Melbourne #3, Victoria, Australia

14th January – 31st January 2018

14th January

After spending the evening with Mick, Michelle and Jeannie, the next morning we woke up and contemplated going on another run. After debating for about 10 minutes, we decided that we would get up and go straight out for it. The weather was nice and cloudy, a good running temperature and we were back home for about 10 o’clock, setting a quicker time than the first run which is always a good sign. This didn’t mean that it still wasn’t a tough run though; we were both tired but felt energised.

When we got back we had our showers and then sat down in the cool for a rest. We didn’t have anything planned for the day, so it was just nice to have a sit down knowing we had had an active morning and could afford a rest. After a little bit of a break, we did some more job hunting for Joe on the laptop and then had our lunch. After lunch we had a nice chilled afternoon ahead before everybody would come around for the usual Sunday dinner. When Mick and Shelly came round, they brought their bikes with them, so that we could borrow them until the car was sorted or for as long as we needed them. It will hopefully mean that we don’t have to get public transport everywhere.

Dinner was great as always. Once we had finished and had our dessert, we all sat around and chatted for a while with Pass the Pigs being played too. It’s nice for everybody to get together each week and have a catch up and play games.

Once everybody had left from tea, Joe and Mark washed up and then the four of us sat down and chilled out. We watched a war film “Unbroken” which was really interesting, based on a true story of an American Olympian being taken as a prisoner of war during World War 2. It was a long one, so when it had finished, we were all definitely ready for bed.

 

15th January

The next morning was an early one. I started the day by giving Dad a facetime call, as it was his birthday (even though it wasn’t technically his birthday yet at home). After the quick facetime, we got ready and head downstairs as we could hear that Jeannie had arrived. We chilled out with Jeannie for a little bit, until the post came, and my paperwork arrived from Ripe. I sorted through it all and read over my contract before filling in the right information and posting it off.

After getting my paperwork posted, it was already time for lunch. Lunch was some salad mixed in with some of the leftover meats from Sunday dinner, it was very tasty.

After Lunch, Joe had to leave for an interview for a job opportunity that had come up. One of the job applications that he had found online was a sales job for a solar company and so he was heading off into the city for an interview at 2pm. It was a very quick turnaround from the application to the interview offer so I was a little bit sceptical about the type of work it would be but at least it was something, so off he went.

Whilst Joe was out, me and Jeannie just chilled out and iced the muffins that Mo had made for the Sunday dinner – Jeannie was not impressed that they didn’t come pre-iced. After chilling out for a little bit, I had to start to get myself ready for the cycle to work, as it was my first time and I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get there and to cool off.

I set off with plenty of time and it only took me about 30 minutes to get to work which is good, I could get used to cycling to work, as long as the weather stays nice for me. I got to Highpoint at about 2pm and then had plenty of time to cool off, get changed in to my work gear and to get refreshed before starting at 2.30. Once I had started work, I was doing a lot more, and was building up my confidence with the stuff that I had already learnt; it was a productive day and the staff must trust me as I was given my own key, so that I can open and close the shop on my own, when needed. When I finished, at 5.30, I got changed back in to my cycling gear and cycled back home. Joe was already home when I got back and thought that his interview had gone well, which it had, as I had already received a text offering him the job (he was using my number as he hadn’t got himself an Aussie number yet).

Joe was waiting until I got home to have tea too, so that I didn’t have to eat alone. Once we had both showered and had our tea, we had another chilled night but feel this one was much more deserved after our productive day. We all sat down and watched another film, “The next 3 days”. This one was about a prison break out, I don’t think it was as good as the film the night before, but it was still okay.

 

16th January

When we woke up, I went for a run, all on my own! Joe was too lazy to get out of bed. I managed to beat my time once again, on the same route, so the plan is to change the route after a few times of improving.

I arrived back at the house and Jeannie had arrived for the day; I was very sweaty, so she didn’t want to come near me, until I had showered. After my shower and breakfast, Jeannie was much more interested in me. The four of us (Joe stayed behind) went to Highpoint for a drink and a shop – Joe couldn’t come as his training started around lunchtime and we knew we wouldn’t be back in time for him to leave.

After shopping and wandering round Highpoint, we drove back home, in time for lunch. We had another healthy and tasty lunch, before chilling out for a bit. I’m getting very used to all of the kiddies programmes from Jeannie being round so often, so they’re becoming part of my daily routine.

After watching a fair bit of TV, we decided to turn it off and have a rest. Jeannie wanted to ‘do something’ after the TV had gone off, but she didn’t know what. I offered to take her to the park, but that didn’t interest her at all. Instead, she got the wooden bricks out from under the stairs, and we played with them.

We started off by building a house for the four ‘Shopkins’ she had brought with her, and their vans. As she didn’t like my suggestions for the house, she decided we had to have two Shopkins each and build our own houses, in a competition. She wasn’t so impressed when I grabbed most of the bricks when she said ‘just take the bricks you want’ – I need to stop being so competitive with children.

We spent time planning and building our own houses, which had strict rules, such as: it needed a garage big enough for the two vans, and it wasn’t allowed a roof. Once the buildings were complete, we were then allowed to play with the houses and visit each other’s.

