Day 101: A little day trip

Today was a bank holiday so most shops etc were still closed, but I found out there was a modern art gallery called Heide in the suburb called Bulleen. So I decided to take my bike over and go see what it was like. There was an amazing cafe/restaurant there and all the work they had on display was really interesting. They had a big section, called We Are The Dead Men, on post World War II work by Australian artists. They strongly opposed Australia's involvement in the war and reflected their own experiences in their work. Also there was rather an odd exhibition, by Melanie Irwin, which comprised of a girl standing inside a white stretchy canvas whilst manipulating it with random objects such as a drying rack and her own body. I didn't manage to get any photos but I managed to find a video on the internet (below). There was another really cool exhibition by Emily Floyd called Far Rainbow. The art gallery ended up actually being seriously far away and it was so windy today that I almost got blown off my bike several times (slightly unnerving) but all in all worth while. This evening I also ended up cycling over to Rob's house for some seriously good stir fry and ridiculously cheap red wine ($2.50 a bottle from Aldi!!) and it turned out to be actually not so bad.

 

Day 100: Easter Weekend

So no hockey match this weekend because of Easter, but the girls at my house had a party this weekend!

Our garden

A little bit of the party early on 

Day 99: Psarakos and Thornbury

I am basically living in the Northern Suburbs in a place called Thornbury which is really lovely and everyone is so friendly. There is a huge Greek/Italian community out here so as a result there is seriously good food etc. Especially this huge fresh food market called Psarakos, I am literally in heaven in there. Its just a huge warehouse kind of thing of fresh fruit and vegetables and they also have a little deli kind of thing, where an entire isle is just full of pasta and another one is purely set aside for tinned tomatoes. I tried to get some photos, but they really don't justify how amazing this place is- so I will go back next time I'm there and take some more!

Day 97: Collaboration of funny snapchats I have received while I've been away

I know, bad etiquette, but these just make me laugh so much and must be shared. Also I don't have so much to update this blog with at the moment as I am just living in Melbourne right now, so I am going to fill you in with some other random little bits and photos!

 Clearly NY was thrilling Dad!!

This is just amazing Clem, definitely one of the best photos I have seen 

Day 94: My travel buddy has left!

So yesterday Clem came over for a rather random dinner of salad, mushrooms and pea and mint soup (basically like pea puree, definitely going to have to master making soup), and we chilled and watched the Book Thief and all we could do (well me) was point out how they had seriously diverged  from the original story line in the book which was extremely frustrating. I don't recommend watching it if you have already read the book, but maybe its just me. Anyway we suddenly realised it was getting late and managed to make a dash for the last tram to take Clem back to her hostel for her flight to Sydney which left early this morning! So now me and Clem won't see each other until July when we head off to Cambodia and Vietnam. I think her plan was to see her step brother in Sydney then carry on up the coast but you will have to check out her blog for more details which you can go to here.... invariablyclementine.blogspot.com.au  Its going to be very strange not spending all our time together. I think over the last 3months we spent only 3 nights away from each other!!

P.S. sorry Clem, this had to be put up

Day 92: Hockey match vs St. Kilda

So today we played our third round against St Kilda and sadly lost our first match so far. It was quite funny as Shortty was playing on the other team (we used to play together at school) and ended up scoring the winning goal! Also before every match all the girls used to shout go the Dee's and I could never understood what it stood for until I found out were actually called the Melbourne Demons, I think shouting MCC with a gum shield in is just asking a bit too much. Clem, even though she was suffering from the previous night, came to watch and took some photos so photo credits go to her! I play number 9 so see if you can spot me in the photos.

Day 90: Melbourne!

So on the 31st March we flew into Melbourne, which is where I will be for the next few months. So far its all going pretty well, the suburb I live (Thornbury) in is just north of the centre and the people I'm living with are all so lovely. Also there is the most incredible Greek/Italian food market about 5 minute walk away, so I can now actually eat some proper food rather than pot noodle (basically what we ate for a month in NZ). Also, we have won both our first and second round matches at the hockey club I play for (MCC). The first one was on Saturday 5th and it was about 24 degrees (not ideal) and I was rather unfit (but surprised myself that I was actually able to stay on for as long as I did), anyway it was again Doncaster and we beat them 2-0. The next round was this Tuesday where we played at the state hockey centre in the pouring rain and came back from 2-0 down to win 7-2 again Footscray. Yesterday, Clem and I had a wander around the CBD and came across loads of little streets bursting with cafes and restaurants and other little tucked away places. Also I have this amazing blue beach cruiser bike which I cycle around everywhere on!

The beach cruiser

500g wasabi peas, completely addicted to these!

breakfast

Minion cakes are everywhere!

My favourite flowers