Celebrity Spotting

So as you can gather it has been quite hot down under. Any of you who have seen the news the last few days will be aware of the fires in the vicinity so just to reassure you (and please stop texting at 4 in the morning people), I am in the city centre of Melbourne, not the out back so I'm safe. Plus the weather has now changed- its a bit chilly and a bit rainy. But that is not a complaint. That's how hot it was.

I've a busy bee despite the heat getting organised for Tasmania on Saturday (it has involved lots of coordinating which I find taxing on my brain) plus I've been sociable. Shock.

On Thursday I did a day trip to cuddle kangaroos (well pet) and see the penguin parade at sunset. Alas due to heat, it was less of a parade than a small party of aquaintences of penguins. However, I did see some and they were cute. During this day trip I met a retired couple from Fort William who are the first Scots I've met during my travels. We had lovely chats about Fort Willy and they named lots of people who I didn't know and I nodded appropiately. Alas, my hope of meeting a travelling soul mate like I did with Luke the Brisbane boy in Berlin and then spending 4 days together having a jolly time looking at Holocaust Memorials, did not happen. But then I think I raise the bar too high, I mean how can you beat that?

Saturday was the infamous 46.6 degree day and I did nothing. I almost ceased to exist.

On Sunday the weather had seriously changed. Cold, windy and rainy, it was like being at home. However it was the St Kilda festival so I dutifully went along like a good tourist with my special tram pass and walked out with my waterproof on appreciating all the things I was meant to appreciate. It was then I had my first celebrity spot. Now it doesn't really count as she was performing, so therefore not spontaneous, but sometimes the rules have to be stretched. However, I saw the singer Kate Miller-Heidke. Who? I hear you say. Well, any Ozzies or Maggie reading this will know. She is a pop/rocky singer now, but was once an opera singer and boy does she have a set of pipes. I like her because most of her songs are little stories not just 'I love ya, yeah yeah yeah'.

So I enjoyed that and I even managed to film parts of it with a special button on my camera. With sound. I am so proud.

My second celebrity spot was entirely spontaneous and deserves mega points. I was picked up very early yesterday morning to go on a hike to the Grampian mountain range and as I chatted to the mini bus driver/tour guide at the traffic light we noticed people were filming in the park across from my hostel. It was Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister. Points.

So my hike in the Grampians I hear you say? That must have been a long drive! Ho ho ho, you jest so. There are two Grampians- one in Scotland (original and best) and another near Melbourne, unimaginatively named. This was again a day tour and much like the 'hike' in the Blue Mountains in Sydney, wasn't much of a hike. However, I did see a nice waterfall and lots of trees. Good day. I also met two Edinburgh girls and a Virginian girl. We all clicked and got on terribly well. Alas, all three were leaving the tour at the end of the day to stay in the Grampians to join another tour and not returning to Melbourne so finally after meeting some potential playmates I was deprived so cruelly. But we will always have our memories of the Grampians.

Nothing can take that away.