Melbourne
I had been told by several people that upon arriving in Australia I would wish I was back in New Zealand. For the first few days in Melbourne this was certainly the case. From bungee jumping, white water sledging and skydiving amid New Zealand’s beautiful scenery to casinos, dog racing and bingo in Melbourne’s city suburbs. Tommy and I were depressed. Melbourne is a big city like any other and after traipsing through the urban jungle for a day we longed to be back in the serene beauty of NZ. We started looking at flights to other areas of Australia, Fraser Island’s nature reserve, Adelaide for cage diving with great white sharks. We were chasing the adrenaline rushes we craved from Queenstown that bingo could not quite replicate but it was all too expensive and too far away. So we decided to stick it out, and with the hospitality of Tommy’s distant family as our hosts I’m glad we did.
Whenever I’ve been away for longer than a month it has always taken me around 3 weeks to adjust and settle in. And during these first few weeks I have had a bit of a crisis of faith in what I’m doing. In Melbourne I’ve endured this crisis. What am I doing? Why am I here? I miss the routine of my life, the very routine that I longed to escape throughout the planning of this trip. I miss my girlfriend. I should be at home. I expect these feelings, and while of course I will continue to miss my girlfriend, I know that the other feelings will pass. I remind myself how lucky I am to be here. I can see how this trip is going to be a ‘one of a lifetime’. I need a good slap in the face. Tommy is happy to oblige…
What I have enjoyed most about Melbourne is that we got to experience life through the eyes of a real Ozzy family. There is a stereotypical view that Australian’s love to drink beer, surf and gamble. And the reason for this stereotype is because Australian’s do in fact love to drink beer, surf and gamble. Any excuse for a beer and a bet and many pubs and bars have TAB betting centres within them. Our host Ralph took us to the casino on Tuesday and to the dogs on Wednesday. It was actually at my request we went to the bingo on the Wednesday evening but the fact that they don’t sell alcohol in bingo clubs in Australia meant Ralph wasn’t interested and his daughter took us instead. This was almost the adrenaline buzz we were looking for as the speed of the callers made it more like extreme bingo. And at 50 dollars for a ‘cheap’ session it was almost as expensive as some of the activities we did in New Zealand! I got down to one number three times but didn’t win. Still, it was interesting to compare it with my club back home and comforting to see that bingo attracts the same characters and conversations on the other side of the world.
On Thursday we took a trip to St Kildas beach. A nice place 2 hours by train on the other side of Melbourne. I have learnt that Australian cities are big places. I think Melbourne covers the largest area of all Australian cities. And if ever you’re told that somewhere is just around the corner it differs in meaning to that of back home. Round the corner in Didcot is up the road and round the corner. Round the corner in Melbourne could be from Didcot to London. That evening we visited the Eureka tower and viewed Melbourne city from above, on the famous skydeck. The highest in the southern hemisphere. Great views! Friday we took a 3 hour train and bus journey ‘round the corner’ to Torquay on the coast. We decided to stay the night in Torquay Holiday Park as a friend of the family was teaching us how to surf the next morning. The small oven masquerading as an economy caravan taught us a valuable lesson; always check the accommodation before handing over your cash. At least we were situated close to the main road so the roaring traffic took our minds off the unbearable heat. The dilapidated park made me feel as though I’d transported through time and space back to the English coast in the 80’s. All we needed was Paperboy in the games room and I would have been back to my childhood. Still the facilities were clean and showers hot so we laughed it off rather than grumble. In the morning we arose at 8am to meet Matt and rent our surfboards and wetsuits and hit the beach. Surfing was great. The conditions were apparently not ideal with too many waves but we gave it our best shot and I managed to stand on the board a number of times for a few seconds. Hard work though getting back out to catch another wave. At least I can say I’m now officially a surfer and am looking forward to trying it again in Sydney. Before we got a lift back to Melbourne we stopped off for something to eat and of course a beer and a bet.
That evening we went to Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch a game of Big Bash 20/20 cricket. The stadium is great. The attendance was 24,000 but with a capacity of 105,000 the stadium looked empty. We sat towards the front in the lively section of the crowd. Highly entertaining. With 20/20 cricket they are trying to appeal to a new audience. It’s more like baseball with music playing, beach balls in the crowd, Mexican waves and chants of ‘you’re a w****r’ if you didn’t down your pint walking back from the bar. I couldn’t understand though why they had a different beer selection in the evening games compared to the afternoon. The maximum strength beer you can have in the evening is 3.5% but in the afternoon its 4.6%. And you can drink cider and spirits during both. Bizarre. I would have thought it should be the other way round, or perhaps not as during the second innings once the beers were kicking in someone was arrested roughly every ten minutes in our section of the crowd. With a century off 50 balls and all the entertainment within the crowd it was a good game. After the game we went to a local pub and a friend of Tommy’s 2nd cousin put $500 behind the bar. When I asked why he just said ‘Australian hospitality mate’. I said I’d buy him a pint if he ever comes over to England.
Sunday we shared a Xmas get together in the park just round the corner (20 minute drive away). All friends and family. Ralph dressed as Santa making each child cry that sat on his knee. Beer flowed. There was an abundance of homemade food and of course we played cricket. It never once felt like I was imposing or unwelcome. After passing out for a few hours around 4pm we decided to take it easy for rest of the evening as we had to catch a flight to the Whitsundays in the morning at 8.30am. A trip to the cinema kept us out of trouble and was a good end to a good day. Just as we made it home a storm broke over Melbourne. Lightning lit up the sky and the smell of rain on a warm day took me to a happy place.
Eileen (Tommy’s mother’s cousin) and Ralph, their daughter Angela and her husband. Tommy’s 2nd cousin John, all their friends Timmy, Willow, Dave, Matt and co. Everyone made me feel very welcome and made Melbourne an enjoyable experience. We had good weather for the most part although I still can’t get used to Christmas songs playing in the sunshine!
