The Week

This week went by so fast and I did a lot but I'm having trouble thinking of everything I should tell you about..

I've made so many new friends I can't even remember all their names. There is a couple new people everyday.

The fringe festival is on right now so Helen and I went to a free comedy show in a precinct called Fitzroy. That was a lot of fun.
The McDonalds here have little cafe's in them where you can buy expresso and cheesecake. I think it's very funny. I had a latte and chocolate truffle roll and mcdonalds one day this week.

Thursday I went to the Queen Victoria Market with my friends Kat, Helen and a new guy named Cyral.
Then we met up with my friend Shane for coffee which was really great.

We discovered a german store called Aldi!! those of you who have been to europe might know it. Aldi is amazing! I bought a giant bag of penne for $1.

Tomorrow Kat, Helen, Fiona and I are getting up for free sunday pancakes in our hostel and then going to St.Kilda for the day.
St.Kilda is the precinct on the beach. Apparently they have nice markets and artists so that should be fun.

We've done a lot of pub crawling. The bars are excellent. we've been in a place with a cottage built inside a deer on the walls, a place set up like a dentist office where you are served shots in a plastic needle, and many more.
My aussie friend has planned a special pub crawl for us next thursday to show us places we might never find on our own.

The lady from the plane, Pam called today! I am going to her place Oct 17th for lunch. We were talking about the football too.. she was cheering for the Saints as well.

I think the best place to have a drink so far is the hostel. we get some cheap wine and there is a rooftop patio here. I've talked to soooo many interesting people with interesting stories.

I'm not sure what else to tell you for now.. so farewell xo

Job front

All the shops in the mall are already hiring for christmas casuals so I've decided to just work in a store until christmas and then take the money I've saved and go up the east coast in January.

The manager at Guess said I had have a trial shift but not for two weeks so Im hoping to hear from someone sooner.

That's all there is to tell for now..

Football Finals

Today was the Grand Finals of Aussie rules football!
My friend Kat and I got up this morning and went to Federation Square because they have a big screen and we could watch it for free.
OMG I am a huge fan now. I had the best day so far.
It was warm, the sun came out, and the place was packed.

The two teams are calling Magpies and the Saints.
Most people seemed like they were Magpies fans. In the beginning the magpies took a lead and were doing really well but in the second half the Saints fought back.

I decided I wanted the Saints to win because they seemed like an underdog.

It was so exciting the last 10 minutes of the game. It was hard to see the score from where I was sitting but I know when the last 10 minutes started the score was 51-50 and when the game ended it was 68-68.

Everyone was SO shocked! apparently a grand finals game hasnt been tied since 1977.
They don't go into overtime here in australia... because no one won there is going to be a rematch next saturday.
I am soooo excited to watch it all over again.

I had plans with a friend to go to the yarra valley wineries next saturday but he texted me as soon as the game was done saying we will go another day haha.

Photos

I have only really taken photos on the free tour buses so far. I keep forgetting to take my camera when I leave the hostel.

Helen and I were joking last night that we haven't taken any interesting photos but when we thought about it. Our day mostly consists of going to Coles (the grocery store), and 7/11.

Helen sarcasticly said "Here Mom, there's a picture of Coles; my australia trip this far" 

So here are a few pix:

That is the view over the Yarra river which runs through Melbourne.

This is Federation Square where they have the Tim Burton exhibit and the australian centre for the moving image.
The ACMI is very cool. It's all the history of film, tv, video games and computers with lots of interactive stuff to play with.. and its FREE! backpackers love ACMI.

The first weekend

I left off Friday afternoon when I was applying to jobs online.

I'm having trouble with posting blogs. Whenever I click to "publish" the internet connection crashes. I wrote this one on Sunday (it's now Tuesday)

Friday evening Helen and I bought wine and drank in the hostel because its cheaper. Then we went out to the street and asked a random local to tell us how to get to a good bar.

In Toronto there is a street with all the dance clubs, but in Melbourne all the bars are in hidden alleys. All the guide books and locals tell us to just explore and we'll find something.

The local we asked walked us to a club not far. It was a pretty big club with a dance floor a few bars and a giant horse statue.
We met a few aussie friends on the dance floor.

