Back to Melbourne
First couchsurfing in Australia, meeting Amanda and Lucia and getting ready for a roadtrip
From Torquay I returned to Melbourne to spend 3 nights at Natasha’s place. She and her husband Alex have a new born baby and it was amazingly nice of her that she hosted me during such busy times. And not only that, she even took me to 2 couch surfing parties and organized dinner with some people on the third night. Impressive indeed. She took the little cute kid everywhere with her (it’s already her 4th kid). But as they were busy I spent the days mostly alone, wandering through Melbourne. My opinion about Melbourne didn’t really change, it’s surely great city for living, but there’s something missing, at least for me. I don’t know what. Bars are cool, lots of hipsters, but I still had this feeling that it’s too posh and I felt like homeless man in my clothes and yeti look. Maybe the problem is that while Melbourne would be good place for life, it’s that kind of life that lost its attractiveness for me. I’m no longer interested in acting important in tie and business suit, just to afford apartment in downtown. Nah, not for me anymore.
So while city-wise I liked Melbourne but was not over-excited about it, good things happened thanks to people. Apart from Natasha introducing me to some very nice folks from CS, the last evening in Melbourne (when I stayed in hostel again) was especially magical.
On my last night in Melbourne I met in living person Amanda, the first foreign person who ever e-mailed me/to whom I e-mailed, some 17 years ago (in today's lingo I would say "the first person I've met on internet") and then Lucia, my sister's best friend who lived next door from us, and whose mom used to babysit me when I was little.
I mean how cool is it to meet on the other side on this planet someone whom you got to know over internet 17 years ago (it wass because of my Pirates II. PC game) and then someone who lived next door?
Now who says that magic doesn't happen?!?!
On Saturday picked a camper van which I hired for 6 days, bought supplies of food, camping mini-stove, gas canister, portable set of pots, Australian road atlas and hit the road. The road trip commenced. Part 1: Great Ocean Road, magnificent stretch of coast west from Melbourne (which starts basically in Torquay).
Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. Australian beer is really good! Similarly as in US, the good stuff is produced by local breweries, not nation-wide giants, and just like in US the spectrum of types of beers is pretty broad. Ales – pale/golden/dark/amber/IPA, pilsners, ciders, wheat beers, fruit beers, … This is what I call beer culture, not that boring old pilsner lager that’s the only type of beer back in Slovakia (and Czech Republic). Only problem is that it’s so fucking expensive! Even in shops a 330ml bottle is over 4 AUD (more than 3 EUR), and in pub it’s usually between 8 and 10 AUD. Ouch! This ain’t gonna be drinking trip with that kind of prices…
