Birthday Celebrations in Melbourne

The wonderful Daryl and Steffi picked me up from the airport on Friday night, and by the time we got home it was basically midnight. I was shattered and really appreciated having "my" old room back to crash out. We'd agreed on a lazy start to the weekend so we could all catch up on some sleep.

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Of course I was awake stupidly early, still not having shaken my strawberry routine. I tried to doze through the morning, but instead scrolled through social media and read a bit until I could be bothered to get out of bed.

We headed to Fitzroy at 11.30am for brunch. Sam drove and I discovered a new radio station, Smooth, that is amazing. I knew every single song! The suburb was very hipster, with lots of graffiti and trendy cafés to explore. We decided on The Rose Café. The decor was gorgeous, very vintage and cool. I ordered a chorizo, capsicum (pepper) and onion jelly sandwich. It was okay, but not as delicious as I'd hoped. We also shared a chocolate zucchini (courgette) cake. This was interesting, a nice flavour but we were a bit unsure of the texture.

Moving on to our next adventure of the day.. an escape room! Now, these guys are seasoned pros at a whole spectrum of escape rooms, and so I was in safe hands. We arrived at The Mystery Rooms slightly early, we were booked in for 1.45 and so were allowed to lounge on their sofas while we waited for the room to be reset. I also had to read the safety policies and sign my life away. This was exciting!

The Tomb Raider Room was so much fun! I'm so glad I had the pros with me, I wouldn't have known where to start. There were a series of puzzles and clues throughout two chambers that had us sniffing, playing chimes, crawling, shouting, shifting, weighing, counting, and definitely scratching heads a few times. It was awesome. We made it out just in time, with six seconds to spare!!

After receiving a complementary drink and chatting to the British guy on reception, it was time to move on. Heading into the city, we were so lucky to find a good parking space to walk along the Yarra to Moomba Festival. Moomba was a free community festival with a carnival, watersport and skating competitions, sandsculpting, face-painting and a ROLLER DISCO. I was beyond excited to relive my childhood with that one!

We spent our time wandering around and getting a feel for the festival. We immediately found the freebies and soon had tried a new Rockstar drink (disgusting) and nabbed two juices each to try (refreshing and tasty). I was then over the moon to find the same food truck I'd fell in love with on Australia Day! I made the guys try Lukumades, so they got an Oreo one to share, and I ordered a Snickers. I forgot just how good they were, the doughnuts were so warm and soft. Delicious.

Crossing over the river, we explored the Northbank. Here, we found lots of typical carnival games; hook-a-duck, hoopla, rifle shooting... The list goes on. They were all a bit expensive for my liking but we enjoyed watching from a distance. We also had a better view of the wakeboarding championship thing going on. The tricks these guys were completing were just insane, so impressive!

We next found the kids' play area, and some animal statues. Whilst here we also happened upon a lovely lady who was giving out information cards on animals. We learnt all about native mammals and birds and Steffi gained lots of cool collectable cards for her children at work. Next, we were sent to Roberto to learn about marine animals. This turned into a pop quiz and it's safe to say I wasn't very good.. I didn't know half the places he talked about let alone the birds! To complete the collection, we had to visit an old tram conductor. He only had a few cards left so we had to compete to win them. Sam won a hundred year old half-penny and then we all received old pennies for trying. It was the most educational kids' area I'd ever visited!

We decided to head back to Southbank and try a Sandscultping workshop. Unfortunately, by the time we got there it was too late.. the last session had finished a half hour previously. Dammit. Still, got to see Dame Edna Everage in sand form.

We had seen just about everyone walking around munching on a potato on a stick thing. I'd never had one and they came highly recommended, so we made it our mission to find them! Sam was the one who spotted them, and so we joined the queue for "Korean Potato Twists". I was told to try a chicken salt twist, and boy it was good. The potato was just right, crispy and soft in the middle.

There was still a little while until the fireworks and so we planned to head into the city for some dinner and to find some cheap socks. We stupidly assumed the roller disco would provide socks, but nay. We may have got a little distracted on the way. A jazz group was playing on the Bandstand as we passed. They were pretty good, but had an issue with their sound. We left them to it.

We fought the crowds around Flinders and headed to Swanston St for some good food. I was still really full from my potato twist, well it was a whole potato, so waited outside while the guys bought sushi. On the way back to the Yarra, I did treat myself to a Lift from Subway.

Back at Moomba we realised we'd forgot the socks! The roller disco would have to wait. Instead, we found a spot on the embankment to watch the fireworks. Amazingly, the waterskiers were still going, even though it was now dark.

