Melbourne ... and hiding from too much interest

Melbourne was my stop-over before travelling farther onto my next adventure. I spent 3 wonderful days at Melbourne, using the time to relax after Tasmanian trek and refreshing my wardrobe to become more human again. My late arrival after an evening flight from Hobart (Jetstar airlines) did not leave much room for any kind of planning on that night. I chose to stay at the Nomads hostel. The place was very big and noisy, with people piling on top of each other… sometimes you just don't want to know.
After checking in at my hostel I decided to leave my stuff on a bunk bed and have a look around the neighborhood. Luckily I was alone in the big room, all other bunk beds were empty. Happy me.

Melbourne - Australia

Melbourne - Australia, water-ski competition @ Yarra river (I think it was world championship even).

Nomads backpacker's hostel happens to be wall to wall with U-BAR, I think it is not a coincidence for the two to be collocated. U-Bar is the place of wild partying and drinking in the neighborhood. Tired as I was at the late hour that night I wasn’t going to put any effort in dressing up. I decided, I am going there as I stand - in my hiking shoes and trousers, with a white t-shirt over. Fancy me (blink).

Inside it was busy like hell (after me spending 10 days in isolation in Tasmania one might think that I would be starving for crowded company, and seriously it was really busy). Though the age average was not thrilling.
So here I am standing by the bar, sipping my small 0.3l hard cider, probably looking shy, and what is the first thing that I see? There is this guy running around with no pants on (!). Actually with nothing on from his chest down. (Really people??)

Next is an Irish couple. They have been dating for few months, as I learn while standing there (not voluntarily, believe me). The girl is helplessly into this guy and he looks bored to death with her.

I keep dropping any guy approaching me... and I end up being accused of being a lesbian... what a night! huh

Going back to my bunk bed next door I arrive at the dormitory full of young and drunken Kiwis. My luck may be running out, I think to myself. I left the place with a peace of mind that it is safe and sound and I come back to a total disaster of a bunch of young New Zealand-ers partying, first time away from home, obviously. I still feel lucky enough to trust they are going to behave decent enough and not cause me any trouble. The night continues on. At some point it is not me but the other rooms start complaining to the reception about loudness and bottles being passed between windows (bottles.. window-to-window, you get the picture). Guess what. I was totally shocked at the dorm’s reaction. All of the party boys were out. They did not manage to settle in properly and they get thrown out. I was stunned. And it went like this: a guy in charge of the night shift arrives at the room and starts asking questions about noises and neighbors’ complaints. Other people arrive in a meantime and say that saw bottles being passed through windows.

And this is it. No other questions asked. The regulations are strict: no noise and no passing bottles between rooms through windows (I guess this is a safety regulation as down below there is a common room for people to hang out).

This is all going to end up well, I am thinking to myself. Guys are going to object or say something to sooth the dorm manager and things will settle again. This is how the story would go back at home. To my surprise nothing like this! Instead the noisy companionship are told to pick up their things and leave immediately. Imagine, middle of the night, a bunch of drunken youngsters landing on a street with new place to find... hmmmm definitely a different culture to what I am used to from Europe. At home there would be a pretty good chance of a fight, couple punches would be thrown, or at least a decent argument with the hostel commander. In Melbourne the guys packed their staff and left - just like that, no questions asked, no excuses. And who ends up a big winner? Me! The whole 10 bed dorm was all for mine for the next couple of hours at least.
That was the end of my first semi-wild night in Australia. Did I mention that I got myself set for a date next evening with a handsome New Zealander?

Melbourne beach

Next day I decided to use my time differently and not only wander around in looking for interesting places or people, but also do some… SHOPPING! Oh yes, a girl needs to remind herself from time to time that nice shoes and nice skirts are not only for business meetings.

Close proximity to Asia makes it really obvious to see ‘made in china’ labels everywhere. I really don’t mind since my shopping is just for fun and I don’t care too much for the product quality. I pick up a nice gray-black short dress with a silver zipper and little black stones sawed on the shoulder pads. The dress will become my all-time favorite casual even many years after. Pair of ballerina type shoes black and white with little golden metal plate decorating the shoe front. The shoes last a year. And this is as much as it is expected of them. I spend probably no more than 30$ on my ‘fancy’ shopping but I feel much better having a nice alternative to my bush-walking clothes. The shopping experience is also interesting. Every little store, when you enter, turns out to be a vast sea of hundreds and thousands of clothes and accessories. All shapes, colors and sizes. It seems a miracle to me that I was able to find something that suited my taste, in the right size, without spending hours on end in looking and sorting through piles of clothes. Melbourne shopping experience – checked!

I did not know what to make of Melbourne at first. Big city, that is for sure. Everybody in a rush for something. Even tourists. Its beauty lies in a mixture of big crowded streets with monumental shopping malls and posh restaurants and then small dark streets that you can accidently discover, with little cute coffee shops and local eateries. Big sky scrapers are mixing with old two-story brick buildings, remembering the first colonial times...Yet everything is arranged with a degree of harmony. It suited my taste and I liked it.
If one is tired of exploring the streets’ life, one ought to spend some time to explore the city parks. I know, I have already praised parks in Sydney and in Tasmania, but here in Melbourne they surprised me again.
They are (the parks) well thoughts of in terms of space and nicely spread out. Nowhere in the city could you not find a charming green island to chill. They are everywhere and they are really wonderfully delightful. Like colorful islands floating in the see of monuments and buildings.

Melbourne - St. Kilda beach

Then there are the charming shores of Yarra River. They offer a memorable walk with quite a picturesque views of Melbourne business city, modern art statues and green gardens. You will find there conveniently placed fancy shopping centers, taking a full spread on the river shore, and lots of restaurants to sit down and have a cup of coffee and an ice-cream. One of homemade ice-cream stalls was my forever winner. J
During weekends the river banks are the place of action. I was lucky to be in Melbourne when water ski jumping competition was taking place along with and a big summer festival. Free music life and all sort of other entertainment you can think of.

Melbourne - walking on Yarra river bank

Street festival at Yarra river - Melbourne

I also liked multi-bridge system for pedestrians. Apart from the regular traffic for cars, buses, carts, trains there were separate crossover bridges for pedestrians only. That simple idea made a whole walking experience so much nicer. You did not even have to walk far to find one, pedestrian crossing points were located in an convenient way for people not to have to walk for miles from point to point. Simple things to make life easier and more enjoyable.



Melbourne - St. Kilda beach

As I was using my time wandering around, I figured what my next destination would be.
Direction CAIRNS!

A little bit of organizing and booking and I could pack again and hit the road.

I will remember Melbourne for several nice people I came across that made my evenings less lonely and all much more interesting. I will remember my first Korean food I tasted in one of the local Korean restaurants. And I will cherish all those memories as they make me feel warm on the inside. Even if you are on the other side of globe you can always find people that are going to have things in common. The same people will be open to share their life stories and bond with you, even if it was just for one dinner.
In Melbourne I met most of men interest openly expressed. I am not sure if this is typical to Melbourne, maybe a similar experience one could find in Sydney at Bondi beach in the evening.
During the three days and two nights I was able to be friends by 3 guys, European, Indian and New Zealand. All different and all of them quite interesting. In the end I had to hide from too much interest - I am not joking ;).

I feel I have used my time at Melbourne well. Thank you Melbourne.
PS. I missed the Formula 1 Grand Prix by a week I think. Damn! So I did not bother to visit the empty stadium, too upsetting having missed a major international Grand Prix event.