travel – Backpack Bradie

Argentina – Buenos Aires

April 15, 2024April 16, 2024Posted in UncategorizedTagged argentina, buenos-aires, south america, tango, travelLeave a comment

We arrived into Buenos Aires and jumped in a taxi to our hostel, Milhouse Avenue. Getting a taxi from the airport is easy, just find the taxi rank and scan the QR code. This will take you to a page where you can put in your address and it will give you the price, you then just show this to your driver when you get to the front of the queue.

The hostel was nice, our private room was massive and the place had a big kitchen, a restaurant/bar and lots of activities in the evening. That being said, we didn’t find it that sociable but maybe we weren’t trying hard enough? Who knows. Either way most people either stay here or at Viajero which is supposed to have great parties and also has a pool!

That evening we were pretty tired so while Nia and Charlie headed to the famous La Bomba de Tiempo (a drum show that turns into a party every Monday night), we got our washing done and had dinner at a lovely Italian called ABRA. I highly recommend this restaurant, the pizzas were probably the best we’d had in South America, the waiter was lovely and the wine was good!

The next day, the 4 of us met up again for a walking tour in La Boca. This is the arts district of Buenos Aires and is filled with colourful buildings, murals, restaurants, bars and market stalls. It’s also home to the famous Boca Juniors football team and the love Argentinians have for football is expressed everywhere here. There are paintings, statues, shops, anything you can think of, dedicated to football, Messi and Maradona. The walking tour wasn’t free ($10) but it was really good, we learnt about how immigration, specifically from the Italians and Spanish, influenced the culture and how it became a melting pot of cuisine and language. We also learned a lot about the Boca Juniors and River Plate rivalry and saw the famous D-shaped Boca Juniors stadium, this is a tour worth going to.

For lunch we found this cute spot called El Gran Paraiso. You can either sit in for a proper meal or you can get a Choripan (basically an elite hot dog) and go up onto the terrace where you can watch the world go by on the street below with a beer in hand.

In the evening we went to the El Querandi tango show! This is quite an expensive activity to do but we felt it was necessary in the birth place of the dance. It’s $80 and includes a return transfer, 3 course meal, unlimited wine and an 1.5 hour show. It was a bit of a shock when we arrived and we were the only people under 65 but that just added to the hilarity. The dancing itself was amazing, what these people can do with their feet is mind blowing. The whole event was really good fun, the food was OK and the wine drinkable but the quantity made up for the quality.

On our second day in Buenos Aires we did the city centre walking tour (this one is free + tips). We felt that this was probably the least interesting out of the 3 walking tours we did but we were still glad we went. We learnt about the political landscape of Argentina and about how the mothers of the children who were ‘disappeared’ by the dictatorship stood up to government, these amazing woman are named the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and are recognisable by the cloth diapers they wore on their heads to symbolise their lost children. Once the tour was done, it was a quick turn around to try and make ourselves look as presentable as possible, despite only having travelling clothes, no hair drier or iron, because we were heading to Don Julio for dinner! Thank you to Nia & Charlie for booking this way in advance, otherwise we’d have to queue up from 4pm instead of just walking in the door at 7pm.

Don Julio is currently ranked the 19th best restaurant in the world and has both a Michelin star and a green Michelin star so we were pretty excited to go there. When we arrived, we were greeted with a glass of champagne and then shown to our table. You are given unlimited empanadas and bread while you wait for your meal which was all lovely, although I always find myself battling between eating all the bread and waiting for the main event!

I got the rib-eye while the other 3 shared a T-bone and entrecôte. All were delicious, although I think the entrecôte stole the show. The portions were huge, with the smallest steak being 500g! We managed to finish all the meat and the 2 heirloom tomato salads (a must try) but the chips were left… Despite not finishing our chips, we did managed to all have a dessert! I went for the classic Argentinian douche de leche crepe while the others had ice creams. All were amazing and I may be biased but I think the crepes were the best.

Now that we were all bursting at the seams, we walked to a speakeasy called Uptown. This was a cool place with an entrance that looked like a metro station. You walk through the station corridors and come out into a steam-punk but classy (?) styled room. We didn’t have a reservation so grabbed a cocktail in the bar area. If we had been more organised we would have booked a table but never mind! After 2 drinks we bid each other good bye before we got into our Ubers, our time as a 4 had finally come to an end and what a way to spend our final night!

The next day we walked down to the San Telmo area of the city and had lunch at San Telmo market. This market was pretty cool, you can buy groceries there but the main attraction if all the restaurants within the building. We ended up getting a Milanese sandwich from Milangueria, we were desperate to find anything that wasn’t red meat! To that point, in the evening we just made a simple chicken and salad dinner at the hostel kitchen and had an early night.

