The Travelling Roller Coaster

Not surprisingly, a life on the road comes with a lot of ups and downs much like, here it comes, a roller coaster (don't you just love my oh so original metaphor? I know. But I'm tired so my creativity is limited).

One of the ups: Chris turns 23 and 12 months (he's a little aged depressed at the moment so he can't cope with being called 24)
On our first full day here in Melbourne we got to celebrate Chris' birthday international style. I wanted to do something really special because birthdays traveling can be a bit of a bummer-with friends and families an ocean away it's hard to feel the love. Plus it was the perfect opportunity to kick start our touristy little rears in gear to see some sights. I planned the whole day so the birthday boy wouldn't know where he was going until we got there. The only snag was I needed his help navigating some of the maps to get to our destinations. He figured out a couple that way. Oh well c'est la vie. Here's our day in a nutshell:

Get up bright and early so we wouldn't miss free breakfast at the hostel. It may be his birthday but we're still on a budget-plus it's the only free thing we did all day.

Next we make our way to the highly anticipated Queen Victoria Market. I've been dying to visit the historical open air market since researching Melbourne in my handy dandy Lonely Planet guide. We walk excitedly across the city center enjoying the cool winter morning, following the signs, and then stop dead in our tracks. It's closed. Super organized Shivonne didn't check the winter hours. If she had she would have known the market is closed on Wednesdays. Well there goes the idea of a market sponsored picnic lunch. Hopefully the next activity is more successful.

After the market mishap, I'm sending up silent prayers for the rest of the day to go more smoothly. We head east to the Old Melbourne Gaol. This former prison turned penal museum was the site of more than 135 hangings including the infamous Ned Kelley-a 19th century Aussie outlaw. We walked the dank corridors, tried out the tiny cells, and learned about some of it's more heinous inhabitants. Morbidly fascinating. Chris loved it.

Lunchtime saw us make our way to a fast food chicken joint. Not exactly the poetic picnic I planned but dutifully improvised on a small budget. After our food court break, we ducked into the State Library of Victoria-it's a striking building built in the Victorian era (go figure). I love libraries-the musky smell, the reverent hush, and of course the books. The fact that this library is a historical landmark and beautiful 19th century building as well is just icing on the cake. We didn't stay long but visiting the numerous exhibitions encased within is high on my to do list.

Skipping down the regal steps, I filled Chris in on the next part of the plan: we were off to collect his present. As my arm worked fiercely to stay attached to my body, I reminded Chris he didn't know where we were going. Thankfully he desisted in pulling me down the stairs and refrained from running down the street. When we did reach our destination, his eyes lit up as he read the prominent sign- City Hatters. This London boy has been dying to get a hat of the outback persuasion since we arrived, and City Hatters is the place to do it. The helpful staff fitted him out in an Akubra of his own-the iconic Australian work hat. Now he just needs a reason to wear it....

Our subsequent stop is for a little birthday sweetness; I decided to forsake the idea of the traditional birthday cake in favor of indulging in Chris' favorite sweet-chocolate. One decadently sweet cinnamon dark hot chocolate beverage later we bade The Chokolait Hub adieu and set out for our last big excursion of the day.

Now for those of you who might not know, my boyfriend is obsessed with movies. He travels with over 200 DVDs at any one time, has dozens more downloaded on his laptop, and nearly died of cinematic deprivation when we were living in Alpha. Therefore it is only logical that we incorporate some sort of movie experience into his birthday celebration. We achieved this by viewing Night at the Museum II at the Melbourne Imax. It just happens to be the third largest screen in the world at seven stories. It was only Chris' second time at an Imax so he was stoked. Plus as an added bonus we got free tickets to the Melbourne Museum. I love freebies. And museums. That's what we call a win win situation.

Finally we crossed the bridge to Southbank for a delicious dinner at Blue Train-a trendy river side cafe. The food was excellent and reasonably priced-thank goodness because we spent 3o bucks on two measly cocktails while we waited. After a night cap we walked under the bright glittering lights (no stars in a big city I'm afraid) back to the hostel and turned in for an early night. Job hunting starts tomorrow.

And the downs: Job hunting

Apparently I'm unemployable. I'm a non-resident backpacker who is only in town for a month. My only real experience is in the food industry. Unfortunately here you have to have be a licensed barista to serve coffee (these Aussies are crazy about the bean) and hold an RSA certificate to serve alcohol. Plus all the catering jobs require 'highly experienced event staff.' Gah-I wouldn't even higher me.

After the joy of our birthday funday, we buckled down to start the hunt. Hours of resume updating, job-board hunting, online applying, and in store harassing later we felt pretty discouraged. Fortunately Chris found some furniture removals work on a casual basis for the next few days to make a bit of cash. I wasn't so lucky. Unless I want to be a door to door salesman, sorry salesperson, or telemarketer working on commission I'm out of luck. Unfortunately I'm not the aggressive, push random product into unsuspecting people's faces kinda gal. I have managed to put my name in for some market research telephone work which pays hourly rates so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. My only other 'light amongst the darkness' so to speak is an interview for a cafe position on Monday. I better make a good, not too 'this is my only option' desperate, impression.

One more up: Pancake Sunday

When reviewing hostels to stay in Melbourne, I mentioned to Chris that there was one that served free pancakes on Sundays. 'Book it' he said authoritatively. So I did. And tomorrow we get to enjoy the perks. So looky there-things can't be all that bad when there's free pancakes in the world.