The weather was OK today and Christian and myself had been talked into doing another Ramsay Street tour for Lou and Nadine, so while we were at it we decided to advertise in the hostel and ended up getting a van full of people!

The tour went well, the rain abstained, we managed to see the street and everything else; a good time was had by all.

Today I also became acquainted with two new people at the hostel, Barry and his girlfriend. Barry was from SA, his girlfriend was English and he was having a set to with immigration over his girlfriend staying in the country. Although oddly enough they were flying to New Zealand the next day so I'm not quite sure I understood the whole thing properly. Barry was a typical aussie red neck type, not much between his ears but he started his day by drinking rum for breakfast and the rest follows; his girlfriend, as you can imagine, wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the box either.

I don't recall the exact ins and outs of it, but I had had a few drinks out (probably with Barry) and arrived back at the hostel sometime mid-evening. I think I was trying to get away from Barry (he was a hanger-on type) and I came across Nadine and Rowan drinking a box of wine and having a chat in the kitchen.

So of course, I joined them for a drink and a chat.

Now, I haven't told you this before, but Nadine is bi-sexual; for reference, she really fancied the bar maid at the bar we were hanging out at with Robin's cousin. She also expressed to me a keen interest in Rowan this particular evening; well to cut a long story short, after a considerable amount of alcohol, Nadine and Rowan were snogging, which was a bit strange. They seemed to be getting on quite well and soon after they both disappeared at about the same time, I don't know what happened between them that night, but well done to Nadine either way!

I admit that I was a little put out at the time, but in hind sight it has cast an entirely new light on Rowan in respect of both Nadine's and my encounter with her.

Could it be that when trashed, Rowan is easily lead? A gay friend of mine once said that everybody had the potential to be sexually promiscuous with either gender, this was on the basis that anybody (in his opinion) could be persuaded, given "the right time, the right place and the right amount of alcohol".

Or perhaps she was bi-curious anyway, or perhaps she is gay and I was just a one off?

Whichever case it is, Rowan's encounter with Nadine noticeably eased my guilt!

The day passed.

But this evening was the Australia vs. New Zealand rugby game, a lot of people from the hostel were going down to Federation Square in town to watch the game on a big projected screen.

I really didn't feel like going down the square and I wasn't inclined to drink too much either, when oddly enough Lou announced that she was at a loose end and proposed that we might go for a drive in my van.

I have to point out that since Tuesday evening (as you know) my cred had gone up with the guys, but the girls were a mixed bag; no girl said anything derogatory to me, but you could tell that some were perhaps keeping a little more distance from me than they otherwise would have and others suddenly became much more friendly than usual, Lou fell into the latter category.

So, we went for a drive, nowhere in particular; the conversation ranged from the plain and mundane to talk of sex, skinny dipping and all kinds of interesting topics. Again, Lou was uncommonly keen and excited about the whole trip, I really didn't know how to deal with Lou's uber-enthusiasm, so I kept it casual and friendly; afterall, I didn't want to gain a repuatation for being a lech.

So we arrived back at the hostel, I think Lou may have turned in and I arrived in time to watch the second half of Australia beating the All Blacks! Unfortunately, earlier on that day I had put money on the All Blacks; because obviously the All Blacks were going to win.... bugger!

By now people were rolling back in from Federation Square (including some pissed off Kiwis) and I hung around the hall for a few hours socialising before going to bed.

I don't have any notes on the next couple of days, but activities of Tuesday night were still the talk of the hostel and I didn't see much of Rowan because she was working nights at Harrys, although we did hang out a bit.

Well, how did the following day transpire?

We stayed in bed until about midday at which time Rowan made a hasty exit from my room up to her own room and more or less stayed out of public sight until such time as we went out together later. Luckily for her she had secured a job at Harry the Hirers working nights, which meant she was out of public sight for most of the time for the next few days.

Needless to say, everyone in the hostel knew everything and we were the sole talk of the hostel. I got ribbed, but luckily for me, guys being guys, even though some of the guys in my room got almost no sleep at all, I also got a lot of blokey cred for it too.

But yea, the story is not over yet; whilst out walking with Rowan today I cast my mind back to the previous night and it occurred to me that we didn't use "protection". Rowan also confirmed to me that she was not on the pill, so a trip to the nearest family planning surgery was on the cards with the obvious course of action.