We woke up feeling refreshed and that was a good thing as we had a 3 hour walking tour in Retiro & Recoleta. This is the ‘upmarket’ area of town with huge palatial buildings, beautiful parks and the famous Recoleta cemetery. The tour although long (anything more than 2 hours I normally lose interest) was very good, even allowing a 15 min ice cream/coffee stop at the Rapa Nui chocolate shop.

You can do a guided tour of the cemetery but we had now done 3 walking tours in Buenos Aires and I’d reached my limit. Instead we just googled ‘10 most interesting graves’ and had a look for them, with the most famous being the former First Lady Eva Peron. Entry to the cemetery is £5 but it’s well worth a visit, the graves are in a variety of styles but all opulent.

For diner we went to a classic Argentinian steakhouse called Parrilla Pena. I would highly recommend this place! We arrived just after it opened at 7pm and got a table straight away but by the time we were leaving at quarter to 9 the queue out the door was huge. They give you bread and empanadas and then of course the meat is juicy, tender with a great BBQ flavour. Delicious all round.

We had wanted to go to Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo after dinner. In this plaza you can sit out with drinks and watch free tango shows in the centre, but it was pouring down with rain! We did got to a bar in San Telmo which had a live singer on and good vibes but didn’t stay out too late.

On our final day in Buenos Aires we watched the Scotland-Italy rugby in the hostel and then jumped on a bus to Palermo. Palermo is the ‘trendy’ area of town with loads of lovely restaurants and bars, as well as great street art. You can do a tour but we decided to just walk around and see it ourselves.

We got lunch at Sheikob’s bagels and then visited the Japanese Gardens which is a park created for when the Japanese Emperor visited Buenos Aires in the 1960s. Tickets are only £1 and you only need 30 mins/1 hour there as its quite small, but it’s worth a visit if you struggling for things to do. For dinner we ended up going back to Parrilla Pena. We had planned to go to La Cabrera, a highly recommended steak place in Palermo, but we didn’t have a reservation and loved the authenticity of Parrilla Pena. I felt that the meat was even better than the first time we were there!

Buenos Aires Summary

Length of stay: 4-6 nights
Where to stay: Milhouse and Viajero are the 2 main hostels and both are centrally located. I think Viajero is slightly more expensive but it does have a pool. If I was to come back, instead of staying at either of these two hostels, I would stay in Palermo as this is where you want to spend most of your time anyways
Itinerary: Day 1 – City centre walking tour, Day 2 – Explore Palermo & go to a tango show, Day 3 – Recoleta walking tour & cemetery, Day 4 – Explore San Telmo, Day 4 – La Bocca walking tour
Top Tip: If you want to go to Don Julio, La Cabrera or a football match try and book in advance. You can book most of the restaurants online but your hostel can help with football games. A full list of recommendations from our walking tour guide can be found below

Buenos Aires Recommendations

All these reccomendations were provided by our walking tour guide, but we tested a few of them out and they have all been good shouts!

Tango Shows

La Ventana
El Querandi
Piazzola tango
El viejo almacén.
Tango porteño.
Café Tortoni (cheapest)
Tango Rojo (expensive but the best)

In most cases, these tango shows come with dinner and are often quite expensive, here are some alternative options:

Street milonga on Sundays (check online if they are back on, and if it doesn’t rain): La Glorieta de Belgrano.
There is a very bohemian milonga called La Catedral del Tango on sarmiento street and Medrano Avenue – www.lacatedralclub.com. They have tango lessons in the afternoon and then by night people come to dance.
There is a band with their own club called Fernández Fierro, they play every Wednesday. However, they are more about the music than dancing.
Milongas every night: there is an app/website called Hoy-milonga that lists every milonga open every night.

Speakeasy’s

Frank´s Bar -Arévalo 1443 the password is published every day on their facebook page. They give you clues, you have to figure it out.
Up Town – Arevalo 2030
La Ferona Social Club – Humboldt 1445
Puerta Uno – Juramento 1667
J W Bradley Ltd – Godoy Cruz 1875
La Calle – Niceto Vega 4942
Nikki Harrison – Malabia 1742. You have to eat at the sushi place that is its cover called Nicky New York Sushi, then ask to be taken to the bar.
Thames 878 – Thames 878. There is a metal door in the bathroom!
La Florería – Arroyo 872
Trade Skybar – rooftop av Corrientes 222
Esquina Libertad on the córner of Gorriti and Uriarte street – this is a cheaper option than the bars above, it has a nice roof top and reasonable prices

Pizza

Traditionally there are 3 kinds of pizza in Buenos Aires, a la piedra, media masa and de molde. They go from thin to (very) thick crust.

