November 1, 2002 (Melbourne)
Breakfast: latte and one teeny tiny mandarin orange
So okay, I need to get some supplies. Look for the local grocery and plan on spending the day at the hostel (I still cannot believe I am staying at the Nunnery) to do laundry, re-think about the backpack situation (get rid of those clogs!) and look for the nearest and cheapest internet cafe. But things are looking brighter. I am getting along well with Nikki. She is a psychiatric nurse from the UK on a working holiday here. I say it is always a good idea to have a psychiatric nurse around because sometimes I am positively mental.
Oh yeah, about Nikki…she came in the same day as I did only she checked in at 1 A.M. having only flown in from Perth. The cabby took her for a ride, literally and figuratively! Charged $45 for a normal $30 cab ride, she could not do a thing about it because frankly she is not from here and its one in the morning! Oh well, she can earn back the money. The blessing here is she got to the hostel safe and sound.
Lunch: rum and coke
After doing the laundry and hanging the clothes to dry (togs…I believe that is the Aussie term for laundry hanging to dry), I decided to accompany Nikki to register for the Victoria Nursing Board. Armed with a seven-day tram ticket, a Melbourne map and a general idea on where the Nursing board is located, we headed out.
You would not believe the kind of bureaucracy she had to go through to register! They were asking for her original birth certificate (not a copy duly signed by a judge), her passport (which she left at the hostel…), her Australian driver's license (which she could not get because she is not an Aussie) and other papers proving she is who she claims to be. It is not enough for the Victoria Nursing Board that Nikki had with her three other nursing registration cards (one from New South Wales, one from Queensland and one from Northern Territory). She is Nicola! I have my passport with me; I can vouch for her identity! I know her oh a good 24 hours now! She is a registered nurse! Look at the cards! Truthfully! Anyway, after what seemed to be a hopelessly frustrating mid-day at the nursing board, she finally caught a break. She only needed to get a cop sign a VNB document. Good. So, shall be jay walk in the hopes of being apprehended? And have the cop sign this blasted document? Oh no…nothing that drastic...hahahah, go down the street, past the only café, through the circular doors of the Bank building, go up to the 22nd floor and get a cop to sign the document. Easy enough.
When everything has been signed, stamped and sealed, Nikki is registered. Time for lunch. Good. There is a pub across the street lets have a drink first…yeah, she felt like having rum and coke...make that two please...
Dinner: rum and coke
Holy cow! It is almost 3 pm! We need to get going and find where she needs to report for work tomorrow! Where is the place? By the Melbourne Zoo? What tram to take? Tram #96 to East Brunswick, get off Elizabeth Street, take Tram #57, get off Melville Road, and take Tram #55. Ok then….hahahahaha
We got to the hospital 15 minutes before closing of business day…phew…talk about being lucky. Only now, we do not know how fast Nikki can get to work since we did not bother timing our trek to the Zoo. Oh well…
There was this girl with CFM boots, revealing top and micro mini skirt eating a slice of cheesecake and the first thing she said to the nurse who was talking to Nikki was, "I want a blood test!" Ok. Why? She just wants one. Hmmm….yup, this is the looney house definitely. Ahahahaahh…
All right then, time to get back to the hostel. Walk through the park since the map showed the Fitzroy area is close to the zoo. Just a walk in the park, could not be more than a 45 minute stroll right? Sure, hand me that map again…
We did not get lost. But we were exhausted when we got to Nicholson Street and since there is a pub a block away from the hostel, we decided to stop by for rum and coke…
I am Mary Grace, on an all-liquid diet today
PS..hope the togs are still held by the pegs, it'd be crappy if I have to fish
my knickers from someone's window sill....