Jobs, Trips and Visitors!

So firstly, I am now a working girl! Yay! I got a temporary office job in the CBD. It's a super quiet office but  I love the hours and the pay is hopefully enough to get me home for a visit!! We're hoping to go home for a month in June. It's Conor's brothers 21st birthday and my cousin is getting married so we want to be home for those things! And I seriously need to see everyone!!! It will have been 18 months since I've seen everyone! Far too long! So yes that's the plan! So we are trying desperately to save now, which is not easy because all I want to do is buy EVERYTHING! I haven't gone shopping properly since I left Melbourne, that is extremely depressing! But I think if it means seeing everyone I can wait a bit longer! I hope!

So lets start at the start, or at least as close to that as I can remember, I will be better in the future I swear!!! So Valentine's day we went to the Merrywell at Crown for dinner for Jamie's birthday! I know so romantic! It was good fun and we FINALLY got to go into the casino! Jamie was hilarious betting, she made the lady working on our tables night! I did get a lovely bunch of pink roses from Conor! Who knew I liked roses, apparently I'm a bit more girlie than I thought!! :)

Our friend Steve from the farm has come to stay with us! It has been really good having him! Luckily he has hit it off with the housemates as well! He has actually properly moved in now too! I've trying to get the boy to go do all the touristy things but so far he has only really seen the beaches near St Kilda and the Dandenongs, which was way better this time because it was so clear out! We found a cafe in Sassafrass that served the most amazing scones! I would drive an hour back for them, which is a rather sad reflection on me really but they were yummy and I even ate them with cream! Amazing! And of course we found a random shop with a photo opportunity! Took Steve a while to realise he was posing as a girl however! More importantly we found an amazing sweet store that had Irish sweets, in the middle of nowhere like! I was literally a kid in a candy store, that I did not want to leave!!!
That night we went to the BBQ festival in St Kilda, think it was part of the food and wine festival. Got some yummy food and their was a great band playing, got a bit nippy though so we headed to Iddy Biddy's for a few drinks! Forgot how much I love that bar! There was a great reggae band playing in there too!

This week it was Conor's birthday as well, and it fell on a bank holiday so we all had the day off and it was super hot! Beach it was! We went to Sandringham with Conor's friend from home and his girlfriend and Steve. It's such a lovely beach and it was the only solution for the heat, we had nine days with temperatures over 30 degrees!! Sweet mother like! Afterwards myself, Conor and Steve went for some food in Iddy Biddy's! The boys got parmas the size of their heads, how anyone finishes those things I will never know!!

So yes last night I finally went out in the city properly! I know that is super sad! Was really good fun! Jamie, Jenna and I went to the Berlin Bar and drank cocktails while sitting on bunk beds in the East Berlin part! My cocktail came even with a lollipop in it!! It was so terrifically random! You have to ring a bell to even get into the place and then you are lead to your table/bed and have a waiter to look after you while you're there! Was so cool! I've no idea how to even get to the West berlin bar however, must try that next time! We went downstairs to Eurotrash below which had the best music, free popcorn and was the first pub I've found over here that has Sailor Jerry! Win! We met Jenna's housemates there and headed to the Carlton after, loadsa fun! And I wasn't hungover this morning! :)

Now I think I will leave it there for today! I think it's going to be a quiet few months but we do have Adelaide coming up for Easter. I can't wait for it! We're going to swim with dolphins! Ahh!!

Bu bye for now!

Amy :)

Back in Melbourne!

So now that Christmas is all over and our road trips and sightseeing done our bank balances are somewhat affected so we've decided to stay in Melbourne and try build our funds back up a bit! Easier said than done when I can't get a job! Starting to feel very panicked now but applying for lots so hopefully a job is just around the corner! Hopefully!

Since we've been back we've been catching up with friends! I've had dinner with Alex and lunch with Laura, both of which were great to catch up! We went and saw Jamie and Alex's new apartment in Port Melbourne, which is lovely! They were babysitting a puppy, who was adorable!! Little trouble maker but so completely cute! He's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!!

