Band, bikes, birds and cold beans!

So I was trying to wait until something big happened before I put another post on - and Pearl Jam is it! We got the tickets months ago while we were still in the UK, and as they have been my favourite band since forever I was, as you can imagine, a little excited!

Darren went for lunch at Channel 7 next to the Etihad arena and let me know that people were already queueing - the gates didn't open until 5pm!  Darren left work at 4pm, came home and we had a quick bite to eat before catching the train to the stadium.  The week had been so hot, with temperatures up to 38 degrees, but as we walked to the station the heavens opened and we arrived at the stadium a little soggy!  Luckily it didn't take too long to get in the venue and we had time to buy me a t-shirt, get a drink and find mark and Emma before the last support act - Ben Harper and Relentless 7 - came on.  While they were playing, the crowd cheered as someone came on the stage.  Emma asked who it was and when I looked it was none other than Eddie Vedder!!!  A taste of what was to come!!!!!

Despite not being able to really see the stage (luckily there were big screens!), the music and the atmosphere were fantastic!  I think I showed my age though as the youngsters were bopping away to the stuff off the new album whereas I was loving the old stuff.  There was a bit of a panic when I thought that they weren't going to play my favourite song ever (Alive) - but they left it to the second encore so I was happy!  They played a two and a half hour set and I reckon they would have gone on all night if they could have.  The lights came on in the stadium and yet they still carried on going!  Eddie is now 45 I think and Pearl Jam are still as awesome as they've ever been.  I think Darren would have preferred it if he knew a few more of their songs, but for me it was just track after track of brilliance!  Long live Pearl Jam!!!!

Saturday we were both tired so we only ventured as far as Chapel Street for a nosey round the shops, back to Brighton for lunch on Church Street and then back to the apartment to get ready for a night out.  Darren and I were going our seperate ways - he to the UCI Indoor World Track Cycling Championships and me on a girls night out by the River Yarra.  Unfortunately, the heavens opened again!

Over to Darren for a spiel about cycling because it's lost on me I'm afraid.........
Team GB were competing (albeit with a weakened team) in the second round of the championships. Just as Lee and l arrived at the venue a small mini bus pulled up and out jumped 3 GB cyclists with their bikes, pretty surreal moment and needless to say l missed the photo opportunity! Once in the venue we were in the general admission area and were surprised to see another 3 GB athletes sat there, so we decided to take our chance and sat down next to: Chris Newton, Andy Tennant and Ed Clancy - really weird being sat next to 3 Olympic medalists and world record holders!

l managed to have a quick chat with Chris Newton, but decided against asking for a photo as he might of thought we were a couple of stalkers! Neither of us had a pen so we couldn't even grab an autograph from the lads...

Sadly, it was a good night for the Aussies rather than the Brits, although they did have a full squad out for their home leg. The commentators were very funny and came up with some cracking one liners...all in all a really good night and l will certainly be back to watch it next year.

Thank you Darren!  Meanwhile, I'd help organise a girls' night out so that a lot of the people that I have met seperately could meet each other.  There were 10 of us in total and it was a really fun night, despite the rain!  We went for dinner and had a really nice meal, plenty of wine and the most amazing puddings!  Everyone got on really well and I'm hoping to make it a regular thing.  Everyone got soaked on the way home - not quite the sunset evening we'd planned by the river, but a great night all round.

Sunday was a quieter day - and still raining!  It's hard to believe that we've gone from a bush fire warning to a flash flood warning in 48 hours!!!  The weather here is wierd!  Even in the rain we caught the bus to St Kilda and had breakfast there.  It was a bit of a false start when they brought the food out and the beans were cold!  We ummed and ahhed for a second wondering if it was some strange Aussie custom, but the waiter confirmed that they do indeed have their beans hot over here!  The second attempt was much better!  A wander, Darren playing football and a chinese takeaway and the weekend's nearly done!