Good Times in Melbourne

I am back from the tropical north and the weather is similar to a brisk October day in Halifax. I really miss the tropics. Diving was amazing, though, and I saw clown fish and angelfish and rays and a porcupine fish, but no turtles, which is a bummer. I think I will definitely be doing that again- I heard Mexico is a good place to go, minus the flu issues of course. I am pretty sure the pressure gave me an ear infection, but I don't care because it was totally worth it.

After my diving course I took a tour of the northern rainforests up by Cape Tribulation. Absolutely stunning. There was a river cruise included where I saw no less than 8 crocodiles along the way, ranging from 40 year old beasts to a little guy about a foot long. I met a cool chick from Britain named Nicola and we hung out for most of the trip and made fun of the noisy American girls in the back. It's nice that us Commonwealth gals have some common ground. It seems that I am meeting all these cool people just as I am leaving. There was another cool chick from Morocco in my hostel who gave me some tips about North African geology companies and said I should check it out. On my last night in Cairns we had some vodka coolers in the lounge and talked about home.

Today is my last full day in Australia and I have been having a blast in Melbourne. I was kind of dreading this bit because I was basically planning to killing time until I go to the airport tomorrow. Instead, I will barely have time to finish all I want to do. On Friday night I got in from the airport at about 6pm which was decent and I grabbed a hostel room right near the train station because I didn't want to walk too far- that was a mistake and I ended up in the nastiest place I have been in since coming to Australia. At 7:30 am I was out of there and walked into the central business district to find something classier. I found a rundown joint north of the markets, but it had a good atmosphere and was only $20 a night. After breakfast at the Queen Victoria Markets (like the Halifax Farmers Market x 10), I spent a good 4 hours touring around the excellent Melbourne Museum. I thought I would treat myself and went in search of a restaurant. Instead, I met two cool gals on the tram and I hung out with them for the rest of the night. including crashing at their hostel because it was too late to walk back to mine and I was too cheap for a taxi. Laura is from New Brunswick and Katie is from Scotland. I was giving them advice on where the tram was headed and they invited me to join them. We had a great italian meal and dessert and after-dinner drinks and just chatted all evening. Once again, more cool people that I am meeting just as I leave. I guess that is what Facebook and email are for, though, right?

-A.