April - Melbourne

What a month!! It all started with the loss of my job in Sydney which in 5 days landed me in a new part of Australia. Within 5 days of losing my job I bought a plane ticket, packed up, had a leaving do and moved to Melbourne for my next adventure! And here we are 3 weeks later (end of April), still jobless! But thanks to not having to pay rent in Sydney, I am still managing to live comfortably on the money I saved while working.
The move of course meant I had to leave the 404 family. A great 2 months was had living at Base and I met some awesome people over that time. They definitely made my time in Sydney one of the best experiences of my life and I very much look forward to meeting them all again one day in England… Sherwood Forest reunion Jan ’09!!

Melbourne
Chris, Gemma and I all arrived in Melbourne on 7th April. These were people I worked with in Sydney who were also laid off. Kenty joined us a week later after a quick trip back to England. Finally after 5 months, Flora turned up in Melbourne on 30th April! Unfortunately, she booked her flight to Australia for 19th April, but to Sydney as that was where I was due to be until June. She spent a little time in Sydney before joining the fun in Melbourne!
With the long weekend for Easter looming upon our arrival, we got straight on the job hunt, visiting various agencies and searching through pages of job adverts in magazines and online. A hard day’s work looking for jobs was always awarded by an evening in the bars, getting to know the local area!
The Easter weekend involved long walks around Melbourne getting to know the city and checking out the architecture. There are so many random art pieces scattered throughout the city. On Easter Sunday we took a train out into the country where Kim (mate from camp) picked us up and drove us to a few wineries and then for a short walk at Badger Creek. We took a trip via Ramsey Street on the way back to the city! Easter Monday took us to Phillip Island to see the penguins returning from their time at sea, along with a visit to a wildlife park, a surfing beach and free pizza!

Since then, the job search has continued. We all managed to get a job with the same company, Victoria Electricity. This was an outbound call centre and our role was to call potential customers and get them to change provider. This has got to have been the worst job I have ever had! It wasn’t that I couldn’t do it, I managed 2 sales in my first full day. But each time I called someone I dreaded them answering because I knew most people would not even want to listen. I know myself I would not want to! After 2 days on the phones, we all left the job. We would rather be jobless than have to do that kind of work! At least I have learnt that telesales is not a career that I wish to pursue!

One of the great things about living in Melbourne is that Kim lives here. I met Kim back in 2004 my first summer at camp. We have each devoted our summers to Tecumseh since then. There have been a few occasions since I have arrived that we have met up, both out in the country where Kim lives and in the city. Trips out to the country include the Easter getaway; and a drive in turned normal cinema session to watch Fast and Furious. My involvement in making wedding invitations was well paid by home cooking and the ability to watch TV (somewhat of a luxury in the backpacker hostel world! Kim and Chris made it into the city once and joined us on a tour of a few city bars.
As for the weather in Melbourne... this city has the ability to go through four seasons in just one day. You can wake up and the rain will be pouring down, then after taking a shower the sun will be shining with bright blue skies! The temperatures have dropped considerably compared to Sydney. Over one night the temperature dropped to the teens from the mid twenties. Right now it is turning to winter, and the temperatures are very similar to England. Bring on the summer, only 2 months away, and the beauty of following the summer around the globe!

Future Plans?
With just over one month left in Australia before a return to Camp Tecumseh, there are no definite plans for future travel. I have a return ticket from Melbourne to New York and I will be returning here in September. As for plans after this date………
…… only time will tell!

New photo links will be up in the next couple of days!