The morning after White Night I had a day trip to Wilson’s Promontory National Park planned. The bus picked us up at the hostel at 7:30 in the morning. Remember when I said White Night ended at 7 am? At 7:30 in the morning, just down the street from my hostel, there was a line at least 50 people deep (not an exxageration) waiting to get into the night club. Melbourne has a number of 24/7 night clubs. I think I would have died if I lived here in my early 20’s.

Off to “The Prom.” We had 3 walks scheduled for the day: a wildlife walk, a coastal cliff walk and a rainforest bushwalk. We didn’t have the best day, as it ended up raining most of the day. The rain cleared for our wildlife walk and because it was cool out, there were plenty of kangaroos to be seen.

There were plenty of wombat dens too, but we didn’t see any until we were back on the bus and there was one on the side of the road. No picture, so hopefully it won’t be my last wombat.

The sun actually came out for our coastal walk. We started at Squeeky Beach (named for the sound the sand makes beneath your feet) and by the time we made it to the start of the walking trail on the far end of the beach, the skies opened up. We had the option to go back to the bus or do the walk anyway. About half the group, including myself, chose to walk anyway. I’m all about good decisions and they started first thing in the morning, when knowing it was going to rain, but thinking it wouldn’t be too bad I opted for a sweatshirt instead of my $150, Gortex rain jacket that I bought specifically for this trip. Well, I got pretty damn soaked, but somehow my undershirt stayed dry.

Our rainforest walk got cancelled because of the weather, so we went to a vineyard for a wine tasting instead. I don’t drink wine, but I was wet and hoped I could catch a buzz. I learned that if you “taste” the wine fast enough, the guy will think he didn’t give you any and refill you. Well, it worked twice. No luck on getting buzzed though, but the wines weren’t half bad.

Ok, so you’re asking yourself, “Why is this kid posting pictures of clocks?” The answer is because these clocks are very famous in Melbourne. These are the train clocks at the Flinders Street Station. If you’re ever in Melbourne and someone says, “Meet me under the clocks,” these are the clocks they are talking about. It’s apparently something most people from Melbourne have said at some point in their life. In 1983, they replaced these clocks with digital clocks. The public outcry was so widespread that the original clocks were reinstated within 24 hours of removal. That’s how you get shit done, America.

Tomorrow I’m flying to Tasmania for 10 days, 8 of which will be spent on a guided tour of all Tassy has to offer. I’m really excited for this part of the trip.

I have one more thing about Melbourne to share, but they are very special and deserve their own post. Don’t miss it!!