) at the cinemas in there. Woo.
Scribbled from the comfort of a hotel bed at 07:00 PM | Comments (0)

i'm onto your plan
All this time I've lived under the influence of a cruel lie. I left Perth which was in for a weekend of showers. This morning when I opened the curtains, blinding sunshine and a very comfy warm day. Bad weather in Melbourne? I think it's all a ploy to keep the rest of us away.
Scribbled from the comfort of a hotel bed at 06:47 PM | Comments (1)

the dreaded unknown
Well, I'm finally here.

A quick wrap-up of the trip so far:
— The flight over was pretty uneventful. I was sitting between Lin (who got more talkative after a few early birthday drinks) and Adam. I caught a taxi from the airport to the hotel with Adam, who gave me a list of a few good jazz clubs to check out while I'm here.
— It's nice to be in a hotel again, for the first time in years and years. One question though: what happens to all the half-used bars of soap? Every night there's a new one.
— An odd moment: I came home after my epic walk today to have a shower and recover before heading out along Southbank tonight. What's on tv? Lonely Planet's guide to Northern Canada. Mmmm. I want to travel more often.
— There's a network/phone jack next to the desk in my room, so once I get an isp account, I'll be able to upload all the goodness. Or if I find any places with wireless access, I'll give that a go.
Scribbled from the comfort of a hotel bed at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)


 
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