Day 108 (Friday Dec 7) – After an eventful day, I was on my way to Nocturnal! I grabbed a burger and fries for dinner and on the way there, I saw a trinity of babushka dolls in a park!
Once inside, I went and explored the museum. The DJs had already started their first set, so you could hear the dance music as you saw the exhibits. I had posted on Grindr asking if anyone wanted to buy me drink. After about 20 minutes, I did have a guy who offered to get me a vodka tonic. I graciously accepted and we walked around seeing some of the exhibits. Turns out he was in an open relationship and wanted to know if I wanted to mess around after the event. I kindly thanked him for the drink, but explained I wasn’t looking for that, just friendship. He understood and we hung out for a little bit longer but eventually we went our separate ways.
What completely blew my mind was DJ Sunshine and the Disco Faith Choir. A DJ with a live gospel choir? LGBT people dancing and raising their hands in the name of Jesus? What alternate reality had I stepped into? More than anything, it made me incredibly happy to see these somewhat disparate parts of my life being mashed together in the lobby of the Melbourne Museum. I had a ton of fun this night!
Day 109 (Saturday Dec 8) – After a great night out on Friday, I decided to tempt fate and go out again on Saturday to see if I could experience the true club scene of Sydney. I rested most of the morning and early afternoon, journaling, reading, and preparing for my night out. Around 6pm, I went to the Crown casino to play a little blackjack. I got quite lucky and ended up making $140, which then financed the rest of my night out. I was also able to see all the different bills and coins of Australia!
By 8pm, I cashed out, grabbed some Subway for dinner, and took a tram over to the Fitzroy and Collingwood areas of Melbourne. I was headed to a club name Sircuit. However, I didn’t read the entry doors correctly, so I instead stood in line to get into Mr. Wow’s. Once I got in, I could tell it wasn’t Sircuit (not enough gay men). One drink later, I was back out the door and walking in next door (no line) to Sircuit.
It was pretty sweet. The music was pumping, it was PACKED, and there were guys dancing, drinking, and playing pool. I decided to explore a bit before grabbing another drink, and I’m glad I did. I went up the stairs in the back and discovered Mollie’s Bar and Diner. Turns out it’s a drag bar, and after I grabbed a drink and listened to the DJ spin one more song, I was just in time for some shows. I’d like to introduce Missy La’Minx and D Flowers.
I spent some more time in Mollie’s after the drag queens finished. The music was very different from downstairs. It was fun to see people dancing to 90s hits like I Want It That Way and Wannabe. Eventually, though, I tired of the music, so I descended back down into Sircuit. After some more dancing, people watching, and drinking, and I was ready to hit the sauna.
Wet on Wellington was the BEST gay sauna I’ve ever been in. Very clean, spacious facilities, recently remodeled, they even had a pool you could swim in. And so I swam, hot tubed, steamed, and saunaed for several hours. No hookups, just a nice way to end another night out. I actually didn’t get home until about 5am! I was a tired boy the next day but I still made it to church.
Day 110 (Sunday Dec 9) – Church was really easy to get to…I was staying on Church St. after all! So, I just had to walk across the street to Christ Church for their 11am contemporary Anglican service. It was an interesting service. Only 15 people were there, an eclectic mix of people. It was the second Sunday of Advent, so the candles of Hope and Love were lit.
The rest of the day I read, journaled, rested, and finished one of my recommendations. And I sent a LOT of messages on Grindr. I barely got any replies. I thought New Zealand was bad, but at least SOME people messaged me there. Turns out that I’m not that interesting to people here, or maybe my profile (since I’m not interested in sex) isn’t enticing. But I’ve been having the same thing happen on Tinder. I’ll match with people, but they just won’t even send a message or send a reply. The hardest thing is to not get discouraged by it all…because I know that I am an awesome guy.
It’s also a form of rejection therapy, and it’s one of the ways on this adventure how I’ve learned not to care what people think or do. I have no problem introducing myself to strangers now, something I would rarely have done a year ago.
Day 111 (Monday Dec 10) – WordPress had a big update, which changed how you format your posts and pages, so it took me a little bit of time to get used to the new way of doing things. But I did, and I put out My Story Episode #20 on this day.
I came up with plans for other things to do in Melbourne for my last 4 days. Because Friday I’d be headed up to Bendigo to see my family friends Liam and Marilyn Chambers. I tried to go to a board game night in the CBD, but by the time I got there, all the games had already started and I didn’t feel like trying to enter into a game. Instead, I went back up to Fitzroy area, walked around, got a beer and journaled for a while. I found some rainbows!