We didn't have to wait too long for the show to begin. It was an awesome display, with lots of "ooh" and "aaah" moments. I forget how much I love fireworks until I see them. The different colours and patterns made in the sky will always amaze me, and that smell afterwards.. perfection.

It was time to walk back to the car and head home, we were all pretty tired. Two late nights in a row.. wild. The guys were booked on a barista course in the morning (inspired by me, I like to think) and I was hitching a ride back into the city again.

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Woke up with plenty of time to enjoy a shower, a cuppa and toast before we had to leave. I honestly don't know how they do it but, within minutes of waking up, Daryl and Steffi were ready to go. I rode with Sam and we listened to Smooth again. Managed to park just in time, with the guys having 5mins to get to their course. I headed towards Fed Square, not 100% sure how I was going to fill my day.

First, I knew I had to buy suncream and Woolworths seemed a good place to start. It was a bit of a cloudy morning, with rain forecast, so I didn't panic too much when I failed to purchase any. I made up my lunch, a turkey baguette, and watched the commuters from a spot in QV Square. Moomba wasn't opening until 11am, so I had time to kill.

I attempted to nab another free juice on my way down to Southbank, but the stall wasn't up and running. I found a good spot on the grass and sat down to wait for the Birdman Rally. Then, shock horror, the sun emerged from the clouds and was burning right above me. Luckily, I had been given a Birdman poster, which soon became a hat.

There were thousands of people lining the banks in no time, all waiting for the 11.30am start. I was given a kazoo and an awful whistle too and was ready to cheer and laugh with the rest of them. I wasn't expecting two presenters and mascots however. This thing was the real deal!

The rally basically involved 15 competitors launching themselves from a platform and into the Yarra River. I haven't laughed so hard in ages. It was especially funny when the pilot was confident they'd do really well, and then just stumbled across and fell in. Hilarious! It was so hot, I'd have happily jumped in there myself.

I wandered back through the shaded carnival, visiting the kids' area again of course. I devoured my turkey sandwich, which was a little bit warm from being in my bag, and treated myself to a Caramel Koala. Why we do not have these, or the equivalent, in the UK is beyond me... they're so nice!

I decided to head back over to Fed Square, see if I could find anything free to do for a while. It was so hot at this point I really wanted to get into some air conditioning. Turns out it's free to explore the galleries of the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image). And so in I went, and was immediately hit by a glorious waft of cold air. This would do for a while!

There was so much to see, so I just chose a few things to do to fill an hour or two. I read about a few famous Australian faces of cinema; Nicole Kidman, Baz Lurman, Cate Blanchett etc etc. I then found an awesome interactive area. I made a time-capture sequence, a poor attempt at a Matrix scene. It looked terrible but it was free, unlike the flipbook creator.

I headed back to Exhibition Street to surprise the guys, but it wasn't as far away as I thought. There wasn't really anywhere to sit and wait so I wandered up to the Parliment Building. It was so peaceful here compared to the madness of Moomba and I was glad to just chill out and people watch.

I made it to the venue just as the course finished, and realised once again I'd forgotten to buy any socks for the Roller Disco. I had been so excited too, one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Moomba had been for a nostalgic skate. Of course, once I had relayed this to the gang we were off to Moomba for a sweaty sockless skate.

There were no roller blades available in our sizes so we all had to get roller skates instead. Fun fact: I'm actually a size 7 here. Who knew? Skates on, it was on to the rink... And then back off again, I was told off for not having my skates tied all the way up! I had a small panic because I'd completely forgotten how to skate, but soon picked it back up.

We stayed on there for a good half an hour maybe. I really enjoyed it, and wasn't as terrible as I thought I would be. The DJ played some right corkers, and there were two pros organising games in the middle. I felt that was taking it too far, so stayed on the outside where I could grab onto the edge if I needed to! I would be skating along fine until a crazily skilled child would zoom past. I only stumbled once though, and I'm blaming Sam for that one.

Skated out, we had an upill walk back to the cars. We hadn't been as lucky with the parking this time, and had a twenty minute walk. At least it was quite scenic, past the botanical gardens. Steffi had to work Monday, so we said goodbye and agreed to meet her for a birthday dinner.

Stopping off at Woolworths, we grabbed ingredients for dinner and I found a cake. Sam cooked up her speciality for us, creamy pasta with chicken, bacon, spinach and mushrooms. I managed about half of my mushrooms, but ran out of stuff to eat them with. Still, maybe I'll like them on their own soon?

I had bought some popcorn from the shops, so settled down to watch The Proposal. I was still awake come midnight, so unlike me, but I enjoyed receiving prompt birthday wishes.

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....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME....

