Melbourne - clubbing, carnivals, picnics and penguins

Australia has, so far, turned out to be much better than I had expected! In fact, we are having an absolute whale of a time!
We arrived in Melbourne late last Friday night (early Saturday morning) at 2am. We got a bus from the airport to the centre and then a taxi to our hostel in St Kilda – the beach part of Melbourne. We were both really tired and when I first saw the crowded dorm with people's mess everywhere, I said to Jemma that I didn't think I could stick it out in Australia for 5 weeks if it was going to be like that. People had warned us about Oz, telling us that not only was it expensive, but you got less for your money and the hostels were overcrowded with 18 year olds living there who were messy. So my first impression when we walked into the dorm wasn't the best. But I went to sleep as I was exhausted. The next day we got up late and didn't have time to dwell on the cramped dorm as we had a lot to fit into the day. We had agreed to meet up with Louise (Shauna's cousin) who was going to take us out clubbing that night and she was picking us up from the hostel at 18.00. So, we walked out and found Aldi to get some food. I was pleasantly surprised by the food prices – food in Oz is actually cheaper than in New Zealand. I got some cocopops and after I had eaten them, had a quick nap before getting ready to go out. When we were in Fiji, our two friends Charlie and Alex kindly gave us a mobile phone with an Aussie sim in it so we have been able to keep in contact with people whilst we've been here much more easily than elsewhere. Louise called us to tell us she was outside and we got in her car and met her friend, Katie who would also be joining us for the night out. We drove into St Kilda and went for food at a restaurant where Louise very kindly picked up the bill and then we met Shaz, another of Louise's friends and we all walked around St Kilda beach for a bit, around the theme park area (Luna park) and then onto a club. It was a good night and I think we got home about 2am and then slept in the next day.

The next day (Sunday) there was a big festival in St Kilda so we met up with Louise again and her friends for a picnic in the park and to have a look around the festival. Jemma had a really badly infected mozzie bite that she needed to get seen by a doctor but as it was a Sunday, we had to settle with just going to the Pharmacy and getting some iodine to rub on it. After the festival, we went for lunch and then they took us to the Casino in the CBD (central business district) which is an attraction in itself (we didn't gamble, just looked around).

When we got back to the hostel, I tried to book us in for some more nights (I had only booked three but we were staying in Melbourne a week and I decided that the hostel wasn't too bad after all). However, they were all booked up so we had to find somewhere else.

The next day, we checked out of our hostel in St Kilda and moved to our new hostel in the CBD – the nunnery. It is an actual nunnery that has been converted into a hostel and still has the nuns theme running through it (a themed hostel a bit like the jail we stayed in). We put our stuff away and then had to dash back into town to meet Louise after work at 4pm as she had kindly offered to take us to Philip island (normally costs $100+ dollars, but with her it would only cost us $20).

Philip island is and area of coastline known for its penguin parade:

You pay $20 to get in (about £15) and then you sit on some benches and watch the sun set and see the colony of penguins swim into the shore and waddle into a little reserve. You can then watch them waddling around the big reserve, which is where they stay for the night before swimming back off into the sea. On the way to Philip Island, we stopped at Louise's house so she could get changed and we met her mum and had a look around her lovely house, complete with pool and BBQ, which reminded us very much of Neighbours. We then drove out of the city to Philip Island and sat on the benches on the beach waiting for the sun to set and for the penguins to come in. It was the first time I have seen penguins in the wild and they were so cute! They are actually called 'the little peguins' and they are the smallest penguins in the world (sometimes called 'fairy penguins' or 'little blue penguins'). After they had waddled in off the shore, we watched them for about an hour in their burrows and on their parade and then we drove back to Melbourne, stopping for a late night 'Maccas' on the way. (Mc Donalds). Lovely day.

Melbourne photos here