Melbourne Long Weekend Break

Hello there again! I know I posted some of these pics on Facebook already, so I dare say most of you guys will have had a chance to look at them already - and for those of you not on facebook yet, go check it out! Its a great way to share photos and keep in touch with people, and this from someone who normally hates these kinds of social networking sites. From a geeky IT industry worker perspective, its a really very interesting company - the guy who owns it apparently turned down something like $980m to sell it!

So, a week and a bit ago I went down to Melbourne, as we had a long four day weekend and I thought, what the hell, it would be great to check out somewhere new (can you believe I've been in Sydney for about six months now?). So, I went down with my housemate Chrissy and a few of her friends - a 10 hour or so car drive, but really not that much in a country as big as Australia - its so damn big you hardly even realise just how long your driving for or how far you've gone, its all so similar, big, flat rolling prairie land or bush mostly.

I stayed with my friend Martin who I met in the hostel I stayed at when I was in Barcelona, and he very kindly offered me his sofa if I ever made it down to Melbourne. Unfortunately I picked up a nasty cold on the way down (typical hu, go on holiday, get sick!) so it was kind of frustrating, but I still had a great time - checked out Queen Elizabeth Market, went to see all kinds of Australian artists at the Ian Potter Centre of the National Gallery of Victoria, walked along the Yarra River, saw China Town and the suburb of Fitzroy and of course, checked out the bars and clubs (the heart of the Melbourne social secene, don't you know).

Overall, its a great city and I can see why people rate it as so liveable, but really for me, it was just too small - the down town area really is tiny - and I don't think I could rate it as attractive as Sydney, not with the harbour and beaches :) I guess I'm a Sydneysider already! Anyway, enjoy! I continue to check my ClustrMap with interest - got some Midwestern US vistors and a few Swedes I see, and who's from the North of England?