I also go to go to the Night Markets with Aoife and Niamh. I had only found out about them the week before but really wanted to go! The smells that you get as you walk around are amazing! You have to queue for all the stalls but it's totally worth it! The food is good and not too expensive either! Even got myself a cocktail! Bonus! :)

We've been trying to stay in and not spend money but that is seriously boring! 

Beginning to be a bit of a struggle and I feel awful having to remind Conor when he wants to make plans! Like for Australia day Conor wanted to go to Adelaide for the weekend but we honestly can't go off road tripping while I still don't have a job! It seriously sucks! So I'm sure for Australia day we'll just do a BBQ and go to the beach or something like that! We will do something!!!

This weekend we went to a BBQ in Siobhan and Benny's friends house! It's a fab house that I did not want to leave, especially since they had two amazing dogs! (Yes there does seem to be a theme to this post! Puppies!) One was a beagle and the other a rescue dog that weren't too sure of the breed but he was a lovely gentle thing! The food was amazing! All sorts of everything and it all tasted amazing! The dogs sniffing at my feet for the whole time was a little hilarious too!

It's nice to meet some new people while we're back here and everyone at the house was so lovely! Hopefully we'll see them all again! Anyway, now to get back to the job hunt! Eugh!!!

Post again soon, hopefully with some good news on the job front!

Amy :) x

Soo much to talk about!..

Ok so our laptop has been out of action until yesterday so I'm only getting to post now! So much has happened since we've finished on the farm! We visited the Blue Mountains, we stayed with Conor's family in Sydney and Wollongong, visited Canberra and Thredbo, had Christmas in Melbourne, did the Great Ocean Road, had New Years in Melbourne and have been here since! Lots to fill you in on!

So lets start at the beginning, the farm!!! It was bye bye cottage, bye bye backpackers, bye bye farm after 92 days working! It flew by and was genuinely one of the best things we have done so far in Australia. We have made loads of great friends, all of whom I hope we'll see again on our travels or else we'll have to visit where they're from! Any excuse for a holiday! ;)

So this is the group that was left when we finished which by all accounts has changed completely in the last four weeks! I've even sent one of my friends down there that wanted to get her farm work done! I hope she enjoys it as much as we did (or else I'll be hearing about it!)

So we got our papers signed and hit the road for the Blue Mountains on the 12th. First we went to the Karrang and Boyd national park and saw the Karrang Wall which was just a little breath-taking! We got to see lots of kangaroos and even a little porcupine which was far too exciting really. Next stop the Jenolan Caves which were beautiful both inside the caves and in the area around while you wait for your tour. For example the blue lagoon which had the most amazing blue water, caused by limestone we found out. We did the Temple Bahl tour which had some amazing features in it including a stalactite that looked like an angel and one rock formation that looked like a chandelier. I would definitely recommend going to see the caves if you can, there are so many tours that you can do besides the one that we did, could do a full day out there but visiting a lot of the caves would be very expensive, although I'm sure they have deals on multiple tours however.

 Then it was Sutherland here we come to stay with Conor's aunt and uncle in their new place! We stayed with them for a week and got to visit more family down in Wollongong, including their little ones! Their little boy Charlie was fascinated by me, just because I'm a girl of course but I didn't mind he was a total cutie, I loved the attention! Ha! Was lovely to see them all! We got to see the Swedish girls from the farm and finally got to go to Manly beach which was fun, although there was a shark warning, strong current and a blue bottle jellyfish warning so we ended up in a pub! Typical! Good fun all the same! Although we didn't get to go to Watson bay on the way back which I had wanted to do! Oh well! We also visited Madame Tussaud's and Botany Bay so I think we've seen all that we had wanted to in Sydney! But then again there is always something to see in that crazy city!!

