Busy day

I got my last Rabies shot & the flu shot this morning.

Met up with my wonderful friend Kate who's form London & has been traveling round Oz, I met her in Adelaide back in December & we've been lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time together in the last few months. It was so good to see her again! She's just arrived back in Sydney after doing the East Coast & is off to New Zealand on Thursday. It's really exciting to think that we're going to meet up in 6 months time in London :o)

I also got a few little things that I needed like power plug converters, thongs/jandles/flip flops or what ever you want to call them, a pegless clothes line, travel laundry detergent etc. Then went & got my travelers cheques & some US cash. The exchange rate wasn't as good as it was 4 weeks ago but what can you do! I got $3k worth of US & it cost me just over $4k Australian so that's not too bad I spose...

Also managed to catch up with a girlfriend form work for a quick coffee. So it was quite a good day & I got to check a number of things off my to do list :o)

The Wedding.

Wow, it's hard to believe that it was 3 months ago that I decided that I wanted to going overseas but that I couldn't leave because I didn't want to miss the wedding. Well now the wedding's over & it was fantastic! I loved been a bridesmaid & been there for my friend, it was a perfect day.

The photographer has already posted some of the photos form yesterday on his website

5 more sleeps till I'm off. I've already had to say good bye to some really good friends & it's been a bit harder that I thought it would be. This whole week has pretty much been booked up with good byes as well...

I'm hoping that I get to pop into work to say my last good byes but some how I don't think I'm going to make it over there. If you're reading guys, big hugs to you all!!!

It's gotten to the stage where unless I write things down on my list they're not going to get done. My brain is officially in overload ;o)

Airports...

... Well I suppose I better get used to them! I booked a 9pm flight cause I'd though that I'd need the time to get back to Melbourne from my friends place, I didn't end up going to my friends place so now I'm trying to kill some time on very expensive internet usage at the airport... :o) I spose I can't help it that I'm now becoming addicted to updating.

Yesterday was great. Shopping on Bridge Rd, followed by chi late', followed by great places to go out! Who would have thought that Sunday night in Melbourne would go off. Rather tired today as I got in a little late then had to check out of the backpackers at 10am this morning.

Tammy is great, it was really good to catch up with her. She's hoping to go overseas towards the end of this year so hopefully we'll catch up somewhere around the globe. I was just thinking all the people that I've caught up with in the last few days are all people I met while traveling round Australia, how cool is that!!!

today has been rather uneventful, with nothing else to do (I couldn't be bothered doing the tourist thing) I hit the shops in the city... bad idea, I brought a jacket & a top but considering that I tried on so many clothes so I'm rather proud that I only shelled out for 2 items :o) & they weren't that expensive either so it's all good!

My view on Melbourne - The clubs go off, the shopping's good, the weather can't make up it's mind & I love the vibe of St Kilda, plus trams are cool!!!

It's been great catching up with my friends. I did the tourist thing last time I was here so this was basically just a really good break before I head off :o) I'm now RELAXED.

Oh travel agent called, my passport with all my visa's is back & the Spain & France eurail tick is only $517 not $700 as I thought it was going to be. Still have to get travelers cheques & I need to rethink the clothes I'm taking with me. I don't think I'm capable of going back to basics... Need at least a few trendy clothes...

Melbourne's still good.

Left my friend Jen's place yesterday & made my way to St Kilda. Wasn't sure where the backpackers hostels were so had a bit of a lovely walk with my back pack & now have a blister on the sole of my foot, better now than later I say. Had a great afternoon, spent some time at the beach & then met up with my friend Mal. He brought his Kite Ski with him. He's still new at it so we set it all up & when the kite was about to go up, it had a mind of it's own & Mal got dragged a little & the kite ended up across the road in a tree. I think it was a bit windy yesterday. Some of the guys on the water were getting huge air, it looked cool.