Once my legs had numbed, from sitting on the floor, I had to get up and give the playing a rest. We chilled out for a little longer before I got a message from work – I was hoping that I wouldn’t get one as I didn’t want to go to the new launch, but I did. I got myself ready very quickly and ironed some clothes, before I had to leave.

Luckily, as it was such a hot day, Mo gave me a ride to the bus stop, so that I didn’t have to walk – and I wasn’t riding my bike as I didn’t want to be sweaty. Once I got to Highpoint, I went to the store to meet Olga (the store manager), as she was giving me a lift to the event. When I got there, the shop was all shut up and I thought that they had forgotten about me. Fortunately, Olga was just running late.

At around 6, Olga arrived, and we drove to Fairfield, where head office is. We were late for the event, but it hadn’t started when we got there. There were lots of people there, and as I only knew Olga and Robyn, it was a bit daunting, but I was fine. They provided us with pizza and wine, so I was happy enough.

The show finally started at 7.30, and we saw the new lines for the Autumn/ Winter seasons. There were some nice clothes, but a lot of the staff from other stores were very loud and critical of some of the designs – I found it awkward and rude. After the show, we left the office and Olga took me home, which was very handy.

I arrived home after 9 and spent the time catching up with Joe on our days, before chilling out, and going to bed.

 

17th January

The next morning we were both wake awake early as Joe was heading for his first day of his new job and I had an online interview for one of the tutoring places which I had applied for, Ezy Math, which I needed to get prepared for. We both woke up and went downstairs for some breakfast before we both started to get ready

Joe headed off to his new job at around 9.30 as he needed to get a train and then a tram to the base and needed to be there for 11am. Once Joe had left I got myself properly sorted and set up with my laptop ready for the online interview. It was a very strange interview as it was with 2 other candidates and we were all on the video chat at the same time, not quite the interview that I am used to. It was good to see what sort of people I was up against though and I feel my experience definitely helped, as I knew what I was talking about.

Once I had finished with the online interview, which took about 20 minutes, I had the rest of the day to myself as Joe would be out all day so I had a think of what I could do to try and be productive.

After the 3 of us had eaten our lunch I decided to get out in to the fresh air and go for a long walk to print off some maps of Australia so that I could have the afternoon getting some ideas together for the rest of our trip, once we left Melbourne.

Once I had walked to Officeworks, which is about a 25 minute walk, to print the maps off, I then had a walk up back in towards Yarraville, another 20 minute walk, to get a drink and have a rest. I sat down in Alfa with my Lemon and Pineapple juice, chilled out and watched the world go by around me. It was nice to have a rest after a long walk. Once I had finished my drink, I began to head back towards home and start to plan some trips that we could do during the rest of our time here.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up by coming up with new ideas and beginning to plan them out so that I could show Joe and see what he thought of them. It got me very excited to explore the rest of Australia but the plans all depend on availability of certain things, so we will have to see if it’s possible nearer to the time.

Once tea was served up, me, Mo and Mark sat down and ate and then chilled out for the rest of the evening and waited for Joe to get back home. We expected Joe back home about 8ish because his working hours were advertised as 11-7, however he didn’t actually get home until almost 10! Once Joe did eventually get home we watched TV for a little bit and had a catch up on both of our days.

Although Joe’s hours were 11-7, 7 was when they would finish knocking on the houses in the area that they were and then they would head back to the office. Sometimes they could be knocking on doors in places up to an hour away from the office, so they would be really long days. On his first afternoon alone Joe got one sale, so felt more confident after it. He decided to go back the next day to see how he felt after a full day but as he was only getting paid on commission, it really wasn’t a guaranteed pay which is what we were really after.

Once we had had a catch up and I had quickly gone through some of my ideas for the rest of our time here, we headed to bed as we were both getting pretty tired.

 

18th January

The next morning we were both awake about 9 and went downstairs to get some breakfast. We could tell it was going to be a hot day as it was already around 25 degrees and it was still only early. We both had our showers and then got ready for our days as we were both heading to work, even though I had tried to tell Joe not to go but he wanted to see how his full day went and if he would get any success.

Once I was ready, I got on my bike and began the reluctant ride in the heat to Highpoint; it was so hot (34 degrees at 11am) so I was not looking forward to the ride. Once I had made it to Highpoint I got a text asking if I could start any earlier; I’ve decided that whenever I get asked to work, I am not going to turn it down so that we can get as much money together as we can. I cooled down from my ride, got changed in to my work clothes, and head in to work ready to start at 12. I felt much more confident with this shift and I was even left on my own on the shop floor, whilst more interviews were going on.

After a successful shift, I finished work at 5pm and had a message from Joe saying that he was having no luck with the job and he had decided that he was going to go back the next day. I knew that it was the right thing for him to do, as he really wasn’t happy working there.

Once I had got back changed in to my cycling gear, I got outside in to the even hotter weather, and began my cycle back home. As I was cycling, one of the straps on my flip flop broke under the sweat from my foot so I had to ride home with just one shoe on. This was not ideal on my bare foot but it was typical after the story that Mo had told me the night before about her losing her shoe on the train tracks once, when coming home from work – I have no idea how she managed that, but I blamed her for jinxing me.

