Week 9? Is it? Melbourne Part 1

I've lost track of my counting system... it definitely doesn't feel like nine weeks since we started this tour!

I'm currently in Rydges in Kalgoorlie and it's very nice accommodation. We made it to WA! A lot has happened since I last wrote... phew!! I'll try to remember some of it.

So on Saturday 12th we drove to Melbourne, woohoo! We got to stay for ten days and had our own little apartments... luxury!! The first theatre was in Darebin which was a little bit out of the city and was a bit industrial/dodgy looking. Because Neridah and Cam had gone back to Brisbane I had to come with the other guys to bump in the set (otherwise I couldn't get there to do the lighting plot because there was no one to drive me!). I helped out a little bit by restringing some lanterns but mostly just lay on the ground in the theatre and waited til they were ready to plot. After we finished getting the set all ready we picked up Dave (who directed Iphigenia) who lives in Melbourne and headed back to our hotel. After getting dressed and ready we all met up and went to a Korean restaurant for dinner. One of Tim's friends, Pearl, met up with us too - she was in Melbourne working on the comedy festival. It was my second time having Korean (first time was in Queanbeyan) and it was still an unusual taste!! We were the only non-Korean people in there so I assume it was a good place. We ordered way too much and still had some food leftover. After dinner Fi, Thom, Dave, Tim and I went back to one of the hotel rooms and danced all night! That was a lot of fun and we all stayed up til about 4am - oops!

The next morning I woke up (feeling better than I expected!!) and went for a look around Melbourne. I went to a vintage clothing store which was supposed to be good but I have decided I'm not a very good vintage shopper. I get too overwhelmed with the amount of stuff and am not very good at going through all the clothes to find something good. I think maybe it's a bit better when you go with friends too. After that I walked across the road to City Square where there was a free show on called "The (Very) Big Laugh Out" for the Comedy Festival. I only caught the end which was a guy doing yo-yo tricks. He was amazing! And pretty funny too. Looked around a bit more and had some Korean leftovers for dinner. Time for bed!!

The next day we had two performances at Darebin. I can't remember much but I think they were quite small audiences. Bump out and off to the next theatre. Neridah and I went for a walk to find a supermarket and she showed me around some of the arcades in Melbourne. We stopped off at a places called Hopetoun Tea Room which was an amazing cake and tea cafe. There was a line out the front (I quickly learnt that the very best food places in Melbourne had lines out the front). I had a blueberry and apple crumble and Neridah had a raspberry and apple crumble. We shared a pot of Earl Gray. It was so yummy! After that we went and found a Woolworths and that was packed too!! The line for the checkouts extended all the way into the fruit and vegetable section! Glad to get out of there! Grabbed some rice paper rolls on the way home for dinner.

A selection of cakes at the tea house

The next day I took myself shopping. I decided to go to the sportswear stores while I was by myself as I thought Will wouldn't be very interested in that. I walked across the river to the Bloch dancewear shop because I wanted to buy some new legwarmers (not very practical at all really!). It was nice over the other side of the river. Kind of like Southbank mixed with the Emporium in a way. Inside the shop I looked at everything! I think I just want to wear dancewear all the time (not much has changed since I was little!). I wanted to buy everything but just ended up buying some black legwarmers to replace some old ones with a hole and some snazzy thigh high stripy ones. I wanted to buy some of the pretty ballet skirts which had flowers and patterns on them but I resisted (because where will I wear them??). Then I walked back to the city and found a Lorna Jane store. Spent ages in there too and ended up buying some pink sports shorts (again impractical) and a stripy running top. Grabbed some sushi for lunch (it was icky). We did the lighting plot at the next theatre at Gasworks. It was a very small intimate theatre, only seating about 100 people. And headed home. Thai green papaya salad for dinner on Tuesday night (I don't think it was as good as the one we made at Noosa, Luisa, but it was still pretty good).

The next day we had three performances at Gasworks Theatre which was near St Kilda. It was a short drive to the water which kind of reminded me of Sandgate or Shorncliffe. Except there was Luna Park and lots of yummy cake stalls lining the streets. It had a cool feel, I would have liked to go back another time. The shows were good, nice and intimate and the audience seemed excited to be there. One girl came up to me when I was talking to some others about how funny the Dad character in the show was and told me that her dad had passed away six months ago. I think she was trying to deal with it, she told me all the details of what had happened. It kind of explained why she had been acting a bit weirdly (poking us and running behind the set). She said he was up in heaven and I said that that was okay and I had some friends there too and maybe they were watching us listening to the Tashi stories. I felt happy that she got to come and see some nice stories and reminded me that what we are doing is important and you never know who's in the audience.

In between the shows the venue provided lunch with all these yummy sandwiches and cakes!! There was a park beside the venue so we all sat out there and watched all the kids playing, climbing trees and people walking their dogs. We saw a really gorgeous black border collie and an enormous white fluffy one who came over to say hello and eye off our food. It was also amusing watching a boy who was trying to devise plans to climb the most difficult trees, walking around them and pondering on the best strategy. Everyone seemed really happy. The buildings were cool too, all brick and wood. I liked the symbol of Gasworks which was also in a big statue of a boy sailing in a boat with his dog.

But the best thing about Wednesday was that Will was arriving! He turned up around 630. We were waiting for the others to go to dinner but they got delayed so we decided to go ourselves. Everyone said the best place for Mexican was a place called Mamasitas. We walked over (about 10 minutes away) and surprise there was a line! We took a seat at the bar though and ordered some drinks and food. I think the food was good but was a bit small for the price! Same with the drinks - but I had the best Mojito I've ever had! Later Lucas and Neridah (Lucas is Neridah's wife) and Thom and Fi turned up separately so we all sat together and had a chat. Time to go home!

The next day I made pancakes for breakfast and we went for a wander around Melbourne. We walked to the Queen Victoria Markets which apparently are good. But it mostly looked like cheap Asian clothes and trinkets and Australia merchandise which was a shame as I was expecting some good and interesting wares. Afterwards Will said he wanted to go to a typical Melbourne coffee place which I assumed meant in an alley. Found a place and sat for a while. For dinner we went to a place called Rare Steakhouse (because I like steak now!). It was awesome! Of course it was expensive but the food was great and the service was really good too. I would definitely go back!

On Friday we decided to go to the movies. Of course everyone else decided that too but I was prepared for that. But Will didn't seem too keen on it. Oh well what else are you gonna do on Good Friday!! We ended up going to the Lego Movie which was totally full and when we got to our seats someone else was already in them! We sat in seats near them but then the people who owned the seats we were sitting in came and told us to go tell off the people in our seats! So that was all a bit uncomfortable. The people in our seats left though (actually left the movie theatre...) and at least it wasn't as bad as the people who had to have a talking to from the usher about how "These are someone else's seats, you need to leave". Eek! But I thought the movie was pretty good and funny especially considering it was the Lego movie...

For dinner we went to a place called Shanghai Village which was a Chinese dumpling place. Surprise there was a line! But it moved quickly and we were given a number on a piece of paper and told to go upstairs. It's weird, lots of restaurants in Melbourne have an upstairs section which we weren't used to. Our seats were part of a longer table and Will rightly said it felt like eating in a school camp mess hall. It was good fun though and the food was fast and very tasty! We ordered a bit too much though!! Oh well, leftovers! It was complete with apathetic Chinese waitresses and very noisy. I had a good time!

I broke this post into two bits cos it was too long so there is another one coming!