Well, now I have a job and house and am all settled and
that, I've mainly been working and then enjoying my weekends. So kind of how I
was when I was living in Manchester, only I'm still in a new city so exploring
is still exciting. So while I haven’t got a lot of news, there have been a few
things to report about.
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| Melbourne skyline |
Natural (non) Disasters
WE HAD AN EARTHQUAKE! At 8.54pm on 19th June
2012. I was watching ‘Steel Magnolias’ and practising my southern drawl (“God
Damn!”).
The house vaguely
shook. I thought it was either a train or my housemate Alex building more
furniture for his room. But then I got a text telling me, "EARTHQUAKE!".
I can confirm, 30mins later, it had made absolutely no
difference to my life what so ever. As it was so minor and the news (being
trashy news) were exaggerating the reality, there were some very amusing
comments on twitter, such as:
- “My
thoughts go out to the Melbourne Jenga Society”
- “My
prayers go out to the shampoo bottles in the chemists”
- “We
need to organise a benefit concert – AC/DC can play, ‘Shook Me All Night Long’
#muppetfest”
New Home
My house is great. I am in a good area of Melbs called
Clifton Hill. However, there is an anonymous animal who likes to jump around on
the roof in morning, making lot of noise. When I asked my housemates about it,
she described it as ‘pigeons dancing’. It is more like the sound of a gorilla
getting on its knee and doing a running slide across the roof, much like boys
at a wedding.
The Scarlet Pimp
I have my own transport! I bought a red town bike with a
basket on the front and 3 gears, affectionately known as the Scarlet Pimp. She’s
had a service and I have started a weekly tradition of cycling to The Victoria
Markets on a Sunday, buying food. I LOVE HER! When it gets a bit warmer, I’ll
cycle to work.
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| The Scarlet Pimp |
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| Trendy Fitzroy |
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| Hosier Lane |
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| Central CBD |
Continuous Exploring
Lentils as Anything: This place is hippy dippy do –
fantastic social set up. It is a volunteering cooperative where you donate how
much you think your meal is worth.
Myself and another Brit living over here, Paul, decided to
check it out on a Monday night. I felt like I would have red paint thrown on me
for wearing a leather jacket and Paul felt a bit out of place wearing his corporate
looking suit from work, but no one threw lentils at us and the food was great. It
was in the old Abbotsford convent where I went to the outdoor cinema.
Mountain Goat Brewery: As described in the name, a
local brewery that open up their warehouse as a bar on Wednesday and Friday.
They put in old couches, serve pizza and play great music. Awesome spot.
Awesome beer.
Der Raum: Unique award winning cocktail bar. It’s very Melbourne-
there isn't a sign on the outside, the name of the bar is written in small
lettering in the corner of a chalk board. You need to ring on the door to get
in. The cocktails are pricey but well worth it. I had ‘The Cocktail Formerly Known as a Pina Colada’ with a lavender and
vanilla base and a hot white chocolate mousse top. Clodagh ordered one with
peppers known as ‘The Pharmacist’- it
arrived on a tray with a glass medicine jar, a plastic syringe and a small
white soluble tablet. You had to put the contents of the syringe into the jar
and crush the tablet into it, then shake it altogether.
We downgraded for the next bar and went to the Great
Britain, where they serve a beer call ‘Piss’
(..so you can drink a pint of piss) and there was a band playing music dressed
entirely in silver. Myself and Brian wanted them to sing ‘Rocket Man’. Sadly they did not do
requests.
Another cool gig venue is The Workers Club in
Fitzroy. My colleague, the very talented Kathryn Rollins was paying her first
Melbourne gig there a few weekends ago so myself and Helena from work went to
support her. She has a very soulful voice. WOW!
We then continued onto Little Creatures Microbrewery
dining hall. I’d recommend the pork belly. And the bright ale.
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| Starter cocktail |
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| The 'Pharmacy' cocktail that tasted like red pepper |
Happiness Now, if you were in Manchester and you
wandered past a bar with the door slightly open and a red light upstairs,
unless you were looking for a lady of the night for services rendered, you
generally wouldn’t pop in. However, in Melbourne this means there is a bar
(without the suggested lady of the night). It had won a number of awards for its
design. Red, with lots of weird shaped things dangling from the ceiling, soviet
shapes cut into the red wooden dividers and plush red cushions. Our friendly
barman later informed us it was inspired by a womb. Yes, a womb.
Pellegrinis It’s knows as a ‘Melbourne Institution’ -
The first espresso bar to open in the city in the 1950s. You walk in and it’s
like you’ve stepped into the 1950s. The pictures on the wall, the rotund
Italian staff, the décor – I felt like we were in somewhere Tony Soprano or Al
Capone were meeting up with his boys to talk ‘business’. There are no menus or
faff about customer service, you choose what you want from the board and it
get’s shoved under your nose in less than 10 mins. I of course lapsed into
ridiculous gangster accents within 5 mins.