Dinner was ready when I got back but I was very hot and sweaty so I had a quick wash before I sat down to eat it. Dinner was a chicken salad, perfect for the hot day that it had been and it was so tasty. John and Paddy were also round for tea which was nice and I’m sure that they appreciated me having a wash before I sat down with them.

After I had eaten dinner I had a proper shower and settled down for the evening. Me, Mo and Mark sat on the sofas and watched some TV. It’s nice to just chill out after a day of work, especially after the bike rides in the heat. Joe eventually got back again at about 10 and after an unsuccessful day, we both decided that it wasn’t the right job, so he messaged his boss to say that he wouldn’t be going back. It felt a relief to both of us to send it. After both of our long days at work and in the sun, we were definitely ready for a sleep and so we head to bed shortly after.

 

Friday 19th January

The next morning, we had a bit of a lie in, as Joe had no plans and I wasn’t starting work until 1. We got up and had some breakfast and then decided we would both cycle to Highpoint early so that I could cool off, and so that we could have a wander around as we were back on the job hunt for Joe. We got ourselves ready, packed our bags with leftover chicken salad for lunch and then got on our way. It was another very hot day.

When we arrived at Highpoint it was 36 degrees, so it was a good day for us to both be inside. We had a wander around the floors but didn’t really look for any job adverts because Joe wanted something to fill his time with, whilst I was working, so the main thing was just cooling off. We found a bench and sat down whilst we ate our chicken salad and then we went to get some frozen yoghurt from the stand outside my shop. It’s a really cool little stand because you can get a little tub of frozen yogurt (which is practically ice cream) and fill it with all sorts of sweets and fruit and then at the till, if you guess the correct weight of your tub, you get it for free! Unfortunately, neither of us guessed the right weight, so we did have to pay but it was very nice and luckily, it was worth it. Once we had eaten our fro-yo’s, I went to get changed before I started work, whilst Joe set off on his second loop of the day around Highpoint to chase up previous applications and to try to find some new shops who were looking for people.

During my time around Highpoint whilst I have been working I noticed two new job adverts, one in a games store and one on a donut stand so I suggested those two to Joe. He handed in his CV there, so hopefully he will hear something back from one this time.

Once I had finished work at 5, we both cycled back home and quickly had our showers and got changed as John and Paddy were taking us both out for some dinner in Footscray. As me or Joe had never really tried Vietnamese food, and Vietnam is one of the places we want to visit, John decided that we should try some before we went and apparently Footscray has a large Vietnamese population. John picked us up around 6.30 and off we went.

We went to a restaurant called Sapa Hills and as neither of us had tried Vietnamese before, we left John to do the ordering for us. He ordered a few dishes to share and as each one of them came out, John showed us how to garnish them before eating, it was all very tasty and I think we will be just fine for food in Vietnam.

For dessert, John said that we had to try the Vietnamese ice creams – I was obviously very keen but when he ordered them they sounded very interesting and they weren’t the usual ice cream flavours that we were both used to ordering. There were three very unusual flavours which came out and then there was fried vanilla ice cream which Paddy had ordered, for us all to share. The three flavours were black sesame seed, green tea (which came with kidney beans) and coconut ice cream. They were all very interesting flavours but I think the fried ice cream was my favourite. It was nice to get a taste of what it will be like in Vietnam and I am happy to hear that they still serve ice cream.

Once we had finished in the Vietnamese, we drove to a temple in Footscray. It was very strange because we had to do drive down some back streets and off road slightly to get there but when we got there it opened up in to a big field with a beautiful Chinese style temple right in the middle. Apparently you can see it from the train line going in to the city but me or Joe hadn’t noticed it before, even though it was huge.

After the temple we drove towards Williamstown to walk along the beach for a little bit because it was still quite warm. However when we got to the seafront, the wind had really picked up and we didn’t last very long on our walk along the beach. When we were on our way back to the car there was a flock of seagulls trying to fly towards the sea but as the wind was so strong, they just weren’t going anywhere, it was very funny to watch them trying their hardest and going nowhere.

Once we stepped off the beach I thought I had some sand in my shoe so I stopped, took it off and gave it a shake and carried on walking. I made it about 2 steps before I realised it was still there but, after checking my shoe again, I had realised that the blister on one of my feet had started to open up and it was now a little sand pocket – it was a very weird sensation. Once we were all free of the sand, we got in the car and drove back home where John and Paddy just dropped us off. We had our usual night in front of the tv and chilling out before heading to bed.

 

Saturday 20th January

On Saturday morning we were awake early-ish and had some breakfast, as we wanted to head in to the city. I had an orientation meeting coming up on the Monday for a tutoring company, and the requirements were to wear a white or blue collared shirt. We wanted to make it a quick trip as to get it all on the same train fare and so, after successfully buying a couple of shirts, we head back to Yarraville and cycled back home, in time for some lunch.

When we got back, we ate our lunch, and afterwards, we both had a productive afternoon; I was doing some tutoring assessments and Joe was still on the job hunt.

