Started coming down with a cold again yesterday. They keep cropping up this year. I blame the fluctuating weather though.

It was a alf decent day though so I ended up heading down to St Kilda again. Had lunch in the Falafel Kitchen on Acland St and a banana smoothie for pudding followed by a walk on the beach. Not very inspiring but what the hell.

Then came the footy. Not quite sure what went on last night. Adelaide had beaten West Coast so the Saints were due a trip to Adelaide next week. Last night's game against Brisbane was effectively meaningless for them. The Lions had to win to make the 8. It seemed like it might be a decent game but I wouldn't have been suprised if my 100% record went.

The match itself was bizarre. It was too easy. Big wins are all well and good but somewhere along the way the match becomes a bit stale. The Saints just kept on scoring though. It moved on from a drubbing to an annihilation. It was fun to be there. Great to see the 186-47 point victory.

Saturday morning and I'm somewhat the worse for having a late night. It's not my fault. Blame England's cricketers for playing so well against the rather poor Aussies.

Ever since January the Aussie media have assumed Australia would win the Ashes. Now I'm not saying they're going to lose but the way they're playing compared to the way England are playing would suggest that there's no reason why England can't win these final 2 tests.

I had a night of cricket and texting, which was fun. Seems ages since I've had a good text convo with someone.

It's looking like it'll be a good day in Melbourne too, which is fortunate as there are a couple of things I need to do and having good weather with be a bonus.

It's also the last weekend of the home & away round in the AFL. I'll be at the Saints-Lions game tonight, which could to be very interesting. The Saints don't tend to do so well against Brisbane and at the moment the Lions have more to play for to get into the Top 8. As long as my 100% record stays intact I'll be a happy bunny. Virtually every game this weekend has meaning. The Pies have already lost to the Bulldogs though which will give Hawthorn and Carlton a chance to not finish bottom.

I've also been very fortuate to have a wireless internet connection floating around in the hostel saving me heaps on cafe bills. It's a bit wishy-washy at times but it's been fun to have a room to myself and just be able to visit a ton of sites that I wouldn't normally check out. Also put together a new guestbook for Sarah, much needed attempts at less spam. Who knows, I might even update the DLBG soon!

And Liverpool won the Super Cup overnight, which was nice.

I did go to the movies again yesterday. Unleashed had finally come out. I've mentioned before that I am a bit of a fan of Luc Besson's work and Unleashed, although written and produced by Besson, wasn't directed by him. Not to worry though it was still a very enjoyable, fun movie. There's a whole bunch of fight scenes with you'd expect with someone like Jet Li in the film, added to that the family who take him in give a whole different perspective on his life. Bob Hoskins is as funny as he often is, whether he's meant to be funny or not I'm not sure.

One thing I've been meaning to do for a long time now is take a walk round Melbourne at night.

Until I got to Byron Bay I hadn't actually fully discovered the potential of my camera. I knew it had the capability to let me alter it's settings, changing the apature and shutter speed but like the fool that I am sometimes I hadn't actually read up on how it all worked. Then, as time passed, I sort of forgot it was all there.

It did mean I lost the chance to photograph Sydney at night. Sydney's a glorious city to the eye. Melbournians may hate it but then that's their perogative. Personally, I loved it. It has a pair of world famous constructions, the Opera House and the harbour bridge. Melbourne doesn't have such monuments. It does have the classic 'city skyline'. That tall set of buildings which show up for miles (or kilometres) around as you approach. The Rialto building, Melbourne Central, et al.

Then there's the city at night where numerous buildings are lit up. They show themselves in a whole new perspective, as is often the case with good architecture.

So last night, in between rain showers, I started taking a few random tram trips around the city. It's times like these that a tripod would come in very handy. It's not a luxury I can afford (more weight, more packing) but with something to lean on a steady hand is easy to come by for those 1-2 second shutter speeds.

The biggest problem with night time photographs is finding the right spot, being able to hold the camera steady and timing. A spot of patience doesn't go amiss either, taking the same photo numerous times, adjusting settings and then hoping that at least one photo will look good.

The rain did put me off a little. It rained at Crown but held off around Federation Square. I'll go out again a couple more times though before the week is out.

Melbourne by night