June in the country down under - still in Melbourne

New update of June ... this is a picture from St Kilda, one of my favorite places in Melbourne, gorgeous view of the city and the harbor from here. On the pier you can spot, when it´s dark, the smallest penguins you can find in the southern hemisphere, just around 30cm tall, really cute and they make a weird sound too.

I moved in my small apartment at the church on Friday the 4th of June ... I´ve been working as a waitress in the city, attending and helping out at the Swedish Church, fixed an Aussie bank account and card, did a photo shoot for MBC Australia - which is a film producer company - didn´t get me a job but I had fun during my first photo shoot ever :).

During the Queens Birthday weekend (11-14 June), which was a long weekend here in Victoria, I was outdoors climbing with MUMC (Melbourne University Mountaineering Club) by Mount Arapiles, north west of Melbourne, past Horsham and Ballarat, almost 4 hour drive. Had a good time climbing, a bit scary and fun at the same time. The most memorable and best climb was the one with the crack, where I did a lot of asclimbing and the step over from one side to the other at a hight of 75m. Well I made it to the top and look how happy I was and proud as well :)




Jepp, I did see some kangaroos, the second time for me, here at Arapiles, this one was a close encounter and I was thrilled to see kangaroos so close and the one to the right was watching me the whole time, wonder why?

There is no place like home, but since Melbourne is my new home at the moment I had the privilege to host two guests, Rachel and Carl (brother and sister, I met Rachel when I was on Fiji) came to visit me from Sydney for a few days, from 16-20th of June. We had fun together, many good laughs :). We went climbing one day at the HangRock and Rachel and I enjoyed ourselves on the wall, while Carl was less amused I think :). They headed off to Tasmania, or Tassie (as the aussie people say here) early Sunday morning and what I know and seen pictures from Rachel´s blog, they had a wonderful time there.

The last Saturday in June I was off climbing again with MUMC, Sean and Josh, this time to Mount Beckworth, just outside of Ballarat, the weather was bad with sun one minute and rain the other, quite chilly too and I only did one proper climb that day. The coolest picture was this one...



The traditional midsummer activities were celebrated at the Swedish Church, on Sunday with an excellent "Midsommar-dinner" included all the dishes I´m so familiar with from home; herring, eggs, potatoes, Janssons, sav blanc and some snaps of course :)



The joy was big on Tuesday the 29th of June when I came home from work, the biggest package I´ve ever seen, this year so far, arrived from Sweden. My mum sent me some clothes and other surprises ... Thank you Mum!

April and May in Melbourne

Well, it´s been a while ago, about time to update the blog with some pictures. Some of you have asked me what I´ve been up to since I left Sydney.

Basically I´ve been in Melbourne, took the train from Sydney on the 29th of March. The train took about 11 hours and the view was amazing, kangaroos, lots of birds and nature passing my eyes.



Stayed in Werribee (35 km from Melbourne) for 10 days at a Swedish family, friends of my mum, celebrated Easter here with my new "family".


Moved in to the city where I stayed close to St Kilda for 5 weeks in a shared apartment with an Italian guy, Luigi. My job hunting was tough and I almost gave up and was on my way to Tasmania, but I finally found a waitressing job in the city on Bourke Street, through my Swedish friend Lovisa, so I´ve been working there since mid May.


I even bought a push-bike, so I don´t have to commute via train to work, it´s a convenient way of getting to and from work along the Yarra River, gorgeous view of the city from Toorak where I´m staying and biking downhill all the way to the city and uphill home to St Georges Road up in Toorak. I´m staying, since May, at the Swedish Church, where I´m renting a small apartment, everything is included in the rent, WiFi, electricity, heating and it´s a save and beautiful place to stay in Melbourne. The house is called "Toorak House", is an old government house which served as a Victorian Government House between 1854-1876 and later on it served as a Women's Australian Air Force hostel. The Swedish Church bought the property in 1956.Will stay here in Toorak a couple more months I think.


While I was on the job-hunt I was dancing salsa 2-3 times a week and meeting interesting people and joined in a few CouchSurfing events in the city. It´s always good to meet new people!




1. Me with Garfield and Charlie, two kittens at a CouchSurfing barbecue in West Brunswick, Melbourne, in April.
2. Lunch-meeting with some new friends in CBD, Vietnamese restaurant.
3. Salsa at the Hilton South Wharf in Melbourne, what a cool place to dance at!