And then it was on to Canberra! Can't be in a country and not see the capital really now can we? Plus we got a great deal on Scoopon for a hotel, which gave us a bottle of champagne for every night we stayed which made for an interesting Christmas. It is a lovely city, very small and quiet but pretty! It is packed to the brim with museums so if they're your thing get to Canberra! The War Museum is amazing, we spent four hours there and probably could have spent more time there other than the fact that we were starving! We also visited the Australian Institute of Sport and went up to Telstra tower for a view of the city which was pretty good! At the tower one of the staff told us to head up to Mount Ainslie for a great view of the city at night, I would definitely recommend it! Was very pretty, although somewhat cold! Unfortunately I need to invest in a tripod for my night mode, not the best picture but you get the idea!!

Then our final stop before Melbourne, Thredbo! It's a cute ski village town built up in the mountains and during the summer it is host to hill walkers and downhill bikers. You can get a ski lift up to the top of the slopes and from there you can walk to Mount Kosciuszko, the highest point in Australia, granted we didn't know beforehand but it's a 13 km walk and can take up to six hours to do! Considering the lift stops at 4.30 we probably should have gone up before 2.00! So unfortunately we didn't get to do the full walk but we did do the first two km before we put two and two together and headed back very quickly!! Hopefully we'll get back there again to do the full walk! The view from where we got to was amazing though, there was even still snow on the mountains!

Final stop for Christmas was Melbourne so we headed down the mountain and in parts (where they had cut it) straight through! Didn't look like the safest job in the world either, bit daunting driving through it without a scrape of phone signal between the two of us but on the other hand more than a little amazing! Saw some serious one horse towns once we reached the end, but finally on the 23rd we arrived in Melbourne! Siobhan and Benny had friends staying with them until the 24th so we had some chill out time before the madness that was Christmas day!


It's Christmas!!!! We had a champagne and pancake breakfast and then opened our presents. Was a lovely morning and we now have more Irish chocolate than any person can keep from melting!! Very exciting though! :D At three we headed over to our old apartment for Christmas dinner, all the trimmings! Was great! There was actually a nice big group of us too which was nice and got some calls in with the family too on their Christmas morning! Ended up being a bit of a piss up for the rest of the day, with a bit of a sing song too! Was great to catch up with everyone and meet the people who moved into our old apartment and their friends too. Was a great day but how tired and hungover we were the next day was not great for packing and getting on the road again for the Great Ocean Road.

But that my friends is for another post! I think I may have to hit the bed now!
Post again soon, so much catching up to do!!!

Amy :) x

Last Week in Melbourne!

So we're down to our last week in Melbourne before the farm work, no idea whether or not we'll come back here long term afterwards so we spent the last few weekends doing touristy things again! Fun! So we went to the Dandenong Ranges with Conor's sister and her boyfriend! Was a fun trip with a fab view, wish it had been a bit of a brighter day but still you could see the city and all the suburbs around it which was cool. Got to go to a cool pancake house too on the way home, called Flippin' Pancakes where our waitress was actually Irish and delighted to hear our accents! Was pretty funny! We really are everywhere, even out in the sticks! Ha! They had an absolutely savage stove there as well which I want! Perhaps more so when I go home though! Ha!

So the next trip was to Mount Macedon with Conor and his friend Aaron to test out his new car! Ha! Wasn't far out of the city an was a nice drive, probably could have left a little earlier so we didn't get to go to Hanging Rock but we saw the Memorial Cross and some view points. Was grand little day! Ha! And again a grand little view! :)

So I've been on to Conor since we got here to go see the Eureka Tower, I'm a pain that way! So we went in one evening to finally check it off the list! Melbourne looks amazing all lit up, I'd definitely recommend doing it at night, although its pretty difficult to get pictures with the glass and the reflection from the lights inside the tower but there is an outdoor balcony with a pretty sweet view, and a very cold wind! Conor was pretty unnerved by the fact that we were 88 floors up however so we didn't do The Edge but the view isn't any better when you do that anyway so didn't mind too much!Thursday night we all headed to Topolinos on Fitzroy St to celebrate Sharon's birthday. The pizza was delish, would definitely recommend going there if you're ever in the area! Was good fun, followed by the obligatory tea and cake back out our apartment after! Nom nom!