Whilst I'm sure the activity of that night was jolly good fun for both of us, the outcome of this was slightly less than desirable.

Rowan is 24, she is from the Scottish Highlands, she is a little bit on the shy side and she is a very lovely girl.

Up until yesterday night we got on quite well, I wasn't on the pull or anything, but she was a nice girl and at worst we would have parted hostel friends. Now, she has had to suffer the extreme embarrassment of being the talk of the hostel (women don't qualify for blokey cred, unfortunately) and the unpleasant experience of having to take the morning after pill, all on account of a drunken shag.

So the situation today is that there is an uncomfortable air between us as a result of unprecedented intimacy brought about through alcohol, which in any normal situation wouldn't matter so much. But in this case we both stay in the same hostel and I feel guilty because she is shy and lovely and before this happened I was hoping I could be friends with her.

Anyway, this evening?

What's Wednesday? Rock, paper, scissors night at the Commercial of course! We were also drinking for Rodrigo's send off as he was leaving the next day.

There really is nothing particularly exciting to tell, a whole load of us went down the Commercial, I think I won about 50/50. Then we moved onto the Laundry, Wednesday is karaoke night, I didn't go up but I had a really good time anyway, we were all 3 sheets to the wind and I don't really recall much else!

OK, now normally I wouldn't indulge in describing any sexual activity in this journal, because you probably don't want to hear it and it would be none of your business anyway; but on this occasion I have no choice, such being the event in question. So please bear that in mind.

Well, today doesn't start off as an X rated day, quite the contrary. The weather is good and Christian and I start talking about the Ramsay Steet tour with a new scottish girl at the hostel called Rowan (pronounced Row as in 2 people having a row); she expresses an interest in seeing it, so there and then we decided, all three of us, to go out in my van and visit it!

The visit was really good fun, we spent quite a while down there, Christian was commentating and I was driving and sometimes comentating where appropriate. I actually got to see the street properly this time and I even stole a lemon off of a lemon tree, I cherished my Ramsay Street lemon - until it started to go bad, oh well!

We got back to the hostel to discover that the activitiy for the evening was drinks in the Pump House, in a send off for Dave and Sharon, two regulars who were leaving the following day.

So after something to eat and a little socialising, we all headed down the pub to begin the send-off drinking. Needless to say a good time was had by all as you would expect and I spent most of the evening chatting with Rowan.

The evening moved on, by which time everybody was a little bit half cut and Rowan decided that she had had enough to drink and she wanted to go back to the hostel, at which I offered to accompany her as any true gentleman would. Initial impressions would suggest that we were each going to our repsective rooms, but somehow Rowan ended up in my bed and we both ended up naked and you know what ensued.

You might think there is nothing wrong with this type of activity, but please, recall, I share a dorm room with 9 OTHER PEOPLE. My memory of the night isn't 100%, but from my own recollections and those of other people in my dorm that night, apparently, we were going at it very loudly and unashamedly for about 2 and half hours! Also, almost everyone in the dorm heard everything that we said to each other, you know, all the little private, dirty type things that you say during sex. The outcome is that half of my dorm slept in the lounge all night for a little peace and quiet!

Culture, that was the theme for today, so I decided to wander out into Melbourne and see what I could rustle up!

First on the list, the Museum of Immigration; this was quite interesting but not particularly large, I managed to see all of it in less that an hour and a half, but I did enjoy it regardless. Needless to say it was about the colonisation of Australia and the hardship endured by the Aborigines.

Next on my list was the Old Melbourne Gaol, this was much more interesting than the Immigration Museum! It was the original prison in Melbourne and was based on the building and system used in Pentonville prison in London at the time (19th century) and as such was very secular and very harsh.

Hangings were actually conducted in the prison and they had a reconstruction of the gallows! The strangest thing though was the fact that they took "death masks" of all prisoners that were hanged, i.e. a plaster cast of their face after death, these were reconstructed into bust type heads and were displayed around the prison, so you could actually see the face of someone that was hanged!

There was also loads of historical information about the prison, hanging, hang-men and prisoners (including the infamous bush-ranger, Ned Kelly, who was hanged there). All in all it was a really good visit!

Well, that was my second and final cultural visit of the day. I'm not too sure what I did for the rest of the day, but I think I had a quiet night in, a cultural reflection.