At about 4.30 we started to get changed as we had been invited to Johns for a BBQ with Paddy, Mick, Shelly and Jeannie. Luckily John only lives about a 5 minute walk away so we set off and got there just before 5, with our bottle of wine that we had got earlier in the day.

We were the first to arrive and John wasn’t quite ready for us but that was fine. We all sat outside and had a chat, eating crisps whilst John cooked some lovely food over the open fire BBQ. It was a nice night for a BBQ as it wasn’t too hot. John is a good cook too and the food was so tasty!

Just before we left, we made arrangements with Mick and Shelly for the bushwalk we had planned for the next day. We walked home in the fresh air, burning off all the food we had devoured.

Once we got home we had a catch up with Mo and Mark and the four of us chilled out and watched some TV before me and Joe decided we needed an early night before our walk the next day.

 

Sunday 21st January

We woke up nice and early, had some breakfast and were ready for 9.30 when Mick and Shelly had agreed to pick us up. We were picked up and set off on our drive towards the You Yangs which is a national park on the way to Geelong (about an hour away).

Once we got there we drove up the path and headed on our bush walk up to the viewpoint. It was a hot and muggy day for a walk but once we got to the top the views were worth it. We were all tired but Jeannie was more than the rest of us. After a little look around at the top, a little break and some rock climbing fun, we decided to head back down towards the car. It took us about 90 minutes in total so it was a good sized walk, especially as it was our first in a while.

Once we had made it back to the car, we carried on to Geelong to have our lunch on the front. As we were driving out of the park, Mick spotted a Koala up in the trees. I’m not sure how he spotted it, but he did, so we all hopped out to have a look!

Shelly had made us all some sandwiches for when we got to Geelong, so we sat on the picnic blanket on the grass and ate those, before walking further along.

As we were walking along the front, Joe decided to go to the edge to see if there were any fish in the water. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw when he got there…

There were also a number of small statue type things and so I thought this was a good opportunity to make Joe join in with them – I had lots of fun. As we continued to walk, we found an ice cream shop for a tired Jeannie and then spotted the fun fair. Mick convinced us both to go on to the Ferris wheel with them, so we did.

Once we were on there we thought we would go round about 3 times, just enough to see everything but each time we got to the bottom we just seems to carry on going, I think we must have ended up going around about 8 times. Once we eventually got off the Ferris wheel we began to walk back to the car and start the drive back home as we all felt like we needed a nap before everybody came round for Sunday dinner.

Of course, the hour long drive back gave Joe and Jeannie plenty of time to get their naps in, leaving me as the only one awake in the back of the car, no surprise there. Mick dropped us off back at home at about 2.30 and we just chilled out for the rest of the afternoon before people came round later on.

At about 5.30 everyone who was coming for dinner (everyone except Cait, Rose or Danny as they were at the beach house) had arrived. Sunday dinner was lovely as always and very relaxed as I think Jeannie was still a little bit tired from the walk. John, Paddy, Mick, Shelly and Jeannie all left at around 7.30 and Joe and Mark washed up from dinner. Once everything was all sorted and tidy, the four of us sat down in front of the TV and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

 

Monday 22nd January

The next morning we woke up and went downstairs for around 9am. Jeannie was already round, and wasn’t too impressed with us that we had had such a big lie in – even though it wasn’t that big. We played a quick game, before she went off to Highpoint with Mo and Mark. Me and Joe stayed at home and had a chilled morning

We had some lunch, before heading out for a walk into Yarraville, just as the others were getting back from Highpoint. We didn’t really have a lot planned for the day, but we didn’t want to sit around and do nothing.

Whilst we were in Yarraville, I had a phone call from one of the restaurants in Seddon that I had handed my CV in to a few weeks ago. As I already had my job at Ripe and my tutoring jobs, I had to tell them I could no longer take the job. However, I thought this might be a good opportunity for Joe to take and so I told them that I knew somebody who may be interested. Luckily, Joe had brought his bag with him which still had some spare CV’s in it and so we set off on a walk to Seddon.

The walk took about 20 minutes and once we got to Mozzarella Bar, Joe went and handed in his CV. He was offered a trial shift later that night but the dress code was black pants and a white shirt, so unfortunately we would need to do a shop before the trial and we didn’t have time. Luckily, it was fine and he was asked to come in on Wednesday night instead.

With the good news of Joe’s trial shift, we felt we had to have a celebratory ice cream, so we walked back to Yarraville and in to Alfa. After a sit down and an ice cream each, we began our walk back home where Mo made us some burgers for tea.

The induction evening for one of the tutoring companies was in Werribee this evening. We hadn’t left ourselves much time to get ready and set off towards there, so it was a little rush. We packed up the burgers, as it was a little early for tea and head towards the station, on our bikes.

The induction session was scheduled from 6 until about 8.30, so Joe came with me as I didn’t want to get the train back on my own after that, as Werribee was quite a distance.

The course felt like a waste of time to me, as I already knew most of what they were telling me. I sat and listened anyway, to be polite, as most of the other tutors in the room were only 18 and had little or no experience.

