Melbourne life

As the pace has changed significantly since I arrived in Australia, I'm afraid my posts may not be as interesting as they were in NZ but at least they'll keep you updated on what I've been up to... 

Janelle is back at work after the long Easter weekend so I've been left to my own devices during the day. Paatschy is a very glamorous, corporate working lady and totters off in her posh frocks and heels every morning. I think I may need to take some tips from her and give my working wardrobe an overhaul when I'm back. It's so nice to spend time with Janelle after almost two years of not seeing her. It feels kind of weird and perfectly normal at the same time. Tuesday evening we went round to Claire and Jono's for tea and to watch Survivor. The three of them are really and truly addicted. I didn't quite get it myself but, like any of those reality tv programmes, I guess it's easy to get hooked. Claire and Jono were really easy company and made me feel very at home. It's nice to meet some of the people Janelle has talked about since she came back and who have looked out for her when her UK-based friends couldn't.

Yesterday Janelle made me an appointment with Ted, the acupuncturist she swears by. I've never had acupuncture before and it actually hurt more than I expected it to. Not all the needles hurt, but some of them were pretty painful. Apparently they were the ones that were really working. The one in my elbow was probably the worst. Ted wasn't surprised as that's the heart point and my heart has been broken. Who says it's mumbo-jumbo? I was also prescribed some Chinese herbal tablets. I've got to take 7 in the morning and 7 at night. That takes me quite a while as I've got to take them one at a time to stop myself from gagging. I'm not great at taking tablets. Even wee black ones like these. All in all it was an interesting experience. It's hard to say if it helped in any way. If you've got a physical ailment you can measure progress. That's not possible with emotions.

I then caught the tram and train back into town. Melbourne's transport system is comprehensive and efficient. It's also much cheaper than travelling in London. I sat in the sunshine in Federation Square and had my sandwich (made at home so nothing special to report) while listening to some live music. It was part of a festival to commemorate Black Saturday one year ago, the day of the devastating bush fires around Melbourne. The tourist info have a series of self-guided walk leaflets so after lunch I took myself off on one of them. I really enjoyed it. It gave me a purpose, a bit of information as I went, and took me down side streets that I would have otherwise missed. I saw the posh shopping street, China town and some of the little lanes, stopping in a cool cafe for a dark chocolate and strawberry muffin and an afternoon cuppa. We stayed in last night and enjoyed a glass or two of NZ pinot gris that I picked up at the airport in Wellington and a very simple but tasty dinner (put chicken breasts, punnet of cherry toms, handful of shredded basil, lemon zest and olive oil in an ovenproof dish with some seasoning and bake. Serve with mash). We tried watching Fantastic Mr Fox but both fell asleep so that will have to wait for another day.

Today I've done some reading, sorted out my car insurance (yawn) and caught up on yet more emails. I'm meeting Janelle after work and we're going for a drink - I've selected about 4 bars from her Melbourne Bar Secrets card deck so will see which one she recommends - then we're meeting up with some of her mates to go to a jazz evening at a restaurant. Neither of us are really that up on our jazz but it sounds like it will be a pretty mellow night and you can't really object to jazz. Famous last words...

It's so nice having a proper night's sleep once again. I've been taking sleeping tablets every night since I left the UK but have now had two nights of not taking them and have slept really well both nights. I took them mainly to help me sleep on the camping trip but was worried I might have become a bit addicted but so far so good. I thought I was getting a cold/chest infection but that seems to have passed without coming to much. I think the camping came to an end at just the right time.

The weather has been OK - it was hot yesterday but has been pretty overcast since I arrived. Today is cooler (about 21 degrees) and quite blustery. We've had rain overnight for the past two nights but so far the days have been dry. Hopefully it'll warm up again, otherwise my lily-white legs will be coming home the same colour as they were when I left. Oh, one other thing I have to tell you about is the bats they have here. They are absolutely huge and fly overhead, quite high up, in groups - more like seagulls would. I've never seen anything like it. Our little bats at home tend to flutter around the eaves looking for insects but these ones mean business. Claire was telling us that they carry some sort of disease that has spread to horses and some of the vets treating the horses have died. I'll be avoiding them I think.

Hope all is well with everyone - I know I may not contact you individually often but I do think of you and hope everyone is doing OK.