Day 5 - Queenscliffe to Melbourne and the Ferry.....A

After a very respectable nights sleep in my little single bed (not done that for a while!) despite the raging storm that had hit, I was up and out early as always!  It was still raining and windy but not as cold as it would have been in Blighty.  I had intended to wait until the visitor centre opened next door so that I could use the internet but as I was loading up the car at 8 I managed to shut the hotel door behind me and couldnt get back in......thankfully I had all my bits with me, but it was 8am and everything was still shut.  So I decided to cut my loses and head for Geelong en route to the Port.  Locking myself out was a sign of things to come......

So I trundled through the rain leaving Queenscliffe behind, a quaint little town reminding me of home, heading for Geelong.  It was going to be my opportunity to purchase a jumper as I had left mine back in Adelaide and it wasgetting a bit nippy....

I parked on the waterfront (really raining now) and took a few shots and then decided it was time to find a shopping centre.  Straight into Big W to find a hoodie only to have my card declined.  Strange as I knew I had plenty of credit but hey ho and I paid cash.  Then I tried to get some cash from the cash machine and that declined too... OK I was starting to get a bit antsy now.  Both cash cards not working and currency card empty.  So I rang and tried to top up my card.  To England, on  a moblie.....the bank refused to top up from my current account!  Long story short I ended up having to ring 2 banks and spending 30 mins telling them I was stranded in the middle of nowhere on the other side of the world and needed my money now (I think they could tell I was in a shopping centre cafe but I didnt care!)  Apparently they stopped them all as someone had been using them in Australia!  No shit Sherlock, ME!! Even though I  had told them before I went away to avoid this very thing, they still couldnt get it right!

By this point I just wanted to get out and head on to Melbourne so I went to pay my car parking and leave.......I had lost my ticket!!!! For the love of God!!!  And guess what? $30 to get out of the car park! No cash as I had just paid for my jumper and my cards were going to take a while to reset so I went to the No So Helpful Help Desk and cried a bit, to now avail (they could actually see I was not stranded on the other side of the world with no money.....)  So I sat there for an hour, waiting for my cards to reset and paid the money and left.  Geelong is probably a lovely town but will forever be in my memory for the wrong reasons....!

So as I drove up the freeway closer to Melbourne the sky grew darker and the wind and rain continued.  But no where near as bad as some of the neighbouring states have been having with major major flooding.

And then Melbourne sky line came into view.  The port is a bit away from the city and as I am spending a couple of days there on the way back from Tas I thought I would just hang around the Port and go up the beach a bit to St Kilda.  There was a big cruise ship in dock next to mine, making the Spirit of Tasmania look like the North Sea Ferry!

Wandered St Kilda for a bit, taking pictures of the famous Luna Park and then found a cafe by the ship that had wi fi and waited for my ship to board, keeping a very close eye on the dark dark skies.....

And what a suprise I got, really nice ship with a lovely 4 berth cabin to myself and a great bar full of bikers!! About 200 to be exact!!  So I sat, people watched, drank, ate pie, and chatted to the bikers until the swell got quite bad and I decided to retire to my room to sleep through it!  Arriving in Tas at 0630 so an early start.  Earplugs in and night night!!