And last but not least we spent a beautiful day on Sunday in The Royal Botanical Gardens with our housemates. Another thing I've wanted to do for ages but the weather wasn't on my side. But it was amazing out on Sunday so we went for a stroll around the park and then Conor, Michael and Sharon played hurling for a bit while I enjoyed the sun, a sportswoman I am not!!! Ha! Nice to lap up the sunshine before I will only be enjoying it in a field thinning out lettuce! Ha!
Of course not everything from the last week has been good. I believe I mentioned my boss and his tendency towards being an ass before, but this week he outdid himself spectacularly! I gave him two weeks notice so that the girls could sort out cover for my shifts, which they did by giving the girls already there extra hours which they all wanted, all gravy. Apparently not, he decided to give the shifts to his son and wife, a week into my notice and told me not to bother coming in this week as he didn't need me! Very sound of him considering I had tried to be fair to him and could have done with the weeks wages! So pretty glad to be finished working for him now, he is an unprofessional ass! Ha! But on the uphand I got to work with some lovely girls, who actually got me a present on my last day of cosmetic bags which they had filled with goodies like nail varnishes and eyeshadows and hand cream to save me hands on the farm! Ha! Gonna miss those girls, they're so cute!So I'm a lady of leisure now with plenty of time to organise everything in the apt, including packing! Eugh! So far its been so nice out that I've just chilled out on the balcony reading in the sun! Whoops! Promise I'll get to it tomorrow! Have so friggin much to do!! Just hope for no more days like this or I'll never get anything done! And I still haven't got myself boots or found anywhere to live in Cowra! Ahh! The stress!!I'll write again after myself and Sharon's birthday party Friday! Going to be lots of fun! Then it's the All-Ireland Sunday and its all stations go to head for Wagga Wagga on Monday for a stopover before we get to Cowra! Hopefully we'll get to see a bit of it but most likely we'll be wrecked from the drive! So we've a busy weekend ahead, can't wait!Amy :)

Donal's visit!

So since I last posted we had a visitor! How exciting eh? Ha! Conor's dad came for a week and stayed with his sister. Delighted for them as Conor was pretty home sick and hadn't seen his Dad since Christmas! On Thurs night I cooked stew for everyone! I'm just proud that I actually cooked for a group but it was actually rather yummy if I do say so myself!!!

We had a day of being tourists again on Friday around Melbourne, perfect excuse for me to get snap happy again! I had forgotten how pretty Melbourne actually is, even if it did insist on raining on us a lot! So we went to the Gaol again, and then met one of Donal's friends and went for food in Chinatown followed by a stroll down in Southbank.

It was a nice day followed by 'a few' drinks in The Village Bell, resulting in myself and Conor only gettin four hours sleep before our drive to Sorrento the next day! I can not say it made for pretty faces! We were a little worse for wear it could be said! So we spent Saturday walking around Fort Nepean, a nice auld stroll with some seriously lovely view points! think we took the long route too by walking along the beach instead! Was worth it, even if it did turn out to be a bit of a workout! Ha!
After our day of fresh air we headed back to the cabins that we had rented for the night! They were actually really cosey! We had a bbq and a few drinks and ended up playing bullshit until we all gave in to our serious need for sleep!
Sunday we headed to a couple more scenic areas, like arthur's seat but it kept raining on us so we gave in, booked tickets to Batman and headed home! Ha! We got to try out a thai restaurant I had been eyeing up before the movie too so overall a good weekend full of activities!!! Makes me wish even more that I didn't work Saturday's!
Conor got to spend Monday with his Dad on his own, strolling around Melbourne for the day so he was happy with that before he headed back on Weds!
He is so lucky, I'd love to have my parents visit! Pretty sure they'd fall in love with the place too!
Anyway that's it for now! Just a quick post to say it was loads of fun!

