Movie Review: Predators

I have only just seen the second movie in the series (although I have seen all the Alien v Predator, I have yet to see any of the Alien movies). I can't say I particularly liked the second Predator movie.

This movie, however, was awesome!! Action packed from the start, you will be riveted to the storyline. I've never been an admirer of Adrian Brody's looks, but he's actually not bad looking in this.

Plot: A group of elite warriors are hunted by members of a merciless alien race known as Predators

St Kilda

Last time I was in Melbourne, I didn't even get out to Luna Park, so I decided this time that I would...

It was a weekday so it was closed, but that didn't bother me.

I strolled along the main drag for a while and boy do they have a lot of bakeries there!!! Some of the cakes looked absolutely yummy!!!

I went for a walk out on the St Kilda Pier, but only made it half way when it started to rain. By the time I got back to catch my tram, I was soaked through.

It was dark by the time I got back to my hotel & had a nice long, hot shower!!

Melbourne Zoo

Jumped on a tram and headed off to the Melbourne Zoo for a couple of hours today.

I was lucky when it came to the Red Panda's... they were just about to be fed before I left their enclosure. They are so adorable!!

The Baboon enclosure depressed me though. It had cement floors and no trees - reminded me of the old style zoo instead of the new habitat zoo.

The Meerkats are so cute, they came right up to the glass petition and just watched you. I've seen them on tv before but never realised how small they actually are... they are tiny!! I could have watched them all day.

I couldn't find the butterfly house though. *sigh*

Harbourtown

Headed to Harbourtown down near Docklands. Can't say I was impressed though, not much was there. I did get to see snow though, artificial, but still snow.

Across the road from Harbourtown there were some statues of various Australian celebrities... Graham Kennedy, John Farnham, Dame Edna & Kylie Minogue.

I was going to wander through the Queen Victoria markets on the way back to my room, but they were closing (it was 2pm!!!) I still had a wander around while the stalls were closing up as some storm clouds were coming in and I just knew that if I left then, I would get wet. Sure enough, not 5 minutes later there was a huge deluge which lasted 30 minutes!!

Getting Around

While getting around the Melbourne CBD, I bumped into Mick Molloy (from the movie Crackerjack). He is just as scruffy in person as you see on television.

I also found the best hot chocolate in Melbourne.... Walkers on the corner of Flinders St & Elizabeth street, near The Lord Of The Fries and opposite the train station. It was to die for!!!

I went to Federation Square (last time I didn't go because there was some music festival on and was way too crowded)

I wanted to go to Eureka Skydeck but it was closed for maintenance while I was there.

I found a Babushka Doll store in one of the arcades. There were thousands of them!! Some of them were beautiful, but very expensive!!

Touchdown In Melbourne

My flight from Adelaide got in just after 3 this afternoon but I didn't get to my hotel until almost 5!!

I caught the shuttle to Southern Cross Station and then had to wait 45 minutes for a shuttle bus to take me to my hotel. I literally tossed my suitcases in the door then headed out again - I was meeting my friend Cheryl at the Crown Casino which is on the other side of the CBD.

I managed to find the City Circle Tram (in the dark without a map!) just by chance and was standing in the pouring rain for 10 minutes before it came.

We went for dinner at the restaurant they have for Crown Casino members - she was using her mother's card as it had more points which gave us access.

We had a few quick games on the pokies before heading off home - I had to find my way again in the dark & pouring rain, but luckily Cheryl gave me good advice with regards to the trams.

Train Ride

Caught the train out to Hallett Cove Beach today. I have to say the train ride was boring and SLOW!!!

For most of the journey there was nothing of interest to see, unless you wanted to look into people's backyards - and they weren't nice places mind you.

I took my washing with me to do while we went shopping at Hallett Cove shopping centre. Deni and I then headed over to Noarlunga shopping centre where we put my photo's onto cd's for both of us.

Due to time constraints I didn't get to see all of the shopping centre (it was huge), but did manage to see half of it. I managed to get my washing dried and jumped on the train back into Adelaide.

By the time I got back into the city it was dark so I walked around North Terrace to take some night pictures before jumping on the free city bus to head back to my hotel.

Now I have to do my ironing and pack for my flight to Melbourne tomorrow!!

Hahndorf

Went with Deni and her family to Hahndorf today. It's a quaint little town in the Adelaide hills only about 30 minutes from the CBD.

We got there just after 10am and most of the shops were closed initially. We went into a little store that makes their own jam and preserves. Tried some of the Shiraz jam and OMG it was beautiful. We ended up buying a jar.

There were some quaint shops including a shop packed full of puppets - when I say packed I mean packed!!! It was a squeeze to manoeuvre around the shop.

We stopped in a cafe for a hot chocolate and then headed back up the other side of the street to find somewhere for lunch. Instead we found a lolly shop and had great difficulty getting the kids to leave without buying everything!!

We went to The Haus for lunch. Deni and I both had a pizza each and it was absolutely scrumptious!!

It was then time to head back to the hotel for an early night.

Tomorrow I am catching a train out to Deni's place to go shopping and do some laundry...

My Poor Sore Feet II

You would think I would have learned my lesson yesterday with all the walking around, but no, I did it again today!!

This time Deni came along (minus the kids) and we headed off to the Botanic Gardens. My camera battery started to play up - it kept showing battery empty even though I had charged it overnight and it was showing as a full battery until I took some pictures.

We had lunch at the ETC (East Terrace Cafe) which was yummy and reasonably priced too - I would recommend it for anyone travelling to Adelaide (just get on the Free City Loop bus and get off at the Rundle Street stop)

We then headed down to the Casino, just so we could say that we had been there. I came out $1 in front, so was all good.

We jumped on the tram back to Rundle Mall to find a camera place so that I could find out what was wrong with the battery. It turned out that the battery was buggered and I had to get a new one, unfortunately they didn't have any, so down the street we went to another camera shop.

We then jumped on the free bus and headed back to the railway station for Deni to go home.

I then continued up North Tce to take some more pictures then headed back to my hotel for an early night.

Tomorrow I have to be up early because we are going to Hahndorf.

My Poor Sore Feet

My feet are so sore from so much walking...

Today I decided to go for a walk up to the Rundle Mall. It took me about an hour to walk there as I had to keep ducking for cover whenever it rained. I spent 4 hours walking around, going up the arcades and checking out the shops. I found a shop that my mum would just love - it is a button shop... She would go absolutely nuts in there because she is always complaining that none of the shops in Perth have a good enough selection, well this shop does.

I got back to my hotel then decided I would walk to McDonalds for tea (I only have kitchenette facilities so only have the basics) Again I misjudged how far away it was and got drenched before I even got there.

When I got back to my hotel I had a nice hot bath to soothe my poor feet.

A Very Long Day

I left Perth at 11.55pm and didn't get any sleep on the plane!!! Because of a good tail wind we got in to Melbourne 30 minutes early. Now I am sitting here in the airport lounge with nothing else to do except try to stay awake for another couple of hours so I thought I would update my blog!!

I get in to Adelaide at 9 am and will be picked up from the airport by an old school friend and then it will be off to do some shopping (and get some breakfast!!) before heading to my hotel to check in for a much needed sleep!!

Travel Plans

I have just booked my flights and accommodation for my holiday. The ridiculous thing is that it is going to be cheaper for me to fly to Melbourne then back to Adelaide rather than flying directly to Adelaide!!!

I will be spending 5 days in Adelaide, then fly back to Melbourne for 5 days, then up to the Gold Coast for another 5 days.

Hopefully I will be able to catch up with some friends who I've not seen for some time while I am there...