I came out of the course about 8.45. Whilst I was upstairs, Joe sat in the reception of the building, watching some of the Australian Open that was in the TV and ate his burger. Once I was finished, we made the 10 minute walk back to Werribee train station and got the train back to Yarraville. I finally found some time on the train to eat my burger, before we had to get off the train and ride back home from Yarraville.

On my way back home, I had a message from the area manager at work, asking if I could work the following day, as the store manager had taken ill over the weekend. It meant that I had to close up on my own for the first time, but Olga had given me notes, so I said I would give it a go.

When we got back home, we had a chilled night in front of the TV with Mo and Mark and got an early night.

 

Tuesday 23rd January

The next morning we were both up early to have some breakfast before riding to Highpoint. We wanted to get to highpoint early as I was working at 12 and Joe wanted to do some shopping for clothes for the trial at Mozzarella. We set off on our bike ride and got there at about 10am – the bike ride is getting a bit quicker each time and we are both definitely starting to feel the benefits of our regular rides.

Once we got to Highpoint we had a bit of time just cooling off and then we got started on the hunt for Joe’s work clothes. After looking in a number of different shops and weighing up the different prices of each of the options, we successfully bought Joe some black pants and a white shirt.

We had brought our lunch with us, as we are trying to not each out so much, so once we had finished shopping, we found a bench, sat down and ate before we had to part our ways.

Whilst I was at work I had a text message from John saying that he has a friend who needed some labouring work doing and asked if Joe would be interested. I text Joe as soon as I could and gave him John’s number to get in touch with him. Joe spoke to John’s friend, Phil and said he would give him cash in hand for it on the day, so after a few texts backwards and forwards, Joe agreed to do the work on Thursday. After having a look in to where the job was based, Joe realised that it would take over an hour and a half to get there so it would be an early start for him.

I finished work at 5.30 and once I had tidied the shop floor and locked up, I got on my bike and began the ride home. I was home for just after 6 and dinner was ready for me when I got in. Me and Joe sat down for tea and then moved onto the sofa and chilled out for the rest of the evening with Mo and Mark.

 

Wednesday 24th January

As Joe’s hair was now at a ridiculous length and was getting out of control because it was so thick, we planned to head to Docklands for the day to find a reasonably priced barber. It was Michael who recommended Docklands, because everywhere else that we had seen was so expensive and that’s where goes. Joe wouldn’t be happy going to just any barbers though because he is so precious about his hair, so it took a lot of research.

After a forty minute bike ride, we arrived at the barbers that Mick recommended but they quoted Joe a much higher price than what we were expecting, so he walked out, as he didn’t want to pay $38. We had another Google of local barbers and found one which wasn’t too far away – Captain Clipper’s.

We got to Captain Clippers and all cuts were $30. We decided that the haircut was much needed and we weren’t going to find anywhere much cheaper than $30 so, even though there were a couple of people waiting, we walked in and waited. After about forty-five minutes of waiting for Joe to be seated, he got his turn and it was worth the wait. To make the most of the trip to Docklands, we headed back to the front and went in to a restaurant called Squires Loft, to get a late lunch. There was a deal in the restaurant which limited the menu slightly but, as we wanted to save money, we both ended up getting the burger and chips. We don’t usually like to get the same things when we go out as we like to try a bit of each other’s but we were both happy with our burgers and very full afterwards.

After the burgers, we felt we had to burn them off and so we had a walk around the Docklands shopping centre. I managed to buy a bargain pair of jeans, so it was a successful day for both of us, along with having some nice food.

After the walk, we the big ride back home, before Joe’s trial shift, so we got on our way. Once we got back home, we had our tea and Joe got ready for his trial shift at 6pm.

After Joe had rode up to Seddon for his trial shift, the rest of us had a quiet night in and watched some TV. Joe was home around 9ish and he seemed to have his enjoyed his trial shift so that was good. We just chilled for the rest of the evening and headed to bed around 10.30 as we both had early starts the next morning.

 

25th January

The next morning Joe was up around 6.30 to go to his labouring job; I wasn’t working until 9, so I had a little bit longer in bed. Joe’s labouring job was in Bundoora which meant he had to get 2 trains and then do a little bike ride to get there.

After Joe left, I got up and got myself ready for work. I set off at about 8 and had plenty of time to cool off and get changed before I started. It was my first shift opening up alone, as I had picked up Olga’s shift, as she was still off on sick and it looked like she would be for a while. Everyone at work said how well I was doing for being thrown in, but I think it’s the easiest way to learn sometimes, as you have no choice but to figure something out!

On my lunch, I was on a mission to get us some new water bottles. We had both been sharing my collapsible one that I brought from home but it wasn’t big enough for two of us and the rubber was starting to go a bit gross. I found us both 1 litre water bottles, both of which had our own initial on.

As I was only meant to be working until 5, I was expecting to be home before Joe but unfortunately, the person who was meant to be taking over from me at work, was late to show up and so I didn’t get to leave until nearly 5.30. Joe had arrived home at about this time from his day of digging holes and was showered and changed to get ready for his shift at Mozzarella. John and Jeannie were both round for tea, so it was nice to see them and chill out for a little while before they left. Once they had left, Me, Mo and Mark had a nice chilled out evening in front of the tv and Joe arrived home from his first shift at around 10pm. As we had both had long days at work, we headed straight to bed for a relatively early night.