Saturday morning Helen and I thought we would be proper tourists and go sightseeing. Around 11am, Claire from Paris walked into our room. It was like fate because Claire came with a stack of tourist guidebooks and a plan for the day. We just tagged along with Claire.

We took the free tourist shuttle all around the city for 2 hours and saw all the big attractions. Then we stopped for a coffee break and headed over to Federation Square for the Tim Burton exhibit.

The exhibit was great. Full of drawings and notebooks that Tim Burton created his characters in. Plus costumes, props and clips from his movies. Claire, Helen and I all wanted to have a Tim Burton marathon afterwards.

During the day the friends we made at the club texted us saying there was a house party we could come to in one of the suburbs, Carlton.

Helen and I went out in a taxi. When we got to the house there was a big pirate flag on the door, and inside everyone was dressed like pirates!
We already didn't fit in because we were the only non-australians, but we were also the only non-pirates.

We made so many friends. They are unbelievably friendly here. The people at the party were full of advice on how to get jobs and what we need to see before we leave Melbourne.
I keep hearing over and over; you need to see the Great Ocean road.
I'm waiting until I have a job. Great Ocean Road tours cost about $100. and last the whole day, most tours include lunch.

The party actually ended up being a girl named Megan's 24th birthday party. She was so nice and welcoming, even though we didnt know her.
By far the funniest part of the party was the pinata. The birthday girl got out a treasure chest pinata and all the boys handed over their plastic swords for her to smash it open.

Megan broke every sword at the party. After they were finished she took off the blindfold and ripped the pinata open with her bare hands.

Sunday was low key. We just hung out at the hostel.. trying not to spend too much until we find jobs.

More Melbourne

I wrote more in my last post but the internet cut out and I lost it .

After Helen and I explored Melbourne and the docks we signed up for the pub crawl.

Our hostel is 90% germans which is very strange. We met all the english speaking people, simply because we werent german.
The first pub had a little cottage built inside and animals like deer and owls around with fireplaces... it seemed more canadian than australia.
After that we went to a irish pub where I met 3 other canadians and a guy from France who decided to test my french. I failed his test miserably... I think I understood one sentance total.

Today I just spent most of the day applying to jobs online and then I went looking for warm clothes. It's like 10 degreesC here and I wasnt prepared for it. They have a massive target store so I am going to try to buy a scarf and sweater there tomorrow.

Have a good weekend everyone! love u xo

The first day

I left off when I just arrived at the hostel.

I think I checked in around noon, I just put my bags in my room and went for a walk around the block and bought food at the grocery store. I got back to the room, ate, showered, and fell asleep by 2pm and didn't wake up until 7am the next morning. Not a very eventful first day in Australia.

When I woke up Thursday it was the "Big English Breakfast" This is basically: baked beans, bacon, sausage, fruit, toast and cereal.
They have vegemite here. It looks DISGUSTING! like black tar that people spread on toast.

I forgot... My first day I did meet two people. right before I fell asleep a girl walked into my room with a giant slab of chocolate cake. She's from Kent, and told me she just got back from asia the night before and it was her birthday while she was there and they dont have cake. So she sat on my bed eating her cake for a bit. She told me she flew into perth in the middle of the night and it was 2 degrees, it had just been 35 degrees wherever she had been so she caught a cold. She had a nap at the same time as me.

I woke up briefly around 5pm when another girl was moving into my room. Her name is Helen, and she's from liverpool. She arrived in australia the same day as me and is travelling alone. I told her that means we're new bff.

There are 6 beds in our dorm. We have key cards to get in and lockers to store our stuff. The first night it was full and then Thursday morning everyone except Helen and I moved out. So it's officially "our room".

Last night 1 bed was empty and this morning 2 other people left.

Yesterday morning, after breaksfast and talking on skype. I went out to buy a phone. I have a cheap little nokia now, pay as you go. After that I had a coffee, they only have expresso here, no regular coffee. The hostel only has instant coffee, so I've been drinking tea.
Melbourne is full of little cafes. After I ordered my latte I was waiting for it and the guy working there laughed at me and told me that your supposed to sit down and wait for the drink to be brought to you. Which I thought was strange. You don't tip anyone here but they go all out with service.

