Finally Down Under

Just when I was on my way to check in to the flight I noticed that I had lost my credit card,  no surprise there! I had zero cash on me and I knew that I was going to need money to pay eg. for the hostel and the overweight of my backpack.  First I tried to ask around if anybody had found it but I only got pissed off because the people didn’t understand English. So I had to call Finland and cancel the card.

But no worries mate! At the check-in counter I met an Australian boy who also studies commerce at Monash University, at the same campus. He promised to help me out if I had any problems with having no money. He also told me a little bit about the start of the semester. In the plane our seats were next to each other. The flight took about 9 hours. I was freezing the whole time but they couldn’t even give me a blanket without any money. I tried to wrap my legs in the dresses that I had in my hand luggage so I wouldn’t freeze to death. Tim, the Australian guy, had taken a sleeping pill bought in Thailand and he slept the whole way.

From Melbourne Tullamarine Airport I got a free airport pickup to my hostel. The minibus driver gave me a tour around Melbourne CBD before driving me to the hostel and told me a lot about Melbourne. There was still a lot of smoke from the bushfires surrounding the high buildings of Melbourne. The weather was about +25C and not as humid as in Thailand, perfect! The driver also told me that last week they had measured the highest temperatures in Melbourne ever, +47C, and many of the animals, plants and trees had died because of the heat. It was the hottest day in Melbourne history, same kinds of temperatures were measured the last time in 1939! French guy in my hostel told me that his flipflops had burned in the asphalt and the wind had felt like a hundred of hairdryers had blown on you!

My first impression of Melbourne is really good. I saw some great shoe shops on the way over! Everybody’s been really friendly and helpful as well. I also like the multiculturalism, every third person speaks other than English as their mother tongue and almost 40% have been born overseas or have parents from another country. The weather is perfect. It also seems like there’s so much to do here. Western Union sorted out my money issues as well.

On Saturday I just slept and rested. I also took a sleeping pill bought in Thailand and slept like a baby for 24 hours, although there are 9 others staying in the same room and people come and go and there is a lot of noise. When I woke up I went for a run to the park. There are lots of nice parks everywhere and trees surrounding almost all the streets. The architecture reminds me of big European cities. People have been amazingly nice and helpful. If you open a map on a street there is always someone willing to help you out. Everybody’s always chatting to you eg. in the elevators and trams and everywhere which felt strange at first after living in Finland where nobody talks to strangers :D After Thailand it also feels great to speak and hear English…