From Mikey to Melbourne

Apologies to everyone, I know I promised to be a more frequent blogger in my last entry but it just didn't come to pass. I, personally, would blame Mike for taking up too much of my time. Yes, that's right, I went and got me a boyfriend (but he's a Kiwi, not Ozian). So this brief entry is going to be snippets of the adventures of Myers and McKay for the past four months.

• Getting scared to death of zombie freaks in the mazes at Fright Night (and getting a shave from Sweeney Todd)
• Dressing up all fancy to go to the casino with just $20 and coming home with $25 (SCORE!)
• Stroking manta rays and sea cucumbers at Sea World
• Learning to bake yummy beer bread
• Cooking our very first Christmas dinners for ourselves and not ruining them (neither of us cooked or ate veggies but lots of stuffing and Yorkshire puds)
• Going to a "Dive-in" movie (Kung Fu Panda 2) at the swimming pool at Wet and Wild
• Spending New Years Eve watching the fireworks on the very crowded beach in Surfers Paradise and being forced to walk home afterwards
• Celebrating my birthday with mini golf, laser tag, Hard Rock Cafe and a chocolate dinosaur cake (homemade by Mike)
• Walking to the Spit (very end of the Gold Coast main stretch of beach) only to be rewarded with yucky sunburn
• Meeting the Justice League at Movie World
• Showing Mike's sister, Ashley, all the sights during her little visit to Oz
• Stuffing our faces with American pancakes for Valentines Day before taking a stroll to see the epic creations in the pirate-themed sandcastle competition
• Grilling burgers (homemade by Mike again) on the free BBQs in the park
• Trying my first ever Subway sandwich (obviously not including cheese, salad or sauces)
• Teaching Mike that Pancake Day is not a fake celebration, in fact it's the best one of them all
• Taking the free train to Noosa for the weekend intending to snorkel and not realising it would be over 35C when we got there
• Discovering that chicken salt is not grind up chicken bones as previously assumed but salt mixed with chicken stock (and actually quite nice on your chips)
• Cruising the Brisbane river on catamarans
• Eating some scrummy little $2 steaks in an Irish bar to celebrate our last night on the Gold Coast

That's about all I can think of. There was obviously lots of work in between and job hunting at the end (Jo will be happy to know lots of going to the park/beach and reading a book). There really were no jobs going in the Gold Coast so I decided o take the leap and move to Melbourne. Mike decided not to come with me and go home to New Zealand instead. He was sick of Australia and his Mum really wanted him home (plus he really missed his dog and cat) so it was for the best.
And as for Melbourne, I've only been here four days but I have to say it is definitely the best city so far. Sydney was a little soulless, Brisbane was a big town with delusions of grandeur and the Gold Coast was an overgrown tourist resort. Melbourne is practically hipster heaven. It's full of all the book shops, gardens and theatres you could ever desire. All the little lane ways are covered in awesome street art/graffiti. The sun shines down fiercely every afternoon and for the chillier mornings there's half a dozen free art galleries and about a million cafes to shelter in. Best of all, it's the home of the Neighbours set! I haven't been there yet but it is top of my to do list for when I get a job.
As well as finding out where Jet live and stalking them.
OK, well that's all for now. I guess now I don't have Mike here as a distraction I'll remember to update this more.
No promises though...