I woke up a few times in the night, possibly because I'd left my phone on loud, d'oh. Once I'd changed that I managed to sleep through until 8ish. Cuppa and toast done I was ready for a Skype with Mum and Dad!

It was wonderful as always to catch up and also get to open my cards and present on camera. I was over the moon with my personalised Lego set.. Now I can take Mum, Dad and Ben with me on my travels! Such a cool idea.

I had a pretty lazy morning, by the time I'd said goodnight (still getting used to that time difference) it was 11ish. I spent a good hour scrolling through Facebook and replying to the wonderful people who had worked out that it was already the 13th in Oz.

Sam was up by 12ish and so I asked her to plan somewhere fun for me to visit for a picnic. We settled on Jells Park in Glen Waverley, and so I packed my bag and was off on my jolly way to the bus stop. I was super proud of myself for staying awake all the way to the train station. Maybe this would be a new thing for me, as a fresh 23yr old.

The fun began as I tried to coordinate my way from the station to the main road I needed. This didn't go to plan, so I took the more scenic, and shaded, route to the main stretch. I stopped off at a 7Eleven enroute to apply more suncream and pop my hat on. Made the most of it and also treated myself to cheese and crackers, a doughnut, and lemon flavoured sparkling water.

It was maybe an hour walk to the park, and I enjoyed the breeze whenever it made an appearance. Of course I'd forgotten that it was actually a public holiday, Labour Day, and so it was pretty busy when I arrived. It was a sweet sight to see, families making the most of the sunshine and the free bbqs. I heard a few renditions of "Happy Birthday" as I walked around too, naturally pretending they were singing to me and thanking them as I past.

I found a gorgeous spot to eat lunch, on a bench in front of the lake. I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of snacks, and it was so good to have some proper mature cheddar! I was going to walk around the lake, but it had taken me so long to get to the park, I wasn't sure if I'd make it round with time to get home. Instead, I walked a few small trails around the park itself and had a peek at the Visitor Centre.

It must have been at least 32°C when I was ready to leave. I really didn't fancy having to walk back up the hill to the station, so I cheated. I had to wait 15mins in the sun for the bus, but I decided it was the lesser of two evils. After all, I was older now.. had to conserve my energy.

I have the same issue every time I get on a bus in Melbourne. I wait on the wrong side of the road, realise I've done it again, and then have to run across to go in the right direction. This time, I didn't realise in time and got on the wrong bus. Luckily, I wasn't too far wrong when I realised and had to get off. Idiot.

I made it home with enough time to have a shower before we piled into the car to head to Colombo's. This was a family run restaurant, and a lot bigger than we had envisaged. Still, the menu offered a good variety and the service was quick. I ordered the Rigatoni alla Matricciana, and had fun attempting to pronounce it to the waitress. It was delicious! The others shared a seafood linguine and a spicy pizza.

Leaving, we noticed an icecream cabinet.. It would be rude not to. I had a rainbow cone, it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, and she definitely could've given us another scoop or two. Ah well. Now, to finish the evening, we were off to AMF Bowling.

The bowling alley was completely empty when we arrived, so we had two lanes between us. Steffi tried to get me in for free, but the ole "but it's her birthday" routine didn't work, even when paired with puppy dog eyes. It was so weird having the whole venue to ourselves, they were basically slowly closing around us. Unfortunately for me this meant no bumbers as "the hydraulics have been turned off". Naturally without these, I was shockingly bad. And I mean bad. To start with I was doing okay, knocking a few down each time. By the time we got to our third game it took me 4 goes to get higher than 1 on the scoreboard. No joke. I literally only had 1 point for a good twenty minutes. It was great fun and a good laugh.

We left just before 10, I think they were relieved to see us go to be honest. I was looking forward to having a cuppa and a slice of cake. Steffi and Sam had sneakily bought some candles to surprise me and I got a beautiful rendition of "Happy Birthday", complete with harmonies, to then blow them out.

It was finally the end of an amazing weekend, and a fantastic birthday. Although of course I still hadn't spoke to Ben or opened his card/present.. so I had another half day still to celebrate!

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I couldn't not mention the awesome gift from Ben. We had a great chat the following morning and I opened my present. An SD card full of Disney films, I cannot even begin to explain how excited I was to have some funny, sad, clever, and nostalgic films to watch!

I was straight on it, transferring files here there and everywhere so my tablet would always be ready for a Disney session. Then, of course, watched Moana. Awesome film! Spent the rest of the day planning my next adventure, back to Sydney and up the East Coast on my Loka pass. I was really looking forward to getting back to the beaches and being a tourist for a while.

Another year gone, I have a feeling 23 may be my best yet.