Sunday 30 November 2008

Melbourne

My new haircut
Melbourne was a big and very positive surprise - especially after coming from the states. There are various reasons:

1. There is an Aldi right in downtown Melbourne. It is fucking hot outside, but inside Aldi you can buy Stollen and Lebkuchen for Christmas. I immediately felt at home - and for sure half of the people in that Aldi spoke German, probably all backpackers from Germany.

2. I got a new haircut for just 14 AUS$ which is about 7 EUR. This was the cheapest and fastest haircut I ever got. My hairdresser was from Mauritius by the way. Which leads to...

3. Melbourne is a truly cosmopolitan place. You see schoolgirls in old-fashioned British school uniforms next to dolled-up Japanese girls next to Indians next to Fijians next to Good knows what. The very positive consequence of all this is that the food is incredible. Melbourne has a plethora of excellent Asian restaurants and in fact the local equivilant to a Berlin Doener Kebab is sushi. Everybody is eating sushi rolls as a snack - and they are incredibly cheap: About 1 to 1,50 EUR per roll. It actually is the perfect snack food and you see people everywhere snacking on a sushi roll in a paper bag. I do hope that I am not overeating on all that sushi before I go to Japan.

4. There is an incredible street market everyday with wonderful fruit. Mangos sell for 0,50 EUR and they are better than anything you have ever bought in a German Aldi: juicy and sweet. Right now apricots, peaches and nectarines are in season, too and they are really tasty - not like the bland stuff you get in American supermarkets.

5. Cultural life is good, too: There are some interesting museums and an awesome theatre building. I decided to get a little culture and even saw a theatre play.

I will come back twice to Melbourne and I am really looking forward to it. But right now I have just arrived in Perth, where I will start to hike the Bibbulmun Track tomorrow. I have no clue how the internet access situation is along the trail so don't worry if I am not posting for the next 5 weeks.

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