Ah! Melbourne, Melbourne, Melbourne!

Rainnie was a darling and met me at the airport off my flight from Adelaide. We went back to hers, then jumped on bikes and cycled down Lygon Street a bit to a wine bar called Atticus Finch for a bottle of (it has to be said mediocre) red wine to celebrate my return to Victoria.

On Sunday morning we cycled to Fitzroy Baths for a swim and a tan top-up. Yes, it was hot & sunny in Melbourne! This wasn't always to be the case, however, which somewhat saddened me. I'm sure it didn't rain nearly as much in my whole year here in '05 as it did in my fortnight here this year! But no matter.

That afternoon we made pizzas at Rainnie's house and ate them. Yum!! Lebanese flat bread, a bit of tomato paste, some cheese, some veggies, some olives, and hey presto. Or the other one, which was just garlic, red onion, potatoes and rosemary. Wow!

I'd arranged to meet up with my friend Stuart later that afternoon in the beergarden of the Laird, my local when I was living here. To my surprise I not only saw Stuart but also got to know his best friend Peter AND I ran into Johannes' friend Dez! Of course, everyone knew everyone else already. But it was great for me to reconnect with Melbourne mates en masse.

For dinner, Stuart & Peter took me to the nearby Park Hotel, which is a pleasant pub with excellent food and is a regular haunt of theirs. Then I walked slowly back across Fitzroy and towards town, passing by a new pub I'd heard about called Sircuit and running into my friend Pat there unexpectedly.

Most of the daytime that I was in Melbourne I spent writing up my blog, to be honest! It took a little longer than it might have because I was using Rainnie's old laptop, which needed a lot of TLC - and updates galore - to get it working. Even then it was slow as, but it beat spending all my time and money going to internet cafes, that's for sure!

My evenings I spent catching up with people, reacquainting myself with favourite haunts, and getting to know new coffee shops, bars & restaurants. I love Melbourne!

So, on Monday, I dashed into town to eat masala dosa at a restaurant on Swanston Street cheesily called Curry Paradise. It deserves the name, is all I say. Wow! I've daydreamed periodically over the last four years of savouring their masala dosa, and now here I was acting out my fantasy. Bliss!

Next I got a key cut so I could give Rainnie back her house keys, had a quick coffee down Manchester Lane, and got a haircut at the slowest, gentlest barber I've ever experienced. AND he was ethnic German to boot! Then it was back to Rainnie's for a natter.

I met Dez on Smith Street for a drink at a bar confusingly called Kent Street that evening. We had dinner at a Vietnamese place nearby and then went to the Laird for a few underwear-themed drinks. Dez had to get to work early the next day, so we left at about eleven and I got a tram back up Nicholson Street to Rainnie's.

On Tuesday I popped in to Melbourne University to ask about doing a teaching diploma there. It's shocking how much more it costs to do the course as an international student than it does for Australians or permanent residents! We're talking tens of thousands of dollars more.

That afternoon I met up with my dear dear friend Emily on the steps of Flinders Street station, a traditional Melburnian meeting place for decades. We went for a coffee & cake on Degraves Street, and then we caught the train out to Yarraville, where Em had parked her car. A quick visit to the supermarket for ingredients and then it was back to Em's for a delicious dinner of baked salmon and veggies, washed down with a fine New Zealand sauvignon blanc of my choosing. Mmmmm!

In a bid to catch up with myself in cyberspace, I'm going to try to bullet-point the next few days, which all followed a similar pattern of internet by day and fun by night.

Wednesday: caught up with my good friend Ross in St Kilda for a bite to eat and a lovely evening.

Thursday: caught up with my good friend Matthew (who used to live in Canberra) for a delicious traditional Melbourne parmigiana (I know, me eating schnitzels is seriously coals to Newcastle, but it was a very good one) and then far too many martinis in a posh bar on Spring Street.

Friday: my very first onsen (Japanese spa bath) experience - having been denied one in Japan by all of them being closed - with Stuart and Peter, followed by dinner at the Park Hotel and a very lovely evening.

On Saturday I had lunch with Peter and a walk round The Convent - literally an old convent that's now an arts centre and all-round lovely spot in Collingwood. In the afternoon I baked an apricot tart for Rainnie and that evening Rainnie & I went to the theatre to see a satirical show about the current Australian political scene.

We followed this evening of culture up with dinner at Sahara, a little place upstairs on Swanston Street that I remember fondly from four years ago. The poor waiter got into a tiz with time zones though, when I mentioned to him that I live in Munich (they were selling Paulaner Oktoberfest beer, which prompted my comment): he said something along the lines of "oh, so it's March over there at the moment isn't it?" before realising just how foolish he sounded and then dropping his tray!

Sunday was a lovely day, if a little cold. I had brunch on Brunswick Street at the Red Tongue cafe with Ian, Kris and Kris' daughter. Later that evening I caught up with my good friend David from Canberra, who was down in Melbourne on business. We had a few beers and then headed to the Crowne Casino to feast on their seafood buffet. Wow!! It was just divine! So much lobster, so many prawns, and the most delicious swordfish medaillons I've ever had the pleasure of eating! Not to mention the dessert bar and the cheese selection...