Melbourne Round One

After leaving Thailand from Chiang Mai, word to the wise the airport doesn't stay open all night, we embarked on a 24 hour flight series to Melbourne. Our first day was spent unwinding at our hostel. We learned about Papaw, a fermented papaya ointment used for soothing and healing all sorts of things, and bought some very inexpensive towels for a dollar more than the hostel was trying to rent them for. We then headed out to find Movida Aqui, an amazing tapas restaurant. The food was outstanding and the drink list stayed on the level. After a hearty buzz we headed back to the hostel for drinking with fellow residents in the back garden and learning about Goon. Bascially wine except not. More like Carlo Rossi. The sketchist part being that it may contain milk or egg. Don't know how that could happen.

The next day we took the tram over to our friend's house we met in Koh Lanta who invited us to party for New Years. After settling in we headed to the National Gallery of Victoria, which was free, and took a look around before they kicked us out. There was some great Aborignal art, contemporary pieces and a large collection of famous Australian artists over the last 250 years. 

Untited (muyan) Jonathan Jones

Large Scale drawing of Aboriginal HeroWilliam Barak

Aboriginal Shields

In an adjoining gallery space there was an excellent skateboard show, Board, which featured over 60 historical boards out of Tony Hallam's collection alongside 50 decks painted by local artists.

We then walked across the street and checked out some amazing street art on Hosier Ln.

Conveniently  the amazing tapas place had another location on the same alley so we tried a few of their offerings.

Grilled Squid with Chorizo, Bell Pepper and Spanish Chilis