 

26th January

I wasn’t working until 10 the next morning, so we got a little bit of a lie in. We got up and had some breakfast before getting ourselves ready and both of us riding to Highpoint. We got to Highpoint with enough time for us to have a little walk down around and cool off before I had to go in to work. As 10am came round, I headed off to work and Joe began to wander around Highpoint as he had a couple of jobs that he needed to do whilst he was there.

My day didn’t get off to the best of starts as I had a mix up with a gift voucher at work (something I thought I could just figure out on my own based on what we did at TK Maxx, but it wasn’t the same process) and I couldn’t fix it so I had to wait until Andrea come in which was meant to be around dinnertime. Luckily the customer was lovely and she had other stuff she needed to do so she was happy to come back at dinnertime. When dinnertime came, Andrea and the customer were both back and the voucher issue was fixed, I learnt what I should have done instead so at least I know I won’t be doing that again.

After Joe had finished his jobs, he waited until 1, for me to finish work. When I finished, I got changed and we rode back. Once we both got back home we had some lunch which was leftover pork butties from the night before, with some salad and then I made some extra for my lunch the next day.

As it was Australia Day, we thought we would see what was going on in the area. We had a walk up to Yarraville to see if there was much going on, via the park. Whilst walking through the park, we could hear music being played, so we went to have a look. There was a mini festival going on with people sat around having picnics. I wanted to stay but Joe wanted to walk to Yarraville to see what was happening up there.

When we got into the centre of Yarraville, it was very quiet and there were no signs that people would even know that it was Australia Day, it was all quite strange. Instead, we went in to Alfa to get an ice cream and walked back home via the park to enjoy some of the festival. We sat on the grass in the park, for about half an hour and watched a couple of live performances on the stage, before we had to head back, as Joe had work. The park was nice as it wasn’t too busy and it was a nice sunny day so it was nice to finally have a bit of time together just chilling out in the sunshine.

When we got home I chilled out with Mo, whilst we had a catch up on our days. Just after 5 we all sat down and had some tea before Joe left for work about 5.30 and Me, Mo and Mark moved over to the sofas to settle down for the evening. It was very chilled night and the three of us were very tired and about 10.30 I had still not had a text from Joe to say he had finished and so I made my way up to bed.

Joe finally got home around 11 with pizza from work. However, as he got home so late, everybody was already in bed so he put it in the fridge for the next day and also went to bed.

 

27th January

I didn’t get my lie in the next morning as I was on a long shift, working 9-6 and so by 8am I was up and ready to set off. Just before I left, I said a quick ‘hello’ to grandma on her weekly phone call. I left the house just after to give myself plenty of time to ride to work and get changed before I opened up the shop.

My shift got off to a good start as I made a $545 sale. I was happy with the sale but I was a bit gutted that I couldn’t get it to $600 because otherwise I would have got $50 of store credit and I’ve got my eye on a really nice denim jacket that has just come in.

Whilst I was at work, Joe was having a productive day at home as he had made the bed, tidied the room (which was getting a little bit messy) and had sorted out some of the Polaroid pictures which were starting to build up a little bit. As I was working all day, I had also given Joe the task of finding something that we could do when I got home as I wasn’t in the mood for just sitting in and watching TV all night.

After I had finished work, a little bit later than planned, as I haven’t quite mastered locking up and getting out on time yet,  I rode home and made it back about 6.45. After a long day on my feet, I was very tired and the idea of sitting in and watching TV got a little bit more appealing but I was going to see what suggestions Joe had made first. Joe suggested riding up in to Yarraville to a bar for a drink as it was a nice night but after riding to and from work already, I didn’t really fancy another bike ride and we were both a bit too tired to walk it. Instead, we decided that Joe could ride up to Coles, and get us some drinks and a couple of snacks and we could have a nice chilled night in the garden, as the weather was so pleasant.

Joe arrived back home after about 20 minutes. We shared the wine and crisps with Mo and Mark and the two of us sat outside. As we were sat on the seats, we saw a gecko run across the garden wall. After sitting out for a while, we decided the flies and insects were too much, so we made our way back inside, after being eaten alive. It was only a slight change to our normal routine but it was very nice.

 

28th January

The next morning was a very lazy morning and we certainly caught up on some sleep as we both woke up at about 9.30. We went downstairs and had some breakfast and could already tell that it was going to be a very hot day. As we were both off work for the whole day, we wanted to do something and make it productive. Once we had eaten our breakfast, we both did a little bit of research and looked for some stuff to do during the day.

I found a Food Truck Festival which was in Williamstown which we could go to but as it was already 32 degrees at 10am, we decided that it would probably be best to get the bus there, as it was far too hot for a bike ride. Just before 11 we set off to the bus stop, however, when we got there, we realised we had just missed one and it was a 40 minute wait until the next one. We found some shade in the bus stop, drank our water and waited for the next bus.

