City Slickers

We spent the last month of 2017 in the 2nd biggest city in Australia otherwise claimed to be the most liveable place in the country. Courtesy of TJ's sister, we house sat and minded a gentle spoodle for 3 weeks. It turned out to be a good time as TJ managed to do some fix-it jobs on the Podd and car. It was the first time in many months that we were in traffic jam crossing the West Gate Bridge.

Home of the Grand Prix, Albert Park

City Slicker

Melbourne is a great city for bikers with its many bike lanes and flat terrain. You can even ride into the city's busy Flinders Station and Crown Casino, dodging pedestrians. Our first experience riding in the city was the perfect storm, last working day before Christmas from lunch time!

A visit to the famous MCG to watch the Aussies train before the Boxing Day match

Waiting in line at Hawker Chan

The time here gave us the opportunity to catch up with many friends living here. After all it is "most liveable city". And soaking up what Melbourne has to offer. I have to admit that it is a place where I could live. We even queued up an hour and half for a Michelin star chicken rice!

One sad event that possibly marred our stay was the Flinders St attack. While this was not the first, it was one where I realised we could have been there. We were at the exact place just a few days ago.

The sight of my original home country still excites me

10 out of 10 Storm Warning in Victoria

A break from the rain 

A week after the Alpine Challenge, came a weather warning for the entire state of Victoria. The warning came from BOM for residents to be prepared for massive deluge of rain i.e expect a summer's rain total in just 3 days. The North east of Victoria is expected to be hit with >250mm of rain. Of course, Falls Creek is in this region. Our camp site is about 20 mins from Falls Creek called Raspberry Hill. It is a nice site. 

On Thursday, we could see most campers packing up. We folded all the walls and awnings and prepped inside our van. We were prepared to stay inside for 3 days. We could access our food and fridge internally. We have camping cooking utensils and gas burner. All we had to make sure is plenty of water. Yes, we also have a potty for emergency. There is no point in heading elsewhere as the entire state will get the rain. At least we know we won't be flooded up here.

The rain started on Friday afternoon and continued through the weekend. It finally subsided on Sunday but was intermittent. After 2 days indoor, we finally jumped in the car and had a good shower at Falls Creek. It is great that FC has public showers. Great move by the management. During this break, we also took the opportunity to dry a few damp stuff.

After looking at the weather, we decided to head to Lakes Entrance on Monday and hopefully to Melbourne by Thursday. Fingers-crossed....