It's New Years Eve here in Melbourne. I say that because when I was texting my family and friends this morning my mother reminded me that they're a day behind. Here I am in the future! It's nearly 2018 here and a bright, sunny, warm day. More importantly today is the day I get to spend hanging out with Bren again! If you didn't manage to catch my
first post during my trip in Australia, Bren is a friend of mine that I met a couple years ago playing Destiny on PlayStation.
Bren and I had arranged to meet up in the morning, whenever he got up and was ready to face the day ahead. Naturally I was up at 7am, wide awake in my bed, because my body doesn't know the difference between having to be up for work and being on vacation. By 10am, the time that I told Bren I'd be ready, I was ready. I figured based on my previous knowledge of him showing up 30 minutes to our scheduled game during his morning and our afternoon that Bren would probably sleep in a bit more and I was safe to go and get some food and more importantly coffee. I couldn't figure out a good place to go so I thought that I'd do the sensible thing and see what I could grab from the grocery and make myself in the kitchen like all the other residents of the hostel were doing. On the way to Woolworths (which yes still exists and is a grocery store here) I passed by the coffee shop that I tried to go to the other day that was closed. I couldn't see from across the street if it was open or not but then I saw a couple walk into the automatic sliding door. I picked up eggs benedict, a latte, and some delicious french fries before heading to Woolworth's and grabbing a bunch of water in preparation for the evening's activities.
While I was at Woolworth's I got a text from Bren saying that he was on his way. He suggested going to Victoria Market and I was glad he suggested it since it was on my list but I hadn't made my way there quite yet. I told Bren to meet me at the hostel since we had such a hard time actually meeting up due to his confusing directions and my poor sense of direction. I packed my backpack full of my waters and trekked back to the hostel to quickly drop them off and meet Bren. He sent me a text that he was downstairs waiting outside and I went down to meet him. I looked around for the gentleman with the slightly ginger but majestic beard and the sidewalk was empty. I was about to turn around to look in the lobby for him when an older grey Toyota suddenly pulled forward and as I peered into the car I saw him - I had no idea he'd be driving!
No matter how many places I go where they drive on the left side of the road it will never cease to be a surreal experience getting into a car where the driver sits on the right. I threw my bag in the backseat and climbed in, promptly greeted by Bren's bright smile and bushy bearded face. We set off to the Victoria market (and yes mom, Bren is a very safe driver) to see what was up. The market itself was massive, much larger then I anticipated or even noticed from the tour bus (it's possible that we rolled through during my brief nap on the bus that day). Bren lead the way through it and all I could do was hustle to keep up with him and not get lost in the myriad of fruit and vegetable vendors. We turned a corner and there were leather goods, another corner and it was NHL jerseys, another corner and there was a food court. It was a dizzying assortment of goods but Bren was a great tour guide through it all.
Once we had exhausted all the Victoria Market had to offer Bren suggested some real lunch (he had grabbed some box of fried food when we first arrived and a coffee while we walked around). I said sure, even though I was still full of hollandaise sauce from earlier in the morning. Bren drove through parts of the city I hadn't seen before. Bucolic, almost south western looking, homes dotted the streets and eventually gave way to a grungy but fancy block lined with boutique shops and restaurants. As Bren described the area I knew exactly where we had landed - Melbourne's version of Brooklyn. He found parking right outside this cute restaurant and we sat and ate lunch. I had a salad and Bren devoured a burger. At one point I was in a fit of laughter watching him eat like a raccoon who had starved all winter. After we payed we went for a stroll through the area looking for somewhere to sit for a moment and grab a drink.
Most of the places we passed were closed or didn't quite fit what we were looking for. Eventually we came upon what looked like a wine/beer shop and then I saw a sign that said you could enjoy your drinks there! It was so cool to pick out a beer from a six pack, get handed a cold pint glass, and then sit outside on a beautiful wood picnic table in the sun sipping your drink. As we sat there I thought of all my friends and family back home freezing in the sub-zero weather, then quickly went back to feeling the hot sun and sipping my cool drink.
We sat there for a long time talking about our lives and careers. It was so nice to enjoy the sun with such wonderful company. When we were done we walked back to the car and Bren gave me the driving tour of the botanical gardens and some stories about the area and performers that came through there. After getting lost for a minute we wound up back at my hostel. I told Bren that I'd find and buy us tickets for this evening, my treat since otherwise he'd just be hanging out at home playing video games. He said that he was glad to join me for the evening and have someone to drag him out of his hibernation. So with the tickets purchased and this post finished it's time to get ready for the night ahead of me and ring in the new year!
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