The bus arrived just before 12 and we were only on it for about 5 minutes, but we did get off a stop too early according to the maps that I had up on my phone. Luckily, we only had to walk to the next stop along to get the second bus to Williamstown. After we arrived at the Food Truck Fiesta, it was around 12.40, just in time for some dinner.

When we arrived, there was a $5 entry fee, so we tapped our card on the machine but, as it was so hot, the machine was been extremely slow in trying to process the payment. Luckily, the people on the door gave up on the machine and just said it would be fine so they let us go through. Once we checked the bank later on, the machine must have timed out as there was no receipt of the payment on the bank so it looks like we got in for free, a nice bonus.

Inside the fiesta there were a number of different trucks selling all different types of foods from burgers, kebabs and some more Vietnamese food. We had a walk around the trucks and weighed up our options before deciding that the best option was “Sliders on Tyres” where we got two sliders (small burgers) and some chips, it was all very tasty and I’m glad we chose that truck.

Once we had had a sit down in some shade and eaten our food, we decided we should try and cool off with some ice cream, of course. It was very quiet in the festival but we put that down to the hot weather and the fact it was a Sunday and the schools were going back in the week. After we had eaten our ice cream, we made our way towards the bus stop and began our way back home as everybody was coming round later on for Sunday dinner, we didn’t want to miss that.

We got back home about 4, just in time to have a shower and freshen up after spending all day out in the 35 degree heat, before everybody would start to come round for dinner. After we had showered and changed, we chilled out downstairs and played some Yahtzee. We have played lots of games of Yahtzee since being here but just before everybody came, we drew a game! This hadn’t happened before.

At about 5.30 everybody had arrived for Sunday dinner, except Cait and Rosie who were still at the beach house. We all sat down for dinner and had a catch up on our week’s. Once we had finished with dinner, Paddy and Danny wanted to show us where they had spent their time in the summer, at the beach house and so the iPad came out and they went on to Google Earth. We couldn’t really see their place as it is off the main road, but it looks like it’s next to the beach so it looks like a nice place to spend a summer holiday. After the excitement of showing me and Joe some more stuff of what is nearby, they both wanted to see mine and Joe’s houses. I found this a little more exciting that I should have done – I even found my car parked on the street!

After we had shown the boys what it’s like at home, everybody started to leave, at about 7.30. Once everybody had left, me and Joe sat down to play more Yahtzee whilst Mo and Mark watched some TV. After a few games of Yahtzee and we had filled in the full games sheet, we called it a night and sat down with Mo and Mark and watched TV before heading to bed.

 

29th January

After the extremely hot day, it didn’t seem to get much cooler during the night and I don’t think it dropped below 20 degrees which meant that neither me or Joe got much sleep at all during the night and in the morning we were both still extremely tired and it did not help that I was working 12-5.30. Mo and Mark also struggled to sleep and Mick said that it was his worst night that he can remember since being in Melbourne, so at least it wasn’t just me and Joe who struggled.

Once we had gotten ourselves up and had our breakfast, we got ready for the ride to Highpoint and again, Joe was coming in with me as we wanted to get some dinner together. Joe was working later on so we wouldn’t be seeing each other until after 10pm. After our experience at Nando’s, we decided that it wasn’t as good as back home and so we ruled that out and instead we opted for a Subway sandwich for our dinner. Unfortunately, this also fell behind the English standards and it wasn’t as nice as we were both hoping it to be. Of course, this did not mean that either of us left a crumb and so, after we had finished our sandwiches, I went off to work and Joe made the ride back home.

When Joe got back, Jeannie was around and so he played with some toys with her for a little bit but that didn’t last long before he needed a nap.

As it was so hot the previous day, there was a storm expected to clear the air. The rain however held off for the majority of the day but, of course, as soon as I had finished work and went outside, the rain started to come down. Luckily, I knew we were expecting a storm and I had packed my raincoat so I put that on and over my bag and set off on the ride home in the rain. I got home about 6 and Joe had decided to wait until now to shower – typical – so I had to stand dripping wet and wait for the bathroom to come free. Once I had a chance to get in the shower and clean up, we had a quick catch up, before Joe set off for work.

Once Joe had set off to work, Me, Mo and Mark finished our tea and made our way to the couch for a chilled night. It was definitely needed tonight as we were all still so tired after the rubbish night sleep we had, but unlike Joe, I managed to hold off having a nap. The rain continued for most of the night, so Joe also got wet riding home. He had a quick dry, got changed and came back stairs, where we chilled out for the rest of the evening.

 

30th January

The next morning we eventually woke up around 9.15, one of our latest mornings since being here – it was definitely needed after the night before. We went downstairs and had our breakfast before chilling out for an hour or so and playing some Yahtzee.

At about 10, Mo and Mark took us out to Yarraville Square to a little café shop called Antipasti. They said that it is one of the places that they like to go a lot and I can see why. I had a hot chocolate and a caramel slice which were both so good! After we had eaten our food and had a little bit of a chat, we headed back home.

