Good Morning....

Well indeed it is good morning from me.....07:46 to be precise and I'm feeling pretty good it has to be said.

My first few days in Australia have been pretty good from what I remember. First couple of days were consumed by the bucks party and the subsequent hangover from hell although I do still have some very nice images in my head from the bucks especially the lawn bowls and of course my buddy launching himself off a pier into the ocean....all the usual "soon to be wed" antics you'd expect with some of the nicest guys you could ever meet.

Day two was a complete right off. I don't think I muttered more than 4 words the whole day whilst I was curled up on the sofa!

Yesterday morning we took a walk into Mornington itself and had a coffee. Was really nice to have a stroll down there and chat along the way about the area. From what I've seen of Melbourne so far it seems to have a great deal of American influence in the way it's set out, driving down from the airport, especially along the bay road reminded me of the drive I took with a colleague when working out in states, it could so easily have been that same southern Californian coastal road with it's houses built into banked hillsides facing out to the ocean and Mornington reminds me of suburban L.A. but much cleaner :-)

We came back down this way a little later too for some lunch and a few drinks at a restaurant on the esplanade. Very good it was too although a little expensive when compared to a UK eatery. Food prices here have shot up since the recent floods, foods like bananas have risen in price by around 300%. I suppose it's all very well and good being a self sufficient country like Australia is until that point when the system hiccups and then it has to catch up with itself again.

One example I was given is that you can buy bananas in a supermarket for $2.99 a lb and in a city market they can be as low as $0.99 a lb............Looking forward to getting involved in these markets :-)

Of course Melbourne is a much much bigger place than just a couple of roads and a few beaches and I'm looking forward to getting around and exploring a bit more.

The one thing that never seems to chance with warmer climates versus myself is the amount of insect bites that I always accumulate. I'd like to think of it as a compliment to my exquisite taste....Oh well more antihistamines required.

Today is also the day that I move over to my rental accommodation so I'll be off soon to get provisions. I'm thinking it might be an opportunity to get some exercise too as it's quite a walk from the house to the town, only around 15 minutes but it's all hills so if a get some healthy stuff and walk that walk a few times maybe I can even bring a little bit of health into my holiday.

Until later fellows....Toodlepip xx