Melbourne Weekend Recap

Yet another fantastic weekend in Melbourne - Break it down, homes!

Friday: Got up at 7ish and left at about 8ish for the long drive to Melbourne:

• The Hun napped for an hour then complained he was uncomfortable, so he fashioned a jacket into a pillow and slept for another hour. After that he woke up, complained he was no longer tired and sent the jacked to the back seat before spending an hour with his neck and head jerking annoyingly from side to side as he nodded in and out of sleep for an another hour. I was thiiiiiis close to pushing his head into the window - not in a malicious way, more in an 'I could never keep that rubbish up for that long so quit it before I push it through the window in a malicious way'. He is yet to see the humour with which I lovingly later regaled him the story.

• Dadsy's TomTom does not know of the new road near Albury, so we spent 15 minutes listening to him tell us to "Turn right in 80 metres - Turn right in 45 metres - Turn right - Do a U Turn as soon as you can - Turn right in 80 metres -Turn right in 45 metres - Turn right - Do a U Turn as soon as you can". He trusted us when we turned up in the right place further on.

• There are no Caltex in Wangaratta, although the TomTom might tell you there are two. Do not fall for this as you will end up driving chaotically through the town swearing and gesturing at the windscreen and end up paying for petrol at the same servo that holds the Subway where you had bland salad for lunch. I KNEW I should have organised adiditional petrol cards before we left.

• The Wangaratta Subway-Servo DOES sell diet Solo which is a godsend and not available at any other servo's that I stopped at either way.

• I think I have lost my license - it seems that "Road Safety Camera" is Victoria speak for "Speed Camera" and not code for some kind of road management system. This is further indicated by the disbelief you will see on the faces of Victorians as you relay your story to them, basing your belief of the fact that ACT and NSW fixed cameras give you three warning signs before taking your picture. I believe I got snapped by one in the country, all five on the way into the city, one in the country on the way out and perhaps one near the dinosaur museum in Canberra.

• The Sebel is still by far the best place to stay in Melbourne - I cannot recomend it enough. Our room had a separate bedroomy bit and Fox channels and is in the middle of the city. My entertainment book discount got us the room for $202 per night, including buffet breakfast for two - you will lurve it.

• We made it into Chinatown for dinner, but Spicy Fish (The Cousins recommendation) was full so we had dinner at a place across and down a bit. We went upstairs where it was lovely and cosy (sharing our 6 person table with another couple) and had tofu with veggies and some amazing dish made of green spinach and something else? I also had one of The Hun's veg*n curry puffs (naughty dieter).

• We trammed it to the uni to see the revue but arrived a bit late - I'd written the show started at 8:30, but it started at 8! Adam and Cara met up with us outside and we luckilly snagged four seats together at the back and settled in to enjoy the show, which I think was actually the funniest one we've seen yet - perhaps I'm getting more used to the people involved and the way it all works?! The highlight was The Cousin managing to get the word 'snood' into one of the jokes at which I squealed like I'd been bitten - I told her I'd call out if I heard it, but it wasn't the kind of noise I was hoping for - unfortunately I couldn't take it back! I also had The Hun a bit worried, leaning over to ask if I was ok. There were some really hilarious bits in there - one in particular where I laughed overly louder than anyone else in the theatre, but I can't for the LIFE of me remember what it was!
  

• Catching up with Adam again was great and it was fantastic to meet Cara - she is so funny! We headed out to the Queensberry expecting a bit of a quiet night - Erica and Mars messaged to pike during the show, and Rosanna was to meet up with us there. Rosanna arrived just after we got our first drinks and left just after we finished our second (we left not long after that as Cara had another big day on the Saturday). It was good to put more of a personality to a face, particularly as the beer spilt all over the table and her lovely skirt (which I'm sure they'll be able to save) - although it was brief it was good to meet her and perhaps as good for her to meet us! Very exciting.

Saturday: Slept in a bit and then:

• Wandered to Haighs to pick up my Melbourne musthaves - Dark Mint Chocolate Frogs and Dark Chocolate covered raisins. I find it so heartbreakingly beautiful that their dark chocolate is vegan and doesn't taste like pure cocoa! Rosanna has kindly offered to mail me down some and I cannot wait - The Hun has already started into my frogs and I'm planning to hide them from myself until November.

• I lead The Hun down to Spencer St to the brand new DFO (I used my wiley feminine charms to get him down there) where I bought a lovely blue, aqua and pink Fila zip jumper for $35 from $70. There were a few jibes about the amount of sportswear I own in comparison to the amount of sports I actually DO, but I love my jumper - add a zipper and a sparkly detail near the pocket and I will buy Buy BUY!

• The Cousin picked us up from the hotel to take us to Collingwood where I witnessed my first domestic abuse encounter - a woman beat her partner(?) around the head, knocking his sunglasses off as she yelled "I didn't look at him!" - by the time we were out of the car they'd dissapeared, but he never moved to strike her (though you gotta wonder...).

• We had lunch at Soul Food Cafe and Oh. My. God. I wanted EVERYTHING on the menu but was a good girl and had the asian greens salad. That came with a delicious piece of bread I was not going to share with anyone. And of course I HAD to try the vegan chocolate cake - do you know how long it's been since I've had chocolate cake?! It was totally divine, served with warmed vegan custard. Not particularly suitable for Tony Ferguson, but I do not regret it one bit.

• We trammed towards the Telstra Dome and stalked around the Docklands looking for the Human Body Exhibition which we just could not find. I think we did burn off that cake though.

• That night I took The Hun out to the AFL - Swans vs Collingwood! We'd ummed and ahhed about going to this, figuring it'd be too expensive and soldout - that just demonstrated our Canberraness. It cost less than $40 to get in and it was really fantastic! I picked up the rules better than I thought I would - even with 3 Skyy vodka's and sitting 8 rows from the very very very back. It was a bit disheartening to find that you couldn't even get a salad sandwhich, so I had a packet of Thins for dinner - after my 1kg loss last week, this week may be an interesting one.
  

Sunday: The long drive home:

• We left at about 10:30 and arrived home just before 7:30pm. The only thing of note being the potential Canberra speeding ticket I may have picked up on some unfamiliar road.

I think what suprised me most this time was how much I fell in love with the city. It must have been like my fifth trip down there, but this was the first time I was looking at it practically, looking at it like "I want to live here". Now, I have to convince The Hun to start applying for work there...

Next year is The Cousin's last performance - can't wait till I'm down south again!