I wandered around the city this morning and tried to stick to streets I haven’t walked down before and initially found a coffee (most important) followed by the Carlton Gardens & Exhibition Building which is a lot like Hyde Park except I was pretty much the only person there so it was really cool.

Exhibition Building & Carlton Gardens

I then continued on Victoria Street up to the Markets and spent some time just wandering around…slowly getting hungrier looking at all the deli’s.  I bought a sourdough loaf and some avocados so I can finally have a meal at home. Ironically I’ve been spending more money on food than I normally do because I want to keep going out to eat for something to do…not a good idea for my wallet (or my weight).

Queen Victoria Markets

After grabbing a coffee I headed away from the markets and I was convinced I had my bearings until I saw Little Lonsdale Street. Then I just tripped out and I was going the exact opposite direction to what I thought I was! Seriously, I got lost trying to find Lonsdale street on the previous Sunday night and now it’s haunting me!  Anyway, although a little confused at first, I was pretty happy that I was able to predict every street in front of me from there! Little Lonsdale – Lonsdale – Little Burke – Burke… nailing it.

Carlton Gardens

I see Flinders Lane but decide I’m not quite done exploring so I walk to Flinders Street and over the bridge to Southbank and I’m briefly bummed when I see a bunch of girls have brunch/drinks at a café by the river.

Which reminds me – alcohol is like having a glass of water here! When I was at the markets it would have ben 11am and I walked past a couple of couples who looked like locals and were about 40. Just hanging out at a table outside the entrance to the markets having some gozleme with drinks, the women had a glass of white each and the guys beers. I’m the last person to judge but in fact it didn’t even warrant judgement – it seemed so civilized and normal, as if they were sipping some mount franklin with their brunch. Anyway, I just love that.

I head along the river towards the MCG and consider continuing to Richmond but I figure I should head back. By the time I get home I’ve actually been gone for over 2 hours and suddenly my legs start to hurt.  It occurs to me that I have another two days on my own this weekend and although I’m having a great day today – I’m conscious not to do too much too fast!

Victoria Markets Puchases – My brekky for the next week

When you leave all your friends behind indefinitely, you almost don’t want to remember how great they in fear that you’ll miss them too much!

My Easter Weekend Care Package

Given I don’t know anyone here in Melbourne and the fact it’s Easter Friday, it was very strange when I got a knock at the door this morning. The concierge has package for me with the return address from Hannah Shephard (smile) – my first thought is that I’ve forgotten something.  But as I ripped open the many packages I realise it’s a care package from my best friends for my first weekend in Melbourne. I was literally laughing with joy and I must have cried “Oh my God!” about 12 times. Wow, you really appreciate how well your friends know you when you’re sitting on the couch with a slight hangover wishing you hadn’t sent your collection of dvds into storage – and then almost in response to that thought, you’re sent exactly what you needed.  Melbourne will have to wait, I’ve got a date with Dexter 😉

Hot Air Balloons at Sunrise

My first night’s sleep in Melbourne wasn’t the greatest and I put this down to my subconscious freaking out at the thought of moving cities.  But it’s a strange feeling. On the one hand, I want to be settled in and to immediately feel like I live here. But on the other hand, it’s almost like an instinctual reaction, that I feel like it’s only temporary and that I shouldn’t settle in.  My ‘sleeping’ state obviously knows what’s going on more than my ‘awake’ so I’m hoping some phenergan will knock me out until they catch up to each other.

Still, I couldn’t complain on the morning I woke up here. Opening the curtains in my room I actually let our a yelp when I saw the hot air balloons in the air, floating towards the sunrise. Honestly, it was ridiculous. Apparently this is a daily ritual of Melbourne that no one even thought to tell me about because “oh yeah, that’s just standard”.  (wow).

…why I’ve decided to create a blog. To be honest it started for my own sanity – to give me something to do in between wandering around the streets of Melbourne aimlessly.  Coming home after work can become way too routine and this almost forces me to have something to write about!

I have maybe the worst memory imaginable for a girl my age and given this is the biggest change in my life to date, I figured I didn’t want to forget it all in 10 years. I’m also hoping that while I’ll document the great times I’m having down in Melbourne town, that I can look back at the hard times I’m inevideblly going to have. Optimistically, I’m hoping I’ll look back in 12 months, blissfully happy with heaps of friends and think, wow how things have changed.

And finally, I would love to distance myself from Facebook finally! The danger of moving to another city while still checking the daily updates of my Sydney friends is that I never mentally leave the city! This way the people who really care about what I’m doing can still check in, but I won’t be crying to myself when I see a check-in from my besties at my favourite café or bar in Sydney.

So there you have it, the motivation behind the blog lies with boredom, a bad memory and selfishness. I’m off to a great start!