To Melbourne and Back... Part 2

So we called for another Maxi Taxi to take us from the DFO to our hotel 'Quest on Bourke' which all seemed to be understood quite well by our taxi driver, however things started going bad when I spotted him with the map out! I did a few hand signals back to the others to let them know that he had the map out and that we might be lost! Jaclyn was on to it though, she had him pull over in no time and we were out of there! So Jaclyn thinks she saved the day, but really I think it was me spelling out MAP and LOST with my fingers that got us out of trouble - but I'll just let Jac think that she was the hero!!! My trusty Melbourne Map then came out and we were on our way. I really wanted to get IN the map at this point but the others wouldn't let me, so Jaclyn just did all the work here and guided us to our deluxe apartment at the Quest on Bourke. Check in here is a whole new story. What a crack up! Apparently when checking in these days all that needs to be said from the front office chick is: "Name?" and  "Credit Card" and oh that's right, that's it! No hello how are you or your room number is 507 and you are on level 5, no information about breakfast or dinner, no nothing. But anyway we got over that until we got in the lift to find that it wouldn't go anywhere until our friendly front office chick 'Angela' magically appears pressing a few buttons and we are on our way! Very strange experience in deed - but hey if it was all normal and nice I wouldn't have anything to tell you! Even though the customer service here was pretty poor we couldn't really complain about our room, it was a great location and had plenty of space for the 5 of us, not to mention the 2 bathrooms! But we were out of there in no time - off to spend the rest of our money! So we casually headed down the streets of Melbourne to find our train to take us to our bus which would then take us to Chadstone Shopping Centre.  

I really don't know what was so funny - all I did was scoot around a few tourists, climbed a tree and hung upside down so I could get this shot of my little friends here. Why they had to laugh I'll never know!

I felt quite excited to be amongst the big protest that was taking place right out side Flinders Street Station. I let out a few chants on cue and felt right at home...

Ange on the other hand didn't like it at all, I found out that she doesn't actually like people! She likes to have her space and this many people all together totally freaked her out. I think I was a good comfort to her though - I explained that I knew all sorts of Karate, and TaeKwondo and other oriental WORDS!!!! So Ange felt a little saver on the train - good luck in the States Ange!

After arriving at Chadstone Shopping Centre - The Fashion Capital, we split up again - every man for himself - and hit the shops alone! And the next time we saw each other we knew it could be very bad!! I couldn't get any photos of us shopping because 

a. You're not aloud to take photos in the shops

b. I would just look like and idiot trying to take a photo of myself shopping and 

c. There was no time to waste on that, this is serious shopping time! (We didn't even stop to eat!) 

At 5.30pm we gathered again to catch our rides back to the hotel. And yes there were quite a few more bags this time! So that's part 2 over, I'll now go and start on part 3... 'Show and Tell' Now this is what you have all been waiting for! But I have lots of photos for that so it may take me a while!