Amy :) x

Happy Days!

Oh what a good week it has been!! I have just been offered a job!!! I did three trial days for them on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday! So yes it is in between stores in Prahan and Richmond and is a pretty quirky place so we shall see how it goes!! Excited!! :)

As well this week Conor went for a job in a joinery shop and got it so he is pretty happy as it is something he hasn't done before and it is in a set place with better hours and better money! As the title says, Happy Days!!

On Thursday night, just to make my week even better we went and saw James Vincent McMorrow in The Toff in Town, which is a pretty cool venue. It is small so we were right in front of him!

He is actually a pretty funny man, once he got over his initial awkwardness!! Ha! He told us about how he had almost got on the wrong flight and ended up at Ayers Rock! He asked if there were any Irish people in the room after talking about how weird it was to see people from home this far away and once the screams drowned out just very quickly said, your mothers all say hello! He also stopped mid song as he decided that his guitar wasn't tuned right and 'it would have annoyed him the entire time!' Got to love the Irish honesty!!

On Sunday myself and Conor went and got breakfast in La Roche! Again it was amazing but this time I tried the fruity french breakfast! Delish!! Then again give me anything with strawberries and I am content!!

Afterwards Conor headed to play his first hurling match in Gaelic park in Keysborough and I followed him out afterwards! Actually got there without going wrong once! Pretty proud of myself getting used to driving over here, still a little nervous though! The match was actually pretty good and Conor's team, Gary Eoin won! He managed to score a point after starting the match but had to come off with a dead leg, which he is still hobbling around with!


We headed to Greasy Joe's once we got home for some grub! Not the most appealing of names but the food was very good!! I had a lovely burger, which I'm not normally a fan of but it was pretty fab!!

Overall, a great week! And here's to many more weeks in Melbourne like it! So here's a video of him that we took as he stepped away from the mic and played 'If I had a Boat' as only he could do!!
Enjoy!


Amy :)

Yes my second post in a day..

Spoiling ye today so I am! Decided that seems as how everyone I spoke to before I left told me the shopping was awful that I would post to say that is sooo not true! Between shops like Cotton on, which is cheap and cheerful, Jeans West, K-Mart, which is like Penneys meets Dunnes (in a good way), Factorie, Sportsgirl, Topshop (my favourite still of course!!) and all the endless boutique and pop up shops I am having to tear myself away from shops to actually keep some money until I have a job!!


So I said I'd put up a photo of the lovely thing I have bought so far, not too much of course and most things pretty cheap!! :)

So the floral top and high waisted shorts are both Cotton On and got them in the sale so the top was only $10 and the shorts $15! The black dress is cotton on too and is what I'm wearing for our girls night tomorrow, it was only $30! The shoes are my most expensive purchase at $96 from Topshop but I mean look at them!! The blouse is Jeans West and looks great with my navy Topshop jeans, think that was $30! The navy polka dot skirt is K-Mart and was $15! The black maxi is super comfy AND has pockets which I love. That's from K-Mart too and was $15 too! The pj's I bought because they are nice and light and v.pretty! I got them from Cotton On Body for $32 for the two of them! So that's all my purchasing done, I think!


But yes now to recommend places to go for shopping in Melbourne! There isn't really a quick answer except everywhere!! There is a Cotton On on nearly every street and in every suburb. Every street in the CBD has boutiques, chain stores and designer stores to look in, and the suburbs have their own too! Chapel Street I have to say has been my favourite place so far! It goes from cheaper stores at the St.Kilda end to Designer and more expensive stores at the South Yarra end! It goes on for ages and honestly is a days shopping in itself!
I have also been told about a large shopping centre called Chadstone Shopping Centre but I think it might be an idea to keep my distance until I actually have an income again! Hmmm!


