Melbourne, the Fourth and Final Time!

Our flight to Melbourne was at lunchtime, but by the time we landed and made our way into the city it was early evening. We checked into Urban Central, my home for most of my time in Melbourne, and got ourselves settled. It had been a long, hungover, struggle of a day, and we were glad to be able to relax.
Walking through the kitchen/ dining area, there were very few faces I recognised, which was surprising considering that a month ago there was such a big group of us 'longtermers'. As expected, most people had moved on for Christmas and New Years, mostly to Sydney.
Spending what remained of the day recovering from NYE, we woke up the following morning feeling refreshed and ready to spend the next few days sightseeing. I already new Melbourne like the back of my hand, and had done all the touristy things, but I was spending the next 4 days showing Anna why I loved this city so much.
First of all was shopping! Melbourne is well known in Australia for it's shopping, especially the Brusnwick St area which is packed full of vintage clothes shops. We wandered up and down this street for hours, going into every shop that looked as though it might be in our price range. The great thing about Brunswick Street is that aside from all the posh, expensive shops, there are also a million and one second hand or just cheap shops where you're guaranteed to find a bargain.
We came away from there with a few new items, ready for a big night out (I know I know, it was only the day after New Years day, but there was no time to waste)!
The weather wasn't great today, but I took Anna to St. Kilda anyway, mainly for more clothes shopping. It's a shame because had the sun have been shining we could've had a lazy afternoon at the beach.

Back at the hostel, and in typical Urban Central style, we bought a few bottles of wine, and all sat around drinking and talking, mainly about what we'd all been up to since I left a month earlier.
We were dressed up in the day's bargains, and headed out to my favourite bars. First of all, down the laneways, we went to Section 8. Aside from being a particular favourite, I also wanted to take Anna there as it's a bar like no other bar I've been to. It's open air, they sell drinks from inside a shipping container, and the walls are covered with graffiti. After a mojito or two, we went to Toffs bar, where we could dance the night away. And then we ended up in good old PJ O'Briens, an Irish bar where all backpackers go. Cheap drinks, cheesy music, lots of dancing, and only a short walk back to the hostel.
In the morning, hungover, (I barely knew what it was like to not be hungover anymore) we got on the train and went down to Frankston. Anna also knew Beau from our holiday in Thailand nearly 3 years previously, and was keen to see him whilst we were in Melbourne.
First of all, I went to see Robyn, my Australian mum! She picked us up from the station and we went back to hers, and as it was a nice day we sat in the garden, drank lots of wine and did lots of chatting, like we always did. After a couple of hours, she drove us round to Beau's. I'd already been in touch with him to tell him we would be coming, and to invite the boys round and get plenty of stuff for a BBQ and a few drinks in his bar, something I did every weekend for the 4 months I stayed with him. This would be the last time I'd see Beau, his girlfriend Kristy, and all the boys. As I'd already said goodbye to them 3 times before, it wasn't so bad, although this time we all knew it would be for good, or at least for a very long time.

On our last day in Melbourne, still giving ourselves no time to relax, we wandered round the city. It was a lovely day, sun shining and clear blue skies. We sat on the grass outside the cathedral and ate sushi, from a place I found that I'm sure does the best sushi in Australia! We sat there amongst all the office workers making the most of the sunshine on their lunchbreaks.

Then we walked through the botanical gardens, and on to the Eureka tower. I'd already been up the tower twice before, once with my friend Simon and once with mum and dad's friend Jeff. Being my third time, and practically a local to Melbourne by now, we went up to the sky deck and I acted the tour guide, telling Anna what every landmark or building in the city was.

On our way back to the hostel we went to Port Melbourne. Port Melbourne is where 'the other half' live. The beach isn't great compared to others I'd seen in Australia, but the properties looking on to it are stunning. If I ever ended up living in Melbourne, this is where I'd live. If I could afford it. We took a stroll along the pier and the beachfront, wondering what sort of a life these people have, living in beautiful apartment buildings, with their choice of nice, expensive restuarants, walking their dogs along the beach and generally living in luxury.

Back at Urban we packed our bags and I checked for the last time. As we were leaving at 3 in the morning, I didn't see the point in paying for another night's accommodation, so some of the girls I knew who lived in an apartment nearby, had kindly offered to put us up for the night. We went round there in the early evening, chucked our bags down, and went out to meet the last lot of people on our list. Ilias and Tristan were 2 guys we worked with in Lagos, who I'd met up with many times in Melbourne, but for Anna this would be her only chance to see them. I'd arranged for us to meet at the Rooftop Bar, where they'd never been before. The bar, which oddly enough is on a rooftop, is set out like a huge garden, with deckchairs and parasols all over the place. The views across the city are amazing. And, as it was such a nice day, we could sit there for hours, sipping our sangrias, and like I'd done so many times with so many people over the past few weeks, say our final goodbyes.
Back at the girl's apartment, we got as much sleep as we could, before our alarms went off at 3am and we were on the road again, this time to Rainbow Beach and Fraser Island.