Getting the flock loaded onto the Asia X flight bound for Melbourne at just after midnight was a relatively easy thing to do. It looked as though the plane was only at approximately 60-70% capacity as there were seats aplenty scattered around the cabin. As we thundered down the runway and launched ourselves into the KL sky I had kind of wished that I’d been able to knock down a few drinks beforehand. This to me is no longer a pleasant part of doing continental runs, I hate taking off more than anything! All that I can imagine for those few minutes whilst climbing into the vast emptiness above the ground are either the engines blowing out or the plane somehow spiralling out of control at 500kms an hour into the apartment blocks below…anyway….enough of that. We sailed through the canopy of darkness with ease and set our sights south for a 9hr journey.
With a little dexterity and subtle manoeuvring I somehow managed to score the tri-chair dream position in the centre of the aisle. Three seats of bliss that Frichot could somehow not find himself to get comfortable on whilst I made my bed below those seats for the first two hours of the flight. Needless to say, I accepted the gift that he presented me without any concerns and virtually slept the entire way to Melbourne. Each time we encountered a little turbulence however I was roused from my sleep just long enough to see Frichot sitting bolt upright either reading away or staring into the abyss and wishing that the flight was over. I think he’s more of a nervous flyer than I am, although we make an excellent ‘panic station’ advert duo for all those that fear flying generally. Check us out boys and girls, all the reasons as to why you shouldn’t fly, etched right here on our faces!
Touching down at Tullamarine somewhere around midday I think both of us just wanted to head for home rather than spend a night in Melbourne, well probably more so myself than Frichot. My attempts to get in contact with any customer service rep by phone from Tiger airlines was futile and walking down to their own terminal, several hundred metres away from the main domestic terminal, I kind of realised why these guys are considered at the extreme end of the budget spectrum. The queues and the size of the terminal generally reminded me of the line ups for bathrooms at major sporting events, crowded, claustrophobic, with piss and shit everywhere. This was a cattle yard, and man, I was not going to endure that hideous mist of evaporating sweat and body heat just to be advised that ‘No sir, we can’t do anything for you because we’re only authorised to be ignorant, arrogant and ignore anything that remotely relates to decent customer service’.
We eventually decided that staying in Melbourne for the night was the right choice, and really, I wasn’t complaining, it is my favourite city in Australia. Booking ourselves into some budget accommodation, The Albany, just off Toorak Rd in South Yarra, we jumped onto a bus and headed to Southern Cross station on Bourke St. There we got ourselves into a taxi at which time I reminded myself that at journeys end I should only be paying cash as I’ve been scammed by Melbourne taxi drivers twice in the past with them using my credit card details to fraudulently charge amounts and trips that were never taken.
It’s the only irritating thing about Melbourne, and even though this scam is really well known nobody seems to be doing anything about it, not the police, not the government, ombudsman etc.
After checking in at the Albany we crashed out for a few hours, Frichot catching up on the sleep that he didn’t get on the Asia X flight and me stealing whatever additional sleep that I needed just for the hell of it.
The Albany - South Yarra - Melbourne
By the time early evening came around and we unpacked some of our luggage we were also able to find where we’d hidden our wits and energy, which appeared to be well hidden away in our bags. We walked down to St.Kilda road and jumped a couple of trams to Brunswick St. I’ve mentioned it a few times before, and I’ll do it again now, this area is one of my favourite places in Melbourne to either grab some food or have a few drinks – especially the Black Pearl bar, tucked away in the kind of grungy Fitzroy bar scene than is not really replicated anywhere else in Australia…well, I guess Newtown tries but it doesn’t really get it across the line in the same manner. Frichot, his mind drifting back to the ‘greatest hits of 2008’ had a bit of a hankering for the woodfire pizza joint that we’d been to a year earlier and I fully supported him on that stroke of genius. Parking ourselves there for a couple of gourmet pizzas and a bottle of red or two, we chatted about the last few weeks and showed the waiter some of our NYE shots from KL – it was kind of hard to believe that we were there only two nights ago, leaving many a brain cell behind. The waiter also told us about his ex-girlfriend was now living in KL, kind of looks like we weren’t the only ones to lose something to the Malaysian capital.
Mural just off Brunswick St - Always take a photo when I'm here
Apparently the ex of a friend of mine painted this - or so she tells me!
As the night wore on we made our way up a couple of hundred metres to another cool venue, the name of which escapes me, it had a bit of live music going, then checked out a drummer that had camped himself on the intersection of Brunswick and Johnston St to display to one and all the type of groove he was capable of…and man…he was alright! [Brunswick St Drummer] . Hanging out for a little while Frichot made that call that we head up to AC/DC lane and have a few drinks at the place where we’d spent the earliest hours of last year getting our drink on, which in turn we did. Truthfully by this point my enthusiasm for all things nocturnal had vacated the premises and my mind felt like it was swimming threw a bowl of thick soup. I think we hung out for a few hours before calling it a night and making it back to the Albany for what would be an early morning start in order to catch out 6:00am flight back to Sydney.
So it was, at about 4:00am we were picked up at the Albany and driven to Southern Cross station where we jumped a bus to the domestic terminal. A little after 6am we were up in Australian skies once more, on a Singaporean based airline, flying on our last leg home from trip to Vietnam and Malaysia. This my friends is where this journey ends. It was definitely one of the best trips that I’ve had and I think having a really good mate along to share those experiences, the laughs, the sights and sounds just really made it for me. So hopefully sometime soon we can do it all again, NYE 2010-11, Rio de Janiero is a callin' !!!. This however is the last write up for this journey, one more ‘Greatest hits’ wrap ups to go and then I’ll be off to more wicked and wild escapades somewhere in this world…watch this space!!!
Last leg - Melbourne to Sydney
