Melbourne

We are heading out to the Outback this evening at six (like 2 in the morning central US time...I think...I always do that math wrong somehow...). Melbourne has been quite an adventure itself, as Tara and I fretted about if we truly had this hotel job or not. It was a holiday weekend and the Outback people run on what we call "Native Time" back home (apparently when there is a public holiday here it really means that no one does anything and nothing is open). Nevertheless, Tara and I kept ourselves busy...here is some of our adventures in the cold, very rainy city of Melbourne...

1. This city is known for it's little cafe culture...there are a lot of hidden alleyways chalk full of good little coffee shops and bistros. I wanted to have that true Melbourne coffee experience at least once so I dragged Tara to one of these streets the other day. The first place we went, the barista's ignored us for at about 6 or 7 minutes and all we wanted to know is if we order from the counter or sit down and wait for them to come to us. They were sooooo snooty. So we left. The next day we tried again in a different location. We knew we needed to sit down and they would come to us for this one but we were seated there for at least 15 minutes before we flagged down a waitress (the place was not that big either). Then our chai tea latte orders didn't come for at least a half an hour. We even noticed our snooty waitress hanging out with friends smoking while we were waiting for our drinks. Sooo weird. So then we went to Starbucks later and the people there are sooo friendly. They ALWAYS want to know our names (of course that's for the order but still....). Our accents are hard to understand I guess because the names on the cups always come back slightly off. Like for instance "Tara" has been "Tera" or "Terah" or "Kiara" and "Joy" has been "Joan" and "Joice" and "Joey." Today we did totally fake names. I did "Evie" and it came back "Ivy." Oh the little things that entertain us. Needless to say, we've enjoyed our coffee expereince more at good ol' Starbucks than if the famous cafe's.

2. Our roomie this time around was from Spain. Her name is Christina. We had great fun going out with her one night. We met up with our Irish friends we met in Sydney (after a very frigid couple mile walk...yeah we're still trying to live cheaply but I for sure thought I was going to be hospitalized with frostbite)...and they took us to this very small bar/venue where a gypsie band was playing. I'm always astounded at how people can be so creative and share such beauty with others. They seemed to be just making it up as they go (pretty sure they were ) and even our Irish friend, Stephen, starting adding his own stuff on the piano, having never played with them before. For some of the songs, a man rapped too and it was just such an interesting mix of genres but meshed somehow. Wish you could have experienced it. It was glorious to listen to and watch all the VERY colorful characters that gathered there.

3. Tara and I mastered the public transportation, the Tram, and proceeded to take it everywhere. It rains spontaneously here and so we were often caught in a sudden downpour. We'd find either a store to shop in or a tram to ride around to wait out the horrid weather. We took the Tram to St. Kildra one day and walked the seashore. It was windy but the sea was refreshing. We ate a cute little place where we agreed could have been our best meal yet. Nothing too fancy. But of course, as we rarely eat "real food," anything tastes pretty spectacular! We met some older aussie men cleaning their boat and had a nice chat. They thought we were a bit crazy going out to the Outback.

Well we're not really sure when the next time we'll have internet so this might be the update here for a bit. We'll be in Adelaide tomorrow and then Coober Peddy on Sunday. Then we'll be picked up there either Sunday or Monday. THEN we'll finally be "home" for the next 5-7 weeks. Cheers! Wish us luck!