A la piedra is thin crust, similar to the Neapolitan original. For this kind of pizza try Albamonte (Corrientes av 6735); Ferreiro (angel gallardo av 1001) you order the “napolitana” flavour that comes with provolone; Los Inmortales if you are downtown.
Media masa: Angelin ( Córdoba av 5270) the creators of the “canchera” a sauce only pizza, and they also have a great fainá (a chickpea dough pizza that you can only find in Genova Italy and Buenos Aires); El Cuartito (Talcahuano 935); Guerrin is very famous, that tradition there is to have a slice standing with a slice of fainá and a beer.
De molde is a much heavier pizza. Try Banchero o la mezzetta (Álvarez Thomas 1321) famous for their onion and cheese pizza stuffed with more cheese, it almost obscene.

Restaurants

Restaurants open at 8pm, some the recommendations below are very popular so getting there early is a good idea. Tips are not included in the bill and 10% is customary.

Parrilla Peña, a total classic on Rodriguez Peña street between Viamonte and Tucuman streets
El patio, Aguirre 1018, for the travelers that don’t care about aesthetics. Highly recommended. ($)
Rio Alba, Cerviño 4499 Palermo.
Don Julio, in Palermo
For Argentinean typical food, El Sanjuanino (two addresses: Posadas 1515 or Sanchez de Bustamante 1788)
For wine tasting go to La Cava Jufré, on Jufré 201. Open from Wednesday to Saturday.
Bodegones for milanesas, La esquina del antigourmet: Soler 5901 (Palermo) and El antojo, Tinogasta 3174 (Far away but allegedly the Best Milanesa)

Going Out Out

Besides the obvious Palermo area, there are two new places that have been growing in popularity:

Guardia vieja street in Almagro is more bohemian. Check online for places like El Banderín, Guarda la Vieja or Le troquet de Henry, Imaginario Cultural
Dorrego Avenue and Jorge Newberry Avenue in Chacarita have a more modern feel. Check online for Sifón or Condarco. There are many more places but this is a good starting point.
Try the Konex Cultural Center for an underground vibe. Also Matienzo Cultural Center has music shows, exhibitions, a terrace bar and a lot to explore.
Underground electronic music (for a younger crowd) – Centro cultural La Otra Historia.

Colombia – Bogota & Salento

August 28, 2019January 11, 2024Posted in ColombiaTagged backpacking, bogota, Colombia, couple, salento, south america, travel, what to doLeave a comment

Edinburgh

The start of our well-awaited trip was not what we had imagined. After a 5am wake-up to make our flight to Toronto, we should have noticed that things were going a bit too to plan. We got there in plenty of time, sat down to have breakfast and boom, our flight is delayed three hours. Okay fine, not the end of the world because we’ll still make our connection. Then it was delayed four, then five, then eleven hours… and then it was just cancelled. We had spent 14 hours travelling and hadn’t even left Edinburgh airport.

Eventually, Air Canada put us up in an airport hotel called Moxy. We’ve claimed everything back off them and hopefully should get €600 in compensation. That money should at least cover most of the cost of our original flight but doesn’t begin to cover the emotional stress that cancellation caused. At least we got to watch Love Island.

Thankfully our flight the next morning to Bogota actually left on time and although we were 24 hours behind schedule, we finally made it to Colombia.

Bogota

When we finally landed in Bogota, we were faced with the dilemma most travellers encounter when they first arrive in a new city – the group of haggling taxi men shouting at you. By this point, we were so delirious that when a guy said ‘meter’ we almost jumped for joy. Halfway there and we realized it was definitely a scam, obviously. The meter was rigged and we ended up paying double what we should have (60k COP (~£15) rather than 30k (~7.50)) but honestly by that point, I just didn’t care. We also hadn’t got to grips with the money at all and this resulted in a lot of people shouting ‘rapido rapido’ at as we fumbled with our bumbags like a pair of middle-aged Americans.

Eventually, we arrived at our hostel in the historic part of Bogotá called La Candelaria. We stayed in Algeria’s hostel, it was small but cute, in a great location and the beds were comfy. The staff didn’t speak a word of English but were very welcoming and tried to be as helpful as they could. Luckily my duolingo-broken Spanish understood what he was saying about not going to the south or west of the city and which streets were the safest.

