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My flight to Australia was not to be a pleasant experience, from Phuket I flew on Jet Star to Singapore. That was fine, an easy jaunt on a well air conditioned plane. What followed was an 11 hour layover in Singapore Airport. With no local currency and no access to most of my money I couldn't afFord to leave the airport to go exploring, I wiled away the hours using the super fast free wifi and wandering up and down the massive terminal. I had the fortune to meet two girls from Melbourne I listened bemused as they complained about people who update Facebook unnecessarily I ended up chatting to them about my travels and where they had been. They tried to dream of things for me to do in Melbourne, but seemed to struggle to draw up a list. Their flight was before mine by a few hours, in the end I Skyped my mum and treated myself to coffee and cake. It didn't feel like I had waited nearly half a day when I was aboard the Quantas flight to Melbourne, I tried to sleep and must of managed some small amount, but spent most of the flight watching movies on the entertainment system, finally watching the Hangover 3, which made me genuinely LOL, maybe it was sleep deprivation.
Now I was prepared for Australian immigration, I've watched border control, I carefully filled my entrance card in. I rehearsed in my head what I was going to say to the passport control people, basically just trying to repress every instinct of my personality. Do not take the piss of these people Andrew, they might not let you in. What followed was the biggest disappointment of my life, they didn't quiz me, there was no searching of my baggage, no interview in a private room checking the facts, just a quick hello who are you, a stamp in my passport and in you go. This was not to be the first lie tv has told me about Australia. Exiting the airport it was cold and RAINING?!?!
I made it to the hostel without incident, this is to become a feature of my travel in Australia, after the insanity of Thailand, it is somewhat disappointing to have everything so easy, but I'm not sure I could cope with a year of feeling lost all the time. Checking into the hostel was easy enough, I had to pay for wifi which was weird after the prevalence of free wifi in Asia.
At this point I have to say I was very underwhelmed by Melbourne, sure it was big and there was plenty going on, but it isn't as intimidating as London and doesn't have the frantic atmosphere of Bangkok, in comparison Melbourne is cool, very hip and very laid back.
My dorm mates were a British trio, two British girls and British lad, all from down South, Essex it transpired, Ben, Sarah and Hannah. A bar adjacent to the hostel had free cider for hostel guests on offer that evening, so we headed to the bar that night, to partake in the oh so British tradition of binge drinking.
The next day I sorted my Australian bank account out and got my iPod fixed, thus far Australia was easy. I booked my RSA which you need to serve booze over here. I got my RSA with no trouble, one three hour lecture about the social, medical and moral implications of Alcohol later and I was legally allowed to sell beer in the State of Victoria. Now the fun begins.
Whilst out with Sarah and at the bank one day I did my usual engage a random in conversation and whilst asking for a good (cheap) Chinese to go to for lunch and this wonderful example of humanity gave me and Sarah a $50 note, because she wanted to shout us lunch. She declined our offer to come with us, just insisting that she wanted to do something nice for someone, and trying to tell us she was being selfish because she only did it to make herself happy. I have seen/met some horrible people in my life, but I have met far more beautiful, lovely people. We tried to do her proud and went to a nice looking Chinese restaurant.....only to be that confused by the weird service and lack of menu that we ended up running away, eventually finding a decent Chinese with actual real menus.
I also finally met the infamous Dean Breslin. He gave me a tour and showed me a couple of bars in Melbourne, gave me some invaluable advice for survival in Australia and some frankly beautiful insights into travelling in general. He doesn't conform to the Irish stereotype of liking Guinness, but he does love him some drink! When I was at my lowest ebb in Melbourne he gave me the pick up I needed by taking me down the Mornington peninsula one sunny day, we went to look at the old WW2 naval defences, this was a couple of weeks in, but having become disillusioned with Melbourne and Australia in general it was the boost I needed, a beautiful beach walk in the sunshine.
After what had seemed an easy first week in Melbourne I started looking for work.....lots of jobs, but even more demand it turned out. I was in Melbourne for just over one month and I applied for well over 60 jobs. People do not want to hire backpackers, we are unreliable, dishonest and prone to leaving, and with so many being in Melbourne employers can literally pick the cream of the crop. I walked into dozens of bars and gave my CV in, knowing in my heart that it was going in the bin as soon as I walked out.
I did get to go into some of the coolest bars in Melbourne though, a few personal favourites were the Section Eight bar, which is essentially in a yard off and alley, with old pallets forming all the furniture and old trailer for a bar, the Carlton club where taxidermy reigns supreme, with peacocks and a giraffe looming out of the wall, and the Asian beer Cafe with giant Buddhas and $4 pizzas.