Saying at a backpackers called Jackson's Manner which is quite good, was going to stay at the Coffee Palace across the road but didn't even bother going in, it looked like a bit of a dump. Have got some cool girls in my room which is good.

Went to some great pub / clubs last night with Mal & one of his mates & had a great night. I'm now waiting to meet up with a girl that I met when I was in Adelaide, she's working here now before moving on. I think we're going to the markets. Must remember not to spend money :o)

Melbourne

I arrived yesterday morning.

I caught a 8.45am plane form Sydney & was here by 10am. It was a really good flight. I 'love' the take off where you feel like you're gonna lose you're stomach :o) Maybe that's why I like roller coasters so much.

Anyway, I made it form the airport to my friends place with out to much hassle, catching the airport shuttle, then a train & connecting bus. Melbourne public transport is a little different than Sydneys but it's all good. I was surprised, I got on the train at Spencer Street Station & changed trains at Flinders Street Station, the train that I got off just sat there. One of the guys I was talking to said it'd be there for like 10 minutes & that it's a usual occurrence. No one seemed pissed off about it either... In Sydney, I was on the train the other day & there was some sort of medical emergency at one of the stations, our train stopped for just over 5 minutes & everyone was pissed off. It's a little different...

Before I forget - note to self: "when carrying a very large, heavy backpack for an extended period of time (longer that 10 minutes) must wear hiking boots cause ankles feel like they're going to snap!" The shoulders are fine it just killed the ankles. I even looked like a bit of a retard & decided to see if I could run for the train with my pack on & was able to do so (for the duration of 3 minutes).

Tested out my sleeping bag & sleep sheet properly last night - it was a bloody cold night but I was super cozy & had to leave the zip open.

Quick backtrack - went to yet another active outdoor shop again on Tuesday, brought proper thermal top & leggings, they're super sexy... Not, but will keep me warm. Also got some hiking shorts & my pac safe wire mesh thing. Wondering if I should buy a proper parker. So far I have 2 thermal tops & my flease thing that's supposed to be better than a normal one... Maybe I'll just buy stuff when I get there...

2nd Rabies Shot

Dr Appt. 11.30am
Very boring post. I just had the second shot... Nothing exciting to report.

Looked at a whole heap of the outdoors shops again. I swear they're getting to know me along the strip (there's like 8 or 9 of them all in a row behind Town Hall). Have decided that I need to buy a backpack Pac-safe thing. It's basically a wire mesh type thing that goes over your backpack to secure it & everything inside it. $129 dollars later... I think it'll be worth it though :o)

3 weeks to go!

Where to start. I'm now officially homeless. Moved everything to mums place on Wednesday, everything fits nicely btw & spent yesterday & today doing bits & pieces & cleaning. The move wasn't as awful as I thought it was going to be. I hired a moving company so 4.5 hours & $400 later it was all done.

I've managed to fit everything into my pack, although I think I'm going to do another cull in the next few days... I'm now living out of my pack with limited clothes :o(

Crashing at Mums place then I'm off to Melbourne on Wednesday.

Last Saturday I went in to Kathmandu & brought my sleeping bag, silk sleep sheet & CD case. I ended up taking the sleeping bag back on Wednesday cause it didn't fully zip open like I thought it would and exchanged the 'globetrotter' bag instead. It's a 3 season so hopefully it'll keep me warm enough... It was $100 cheaper which was a bit of a bonus too but it's still a $500 bag, thank god for the 25% club member discount is all I can say.

Oh I figured out I've spent about $600 on vaccinations so far so I took all my receipts into Medicare & my private health cover & got $270 back which is great.

Money is now precious - I'm watching my bank account go down, when I feel like been generous I have to keep reminding myself that there's no longer money coming in! Now it's time to live in true backpacker style & become a cheap skate...

Rabies

Dr Appt 5pm
The first of the Rabies shots - It wasn't to bad. Except it made my arm tingle a little :o) No side affects. There are 3 shots in total. Next one will be on the 15th.

Busy packing at the moment - it's all happening!!!