I had my bank appointment after coffee. Everything went smoothly. I have an account and easily got my money out of my canadian account into the aussie one.

When I got back, Helen was just hanging out in the room and we decided to go get lunch.
There is a free tram that circles the downtown core of melbourne.

This is the tram we took down to the docklands to have lunch by the water.
We had thai food then walk around the shops.

Finally here

I'm in Melbourne!
I've never been so tired in my life.

I dont want to do anything. I was supposed to go get my sim card but I've been napping.

About 2 hours before my flight from LA to Sydney I met an old woman named Pam who lives in Melbourne. She was telling me places I should go and things I should see. She was the sweetest old lady, before the flight she bought me hot chocolate and cake. Then wrote down her phone number and told me to call her and come out to her retirement community for a day.

The flight was sooooo long and my seat was soooo cramped. My knees have never hurt so much in my life. The food was also horrible they served some gross chicken on a white bun with a slice of fake cheese and mayo... I thought I was going to vomit.

During the night everyone was sleeping on and off so I didn't meet anyone but at 6am we stopped in Sydney for a 2 hour layover. While getting coffee I met a guy on his way to LA who had just finished his year backpacking. He told me about a program calling WOOFing where you go to work on a farm in exchange for being fed and living with them (and you get health insurance through the program!).

Then back on the plane I started talking to the girl sitting next to me, Jaclyn, who is orignally from Melbourne. She was funny because she said its really easy to get harvest jobs but generally they are full of illegal immigrants.
I thought my flights were exhausting but this girl Jaclyn left Cuba at 9am Monday morning, then flew to cancun, then dallas, then LA, then Melbourne and sydney. Insane!
She said she's been living in London for 2 years, then went on a vacation to Cuba and is only back in Melbourne for 3 days before heading back to London. The cute part is that she gave me her number and said "Tonight I'm going to want to sleep, but tomorrow we can go for drinks and catch up" haha so if I get myself a phone asap I will be catching up with someone I've only just met tomorrow.
Oh! I forgot to mention that she was a banker in Melbourne before she moved to London, in HR.. so she was giving me tips on how to get temp jobs using my BMO experience.

As we were landing in Melbourne, I looked out the window and the first thing I saw of Melbourne was the golden arches of mcdonalds. haha I expected to see something distinctly australian and of course... McD's.

It is so cold here! 9 degrees and windy.. I had to put on 3 layers. I almost died when I got into the shuttle from the airport. I was tired, dirty, hungry, freezing and the shuttle driver put on a radio station playing a monotone reading of someone's poetry. I was so focused on staying awake that I didn't notice until we pulled up to the hostel that they drive on the other side of the road here.

I will tell you more about the hostel and actual city tomorrow.
Goodnight everyone xo

LAX

My trip has started!
Mom and I got to Pearson just before 6am and it took until 9am just to get to my gate. It was busyyyy... flying from toronto to a large american city at 9am on a monday morning is a bad idea. There were hundreds of business people.

My flight to L.A. was good. I watched two movies, and a tv show. About half an hour before we reached L.A. I looked out the window and as far as I could see was just sandy desert. I realized I`ve never seen a desert before haha .. it was exciting. I`ve never been to the west coast and now I`ve been here for 5 hours wandering the airport.. it`s pretty lame.

There are no celebrities here. I think they must have their own special terminal that doesnt suck.

I started out in the Air Canada terminal which is where I landed. All they had was a burger king and a starbucks. After about an hour I realized I wasn`t flying out of that terminal so I took a very long walk to the United Airlines terminal which is much bigger and has a shopping section that I`ve walked up and down about 200 times.

My16 hour flight to Melbourne leaves at 10:32pm on Monday the 13th, and arrives around 9:30am Wednesday the 15th. So much for Tuesday.

Last night when I said goodbye to Carissa, she said "why are you hugging me?"

That's all for now... I will update wednesday when I arrive.
Bye xo

The Beginning...

It's officially less that one week until I leave for Melbourne.
I'm starting to feel panic that there's 1001 things I have forgotton to do...

1.) Get a blog, so I won't have to update every friend and relative individually.

I've remembered one thing at least.

Goodnight... I'll try to remember something else tomorrow.