We had a late start today. It wasn’t Emma’s fault, and I maintain it wasn’t my fault either – I blame the Esplanade Hotel from the night before. We spent the evening (and part of the early morning) enjoying The Espy in St Kilda – four live acts on a Tuesday night isn’t too bad – and some of the acts were actually good! The others struggled though. It was great to catch up with Marcus again, and we swapped stories long into the night on the happenings of Melbourne and Fitzroy Crossing. Marcus suggested a 
great little café on the main strip of St Kilda before venturing to one of the great venues for up and coming Australian artists. Top night, but lousy morning!
We ventured off just before midday back to St Kilda to see the area in a sober state… and in the daylight! After sighting the mandatory “mouth” to Luna Park, and sighing over not being able to see a gig at the Palais Theatre, we wandered into Rare Records for 
a look. Wow! Apart from having all the You Am I singles from over the years, there were also vinyls from Metallica dating back to the early 80’s, and a Nirvana CD Single for Pennyroyal Tea… which I assume was very rare, because it was on sale at a mere $750! After dragging Emma around that store (but staying strong and not buying anything), we then went up the road into another record store – quite unremarkable, except for the fact that it is owned and run by Bon Scott’s son.
We jumped on the tram again straight back into the city, and began the (what turned into a) long walk to Docklands and the DFO store 
(Direct Factory Outlet). DFO is like HarbourTown on steroids. But like HarbourTown, we walked around and actually visited very few stores. Emma bought a new pair of trendy sneakers and some tops, and I tagged along, slowly recovering from the obvious drink-spiking that had occurred the night before.
From here we walked towards Docklands itself, past the majestic Telstra Dome (the retractable roof is amazing! Unfortunately the sun was in a horrible spot, and no photos turned out).
By this time, it was getting close to dark, so we caught the tram back to Bourke Street Mall and met up with Azba and Brad. They took us to a lovely bar on the edge of Chinatown (which claimed to 
be the “longest bar in Melbourne”. It was long), where I discovered that my taste for beer had finally returned. We also enjoyed a wonderful meal, and Azba even put a tiny piece of squid in her mouth. She then proceeded to pretend to like it. We were all very proud of her!
We said our goodbyes to Az and Brad, and on returning home, pretty much crashed and burned. So far it’s been flat out, but fantastic. Interesting to see what tomorrow brings!
