Category: Australia

Melbourne has treated me quite well this past week. I’ve been so busy meeting different kinds of people and exploring the various neighborhoods in the city. It’s been difficult to find the time to sit and write here. But I’d like to stick with writing every two days moving forward. Five days is a bit of a gap.

Labor Day was on Monday and there was a festival in one of the main parks by the river. My friend Samantha and Sebastian, who I had met the night before, ventured over there to check it out. After walking about for a bit we decided to hang out by the stage and just listen to the bands that were playing.

One of the Dutch women that I had met a few days before was also there and we linked our groups together. It’s so fun to do that. Everyone was just super friendly because we share common experiences and are working towards a common goal. Very good energy.

The last band we saw was by far the best. They had an unusual mix of instruments but they played some awesome music. They had various hand drums, a saxophone, the usual guitar/bass/drum set combo, and some odd instrument that reminded me of an Indian sitar. But they were incredibly funky.

At one point the lead singer encouraged everyone to come up and dance. That ignited the fuse. Before that, you could tell most people wanted to dance but no one was willing to be the first one that did. Once we got started though, it turned into such a good dance party. People were just dancing freely and having a great time together. I might have seen the longest conga line I have ever seen. Really, really good vibes.

Afterward we just bar hopped in that area until it was time to go back outside and see the fireworks. Then we did some more bar hopping. The night did turn a bit weird at one point though. We were outside smoking a cigarette (sorry Mom) and this man came up to us and we started chatting.

It was fun at first. He was reading our palms and talking absolute nonsense. But as soon as we turned to go into the bar he followed us in. I made it quite obvious that he was not welcome to join us without going so far to tell him to fuck off. Sometimes you don’t know who you’re dealing with.

He just would not stop talking after he sat down. I didn’t think he was on drugs, just really drunk. And at one point he started asking rather personal questions of us. He asked me if I had ever been heartbroken and if so what the story was behind the heartbreak. He asked me how times a week I masturbated. And he kept asking the women to choose who they were most attracted to out of all the men that were present. It got really weird really quickly.

Thankfully he left us alone after about half-an-hour and we collectively breathed a sigh of relief. We weren’t done drinking but it seemed like the city was at that point. We checked out a few more places but nothing much else was happening. I think holidays here are celebrated a bit differently here. It’s less about going out and partying and more about getting away from the city and enjoying the day off.

I’ve never heard birds make the types of noises that they make over here. I woke up this morning to this bird they call a magpie yelling its head off outside my window. And it most certainly didn’t sound like a bird.

If I could describe it I would compare it to a monkey yowling. If you told me there were two chimps fighting outside my window I would have believed you without question. Quite the way to roll out of bed in the morning.

Anyway, there’s a holiday here on Monday. Australian Labor Day, except it’ not a federal holiday here. Each state celebrates Labor Day on a different day and on Monday it’s Victoria’s turn. So I’ll have one extra night to do a little partying. Not that I necessarily need it.

Another lazy day for me today. I actually got up at a decent time, got some breakfast in my belly, and then walked down to Degraves Street which is the coffee hotspot around here.

While I was sitting down at the table I saw someone that I knew walking down the street. I popped up and practically chased this girl down the road. I had met here about three weeks before when I was in Queenstown. She stayed in the same room in the same hostel while I was there.

I had no idea she was going to be in Australia and she was just as surprised to see me. Melbourne is such a big city and for me to see her randomly on the street here is ridiculously improbable. Things like this continue to teach me that you have to expect the unexpected. We’ll grab a bite to eat for dinner later. and catch up a bit.

It’s a nice feeling to be back in a big city again. I’ve only been in Melbourne for two days but I can already tell that I’m going to enjoy my time here. Melbourne is consistently voted one of the top cities to live in worldwide and I can see why.

I flew in on Thursday night and didn’t arrive until very late so I slept at the airport in an attempt to save some money. I woke up at 6 AM and then made my way into the city. It was super easy actually. The public transportation system here is actually really good. You get free tram service all throughout the downtown area which is very convenient.

Anyway, I dropped my bags off and had about six hours to kill. The first thing I did was grab a coffee. Melbourne has a reputation for being a very coffee-centric city so I plan on hitting up all the spots while I am here.

Afterward, I headed to the National Gallery of Victoria, the most famous art gallery here. I didn’t stay there for too long. Maybe about an hour. I didn’t have the energy to do the entire museum in one day. So I just went through the first floor, which was mostly Asian and European art. I’ll make it back there at some point to finish the thing off.

My evening actually turned out to be quite fun. At 4 o’clock they had drinks in the kitchen at the hostel. That helped me make some new friends rather quickly. One thing led to another and all of a sudden were meeting up with some friends of one of the people I just met.

We went to this hole in the wall place that looked super tiny from the outside but actually was pretty spacious once you got in there. They had all these weird little cocktails that all the women were going crazy for. Just beer for me, thanks.

But the live band was fantastic. The singer was outstanding and once the set was over she started DJing. So naturally, we got our boogie on. I didn’t stay out awfully late but I had a really fun night. Hopefully, I can connect with those girls again before I leave.

Today has been rather quiet. I slept in (I needed it) and then went to get coffee with a few people from the hostel. We moseyed over into the Botanical Gardens and we stumbled upon a festival that was going on. So there I was, dancing again. This time in the park as a Latino band serenaded us. It was fun because I could understand most of the lyrics. We didn’t stay too long but it was a nice little Easter Egg to find.

Now I’m just hanging out at the hostel. I’ll meet a friend that I made while I was in Hawaii for dinner. She is from this city so it’ll be fun to learn more about it from her. I am excited about what Melbourne has to offer me on my stay.