Although we weren't so tired when we arrived after our long journey from the UK, we were over the following week - our body clocks were all over the place we were going to bed at 6pm and waking up at 2am! So we didn't manage to cram in too much however, we enjoyed strolling around discovering hidden gems throughout the streets of Melbourne and St Kilda.
Staying in St Kilda was great - it's full of life and quirky places to eat and drink - we found it easy to get to and from the city and around to other spots with the useful tram service everywhere, all we needed to do was a Myki card to pay for the transport and we were ready to explore (the
Trams around the city are also free in a certain area).
As we arrived at the beginning of December there was lost of Christmas cheer throughout the streets which made it even more enjoyable to wander around. The carollers were singing along with other musicians livening up the streets such as didgeridoo and harmonica players, holiday decorations were strung along the buildings and the wonderful Myer Christmas window displays were fantastic to see. However it did feel very strange for it to be hot and sunny during the festive period!
We got our things in order so we could get important bits out of the way and enjoy our time. Online, I quickly applied for our tax file numbers (TFN) so that we don't over pay on taxes when we start working. In the city we set up our Medicare which took about 30 mins to fill in some forms and get covered. We then chose to get our phone sims from Optus - a $30 prepaid plan that lasts 28 days for unlimited calls and texts plus almost an hours worth of international calls and 3GB of data (often doubled to 6GB with the monthly perk offer). Finally we went to the commonwealth bank to finalise setting up our accounts which I had opened from back home in the U.K. Online - we filled in some details gave our new numbers, TFN's and got our new bank cards. Now we were all set.
After we had finished we figured we deserved a hard earned drink! We found a rooftop bar overlooking the city where we got some drinks and met up with some of Luke's old friends from back home who were also out here on working holiday visas. The view was great and the drinks were much needed to cool us down as it was boiling up on the rooftop! The weather was in our favour - Melbourne can be a bit hit and miss one day it's rainy and windy the next it's sunny and hot.
In St Kilda we found ourselves spending a lot of money on food as the prices were really steep - in one place they were charging $15 for toast!! Crazy. I did a bit of research on the web and found a little place called La Roche - they always had great offers on for breakfast and lunch and the food was very tasty so we returned here quite a few times.
We visited the beach in St Kilda and tried practising some yoga, cheer lifts and handstands - it's safe to say that we need a lot of practice but we eventually got there in the end! The beach is very pebbly and windy, we didn't find it warm enough to swim so just relaxed and did some people watching.
Later in the week we took a stroll out to the pier and walked along. The views of the city are beautiful from here, it's a very peaceful walk and fun to check out all the boats along the harbour. At the end of the pier it is said that you can see tiny penguins in the rocks as the sun starts to set. We never went out at the right time but I know a few people who saw them! I guess this is a good reason to return.
After the harbour we went to Captain Baxter's - a sleek bar with a terrace tucked just back from the beach. The cocktails and atmosphere were great. As we drank It began to get darker so we stepped on to the beach to catch the sun set.
Friday rolled around and it was time for the St Kilda pub crawl held from our hostel. We cashed in our free drink vouchers they gave us for our room mix up and ate the free pizza included in the bar crawl - not a bad way to start the night. We were all given numbers and told that during the night we should try to find our matching number and take a picture together; the funniest picture would win a prize. After a few rounds of drinks we set off to the first bar - we had walked past it hundreds of times but never noticed it - they had an open balcony next to the bar upstairs and we all got a free shot on entry. As the night went on we were all having a lot of fun and getting very drunk but I started to hit a wall of tiredness as my body was still adjusting to the time zone; I pushed through and made it to the next bar. We caught a quick tram to get there which was very funny with 30 odd drunken backpackers crammed into a carriage singing and chanting. The night got messy with more tee drinks, shots and a bag of goon thrown our way. Unfortunately I was to drunk to remember the names of the bars we went so I guess you will just have to do the pub crawl yourself! At the end of the night we ended back at the hostel where I found out one of our friends from the night was my matching number - we took a funny picture doing a sexual pose on a pool table so thought we could be in with a chance to win the prize. I asked the leader of the bar crawl where I should upload the photo to - he took my phone to load the facebook page where I should upload the picture - little to my knowledge he had already uploaded on for me! It was a picture of Luke in his underwear I had jokingly taken that day!! It was too late by the time I deleted it they had already screen shorted it and reposted. Oops sorry Luke... fortunately we won the prize which was $100 bar tab so it wasn't such a bad thing after all.
The morning after was our check out day- we hadn't managed to book an extra two nights at he same hostel and the only one available with a private room was the St Kilda hostel just down the road. Fortunately it was only a 5 minute walk. When we arrived it didn't look as newly renovated as BASE but our room was nice and big. The only downside was our noisy neighbours in the room next door who, we had just been informed at check in, had tried to kick the door in of our room the night before in a drunken haze as he thought it was his own! Fabulous. We weren't to fussed about the incident as it hadn't happened whilst we were there however the noise from their speakers was unbearable we had to complain a few times to get it turned down slightly so our walls weren't vibrating and we could actually hear the TV. We sucked it up and told ourselves it's only two nights. We enjoyed our last 2 days in Melbourne exploring some more, catching up with friends and drinking cocktails.
We made the decision to hire a camper and go on our road trip for the next leg of our trip; 10 nights booked with spaceship rentals. Goodbye Melbourne it's time to see what the rest of Victoria has to offer...
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