the warmth of sunlight: "Lose yourself in Melbourne"

Those of you familiar with the recent Melbourne tourism ad - you know! The one with the girl and that big ball of string? Ahh well if you don't then you can watch it here - will be glad to know that in terms of losing yourself in Melbourne... well thats exactly what we (my shopping girlfriends and I) did when we visited... minus the big ball of string (which in hindsight wouldn't have been such a bad idea - heck even a breadcrumb train would have helped! Oooo food... right I'm back now) and probably due more to our first class *cough splutter choke* navigation skills rather than the beauty and romanticism of Melbourne's windy streets and alleyways (yea cause thats not dodgy at all)... anyway, more on that later.

We woke up early... and I mean EARLY! Like our flight was at 6:30am early, which you must understand, for university students who don;t believe in let alone acknowledge the existence of a time before 9:30... this was... interesting... anyway we made it and even managed to get to our hotel without a hitch! :-D (Something we will come in the next 2 days not to take for granted)

However, Eddy, I have discovered (after only 2 overseas vacations - i.e. 84 hours in the air - and one domestic venture) does not agree with flying (yes it took me that long to make the connection… in some respects I'll admit to being a little slow).

So here she is after the journey… don;t try to communicate with her now… its won't be pretty and is likely to leave a lasting impression… on your FACE!

We decided that Bell, due to her apparent smarts and enthusiasm in all other respects, would be our best choice for navigator... actually I don't remember if this is true, I just remember she ended up with the map... a misguided step you can only begin to appreciate when you hear what happened next...

Someone in the group: "Bell, are you sure we are headed in the right direction? I mean I thought we were going to the city but we appear to be headed in the opposite direction to those tall buildings over there"

Bell: "Yeah I think so. I mean we started 'here' and we are headed 'here' and thats up the map... so that must mean we head up this hill right?"

Everyone else: "Uhh... no!" *all scramble for the map lest we get even more lost*

You see... I told you we have issues. It didn't get better from there...

so we want to head up the map so that must mean up this hill... right?

Trams? Oh trams!… So how do we catch one? YOU MEAN TO SAY I HAVE TO WALK ONTO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AND JUST HOPE NO ONE RUNS ME OVER?!?!?!… Okay, I'll do it… now how do I buy the ticket??? *insert 5 minuted figuring out how to work the ticketing machine on the tram, then another two deciphering which ticket we should get, now… are we student concessions in Melbourne? Oh look! Its our stop! Better get off before we miss it…*

I've said it once and I'll say it again… I don't like trams! They may be pretty and romantic and stuff but they are Dangerous! Thats right! Dangerous! With a Capital "D"

Quacking ducks… f$%king ducks! who let the ducks out??? Sorry, random I know, but we were woken in the morning by quacking ducks... strange considering we were staying in a hotel in town... not so strange when you realise its the 'farm animals' tune on a certain someone's iPhone *death glares*...

This one of Bell doesn't really fit anywhere or add to the story... I just thought it was pretty and to make sure you all really knew who is to blame if I ever get lost in my own backyard or on a bush walk or something (an activity I do not recommend we take up considering... everything...)

You call this a beach? I'll show you a beach… yes the sibling rivalry is alive and kicking (you know, that fabled rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne? The one that I don't even think about when I'm in Sydney because its just not an issue? Well apparently its contagious, and Melbourne is a petrie dish full of the stuff)…

Probably not helped by the fact that my bag had broken on the pedestrian bridge we just crossed and was being held up by a hastily constructed knot and a prayer… *tourist shots*

Call this my attempt at an 'artistic shot'...

Oh look its the Melbourne Luna Park Face… much more scary than its Sydney counterpart…

Lets fly Jet star! We did fly Jet star… and Virgin Blue…

Oooo… group shot! We are all in this one you see? See! My feet :-D… Wait a minute… how did they get shoes on???

And did I mention that we never actually intended to come here??? Nope, thats right… it only happened because we wanted to go to Brunswick Street Fitzroy but ended up on the tram to Fitzroy street Brunswick (and only knew we were in the wrong place because a nice lady on the tram informed us of the fact)…. Which I'll have you know is actually the SAME TRAM NUMBER… only going in OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS!!! I mean who does that?!?!?! Only in Melbourne sheesh… I mean in Sydney you would need to change trains at least twice followed by another bus and a ferry to make that mistake. :-P

Can anyone say Crunchie?!... Or maybe just hopeless...