Melbourne all alone

My big Melbourne adventure:

Today was my Melbourne adventure - ALONE - which is a big deal... "Aww my big city, country girl" as Daryl put it this morning when I called him from a bench overlooking the river through Melbourne. As it may seem after you've read this, I am not going to have very exciting written content tonight as it seems all my writing skills were used up at midnight last night.

Either way, I woke up at around 6am - after going to bed at almost 1:30am, yes I know Daryl "you should be sleeping, blah blah blah" - ripped out of sleep by the nightmare of all nightmares, not willing to repeat it all I will just say that it had the end of the world and people started missing and dying, I woke up in a big mess and refused to allow myself to go back to sleep again so I simply lay still for a while trying to expel the excess images from my dream - NIGHTMARE - before I climbed out and started the day.

The taxi arrived just on time and I was off and onto the train within 30 minutes, getting cozy in my window seat with my music and resisting the urge to dance or sing along like an idiot on a crowded train.

I stepped of at Flinders Street and waiting in the cold wind for the City Circle tram to take me around a few stops to the Aquarium. Since the wind had kicked up and the temperature had dropped since the day before I decided an indoor activity was called for and agreed that sharks won out over museum facts as they would do to most well rounded human beings... some that is.
The Aquarium was packed full of kids and school groups, teachers and tour guides, people yelling and screaming and laughing and flash camera's going off every few seconds, all I can say is thank God for headphones! I plugged in and simple sat in the "bowl" as it is called - wall to wall fish tank - and watched the fish swim around, everything from eels to sharks to rays to Dory and Nemo. I simply cannot choose the photos that I like best so I just added a bunch in the smack middle here :).

Though the Aquarium was fun and wonderful as I usually find aquariums, even the ones filled with kids! It was under a great amount of renovation through the winter months and therefore I was only there for just over an hour before heading through the gift shop for a pin and patch souvenir and out the door into the cold day.
I had decided to head towards a store called "Australian by Design" on Collins St just off Elizabeth and since that was give or take 7 blocks away or about 20 minute walk I decided to hit lunch in the middle and then after shopping walk to Flinders Street Railway Station and board a train back to Mooroolbark before the 5 o'clock rush hit and the train was filled with miserable, pissed off business folk.
I had underestimated the cool temperature as I sat on a bench looking onto the buildings across the river through Melbourne holding a phone to my ear, anything to hear talk to him I suppose. But well worth it, it was.

If you have not met Daryl or do not know much about him it is common that he is seen or heard of as a serious business man, dedicated to his work and his career... well that seems to go out the window as soon as my voice is heard through his speaker, big, tough, manly, handsome Daryl turns into a lost puppy dog ;), well okay not that bad... but he turns pretty sucky in my defence, it was well needed - the conversation with D - after my dreams the night before as well as my home sickness that is starting to set in a little more each day. So after over an hour on the phone and half a burger later I decided to tell my sweetheart goodnight and let him get off to bed, especially since I'd kept him up till around midnight home time... oops... Sorry babe :S.

The burger and Victoria Bitter were good and they kept me warm from the outdoors but eventually I would have to escape into the cold and make my way up to Collins and across to the shop. Half way down I heard advertisement of an old second hand book store a few streets up and tried my luck for one of my favorite things... I am slightly addicted to Poetry books, not the new ones but the really old ones, so when I walked in and searched through the "Poetry" section of the book store I was very happy to have found a few things that got me all giddy inside;
"Songs from the hills" by Marion Miller was published in 1899 and there is a signature in the front of the book wishing happy birthday to an "Isabel R. Mae" signed on the 12th of June, 1900.
"Australian Echoes" by John Mathew was published in 1902.
And "The Toiling of Felix" by Henry Van Dyke published in 1900 with a signature of an A.Mansbridge inside the front pages.
All 3 are beautiful and old and poetry... my favorite parts of books :)



So walking back down to the souvenir shop to get a few little things I was cold enough that I agreed to myself it was time to get home and get into some warm jumper and slippers and read my book - that Daryl is "forcibly" making me read - and enjoy the rest of the evening and an early bedtime!

Tomorrow if the sun shine comes through and the day starts as I'd like I might just take a trip to the Melbourne Zoo which may not excite every other 21 year old person but it sure makes me happy :D

Till we meet again

-A.G