But yes there is my rant! Do not listen to the people who were here before and reckon the fashion isn't up to scratch, they are clearly mad or blind! That is all!


Good day from an anxious girl with money burning a large hole in her pocket, yes me! Oh and I've a picture of the outfit that I'm planning on wearing tomorrow, sure why not! I can't decide which necklace which is why there is two! Decisions, decisions!! 


Amy :)

Here we are..

In Melbourne!! Have settled into our apartment in St.Kilda and all!! It is lovely, we have the master bedroom and the apartment has balcony with a barbecue on it and our sitting room has a projector for a TV! It's also only five minutes walk from the beach, a short tram ride to the CBD and has busy little streets full of nice restaurants and pubs for us to go to, aswell as only being a short tram ride away from Chapel St.! Living with two English couple's who are so nice! So far we've had a BBQ and a poker/card night with them all and they've been good fun! Having a girls night this Saturday with the housemates as a friend of one of the girls is down from Sydney for the weekend for the F1! Really liking Melbourne, its very chilled out but keep finding myself drawing comparisons between it and Sydney! Not cool!!! Ha!


So we're on the job hunt at the moment, applying to everything that there is available to us so fingers crossed we'll be working soon as we are not made of money! Ha! And we have been here a month now so I reckon it may be time to stop being a tourist!!


In saying that, in our unemployment we have got in some touristy things in Melbourne, a lot of which has been free which is cool! In Federation Square, which is pretty cool itself, there is the ACMI, which is free. It has an exhibition of the advances in technology, going from television to the internet. It has some cool stuff like Mad Max's car on display in there and costumes that Australian actresses have worn in movies, for example they have an outfit worn by Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!


WE also went and saw the shrine of remembrance and the Sidney Myer music bowl, which we will definitely be catching a concert at! Its very cool! We did this while the Moomba festival was on too! It was a big free music festival with amusements, skate and bmx competitions and waterboarding comp. It was pretty deadly! There was a band at it called The Bamboo's, they are an Australian funk bad. If you ever get the chance to see them grab it because they are unbelievable! If the singer sang me a breakfast menu it would still give me shivers, and the band we're fab too!!

Notice the sunburnt face on him!

It was Conor's birthday on the 11th aswell so obviously presents had to be bought and I wanted to get him a guitar because he didn't bring his but seems as how wouldn't know the slightest thing about picking one I brought him to Allans and Billy Hyde music store to pick one out! So he got himself a nice Takemine, which came with a case, plectrums and a tuner. Sorted! We went out with a friend of ours who was in Melbourne for the weekend too to celebrate.


We have spent a lot of time on St.Kilda beach which is lovely! The other day we went down at five in the evening and it was still warm enough to go swimming and sun bathing! Around sunset every day you can go down to Jacka Boulevard and out to the pier and watch the fairy penguins come in from their days swimming! They are tiny and very, very cute! They were molting as well when we saw them so they were fluffy too! You can't take pictures of them because the flash disorients them, and in some cases blinds them but there are volunteers there with special flashlights (flashlights with duct tape over the lens!) to point them out to you in all the rocks! Apparently the best time of year to go see them is Sept/Oct because they have all their little babies with them! I WILL be going then!!

On Weds myself, Conor and a couple that we live with headed up to Brighton Beach for the day to see the bathing boxes and to do a bit of sunbathing! It's a lovely beach and the bathing boxes are v.cute! They are all multi-coloured and look deadly along the beach! There is a bike path from St.Kilda to Brighton that you can do which I think takes about half an hour which we might do the next day, when it's a bit cooler perhaps!


So yes, that is Melbourne so far! As Isaid everything to do is pretty cheap and cheerful and Melbourne is seriously laid back and cool! Hopefully next time I post I will be a working girl and I can let ye know of anything else we get up too!!


Amy :)