Although tired, our jet lag had us up at 7am the next morning which was great seeming as though we’d already missed a whole day of our trip. We got up and had the free breakfast the hostel provided, it was simple with pastries, fruit and coffee but suited us just fine. We spent the morning wandering around La Candelaria – there are loads of museums e.g. El Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) and Museuo Botero (Botero Museum) and restaurants and cafes to explore. As it was 9am on a Sunday when we were there, nothing was open. It was a shame we didn’t get to experience Bogotá properly but what can you do, ‘it is what it is’. We did stop for a coffee at Selina Hostel which looked fab, we didn’t stay there because it’s expensive but if you’re looking for a big international hostel that actually speaks English, this is your best bet.

Around 11am we headed back to the airport to catch a flight to Pereira, this is the closest airport to the coffee region of Salento. This time we got the woman from the hostel to speak to the taxi driver, he didn’t look too happy about it but we did end up paying 30k COP this time. Naturally, our flight was delayed AGAIN but only for an hour. Once we arrived in Periera we had the taxi man issue – a few were asking us for x4 what it should cost to get to the bus station, others were telling us there were no buses left today to Salento and others were trying to charge us £30 (120k COP) to drive us straight there. Luckily this time we actually knew what it should cost and with enough arguing and just saying ‘muy caro’ over and over again we got to the bus station for 15k COP.

Once in the bus station we were pretty aware that it was a Sunday and that it was already 5pm, there genuinely might have been no buses! As we were waiting to buy a ticket, one of the bus drivers just pulled us aside and put us on a bus. He was charging 500 COP more than the ticket desk but with that equating to 25p extra between us we were happy to pay it!

The bus to Salento was comfortable, only an hour and gave great views of the Colombian mountains (it also only cost 8k COP ~ £2 each!).

Salento

Salento is a really small town up in the Andes, you can walk from one end to the other in 10 minutes. It’s a beautiful town littered with multi-coloured houses, horses and loads of cute shops, restaurants and bars. It was warm during the day and cooler at night – it ended up being one of our favourite places in Colombia. We checked into our hostel (Viajero) and were very pleasantly surprised. This hostel was a bit on a pricey side (and by that, I mean £40/night for a private room) but the room was so nice and big, comfy bed, private bathroom and a balcony overlooking the mountains. The hostel itself included breakfast, had WiFi, washing, a kitchen, hammocks, TVs, computers – basically anything you could need and the staff were lovely and spoke English.

That evening we headed out to the main square for dinner and it was packed! We ate some traditional Colombian food consisting off plantain with meat or fish at a street stall and finished them off with some local beer – we finally felt like we were actually on holiday.

With the jet lag still prominent, the next morning I was awake at 6am which meant Lewis was awake at 6am. We had the hostel breakfast and then walked to the main square where you can get a Jeep to take you to a number of other towns as well as the coffee farms. Luckily the woman at the ticket office spoke English because we would have been so lost! There are a number of different coffee farms you can go to each with their pros and cons but we decided to go to one called Finca Buenos Aires. We were told to go wait by a jeep and I don’t know if we missed something but the driver didn’t give us much warning before he pulled away which resulted in us having to jump on a moving jeep!

We were on one of the first jeeps (9am) but they run every hour. We didn’t really know what we’d signed up for and when we were dropped off outside what looked like an empty house, we were pretty sceptical! However, once we walked through the gates our lovely tour guide Olga made us feel very welcome. She spoke nearly perfect English and took us through the stages of the coffee farming process. We got to wear the traditional wicker baskets the coffee pickers used to wear, plant newly germinated seeds, pick some cherries off the branches and grind them up. We then got to try the coffee, and me, who only drinks mochas, actually enjoyed the plain filter coffee they made us using their beans. We learnt a lot and the scenery was stunning. Everything they do there is by hand and we even got to meet the owner of the farm who was sat with his wife hand-picking the best beans to be exported – I would thoroughly recommend going to this farm if you’re in Salento, we had a fantastic day.

As we were finishing our tour (it took about an hour and a half) more and more people started arriving and we could see the tour groups getting bigger and bigger. It made us very thankful we were the first to arrive and it meant that we got transport to and from the farm and a private tour for £7 each!

We were back in Salento for lunchtime and headed straight to the bus terminal to book our bus to Medellin. After that tour, we were on a high which was quickly brought back down when we were told all the buses to Medellin tomorrow were fully booked. We went back to the hostel to research some other options – we could get a bus to Pereira or Armenia and hope to get a bus from there (they’re bigger towns with many more daily buses). But as I was on the bus website looking, I noticed it said there were 4 spaces on the 10am bus from Salento. A bit confused, we went to ask the receptionist who called the bus terminal for us, turns our 4 people had just pulled out of that bus and that we needed to run straight down there with our passports to book it! When we got there 15 mins later 2 of those tickets had already gone and we managed to snap up the last 2 – it looked like our luck was changing after all! Moral of the story, book your buses at least 2 days in advance if it’s a long-ish journey.

