Got here in one piece!

Dear Mammy,

I hope you are well. I'm pleased to report that I've managed to get here mostly unscathed.

The flight itself (or actually flights really) was mostly uneventful. I got fleeced in London though - NOT happy. Ok, it was actually completely my own fault for not being capable of parting with enough pairs of shoes. The lady said if I could get rid of 1kg out of my check in luggage, she'd give me a free bag to put the other 2kg in (the idea being I'd take that bag on as hand luggage) but for the love of holy God - seriously, there was no way I was getting 1kg out of the check in luggage. The leprechaun hiding in my bag bit me every time I tried to take the little f*cker out, and the Chef brown sauce was more than 100ml so... Anyway, in the heel of the hunt I ended up having to barter a kidney in excess baggage. NOT impressed.

Anyway, that drama over with, I got on the plane beside 2 guys who bonded over copious amounts of whiskey. That was a good thing though, because I was sitting by the window and so would have had to climb over their heads to get out. Thanks to the patron saint of Bushmills, I just waited for their every-20-minute loo breaks and made a dive for it - success! ha. Hong Kong was grand (200 cigges for just over 12 yoyos - are you serious?? yes please!). Got lucky with the flight too - miracles do happen! the Melbourne flight was very empty so I ended up with 3 seats to myself - ample room to stretch out (secretly vair pleased I didn't shell out for business class lol!). The only issue on the flight was the Window-Nazi. Yes. Really. I tried to put the window blind up to check out the view (who wouldn't want to see Indonesia from the air?? what is wrong with people?? sleep schmeep...) yeah, so, I put the blind up and I'm not kidding, she reached back and slapped it down so hard I thought she might climb over the seat and actually bite me. I let it go because she looked a little unstable but I did sulk a bit. I'll just have to go back and see Indonesia from the ground I suppose.

Once I arrived, I found Simon and away we went. Straight to Regans where we (oh well, clever-ass Simon wasn't drinking so really it was only me, Regan and Lisa) preceeded to imbibe our combined weight in beer / wine / name your spirit. The breakfast-Bloody-Mary did nearly do me in but apart from that I managed to conduct myself with appropriate decorum. You'd be very proud. ;o)

So thus far it's all going swimmingly! I've managed to get a special pass to exit the party-vortex, and have already been to visit my penguin friends on St Kilda Pier. Tomorrow, I'll be pulling out my tourist hat, back pack and dog-eared map and seriously unleashing a whole lotta Irish lady on the unsuspecting population of Melbourne. God love them.

I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress, and of course, lie about the bits that we discussed.

Your Daugher
(the one who ran away)