We are now fully fledged apartment dwellers living at 270 King Street. Everyone in Melbourne who spots our address raise their eyebrows. I think it may be rather seedy as we're near a couple of 'Gentlemans Clubs'. As Grace reminds us, if work is hard to come by perhaps we should pop in. Don't worry Mum, it will never come to that.
Charlotte and I lived for the first week with a Northern girl Emma and her German friend Grit. Grit had her boyfriend Tony to stay, who came to Melbourne to sit all of his days in our apartment playing online poker. The night before they moved out the girls came home and Emma was HOWLING because Grit was off up the East Coast with Tony. I bumped into Emma a few days later and she was smiling away, so she seems happy in her new apartment.
That Friday me, Charlotte, Grace, Kathryn and two new recruits (Jolene from Edinburgh, please don't take my man Jolene Jolene) and Irish Paula went to Chinatown and drank lots of BYO (no Goon allowed). We had such a laugh discussing the Irish way of pronouncing meringue compared to the Scottish way...hint, they both sound the same. Then we headed to karaoke which was dead so we got on the mic pretty quickly. Charlotte murdered Material Girl and I attempted You're So Vain. Kathryn and I closed the show with Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. They closed the bar TWO hours early, so we then had to go home. Offended? Us? No!
On Saturday night I went to see a singer called Damien Dempsey who is apparently very big in Ireland. I wish I'd saved myself a grand on flights and just bought a Ryanair to Belfast, with all the Irishness I'm being subjected to over here.
Grace and Kathryn moved in the following week and we had a Mexican night to celebrate (in that we ate Lucy Smith nachos and Grace wore a 'Taco Bills' sombrero that Emma had been left behind). We also bought a 4 litre box of Goon for $10. It certainly has a kick and makes you a bit giggly, but the warning on the box that it may contain traces of 'eggs, nuts and milk' - in a white wine - didn't put us off.
This past week though Charlotte and I had no work coming our way so decided to do more touristy things as if we do leave Melbourne in about 7 weeks we don't want to have spent all our time here queuing for free internet access at the library. So we went to the ACMI (Australian Centre of Moving Image) which is a very cool building to see a Production Design Exhibition - with lots of info on some German films we'd never heard of, but also the Shining, Matrix and Chronicles of Narnia. The main event though was a huge section devoted to Baz Luhrman's Australia, with video interviews, original sketches and the original set from the living room of Faraway Downs. This coincided beautifully with my most recent project - stalking Hugh Jackman. Sadly the rope didn't let me touch anything he may have sat on during the film.
Saturday night was spent watching an AFL game at the world-famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (known to locals as the 'G'). Essendon and Carlton were playing to a 70,000 strong crowd, including me! I started to understand the rules (ish) during the 4th and final quarter but it was a great atmosphere. The football is such a big thing here and Melbourne has so many sports arenas.
Tuesday today and Charlotte and I both have shifts at the Red Cross until the end of the week so that's good news. Paula arrives on Friday night so we'll show her around the city and get booking a few wine tours and perhaps a Neighbours night. There will no doubt be a visit or two to Cotton On, our new favourite shop which currently has a sale. We have a competition in the apartment to see who's wearing the most each day.
Reading: Out of Africa S L O W L Y
Watching: Charlotte spinning in circles, Steve Martin films (he's everywhere!), the Biggest Loser and the CCTV camera showing the entrance to our building
Listening to: The only three CDs we have
Wearing: Cotton On
Missing: family, Rachael's wedding prep and nights out in Glasgow
