"Melbin"

Before making my way up to Brisbane to attend the University of Queensland, I was lucky enough to stop and see the sights of "Melbin". What a great city. Filled with small cafes and cute boutiques, the place is definitely lively and vibrant. They have these awesome shopping arcades - they are like mini malls and they are everywhere! Note that the shopping is very expensive - just living in general is expensive.  My dad summed up the difference in cost of living with a prime example: 7 dollar Subway foot-longs. This contrasts with North American 5 dollar foot-longs. This simple 40% increase in cost is representative of all prices. Regardless of the steep prices (which I soon realized was not just in Melbourne), it was a great adventure. Just make sure you're prepared! 

We visited the old GAOL - the penal museum based in Melbourne where all of the convicts were sent. The creepiest apart about that museum was that they had, in each cell, the head moulds of all of the criminals. Creepy. 

We also visited the Melbourne Zoo, which was fantastic. It's an older zoo, so everything seemed to be a lot more open - the most "open" of zoos that I've ever been to. For example, we went into the kangaroo area.. and the only thing that separated them from us was a wooden post. It didn't really matter though, as they were all just sleeping. They sort of remind me of dogs. They were not interested in entertaining, just living their lives, in peace. Laziness?! There were also the classic zoo animals: gorillas, lions, elephants, etc. I was most excited to see the wombats. Unfortunately, they're nocturnal. I went into the underground  viewing area to see them, but the only one I could see was lying on his back. Lame. 

We also visited the Queen Victoria Market, which was huge. Amazing prices for produce - I got 3 packs of strawberries for two dollars! Who knows where or when they were made but you know what I mean! 

Overall, Melbourne was great. Other than the flash floods, it was a smooth journey. Maybe I should have brought my Hunter boots after all?  Kevin came to visit and we got to try out some cool places to eat and test out some international brews. After a week in Melbourne, I was off to Brisbane!