Melbourne - Conclusion

At last, familiarity, security......my second trip to Melbourne and meeting of a good old friend there. I was extremely grateful to her for putting me up at her place and bearing with my "unusual" habit ( she is shaking her head now, I know). I've never felt so safe since my trip began, having had to sleep alone at night for the past 1 week and checking repeatedly to ensure my doors were locked firmly. It was scary travelling alone sometimes. I have to be alert always, at times suspicious. I never expected this before I embarked on this journey. I thought I could tolerate solitude with ease. This had proved to be a challenge for me.

I learned to take the tram this time. Quite fun. I went to Yarra Valley and had wine tasting there. A terribly disappointing day marred by the rain. Fortunately the weather was gracious the next day when I scaled the Grampians and visited MacKenzie Falls, Victoria's largest waterfall. I was expectantly looking forward to another day of trekking and it was well worth it. I achieved what I wanted to achieve with the end of this expedition.

My "first" experiences from this tour:
1. Travelling alone - Before I left, I had a conversation with a medical colleague who just did his PACES ( Internal Medicine examinations) in England during winter. He went travelling alone to London and Holland after that but returned much earlier than he had planned because he felt that he had to share his joy with someone rather than experience it alone. I couldn't help but agree with him after my trip.
2. Trekking on a rugged mountain - MEMORABLE, exhilarating, but need badly to train up physically
3. Visiting mountains after mountains - Cradle, Wellington, Nelson, Grampians....all in a span of 10 days...of course they were not like Himalayas but I did feel a sense of triumphance at every summit
4. Walking - I probably covered more walking distance in the last 10 days than I had walked in 1 month in Singapore. Expect some hypertrophy of my gastronemius after this stint

Failed missions:
1. Ended up staying in cosy lodges instead of backpackers inns as planned earlier. I felt terribly pampered. Can't imagine myself alone at Turkey or Nepal where my friends had ventured by themselves right now
2. Exceeded my budget of $1500 for this tour due to my extravagant accomodations and chalked up phone bills
3. Dealing with solitude - don't think I'll attempt travelling alone again because I was literally bursting to share my elation and fears with my loved ones throughout the journey

Valuable quote from my friend in Melbourne: "Life never always turns out the way we want it to, but it's how we make the best out of it that matters."