Still in Melbourne, y’all. I still havenae managed to get my arse
out of this funky monkey of a city, and one which has inspired me to
think of longer term plans here. I was only supposed to be here for a
month, but that all started to go to shit in my first stint in the
culture capital of Australia. After the second, the trip will have been
extended to two and a half months. Not bad for a country that I was
least looking forward to going to since the trip began.
As I
look to leave here to Byron Bay in the afternoon, I am already starting
to miss this place. One of the main reasons is the hostel I have been
based in for my entire duration of my visit, the wonderful Nunnery. An
ex nunnery with high ceilings and fireplaces, it now houses travellers
from across the globe, with its reputation increasing further by word
of mouth recommendations. The people I met hear have been great from
the short term travellers, the [fit] Nuns (the staff), and in
particular, the long term stayers. Most are looking for work followed
by a place to live as they will be able to enjoy the city for longer,
and some are departing to pastures new following many a delayed
departure. In large part it’s been great to settle down with this
temporary community and enjoy the joys of the district of Fitzroy,
which is one of many trendy parts of town. After being on the move for
4 months, it’s been nice to lay some roots, make some friends and
relax. This is the first place outside of the UK that I could see
myself living, and getting beneath the underbelly of the city- to have
a local pub, café, club, food market, and all the stuff that comes from
being settled aboard.. I will seriously look to making more of this if
I ever get the chance to do so. Home will always be there. At the
moment, I am scheduled for a mid November return, but given the way
things have panned out I wouldn’t bet your mortgage on it.
NB:
The hostel has not been without its characters. I once shared a room
with a guy that the long termers call ‘Dementor’, on the count that
he’s slightly demented. He’s a strange fellow. I can put up with him
drawing skulls with charcoal, and the eccentricity of having a cane
when he is clearly able bodied, but the man speaks in tongues (“warble
warble, angel of death, carphnanannnnn” etc). After doing his own
tarot, he also freaked out and talked about the time when he had to
kill a guy with his own knife. Got the fuck out of there in a hurry. I
keep my conversation to hello and commenting on his currys, which to
his credit do smell ace.
In my 2nd stint in the city, I can’t
say that it has been any warmer than what it was the last time around.
12C with a chance of rain, but by and large its been the perfect
winter, the ones I don’t mind. Cold, but clear crystal blue skies, with
a crispness in the air that clears the back of your throat. I took the
opportunity to do some activities I didn’t get a chance to do last time
around, of which one was to see an Aussie Rules Football game, a sport
that originated in Melbourne, and was restricted to the State of
Victoria only until around 15 years ago. It was in the Telstra Dome
which was packed with a 48,501 attendance to see the North Melbourne
Kangaroos Vs. Geelong. It was a strange atmosphere in that only a small
group of fans from both teams seemed to cheer between the goals. The
fans were otherwise equally distributed around. A high light was a
middle aged ginger guy behind us who kept on shouting what you imagine
an Aussie Rules fan to be shouting in the most raucous of Aussie
accents: “That’s a bloody foul, ya stinking Maggot!!”, “Yer filthy
Cheat, referaaay!!”, and I did laugh when he yelled out at a player
being substituted: “Phone call for Jamo!!”. I didn’t have a bloody clue
what was going on. On the pitch there were 4 referees, and two
unexplained weasly chaps in fluorescent jackets, along with 30 burly
aussie blokes, who couldn’t kick a ball further than a goalie could in
a ‘Soccer’ match. All in all it good fun.
So to Bryon Bay
next. Warm weather, and more hippy type hostels beckon. Keep well,
readers, and keep your chin up that September will be great weather for
you all, wherever you are.
))<>(( Back and Forth. Forever.
Mike x