Once we’d finally sorted all that out we were starving, on recommendation, we went to a small restaurant called ‘Brunch’. They have the most amazing milkshakes and make their own hot sauce which we bought a bottle of – very hot but so good. We stuffed our faces, classic eyes bigger than your belly scenario, and then went and had a nap – the early rises were getting to us.

Even after we woke up we were still so full from lunch! We spent the first part of the evening having a few drinks at the hostel bar and playing cards. We then decided to go to play a traditional Colombian game called Tejo. It’s a bizarre game and 100% a tourist trap but it was only £2 to play as many rounds as you want and the beers were super cheap.

The game is set up like this; you have a slope covered in clay with a ring of metal in the middle. Small packets of gunpowder are placed around the ring and the aim of the game is to throw your rock at the ring and make a packet explode. You get points depending on how close your stone is to the centre of the ring and although we were both terrible at it, Lewis ended up winning in the end.

The next morning I had Lewis up at 6am again! After breakfast, we checked out, got a packed lunch from ‘Brunch’ and jumped on the bus to Medellin. The bus was so nice! The seats were huge and comfy. The trip to Medellin took 6 hours, including a 30 min stop at Pereria. This was probably one of the nicest buses we took during our trip.

Australia – Melbourne, Month Two

May 9, 2018January 10, 2024Posted in UncategorizedTagged australia, comedy, funny, girls, melbourne, sarcastic, sydney, travel, what to do, working abroadLeave a comment

Our first week in St Kilda was very PG. Although it was only a 4 day week it seemed to drag on forever – and I only actually had 3 days in the office! I spent the whole week just working, dieting and gymming; how boring. Even that weekend was very tame. Riss and Gabby had gone up to Sydney to visit a uni mate and Christie was working nights.

On the Friday, I had to go do some ‘public engagement’ for a temporary sewer line they’re putting in next to some of the posh beach-side houses in Brighton. This meant that I got to spend the day walking around in a high-vis jacket telling people that either: they might not be able to get in and out of their driveways and that there was going to be night-works, or, that we were putting a big ugly white pipe in their back garden. I was quite surprised that people genuinely didn’t mind. I guess when it’s the choice between a temporary inconvenience or holding it till you get to work each day, people are more forgiving.

I got let out early that day (finishing at 3pm on a sunny Friday is one of the nicest feelings). If I’m completely honest, the fact I knew I could get some time by myself was almost too much to handle. Sharing a bed, let alone a room means that personal space isn’t really a thing! I am getting used to sleeping next to Christie and am definitely sleeping better, but a whole night alone! I ordered a pizza and watched a movie and it was the best night ever. I ended up watching Wander – I cried my eyes out. Not just a tear running down the cheek sort of crying but real, hyperventilating, loud, ugly crying. Such a great film, would definitely recommend it! On the Saturday Christie and I had a lazy morning and then went and met the others at the NGV. For someone who doesn’t understand art, there were some pretty cool installations. My favourite was probably ‘Flower Obsession’ by Yayoi Kusama. This consisted of an empty room and then each person that visits places a flower in the room. The result is quite striking (also great for the ‘gram).

On the Sunday I actually managed to go for a run in the morning! I ran around the Albert Park Lake, which was such a lovely run and one I will definitely do again. The whole loop from my flat, around the lake and back was 9.5km. I didn’t run the whole way but gave it my best shot! Hoping to be able to run the whole thing before I leave – only 4 weeks left. After that Christie, Hunter (one of Ellen’s friends) and I went to Brighton beach. Because I’m a 70-year-old woman and am terrified of getting sunburnt, I factor-50ed-up. We got to the beach and it was sunny for about 1 minute and then it was cloudy for the rest of the time. At this rate, I’m going to be whiter by the time I get home than when I left. That evening we were lucky enough to have been invited to Ellen’s house for a family meal with her parents, siblings and two of Ellen’s friends (Paris and Tom) who also drove us down there – it’s nice knowing a few locals with cars! We gorged on 9-hour slow roasted pork in a taco-style meal. It was delicious.

My fourth week at work was incredibly slow. On the Monday I edited my blog, on the Tuesday I planned our East Coast trip, on the Wednesday I did some public engagement stuff but was home before 4. I did manage to get my two 500 days and all my workouts in which I feeling quite good about and at least I’m getting paid to do the things I would do in my free time! We did all go for a lovely burger for Cal’s birthday on the 10th so that was a nice mid-week treat. We went to On it burger in Abbotsford and I had to Jalapeno burger (it was very hot but very good). We didn’t go out or do anything too crazy as we were all saving our money (and livers) for the weekend.

