After being in Melbourne just two weeks, I ventured back to say my final farewells to Melbourne friends and welcome the arrival of my good friend Thea. Thea is down here on at working-holiday visa for the year with hopes of either staying longer or perhaps switching to a student visa to study .
Of all my friends to say they would come visit or want to
travel and get out of the rut known as the ‘United States’, Thea has been the
only one to do it so far. After a bit of procrastination I booked my Thursday
flight the night before and was stuck with Tiger Airways yet again. While I
don’t dislike them, because I feel domestic travel should be at it’s cheapest,
the staff are typically rude, they issue receipts NOT actual boarding passes and
the Tiger Airways terminal at Melbourne International is a good 10-minute walk
from the main airport and another 5 minute walk just to get to the aircraft on
the tarmac. Not to mention when booking, they make it seem like you HAVE to
choose your seat, but if you do, you pay between $5-$20 for it. Instead, save
yourself the money and ask for a window/exit row seat when you check-in. Boom
$20 saved So far, my best would have to be Virgin Australia. Richard Branson
knows what’s up!
I had Marc drop me off at Gold Coast airport and I arrived
in beautiful cloudy and rainy Melbourne at noon. Thea had already landed and
passed through customs and quarantine so we called the hostel and they came to
pick us up. At first, I was sceptical of Thea’s hostel choice because it was
located in St. Kilda but it proved to be an excellent location. Anyone
traveling to Melbourne, I encourage you to either stay at the Space Hotel in
the CBD area (where Craig and I stayed in January) or at the Habitat HQ (where
I stayed with Thea). The trams were located right outside the hostel and was
only a 20 minute ride to the city and was also a 5 minute ride to Chapel Street
where all the nightlife can be found.
We briefly took a nap before heading out to get her a
working phone number and show her the city. Overall, we were in bed about 10ish
as she was jet-lagged and I barely got any sleep the night before (I never
sleep well the day before a flight). Friday, we headed to China Town to meet up
with Claire for some Chinese and bubble tea before saying goodbye to her and
heading ANZ to get Thea a bank account. We ended up scratching that idea as the
wait time was way too long, so ventured to Big W so she could get some flip
flops, the river walk, Crown Casino (where I lost $20 on red, haha) and then
finally Max Brenners.
We ended up back at the hostel before relaxing a bit once
again (the sun takes it out of you). Ended up getting up around 10pm before
heading to Electric Ladyland for a few drinks and to say goodbye to friends
there. One of them, being Bridie, I will always love and cherish. There are not
many women out there that I can tolerate let alone would not mind dating and
Bridie is definitely one of them. Words cannot describe my love for this woman,
but I’ll save my lovey-dovey Bridie blog for another day.
After quite a few gin and tonics, headed back to the hostel
and up at 0930 for 1000 check-out. I said my goodbyes to Thea and headed back
to Melbourne airport to fly to Brisbane in time for Future Music Festival.
Overall, I love Melbourne but don’t know if I could ever live there. I think
the hipster/’culture’ scene is a bit much for me. But definitely a far better
place than Brisbane and of course, the Gold Coast. Next stop is Future Music
Festival, final week of work and then wrapping up last minute affairs before my
flight to Sydney on March 15th followed by flight back to Seattle
March 17th.
Until then…
Cheers
-H
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