Collins Street, business-type area.
The sun rose as we did the 100km/60mile journey, so by the time we got there, it was daylight. I suspected I'd be getting yet another breakfast on the plane!
When we reached the airport, the queue at the check-in was very long, but there was none of the disorganised chaos that was present at Heathrow. Instead it was nothing more than simply a long queue! At points, they did call forward flights that were due to depart, and there was no hassle.
Lisa and her parents came with me all the way to the departure gate, which was nice. Apparently Lisa doesn't do goodbyes, but I made sure she did this one! They waved me off as I walked down the corridor to the plane. They'd be back at home before I'd be in Melbourne.
I did indeed have breakfast on the plane. The TV also showed the same run of programmes as on the flight to Brisbane exactly one week ago, so I didn't listen in. It was quite a boring journey, and with no way of knowing the time, it made things quite tricky (cos I don't know how long there was left to go!).
We landed in Melbourne pretty much on time. It was a simple matter to get through the airport, and equally simple to find the coach to take us to the city centre. It didn't take too long actually, and it dropped us off fairly centrally, at Spencer Street Station, which conveniently was where I had to take the train from to Hamilton, some six hours hence!
Six hours!!! I wasn't sure I knew how to pass the time but I figured I'd manage to find something. It was actually a pretty nice day; when the sun was out it was really warm, although quite cold when the sun went in. I bought my train ticket at the travel booth - one way (I didn't know how/when I'd be getting back), and logically a one-way ticket was half the price of a return. How very logical; I only wish UK travel was the same. Once done, I set about walking into the city centre.
The street I walked down (Collins Street) was quite large and wide, with impressive, imposing buildings; very commercial. Parts of it, in my first impression, reminded me a bit of some of the wide boulevards of Paris or Rome; it was certainly reminiscent of a European style.
I needed some food. Lisa obviously is a bad influence on me, because I headed straight for the KFC!! Much needed! Stayed there for a while, before heading deeper into the city.
From a distance, past St.Paul's Cathedral, I saw some rather odd architecture, and there seemed to be lots of people milling about. I went over to have a closer look, and got lost in a gaggle of people and passion.
At one end of the long square (Federation Square) was a stage on which a variety of people were performing, at times musicians, at times dancers. Above the stage was a large LCD screen with messages flashing on it. In the centre of the square was a large sheet of brown paper upon which people were writing messages on. It turns out that what's actually happening is a "letter" to Kofi Annan, general secretary of the UN; basically the letter is 100 meters of greetings and good wishes to the people of the world - the idea being that people can write on the parchment something that springs to mind, a greeting, a good wish to someone, or everyone, and when completed the whole roll of paper would be sent to the UN and addressed to all the people of the world, to show what the people of Melbourne are thinking.
Most of the comments were promoting peace and love - a lot of them written by children and teenagers. The musicians were from all over the world and demonstrated all kinds of different musical styles. There were lots of people just hanging round, reading the letter, writing on it, listening to the music.
I stayed there for quite some time, even wrote a few messages myself, before retiring to a nearby café for a nice refreshing drink (a frozen berry crush drink, made from raspberries, strawberries, apple juice, and ice). Was in the café for about an hour, writing the travel diary and just generally looking around, trying to ignore the middle-aged woman in a red top sitting on a nearby table who was complaining all the time, before heading back to the letter to write a final couple of comments and then finally heading off. Nice location though.
Walked down to the Robbie Burns monument in the Treasury Gardens (still haven't figured out what it was doing there at all!), before wandering down Bourke Street, and through the shops there, before heading back to the station. I definitely got the impression that Melbourne was quite a European city; part of Bourke Street even reminded me of New Street, Birmingham.
Spent a bit of time on the platform of the station before catching the train. I was getting really nervous, also all day I'd had a headache, probably caused by not enough sleep. By the time we left the station, the sun had set, so I didn't get to see much scenery.
It was a dull journey to Ballarat, where the train terminated and I'd have to get a rail-link coach to Hamilton. I grabbed a meat pie in Ballarat station ("meat" was the pretty non-descript name given by the guy I bought it from!), and waited for the coach. It was flippin' freezing!!
Don't remember too much about the coach journey, except that it was 176km to Hamilton (and 99 to Colac, where Kylie used to be), and then I woke up just as we arrived in Hamilton bus station!! Well that saved worrying about meeting Kylie for too long!
Cold and dark and windy. Alone in the middle of nowhere. After a few minutes James turned up in his car, and took me back home. And it's a really nice house (again no upstairs LOL), but a big kitchen that Helen would have approved of, a large living room/dining room in a sort of L-shape (which itself opens out into the kitchen - it's all very open-plan), and three decent bedrooms. Kylie's room has ensuite facilities, lucky bleeder!!
Watched a bit of TV, and James playing on his computer, before Kylie came home. James went to bed shortly after, and me and Kylie sat and chatted a little to each other before she went to bed too (she has to start work at 7am!). I stayed up online (broadband 512k connection), watching the final of the mens singles tennis, before going to bed myself.