CUTE

Cal or walrus?

The Bday boy himself!

So, I may have been sensible on the Tuesday night but the Thursday night didn’t turn out so well. It started off with the best intentions, I met an old family friend at a rooftop bar which was very civilized and lovely, I hadn’t seen this boy in probably 10+ years so it was SO nice to catch up. We left after 3 pints and some food and one of the reasons we left was we were at the point where 1 more would turn into 10 more and I had work the next morning. I jumped on the tram pretty impressed with myself for being so sensible. Gabby, on the other hand, had different plans. She requested that we have a couple glasses of wine once I got back, and being the good friend that I am I couldn’t leave her hanging. To cut a long story short, 1 glass of wine turned into multiple and my 10pm bedtime turned into 2:30am. Riss and Christie did come stumbling in around 2am blind-drunk which provided some quality entertainment but I swear to god this is the first and last time I get drunk on a school night, the hang was unbearable (especially a goon hangover).

I think the McDonald’s cup in Riss’s hand really gives these photos a classy edge to them

As it was Christie’s birthday, that weekend was, as expected, a large one. On the Friday I was too hungover still to even contemplate going out, it was probably best to save myself for Saturday as well. We all woke up feeling fresh and were so ready for the day ahead. Everyone came over around 2pm and the VERY competitive game of beer pong began. I would like to point out that I was put on a team with Riss because the boys thought it would be funny to watch us bicker and then lose. Well, we showed them. Even after copious amounts of margarita and goon Riss and I won the whole tournament. We won every game but one so the boys can shove that in their pipe and smoke it.

Everyone loves beer pong

So serious I made a spreadsheet

I hope the boys realize never to mess with two women on a mission again

We went to a club called New Guernica in the CBD and it was great. I had the absolute best time – the set up as fab and the music even better. It was such a good way for us to enter Christie’s birthday! The night ended when someone (Riss) got asked to leave the club for being a wee bit too drunk and because we are such supportive and doting friends we all left with her. Sunday was spent cleaning and then moping around the flat. We watched so many movies and I obviously had some Pho to cure the hang. Poor Christie had to go to work – it was only supposed to be for a couple of hours but she ended up being there till close – on her birthday!

We all still look alright at this point!

Work the next week was the usual was cry-myself-to-sleep boring, but by this point I was starting to panic at how little time we had left in Melbourne, it’s gone so incredibly quickly – especially compared to New Zealand which seemed to drag on for months. One thing on my checklist was Luna Park.

luna park.jpg — Mr. Moon – the entrance to Luna Park

Luna park was opened in 1912 and it is just as creepy as you would imagine something that first opened before WWI. It has the oldest rollercoaster in the world – the Scenic Railway – and the iconic ‘Mr. Moon’ face as the entrance (terrifying). It’s the type of place I’d imagine people being murdered or there being an inhumane Freak Shows… Basically, I feel like it’s the set for the fourth season of American Horror Story or the ninth book of a Series of Unfortunate events (if you don’t get any of these references I’m not even going to apologize because you clearly need an education).

A series of Unfortunate Events

American Horror Story

Don’t worry, you can watch them both on Netflix

Ellen and Hunter then came over for a very cheese- and carb-heavy dinner and an episode of Frist Dates – a cute girly (+ Hunter) evening!

What’s a bear’s favourite cheese? Camem-bear

Later in the week, after an easy day of more sewer works public engagement (I ended at 3pm), Riss, Christie and I went for a few drinks in St. Kilda – we haven’t even explored it yet and we’ve been there for 3 weeks! I stupidly left my jacket down in Brighton at the site office but the guy I work for, a super sweet 60-year-old man, drove into St. Kilda to drop it off for me! After happy hour ended, we decided that food and movie was the best course of action. Netflix had recently recommended a new horror – perfect. It was less than perfect. It was a TERRIBLE movie – do not watch it! It’s called Open House and is about someone staying in a house after an Open House. It was only after we’d watched it and realized how bad it was that we checked it’s rating, it has 13% on rotten tomatoes!! Tip for the day: always google movies first.

On the Friday I did something I was quite (very) proud of – I managed to run 10km without stopping! Now it was only on the treadmill so I still need to see if I can actually do it again let alone outside, but I’m pretty chuffed as I did what I set out to do.

It took me an hour which is fantastic for me!

That evening we went to a dinner party at some boys who we’d met through Harry Fox. It ended up being one of the weirdest nights of my life. Firstly, we arrived and the host (one of the boys we actually knew) was SO drunk he couldn’t even see – pretty bad form if you ask me. His friends were a mixed bag, some were amazingly lovely and some absolute weirdos… We ended up having a fun night in the end as we went to a party but I don’t think we’ll ever be seeing the host again.

