Melbourne

Melbourne is AMAZING! The weather here is SO MUCH BETTER than in Brisbane - I can wear jeans and sweatshirts, but I don't have to because it's just warm enough to still be comfy without them. I love it! This city is also adorable - it's a lot less crowded than Brisbane and our hostel is right in the middle of everything. I'm here with Coop right now, and Linda will be joining us later today in the same hostel. We're staying at Nomads, and luckily we ended up in the really nice one. There are two Nomads hostels in Melbourne, and apparently the other one is filthy and "not fit for humans" according to my shuttle driver. So yay for internet booking! Our beds are super creaky, but I guess that gives it some charm?

Coop and I arrived on different flights yesterday, so we met at the hostel. I flew with Virgin Blue, and their bathrooms were called "Virgin Loo." HAHA!
My flight came in earlier than hers, so I ended up hanging out in the hostel room with two of the guys until she arrived (we're in a 10-bed mixed dorm). I've discovered that I can't really understand Scottish accents, especially when the Scottish person is hungover and drinking an orange-juice juice box. Baahaha but it was really nice because both Ben (English) and Shaun(Scottish) have been in Melbourne for a couple days, so they had some suggestions of what to see. Shaun wanted to know why we had come to Melbourne instead of staying in California because California is so much better. That seems to be a common sentiment from people in Australia in general - they all want to know why we've left California to come to a lamer version. But then I explain about the whole coral reef, rainforest thing, and then it makes more sense!

Coop and I just walked around yesterday to orient ourselves, and we both fell in love with the city!

Trams (just like in SF):
They have really funky architecture here:

The mall's roof looks like a spire above the surrounding buildings:
I saw a guy playing the MELODICA on the street! Who knew that anyone besides Chris was even aware that Melodica's existed!
Chinatown has no bakeries. None. At least, we couldn't find any... they must have ninja bakeries here! But I hope to find at least one so I can get my fix =)
Pretty buildings:
We stopped by the Carlton South Garden and it was gorgeous! Huge trees, and the Royal Exhibition Building was also very beautiful:

All in all, I'm super impressed with this city and I'm excited to be here for a few more days! We're going to try to book a tour along the Great Ocean Road so we can see all the beautiful rock formations, and we're also going to St. Kilda beach to see the penguins. YAY! Expect more photos soon!