Melbourne A.K.A. Mel"ben"

Feb 13th

Australian flag in a laneway

We finally drove into Melbourne! We had to wait until 2 PM to get checked into Mantra on the Park. So we walked around the arcade and laneways as they call them. We found a good cheap wireless phone service, so I got a cell phone now. Melbourne is so English influenced with lots of walkways and cafes on side streets.

Aboriginal protest (or Abo as the Aussies call 'em),
looking closely you can see a few of them wearing aboriginal flag colors, black and red with a yellow circle

While walking around we ran into a aboriginal protest. They are a very poor group (actually made up of over 200 different abo 'countries') in such a rich nation. They are the poorest group in general of any 1st world country. They tend to live in housing projects more often and have drinking problems. This is a reason a lot of the Aussies flat out despise them. Prime Minister Rudd said sorry to the aboriginals finally in 2008, the first apology given from a politician to them ever. The day is now known as Sorry Day.

Vagrants in my penthouse

It turns out the place I am staying at is on the 17th story and is basically a penthouse. The entire 1st floor is a living room, features surround sound, and a wonderful balcony! We had way too many guests tonight and things got out of hand, so I left. Stuff like this gives Americans a bad name.

The View from my balcony, notice the cars driving on the left

Turns out most bars wont accept you in thongs and shorts (that's flip flops and shorts in America), so I didn't get into any clubs tonight.

Tomorrow I fly to my new home, a studio apartment.

Keep it level!


Jonathan De Costa