The Sunday we had a day for ‘Christie’s Birthday’. As Christie and Riss knew they’d both be with each other for their birthdays this year, they decided that instead of a present, each would plan a day for the other full of their favourite things. Firstly Riss took Christie for brunch, however, the queue for a table was 40 minutes so instead, they went for a drink by the river. What this meant was that when Gabby and I met them for burgers at a place in Collingwood called ‘Easy’s‘, they were more than tipsy. I’ll admit it was very entertaining and Christie’s rendition of Mr. Napkin head was possibly the funniest thing I’ve seen in a really long time. Easy’s is a really trendy spot (omg I sound like my mother, SOS). It’s old train carriages on the top of a building and the food is fantastic. It’s not cheap for a burger but totally worth it.

What a cool place for a burger!?

Christie really enjoyed her burger ft. Mr. Napkin head

Following the burgers, we headed into town to catch a comedy show on the last day of the Melbourne Comedy Festival. I’m normally a bit sceptical about live comedy because it’s just awkward if it’s not funny and Riss had sat us in the front row! However, much to my surprise, it was hilarious. The show itself was ‘Best of British’ and it gave me such a good taste of home – I miss the dry, sarcastic and generally mean humour us Brits pride ourselves so much on. Naturally, we got picked on. I think my favourite bit was when the comedian said ‘we have three beautiful Brits right here in the front row, oh wait there’s four of you, three beautiful and one ugly’ – referring to Rissbrook.

We finished the evening with a couple drinks at a place called Ponyfish Island and watched the sunset over the Yarra River and the Melbourne skyline.

Even though I was the sensible one and was in bed by 10pm after drinks that evening, something came back to haunt me the next day. I felt absolutely fine Monday morning but after lunch, I suddenly felt like I was going to vomit all over my desk. I was really hot, my heart was racing, my body shaky, palms were sweaty (knees weak, arms are heavy) and so I got in an Uber and went home. Luckily my boss was super understanding and it wasn’t anything an afternoon in bed with a cup of tea and Grey’s anatomy couldn’t fix, but I still have no idea what caused it.

That week we finally got ourselves to an AFL match! We were a bit cheeky and bought under-5 child tickets and managed to get in as it’s self-scan. I can’t say I understood any of the rules but the MCG stadium is a sight to behold and the atmosphere was electric.

MCG Stadium and Cal trying to teach me and Christie some of the rules

The 7am wake up the next morning to do the Great Ocean Road was a struggle but we were so thankful that we weren’t hungover! Hunter, who was kindly driving us the whole way, was a tiny bit ropey – He may have got into the football a little bit more than us – but it was nothing a Macca’s breakfast couldn’t fix.

The Great Ocean Road is a long way to go for 1 day. We would have liked to stay a night on the coast but we were really running out of time! It took us just over 3 hours to drive to the furthest point, Port Campbell, and then another 4 to wind our way back along the coast and then home. If I’m honest the time in the car really wasn’t that bad and we had a really fantastic day.

We stopped at the main sites; London Bridge/Arch (it used to be a bridge but half of it collapsed), Loch Ard George and the Twelve Apostles (now there are only 8 left). We stopped for a lovely Coffee in Port Campbell and for an extremely gluttonous lunch in Apollo Bay – I then preceded to feel so full I couldn’t breathe for the next two hours.

Twelve Apostles and London bridge

Smiles all round at the Twelve Apostles (I look in pain)

The only thing on the whole trip that Hunter was determined to show us was supposed to be this spectacular waterfall in Lorne called Erskine falls. When we got there (after about an hour of driving) and were presented with a dribble of water. It was comically underwhelming. After the flop of the waterfall, the other two went for a quick dip in the sea in Lorne but it was about 15 degrees so I made the executive decision to watch from the sidelines.

What the falls were supposed to look like vs. what they actually looked like

The drive home along the coast was probably one of the highlights. The views are breathtaking with the sky boasting a candy-floss pink sunset. When we got home we whacked on The School of Rock which was the perfect way to end an excellent day.

facetune_25-04-2018-17-44-58-1 — Great Ocean Road ☑

That weekend we went shopping along Brunswick Street – it’s famous for its multitude of charity and vintage shops. We then had a lovely drink on the rooftop of Naked for Satan and then had their Pintxos for lunch. Pintxos (pronounced Pinchos) are small bites,, typically finger food. The way it works is that each Pintxos is skewered with a toothpick, you just go up to the bar and help yourself to whatever tickles your fancy. When you’re done, collect your toothpicks and hand them to the bar staff, and they will tally your bill. They were 50cent each! I ate 10 of them and was absolutely stuffed, and all of that for a fiver. I would seriously recommend there for lunch if you are in the area, it’s a considerably better deal than paying $20 for tapas on the rooftop. The rest of the weekend was very chilled. We were all in serious-saving mode for the East Coast.