The Corner Hotel - Band of Skulls were in Melbourne a
few weeks ago and I booked the tickets to see them ages ago. I actually thought
they were someone else when I initially booked, but I love them now. The venue
is another ‘Melbourne Institution’, quite small with great acoustics (latter
phrase shows that 5 years of hanging out with sound engineers pays off).
NGV Iain Potter Centre – It took me long enough but I
finally got around to doing one of my favourite things: checking out the art
gallery. The National Gallery of Victoria has beautiful Aboriginal contemporary
art. Each piece has a description about the origins of the painting from the
Aboriginal culture and it is fascinating.
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| Aboriginal Art, NGV |
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| Aboriginal Art, NGV |
Ozzy Rules Matches (“AFL! AFL!”)
I have been to 2 Ozzy Rules (AFL) matches!
The first was just the final 2 quarters of Essenden vs.
Richmond Tigers at the MCG stadium, which is one of the main stadiums in
Melbourne where the game is played.
We managed to blag our way in! Although I didn’t really
understand what was going on, the atmosphere was electric and I really enjoyed
it.
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| MCG, Essendon vs Richmond Tigers |
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| St Kilda vs Collingwood |
Last night I went to St Kilda vs. Collingwood with my
friends George and Mark, who are both newbies to Melbourne. We had great seats
in the Collingwood members area and I made sure to check the rules of the game
this time. It was cracking and hearing the fans shout insults had us in stiches.
Far too graphic for me to put in my blog, but suffice to say some of them were
not very ladylike or child friendly.
According to Sally, James and a few others I am supposed to
be a Carlton fan, which I am well up for, but have yet to see them in action
live.
The St Kilda Short Film Festival is an annual
festival of both local and international short films. It was set in this
gorgeous old fashioned art deco theatre called ‘The Astor’. I went to the
comedy section on a Friday night and
laughed my arse off. There was a film about a possessive teddy bear, a corrupt
phallic shaped priest, aliens and that guy from ‘The Castle’.
Sunday Roast
The hunt for a Sunday Roast in Melbourne is on. The first
place I attempted was with Paul and two of his friends- we went to The
Commoner in Fitzroy. It was gorgeous food, but just wasn’t the meaty
too-much-food-on-your-plate Sunday dinner that we were seeking. There is pub
grub at The Quiet Man in Flemington (where they serve stew in a bread
bowl – boom!). While it was tasty, it isn’t a Sunday roast. The hunt goes on..
Apparently they do Yorkshire puddings on a Sunday at the Meat Market on the
river, but I have yet to try it out..
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| The hunt for a Sunday roast with Cat |
Vietnamese in Richmond
Other culinary delights that Melbourne has to offer include
Vietnamese food on Victoria Road. Every shop for the first kilometre or so
sells Vietnamese food, clothing and various bits and bobs. It’s great to snoop
on a Saturday afternoon. There are these amazing French Vietnamese inspired
bakeries, Pho (very tasty soup) and Vietnamese coffee, which is very strong,
but tastes a bit like tiramisu in a shot. I felt high as kite afterwards and
wanted to do handstands and cartwheels down the street. I can’t do handstands
or cartwheels (yeah, I was that weird kid in the playground with very little
gymnastic coordination) so that would have been tricky.
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| Vietnamese Coffee in Richond |
Cat Dillon comes to stay
The lovely Cat (who I know from being on stage with in
Manchester - *Jazz Hands!*) was over from Sydney for the bank holiday weekend.
I was officially broken after she left.
What a weekend! She arrived and after a confusing car
journey, fish and chips we found ourselves in 303 Bar in Northcote watching a
Balkan brass band. This then turned into a night of live music at The Rainbow
bar and then dancing to The Smiths at The Rochester (a bit like South in
Mancunia).
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| Cat on AC/DC Lane |
Cat makes me laugh non stop. We talk utter gibberish with
each other and it’s exactly what you need. She has this great energy! We
explored the city on the Circle Line tram, an old wooden tram that does – yes,
a CIRCLE of the city. There were drinks in the bar that is set in the middle of
the Yarra river, gin in Cookies, dinner at Dumplings Bitch and a lot of quotes
from ‘Gavin and Stacey’.
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| Cat and me, with a picture of Bex, who would usually explore cities with us but is back in Manc with a baby! |
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| Me and Cat by the Yarra River |
We were supposed to
finish off the weekend with a trip to buy cheese at the market, a Sunday dinner
and a film. Well, that plan changed drastically when we went off for dinner in
‘The Quiet Man’. A group of us were having a few drinks, which then turned to a
few more drinks when we met up with James and his mates. As we are on the other
side of the world, the matches were on a 1.00am and 4.00am. We went bar jumping
around some of Melbournes saddest casinos and Irish pubs (Note: there is NOTHING golden about 'The Golden Nugget Casino') – laughing all the
way.
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| Name Game at The Quiet Man |
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| Name Game with Clodagh and Cat |
Myself and Cat finally arrived home at 8am the next morning
and drunkenly ate all the cheese we had bought at the market. ALL of it. I
awoke to a pile of crumbs in the middle of the floor in my room. It was a very
amusing night..
