Stuck in Melbourne :(

On the 5th of April, we finally arrived in Melbourne, Australia. Our plan was to get a car and take the ferry to Tasmania, where our climbing will begin. We thought it would only take a few days to find a car, and it did. But since we accidentally arrived at the beginning of the Easter weekend, we were unable to withdraw money for the car until a week after we arrived. To make matters worse, the car has to be inspected and registered before we leave for Tassie and these things cannot happen until tomorrow (Wednesday).




The charm of Melbourne wore off by about the 3rd day here, now we just want to climb. Our remaining days of good climbing are quickly decreasing, and all we can do is wait around in Melbourne and try not to spend money. Melbourne (pronounces "Mel-bun") is a charmingly bright, clean, cosmopolitan city with heaps of international food that we can't afford, plenty of posh drinking spots that we're trying to avoid, and many lovely tourist activities that don't fit into our budget. Judging from the complete lack of homeless in the city, we may just be the poorest people here. We are sufficiently dissoriented as pedestrians in this upside down world of right hand drive cars. And did I mention our hostel smells like feet? But we're ok, it's a cool experience and climbing will feel just that much better after having been starved of it for so long. My phone won't work until I can charge it in our new car tomorrow, but Lila's new Australian phone has free incoming calls and texts. Her number (as dialed from the US ) is 011-6-1449-173-356