Found this absolute chiller on Brunswick Street. I have a lot of time for tartan trousers.

I can’t tell you how excited I was for it to be my final week at work. Don’t get me wrong, the job was easy and the people I worked with were lovely but I was just so ready to get on the road again. We did manage to squeeze in some mid-week fun, however. Ellen and I went for dumplings in Chinatown on the Tuesday night. They were SO cheap – $7.50 for 15 dumplings! It was also BYOB which is always a bonus. After 2 ciders and 20 dumplings later, I was feeling positively bloated and headed to Collingwood to meet the Manchester boys and the girls at a bar called Mr Wow’s Emporium. It’s a pretty cool bar but I just can’t afford $8 glasses of wine anymore. It’s goon or sober for me nowadays. We played a couple rounds of sub-average pool and then called it a night – god we are getting so old! Since when was going to work hungover not a thing anymore.

mmm…. dumplings

One second beofre Alex missed the shot

Dumplings and pool (Alex missed the shot)

On a mission to tick more things off my list, I went to see the famous St. Kilda penguins – they nest on the end of St. Kilda pier each evening. The best time to see them is half an hour after sunset which means it’s dark and very hard to get a good photo! Saying that, they are super close and the workers have infrared lights so that you can see them. People I’ve spoken to before said that these penguins were gross and not worth seeing, however, I completely disagree – have you ever seen a penguin that isn’t adorable?

On our final weekend in Melbourne, it was Gabby’s birthday! Gabby’s friend from uni, Meg, had nipped down from Byron Bay to celebrate it with us (cute). We went for a girly brunch at a place called Fitzrovia. Have the dish with the sweet potato fritters – absolutely phenomenal.

All the girls looking fab for brunch — Meg, Riss, Gabby, Christie & Me – all smiles for the prosecco

Bday girl herself! — Cheers to turning 23!

To celebrate Gabby’s birthday, in addition to our leaving, we hosted a civilised dinner party for all of our new Melbourne friends. We set up the table, Rissbrook made a fantastic lasagne, we even borrowed chairs from the downstairs flat! Yet, as always, it turned out to be one of the rowdiest nights yet.

We always knew there was a chance that we may not sleep before our flight to Sydney but even as the clock struck 12 I was hoping I’d still get a couple hours of shut-eye. It was wishful thinking, to say the least. Top tip: DON’T get the 6am flight out of Avalon airport, it’s not worth it.

When our Uber pulled up at 3am I’d say that Christie and Riss were A LOT more hyper than me. Sensible Bradie was thinking that we should really get as much sleep as possible, Christie had other ideas. If Natasha Bedingfield at full blast just as the hangover is kicking in isn’t enough to grind your gears, then maybe the irony of having to then drag a deadweight Christie once she finally crashed onto the plane, is more up your street. When I say drag, I mean it in the literal sense of the term. Once they had started boarding, I woke both Riss and Christie up and told them to get in line. Riss and I were halfway through the queue when we realised Christie was still in the foetal position on an airport sofa. After a firm ‘I’m not dealing with it’ from Riss, I then jump back over the barrier to go and wake her for the third time. This time I just sit her up, grab her bags and physically pull her off the sofa. This is the girl who has just travelled for 5 months in South America! Honestly.

After the stress of that entire journey, the simple bliss of having my own bed and room in my Aunt’s house once I got to Sydney felt like a well-deserved reward for being travel-mother. Two weeks of chilling here, being a tourist and catching up on sleep sounds pretty damn good to me!

P.S. When the ‘Manchester boys’ read the post about my first month in Melbourne, they expressed a feeling of loss-of-identity by being referred to as a group instead of the fantastic individuals they really believe they are. So, if it matters so much to them that I discuss each of them and the impact they have had on my time in Australia, I’ll do just that.

Alex – he is the self-appointed leader of the group. Although he claims to make all the plans, it’s not impossible that he’ll flake last minute and leave you hanging.

Matty – thinks he is a world-class musician. Long hair and John-Lennon-esque sunglasses, pretty much says it all.

Cal – I pretty much only play Trivia Crack with him because he hates leaving the house.

Joe – don’t actually think I’ve had a full conversation so can’t even tell you what he’s about.

Here is a group photo of them from 2012 to how individual they are

P.P.S. I let the boys read this first and they approved its publication, so don’t think I’m a horrible person.