Christmas in July
So, at home in the Northern Hemisphere, once our 3 week
summer is over and the nights start getting darker and colder, you get the
sparkle in the air of festivities. That autumn to winter period means Bonfire
night, Halloween, Christmas and New Year.
In the Southern
Hemisphere, not so much. It gets cold, and on some occasions you can sit
outside by an outdoor heater, but there’s no Christmas lights, mince pies or
German Markets. You don’t have umpteen work parties with mistletoe and 50 year
old Barry from the finance department dancing to ‘My Humps’ with gusto.
So, to try and add a bit of northern hemisphere normality to the cold
nights, a tradition of ‘Christmas In July’ has emerged in Australia.
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| Paul, me and Clodagh |
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| Feast! |
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| Home made Christmas Crackers |
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| Sharon & Ritchie |
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| James and his cauliflower puree |
I organised one last weekend. 15 people came by with a dish and we enjoyed the delights of Christmas music, Christmas jumpers, Kris Cringle (for under $5 – there were some gems!) crackers, pigs in blankets, gorgeous turkey, roast potatoes, roast beef, sprouts, Yorkshire pudding, cauliflower puree, brownies…
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| Plating up |
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| Kris Kringle |
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| Tashtastic |
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| Tashtastic |
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| Balloon animals. It started innocently.. |
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| Great shot! |
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| My angel of a house mate who helped me clear up! |
There was a plate and fork shortage but it’s amazing how people will make do when there’s food on the line. And after hearing my crazy neighbour scream down the phone the next morning for 30mins, I'm glad I didn’t go next door and ask to borrow any!
Highlights include (apart from the food..) fake tashes, rude
balloon animals, charades, random phrases yelled from 50 Shades of Grey and
festive jokes. For me it was perfect because the friends I adore I Melbourne,
some of whom have never met all mixed so well and just totally made the night.
Work
My job as a program coordinator is getting busier and more
exciting. The competition I am working on, Business Icon, had the first part of
the program known as The 48-hour Challenge launched 3 weeks ago. University Students
were given just 48 hours to raise as much money as possible for a micro finance
charity called Opportunity International. Opportunity International want to
assist people from developing communities worldwide by helping them break out
of the poverty cycle through micro finance loans. They are an amazing charity
and you should check out their hard work - http://www.opportunity.org.au/
Anyway, the students were given 48 hours, a fundraising page
and nothing else but their networks, imagination and innovation. We had some
amazing ideas from the students, and I could go on about them here, but the one
that has stuck in my mind is a team called T Minus 48. They thought about the
idea of poverty being trapped in a box. So, they locked themselves in a room
like a box, put up a webcam and appealed to people online to donate money. The
more money they received, the more things they were entitled to, for example,
food! It was so creative- they started to entertain each other by acting out
films, talking directly to the camera, doing the Macarena (!) and all sorts.
Members of the team have gone through to the final in September that kicks of Tuesday
6th.
Next Step
September is not far off. I have a lot to do in work in the
next 6 weeks in preparation for the competition and in preparation for what I
am going to do next.
I want to stay in Australia for another year. I love it here
and despite a few teething problems and
missing my friends and family like crazy, I feel like there’s more I can get
out of this experience before going back to England.
To be entitled to a 2nd year visa in Australia, I
have to complete 88 days of designated work in an agricultural area. This may
mean leaving Melbourne, which I don’t really want to do, but needs must and
it’s something I wouldn’t have thought of dong anyway, so I am going to embrace
the challenge! Who knows, this time in 4 months I could be a total expert in
the art of asparagus farming?! I am looking at going to north Victoria, rural
Western Australia or Tasmania. Or anywhere that will take me and let me
complete 3 months work so I can stay!
There are a few things before I become a farm hand though –
I am off down the Great Ocean Road with Clodagh (“Girls on tour! Girls on
tour!”). The current plan is to drive down the coast over 2 – 3 days, spend a
night in Adelaide and fly back to Melbourne the next day. We are still debating
getting a camper van or car. Can’t bloody wait!
Then the weekend after I am off to Sydney to catch up with
all the great people I know there and welcome a good friend to Australia. Tor,
who is a fellow Walk The Plank alumni, I moving out to Oz. While we worked
together she would always be in the office to my left, and I would just turn my
head and ‘vocalise’ to her about life. We’d sing cheesey 90’s tunes and
generally have a ball. Not havng her to my left 5 days has had some serious
withdrawal symptoms, but in 2 weeks we shall be reunited by the Opera House.
Again, I can’t bloody wait!
So that’s my news from this side of the world for the
moment. Maybe it’s being away from home, maybe it’s the fact that 30 is just
around the corner, but sometimes it feels like this Australia is this place I
have gone to experience every emotion – great and not so great. There are things I am
missing at home: Ross and Bex have had a gorgeous baby boy, Dennis and Elke had
a wee baby girl, my good friend Natalie’s wedding in September; she will be a
beautiful bride and I am gutted to miss the wedding, but I am still loving it
here and I can’t wait to see how the next few months pan out.
