My last week in Australia

Hello from beautiful Melbourne!

Before I begin, I should let you all know that I am BY FAR the best smelling person using the internet at the State Library of Victoria this morning ... not that that's saying much. But seriously, the guy to my left smells AWFUL! and a new guy just sat down at the computer to my right and he smells even worse! Ugh. I guess that's what I get for being a bum and using the public computers as soon as the library opens but COME ON. 

So I'm nearing the end of my Australia/New Zealand Adventure. I can't believe I'll be home in a week!

I'm soooo happy to be coming home and I can't wait to see all of you but I'm a sad about leaving Melbourne. I'm already starting to miss it, even though I have a full week of fun ahead of me here. I woke up early yesterday (way too early: 5 am!) and caught the train from Eden Hills, Adelaide to the interstate train station. I arrived with plenty of time (for once) and food for the 10-hour train ride to Melbourne. I decided not to check my big backpack but I went over to the check-in desk to see about securing myself a solo seat for the ride so I could sleep and read in peace. The guy was really nice and said he'd put me in a single seat in the "nearly empty" train car. He printed me a new ticket: Car T, Seat 44. I was so happy! When they called us to board the train, I started walking to Car T and there was a huge crowd outside the door. Hmmm ... when I got up to the front of the line, the man looked at the sheet of paper he was holding and told me that Seat 44 was taken. He said, "Step aside and I'll take care of these people and then we can find you a seat." It was freezing outside and I couldn't wait to get on the train. I turned around and looked at the line of 30 or so people behind me and decided there was no way I could stand there and wait. I went to the girl standing outside the next car and explained what had happened. She told me to go ahead and take any empty seat in her car and she'd sort it out later. Sweet! I took a random seat and the guy and girl in front of me turned around to ask me something ... we started talking and they told me they were on their way to Melbourne, too. And on Thursday they're flying to LA to begin their three-month bike trip around the US! We chatted for a while across the seats until the man on the other side of the aisle told us we could flip their two seats around so they were facing me. We did that and basically made our own little living room to sit in and talk for the rest of the train ride (with a few naps here and there). Adrian, Janelle and I had so much fun talking about our travels, our lives, flash mob videos, Hamish & Andy (http://www.hamishandandy.com/), skateboards, and Justin Bieber (oh yes, Adrian's got the fever). We ate lunch together in the buffet car and later Adrian went to buy some candy and brought me back a Snickers bar. They were so sweet and awesome. I couldn't believe it when we rolled into Southern Cross station, the trip went by so fast! I absolutely adore this couple!

When I arrived in Melbourne, my buddy Matt came and picked me up and took me back to his house for dinner with his parents and brother and sister-in-law. They were all so nice and welcoming, and dinner (meat and potatoes and veggies) was delicious. We talked about Matt's bro and sis-in-law's upcoming trip to CA for the first part of their honeymoon and I gave them some tips on where to stay. No couchsurfing for me -- I had my own room with a super comfortable bed and I slept like a rock until 6:15 a.m.

Matt and I woke up early this morning and took the train into the city. He went to work and I went to the Optus store to buy more credit for my phone. In a couple hours I'm taking the train down to St. Leonards to spend a couple days with my cousin Richard and his wife Diane. I'm super excited! I haven't seen them since January! It's crazy, this whole trip has gone by soooo fast, but it also feels like forever ago that my plane was landing in Australia and I was walking around Melbourne for the very first time. Just crazy. Okay, off to enjoy my last week in this fabulous city.