I also booked my New Years plans – Celebration – an LGBT event on top of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. 6 hours of food, drinks, DJs, and a prime spot to see the Sydney Fireworks.
Day 112 (Tuesday Dec 11) – Most of the morning was taken up with writing the blog post about my final week in Christchurch, as well as finding new accommodations in Sydney!
Why did I have to book a new place in Sydney? Well, I had received a message this morning from the original Airbnb owner that had accepted my reservation. He tole me he actually hadn’t lived in Sydney for several months and he wasn’t sure how my reservation had been accepted. With a week to go for when I would arrive in Sydney, I suddenly had no place to stay!
Luckily, Airbnb was quite helpful and after I found a new place to stay, they personally contacted the owner and made sure everything would work out. Plus, they gave me a 10% credit on the original cost of my rental. And really, it all worked out for the better, because the place I found was closer to the CBD and Oxford St (the gay area in Sydney), it was cheaper, and it was in a nicer area of town!
Once I got my housing figured out, I wandered some of the alleyways in Melbourne to get some exercise. I encountered Hosier Lane, which is the most famous alleyway for street art and graffiti!
And as if I didn’t get enough exercise walking around Melbourne, I also found a DDR machine at an arcade in the casino. I was surprised that I hadn’t lost too much skill. I met another new friend named Steve, and I got the best video bomb ever from one of the kids in the arcade.
While I had trouble meeting gay guys in Melbourne, the one exception was Ben. We met for drinks a couple of times while I was there (this Tuesday night was the second time…and for 3 hours!). While I don’t have any pictures of him, we are now friends on Facebook and I’m very grateful to him for the company he provided. Plus, he paid for my drinks BOTH times we hung out; talk about a classy guy!
Day 113 (Wednesday Dec 12) – Red Bluff Lookout! This day’s adventure took me on a bus ride an hour south of Melbourne to Black Rock, Victoria. I took my scuba fins, mask, and snorkel to explore the wreck of the HMVS Cerberus in Half Moon Bay.
I first ate some fish and chips and enjoyed the sun before getting in the water. I couldn’t get too close to the wreck itself as it has been corroding away for several years. But I saw some jellyfish and starfish on the snorkel out. On the way in, I took in several yards of fishing line that I found floating in the water. I felt good doing a little cleanup while I enjoyed my swim. Although I wrapped it a little too tightly around my finger, so I had some difficulty removing it once I got back to shore. But eventually, I did. Afterwards, I explored the Red Bluffs for a bit before catching a bus back to St. Kilda. On the way home, the bag for my fins had ripped open, but I found a seamstress who did a great repair job and strengthened the seam so it wouldn’t happen again
Day 114 (Thursday Dec 13) – My last full day in Melbourne! It was a rainy one, so I mostly stayed indoors. I released episode #21 of my podcast on this day.
On the way into the CBD, I found a trinity of symbols in the sidewalk.
Next, I picked up some post cards, and sent some holiday cheer to my family and close friends.
Then I went back to the casino to play some DDR. On the way, I walked through Chinatown…it wasn’t that impressive, just a lot of traffic, although maybe that’s more similar to China than I realize!
After DDR, I took another walk through the casino and happened upon a Christmas Egg display that came to “life”.
That night, I decided to explore the other gay sauna in Melbourne called Subway Sauna. Here’s few pics as I headed over to the entrance.
I found a rainbow of sorts in some trash on the ground. I also took a photo of my locker at Subway Sauna. Ultimately, it wasn’t as nice as Wet. The space was more cramped, you had to walk up and down several flights of stairs to see the whole facility, and it definitely needed a facelift. So, if you are in Melbourne, I’d suggest Wet on Wellington for gay saunas.
Day 115 (Friday Dec 14) – Time to move! But before I did, I recorded episode #22 to my podcast!
Once I got that uploaded, I packed up my room in St. Kilda, took a train into the CBD and then switched to another train for the 2 hour journey to Bendigo. I finally got my first taste of the Australian Outback..
Well, that ends my time in Melbourne. It was a fun city, I enjoyed the free Wifi and free tram zone in the CBD, I had tons of fun experiencing the night life and culture, and I would highly recommend a visit. Hopefully I can come back again some day!
Thanks for tuning in. Today’s song has possibly the cutest video yet! I really hope you enjoy. It is January 9th’s song (today) from this month’s Dependence playlist.