We had lunch when we got back and then had some planning to do for when Joe’s mum and dad arrive in a few weeks. We had already planned a mini road trip down the Great Ocean Road, but as we lost the car, we needed to organise hiring one out for a couple of days. We went onto a site recommended to us by Mick and Shelly, who had seen something on a leaflet that had posted through their door. We compared different cars and prices and eventually settled on one, which we booked.

Once the Great Ocean Road was sorted, we had a look for things to do around the city for the other days of their visit. I looked on BookMe and found some deals for inner city activities, so booked these too.

After our successful purchases in the morning, we had to get ready for our trip to Docklands. Whilst I was looking on BookMe the other day, I found a deal for a glow in the dark mini golf course and thought it would be fun for us to get out of the house together and do something fun on a day off. We set off to Docklands and got there about 3pm but as our tee off time wasn’t until 3.30, we had a little wander around a shop that had been mentioned to me in work.

We went in to Valleygirl and they had some really nice things for cheap prices. I found some trousers that I liked but they didn’t have my size. I didn’t have time to try them before golf, and everything is non-returnable as it’s an outlet, so I put them back .

We went up to the golf and got our equipment. It was a little bit like Junkyard Golf inside, as there were some holes which looked like they were made from junk but it was good fun and it made it very different being pitch black when we went in. Before a couple of the holes, there was a wheel which we both had to spin and it would tell you what to do. For example, Joe had to play his first shot from behind his back for one hole. It was different and something I’ve not seen before so that was a good way to spend our afternoon. Sadly, Joe won.

After we had finished mini golf, we had just enough time to head back in to Valleygirl to look for the pants again as I really wanted them. But, when we got back in, I couldn’t find them and I thought they had been sold. Luckily for Joe, as he was the one who said we had to go, I found them again and tried them on, among a few other tops and I ended up buying a number of bargains. We lost track of time a little bit and set off on our ride back home about 4.30, making it back just in time for tea.

After tea, we chilled out for the night in front of the TV, followed by an early night, again.

 

31st January

The following morning we ended up having another lie in and woke up around 9.30, I think we must still be catching up on the rubbish sleep the night before but I’m not too sure how long we can keep using that excuse. After our breakfast, we had another think of what we could do during the day but the free options around the city are limited.

So, instead of going out in to the heat, we decided that we would stay in and play Yahtzee for a little while, which then turned in to all morning and all afternoon with a little break in between for some lunch. I’m not sure how much Yahtzee we can keep playing before I get fed up, but I’m loving it at the minute.

After lunch, we invited Mo to join in, but she always seems to win, so I’m not sure if I’ll keep asking her. It was nice to have a chilled day in the cool for a change without having to work. In the afternoon, Mo made fresh scones, so we enjoyed one of those, smothered in jam.

After eating our scones and a few more games of Yahtzee, me and Joe had to start to get ready as we were going to the Night Markets for tea with Mick, Shell and Jeannie. We were picked up just after 5 and went to the night markets which are held every Wednesday night, at the Vic Market, from about 5.30. The five of us had a walk around the markets, taking in all the sights and smells from all the different souvenir and food stalls.

After looking around the stalls, it came to decision time for me and Joe for where we wanted to get our food from. We decided on a Vietnamese stall, I ordered a Bahn Mi and Joe ordered a Roti wrap, before meeting back up with Mick, Shell and Jeannie to eat. The food was lovely but it didn’t seem to fill either of us and so, as it was warm and we really like ice cream, we decided to get some ice cream to take on our walk back to the car with us. I had red velvet flavour and it was yummy.

Mick dropped us back off at home at about 7.30, as Jeannie had to get home and ready for school – she was very tired after her first day back. The night markets were a really good experience and the atmosphere was great with all the people and all the different stalls. Me and Joe definitely want to go back there before we leave Melbourne and maybe try food from more stalls next time.

When we got back home, we had a chilled evening, playing more Yahtzee until Morse came on. We’ve really got in to the detective programmes since being here as there seems to be one on per night and they’re easy to keep up with. After Morse had finished, at about 11, we head to bed and had a nap before we had planned to get back up again to see the ‘Super moon’ which would be just after midnight.

The super moon (which is when the moon is close to Earth, making it appear larger and brighter), ‘blue moon’ (which is the second full moon in a calendar month) and a ‘blood moon’ (which is when the moon appears red) would be clearest to see about 12.30 so we set an alarm for 12.15 and both got up to check it out. However, technically, as it would be after midnight, this would be a classed as February and so it wouldn’t really be a blue moon, but the news said it was, so I’ll accept that.

We got up and it was very cool to see. I wanted to get a good picture but it was so difficult in the dark with no tripod. We got two clothes rails out to try and balance the camera on, in a make-shift tripod but it wasn’t perfect. It helped a little bit and kept the camera kind of still, so I managed to get a good picture but it still did not do it justice. After we had spent about 15 minutes outside trying to get the picture, we decided to call it a night and head back to bed to get some sleep.

The rest of January didn’t really consist of much for us, once I had got myself a job. I managed to pick up a lot of hours at work, which was lucky; we played lots of games and did lots of chilling out. We have had some lovely days out though, in between all of the work, and are so grateful for all of the effort that people are putting in with us!

To travel is to live, Katie (co-written by Joe) x