Managed to secure myself a trial at GoGo bar, a fancy little cocktail joint underneath a Thai restaurant, after just over three hours he told me he needed someone who was trained, which was weird because I had told him I had no front of house experience before he put me out as waiter. As I sat drinking a beer in a bar after I had the vague realisation I'd been used for a free shift. The search never the less continued.
I roamed the streets of Melbourne, I went to Fitzroy and loved it's bohemian nature, although I felt decidedly uncool walking around, and found more coffee shops than it seems possible to have in one place. I went to St Kilda and found I'd sooner be out drinking there than working, it is the hub of backpackers and travellers in Melbourne. It was in the CBD where most of my fun and games would happen though. One day wandering around bars, pubs and clubs, I wandered into a venue. As I walked in, something in the very back of my brain hassled me for my attention, a little voice saying "Andrew, Andrew, just stop one second, did you see that sign?" a brief little back step revealed the cause of my subconsciouses alarm. The bars "Brothel Licence" made me question whether I actually wanted to go in and ask about any job vacancies, as I fled in a mixture of giggles and embarrassment I all but toppled two girls walking by outside, who looked at me with raised eyebrows before walking off.
I went up the Eureka tower and admired the view from the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, loving the fact that at 88floors up they have free wifi! We went up at night and the view really is spectacular, nothing is anywhere near as tall in the vicinity so the view is basically unobstructed.
The Essex trio departed, Ben heading to New Zealand and the girls moving into a flat, a new arrival was British, Billy from Carlisle. All the days started to blend into one, we would sit for hours trolling the wifi in search of employment, Billy eventually signing with an agency who got him some work doing removals and me getting a door to door job signing people up to get info about solar panels.
The door to door job was relatively easy, solar panels reduce bills and effectively pay for themselves, but going door to door is hard, especially when you're told you finish at 6, but in fact keep going until 7. And $800 base wage is appearing though so I persevered, right up to the point where my manager called me a liar. At 25 I was the oldest in the team, my manger a mere 21 year old boy, funny at first but arrogant to the point of comedic and as with all salesmen once you got under the glossy veneer of friendly and outgoing peoples person, selfish, ruthless, b******. I can't be bothered to transcribe all that occurred but in essence I really don't like being called a liar, and I told him this, he gave me an "apology," but didn't really manage to sell it, so I quit the door to door job.
My birthday was a fairly uneventful affair, I decided I needed a haircut and spent some time wandering the CBD looking for a salon I liked the look of. I found Manhor, I thought, I'm going to treat myself to lunch before my haircut and walked around trying to find a restaurant I liked the look of, I didn't find one and so just decided after a half hour or so that I should just get my hair cut...I couldn't find the salon...it started raining, after an hour of walking around I eventually ended up back at the salon, went in and to my relief they weren't busy and could get me in straight away. They offered, upon hearing my story, to let me come back after having food, but there was no way on gods earth I was losing the place again! I had my hair cut by a Scottish bloke with a moustache and drank an ice cold Peroni. The day may have been uninspiring, but for the fact that I had promised myself the previous year, on turning 25 that before I was 26 I would be in Australia....mission accomplished :)
Whilst at the door to door job I had a call from a man called Bernard, with reference to a job I'd applied for, where the opening line was "We're bringing the sexy back to Lorne." Apparently they liked my application, which I think began with "you had me at bringing the sexy." Not to many details at first, but just over a week after the phone call I was lugging my bags to Southern Cross station to catch the train and get to Lorne. A tiny little town on the start of the Great Ocean Road. Finally I had a bar job lined up, pretty bloody happy about that. It was right in the middle of my plans for Xmas and NYE though, which I had banked on spending in Sydney, but that was a problem for future Andrew!
It feels weird to have compressed over a month of my life into one post of just a few hundred words, but despite spending over one month in the wonderful city that Melbourne is, I did very little in reality. To truly enjoy Melbourne you need a lot of money and to get to know a good amount of locals. There's so many hidden little spots, and secret little venues. I spent most of my time using wifi to job hunt, which is the same wherever in the world you are. I did walk around and see lots of cool places, but nothing that is exciting to write about. I can say Melbourne is amazing and you're never short of things to do. I've been back since, and when I got off the train, it felt like I had arrived at home, it's the sense of comfort you get with Melbourne, I'm not sure if feel it with other cities, but we will have to wait and see!
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