How are you? I am fine. I was somewhat disconcerted to hear of Bridget's uh, 'issues' with the penguins. I assure you they're lovely. Please remind her that she's still my number one cat but really, she's going to have to accept that penguins are lovely. I uh, really like penguins. Anyhiu...
Things are going great, and I'm really enjoying Melbourne. This week there were some lazy days, but getting to know the locals has been lots of fun!
This week I went to the museum. In true me style, I managed to arrive at 3pm - given the amount to see at the Melbourne Museum, and given that it closes at 5pm, I really probably didn't think that through much. But on the plus side, I get to go back! I saw the Titanic exhibition which was really very well done! The ticket is a replica boarding pass and it just gets better from there. The highlights were the recreated cabins, the corridor and - wait for it - they actually recreated the staircase from the film - slackjawed in awe! Better again, someone actually saw fit to include a miniature iceberg - a REAL one - it was actual ice and you could touch it. I suppose it was more for people who had never seen ice before but still, I was muchly impressed. The only catch was I kept hearing *that* feckin song... neeeeeeeeear.... faaaaaaaar.... whereeeeeeeeever youuuu aaaaaaaree... you know the one... luckily it was only in my head so I drowned it out by humming Sysstem of a Down really loudly. All in all, vair impressed. I saw some of the other exhibits but at a sprint because of the impending closing time. Will go back, and send full report at a later date.
Apart from that, there's been LOTS of eating. I'm afraid of beaches now, in case Greenpeace show up, thankfully it's too cold to wear a bikini... The Chinese food is out of this world (well, the bits I can get in my mouth anyway, am still mastering chop sticks) and there's a beeeooootiful veggie restaurant in St Kilda called Soul Mama - NOM NOM! You can eat everything on the menu (you could probably eat the actual menu but I wouldn't recommend that) and it's got views of St Kilda beach - heaven!
Last weekend Shay and Jackie came down from Brisbane - queue all manner of madness! We did the rounds of several bars, and ended up in this metal (almost typed mental, also appropriate) bar called Insignia. My favourite memory was Shay in the middle of all the rocker-types in his white shirt and jeans giving it welly! I believe there was an incident involving Shay and some railings but don't quote me on that... I also have a vague memory of headbanging to Zombie (cranberries) for no good reason other than it's Irish and so are we. Hey, at least we weren't singing Danny Boy and crying... Ha. We decamped to the infamous Pony bar after that and promptly got adopted by some poor lunatic called Al. Poor Al. I think he went away in the end but I couldn't be sure. Someone may have eaten him.
The night ended with my biggest faux pas to date - yes, the Law of Shoe. I think it's a quaint Australian custom, and I'm very pleased to have been so readily embraced by the locals. The law states that, if you fall asleep with your shoes on, your companions must immediately acquire a writing instrument and decorate your face. The usual custom is to adorn the sleepy one's face with boy-parts (don't worry, I wont elaborate, I'm still aware of the Law of Wooden Spoon). I got away easy, all they did was play Xs and Os on my face. I managed to have an hour long conversation in the morning without my new face-art being brought to my attention. I think this means I've officially "gone native". What an odd custom. You'll be glad to know it rubbed off. Fools didn't find my waterproof eyeliner (sniggers).
On Friday we're going to the mountains to play in the snow. I'm preparing my snowball-arm as we speak by lifting weights. They're all GOING DOWN! muhahahahaha.
Finally, I've booked my ticket to Perth so I'll be taking off from Melbourne on Saturday week. But I'm going by train! woohoo! the romance of it all! I will of course keep you posted on all of my adventures.
Love and hugs!
Your Daughter (the one who ran away)
*Oh, by the way, I think I left the light on in the attic, you might want to check that.
feeling hungry already the vegie restaurant sounds great. Saw the photos, didnt recognise Ralph at first, the hat what can i say ,as for Shay's dancing brought back memories of nights in the back of Cleeres. Still no photos of Bridget's rivals ........
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the mountains, sun sea and now snow so jealous, ah but happy for you. love yo xxx