A few of my favourite (and not so favourite) Melburnian things

G'day

Just over three weeks in and ...

These are a few of my favourite Australian things

• No feet on the seats on trains - even though the seats on all the trains are arranged so that you could easily put your feet on them (a la typical Londoner), Melburnians actually take notice of the sign asking you not to put your feet on seats. Incredible. Good on yer Australians.
• Big M - this is nothing more than chocolate milk which seems to contain the same ingredients as Pringles. At least that's my excuse for being addicted to it. And also to Weet Bix (Ozzie Weetabix). Weet Bix + Big M = perfect breakfast (my colleagues disagree heartily).
• South Melbourne Market - I'm not known for my interest or indeed patience with markets, especially ridiculously expensive ones (£12 for two balls of mozzarella!) and yet I love this market just a ten minute walk away from where I'm currently living, primarily because the sell macaroons and veggie dumplings.
• The view from the LP office - Lonely Planet's location in a not particularly desirable neighbourhood of Melbourne (generously called 'up-and-coming' Footscray by estate agents) is (almost) made up for by the incredible view from the rooftop terrace. The whole of Melbourne's CBD (central business district) is there in front of you. And that's where we have end of month drinks - noice.
• The sense of humour - like the British sense of humour (dry, sarcastic, mickey-taking) but with a whole new range of phrases used for comic effect.

These are a few of my not-so-favourite Australian things

• Strawberries - apparently it's not the season for them and so I shouldn't have expected them to taste great, but surely they should have at least tasted like a strawberry? Instead they tasted so bad I threw them away after eating just three.
• Public transport - I've yet to catch a train that's run on time. Never will I complain about London transport again - but don't hold me to that.
• Vodaphone Australia - seriously, 11 hours to send one text?
• Early closing - all the shops in the CBD shut around 5.30pm. Not very handy when you finish work at 5.30pm. And late night shopping is Friday - who wants to shop on a Friday night?
• TV/radio - I'd begun to doubt that British TV is as good as we're led to believe but faced with Australian TV... let's just say there are so many adverts during the programmes that you forget what you're watching.
• Locusts - predictions of plagues of locusts all over the press at the weekend. What next? Frogs, dead first-borns?

Melbourne miscellaneous curiosities

• People walk around barefoot. Outside. In the streets. Why would you walk around barefoot outside in the streets? They're dirty and there's bits of glass and pebbles and things. You're not on the beach, you're on Flinders Street.
• The sun is always to the north. I obviously know why this. I'm south of the equator; the sun is always positioned within a few degrees of the equator; ergo in the southern hemisphere the sun will always be to the north. Still freaky though.
• The Labor Party spells it name Labor but otherwise the word labour is spelt labour. What's that all about?

 
Next time more photos, less musings. Honest.

Good on yer.

Cliff