Faith

It was a partly cloudy day down under, yet a robust 23C with a cool breeze to brush away any humidity.  It’s been a week here and my time at 62 Grey is drawing to a close with two nights remaining.  I plan on being in Melbourne for at least another week, so it’s time to figure out a new place to lay my hat.

Having a serviced apartment has been nice, but I need to break habit and force myself into a hostel for the FIRST TIME EVER! As a good friend told me before I departed…don’t be a princess.  Ok. Ok. I got online and perused a few sites like hostelworld.com and hosteltraveler.com along with a couple local URL’s to find out where to stay.  I had a short list of about 5 places; my criteria a) had availability, b) good reviews and c) cost effective.  

I decided on Habitat HQ, which just so happens to be in St. Kilda about 3 blocks away. Convenient and it will save me about $30/nt.  After I grabbed a flat white coffee (think more latte) and a pastry over on Acland Street, a morning ritual for me; I trotted over to the hostel to check it out. It appears as advertised and there was a host of folks in the common area that looked civil, unlike Base, which is down from me on Grey Street. I laid down the first night deposit for a private room with WC.  Hey, hey, what can I say?

Alright, time to check out some more areas of Melbourne.  I pedalled towards Prahan to the Chapel Street Precinct. It’s my favourite thus far.  It mimics the Annex.  I cruised into Prahan Market, like a mini St. Lawrence it has everything one needs: cheese monger, deli, fruit and veggie stands, bulk, butcher and fish monger.  Perfect.  Reasonably priced too! It’s only about a 10-15min ride from St. Kilda, so this will be site to grab foodstuffs.

Surfing on line I found an outlet mall down by the Docklands, which I somehow missed when I was there the other day.  I know what you’re thinking…didn’t I over pack? True, but not exactly wisely since I was in a frenzied state.  Anyway, I’m shipping stuff out tomorrow…so, Mom expect a box.

Eureka Tower (91 storeys)

After cruising around in the CBD for the remainder of the day, I cycled back to St. Kilda to grab some eats.  A local restaurant Claypots has a Tuesday 6p happy hour special of $5 plates (sm.) of paella!  I passed by the place the other night and it was packed with delicious looking seafood.  I read it to be wise to get there quickly before it goes. I managed to get there about 6:20p and managed to get one of the last servings. Having two 4pt shrimp and about 5 mussels, it was great value for the money and yummy too! I also had a William’s Organic Pale Ale to quench my thirst…quite hoppy.