I just bought a scarf! Seriously. I mean, I knew it would be cold down south, but l didn't expect it to drop down to four degrees Celsius at night! Well, it did in Albury where I stayed the night before last night: Ten degrees during the day, four at night.

Fortuantely Melbourne is a wee bit warmer than Albury, i.e. 14 degrees during the day. But that's still pretty cold! Well, it will be even colder when I'm in New Zealand so I should probably simply get used to it, maybe buy another sweater at the OP shop and stop complaining. How does the (Scottish) saying go? There is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing". Yeah, but I guess the woman who said that (and I'm sure it was a woman!) didn't have to carry all her belongings in a backpack!

Melbourne

But enough about the weather: Yesterday I arrived in Melbourne, Australias big city in the south. I was really excited about Melbourne since I heard so many good things about it. People have been raving about Melbourne more than about Sydney. The nightlife is supposed to be better here and people more friendly. And while I cannot make a judgement on Sydney yet, I definitelu had a good night last night. I met with Andre, who I had met in Belfast a few years ago, and his wife Errin in the "Kitten Club"last night. And no, it's not s strip club, even though it certainly sounds like one. I was so disappointed (just kidding). It's a really nice place, with a very diverse crowd. You get people in suits who just came from work and kids in the ragged new-punk look all mingling with each other. You wouldn't find that in Munich. Very nice. We also had the cutest waitress ever - and of course I immediately fell madly in love with her (sigh).

Andres wife Errin is really cool - true born and bred Aussie girl with the typical bluntness that still sometimes amazes me. They invited me out again tonight and offered to show me Melbournes surroundings on Sunday, which I'm really looking forward to. Backpacking you simply don't get the chance to mingle with the locals very often. So it's great if you can.

Amen!

The hostel I'm staying in (The Nunnery, 22 AUD) is the best winter-hostel I've had so far. It's actually warm! And they even have heaters in the rooms and thick blankets! That makes such a difference - and who knows maybe I'll even be able to get rid of the cold that is still pestering me. The only problems is - as so often - parking. Though it's not as bad near the Nunnery as in other places. There are parking spots across the road where you can park for 3.80 AUD at day. The only problem is that you have to get up at 7 am to feed the ticket-machine! Ouch. The Nunnery is a real, fomer nunnery, btw. It's a pretty cool place, though I do find all the religious effigies a bit disconcerting. But hey - there was free wine and nibbles last night? Whn did you ever get that at a hostel?

On the web:
The Kitten Club
The Nunnery