Melbourne here I come.

These are my Dorothy shoes.

I am packing for my little visit to Melbourne, and I have had to dig deep cos my Goldie life is a very simple one filled with shorts and thongs and hats, and very occasionally a bit of a dress up but still with thongs. And that's not because I don't have proper grown up clobber, it's just that this place doesn't require it, in fact people here are so used to the casual, ok slobby, gear, that those rare times when I remember to swipe on a bit of lippy, I am accused of going on the game or perhaps attending a funeral or an Amway convention.

So I am exchanging summer stuff for wintery wet stuff and that means that I have had to dig into my London gear - boots and closed in shoes and I reckon I am gonna have to pack an umbrella too. Bugger! I am not taking the good weather with me. Funnily enough Stevie has asked me to bring some of the rain back home with me, yeh the garden here could do with a drink.

So I popped out last week and bought a new pair of black trousers and I am taking a pair of resurrected jeans and an assortment of tops and that'll do me. I am not keen on dragging a hundred weight around the airports.

And as I am packing, and counting out knicky-noos, I am shuddering at the memory of the story on the tellie last week about the current trend of people boiling up their underbits IN THE KETTLE, in the hotel rooms. Ooooo YUK. Especially ooooo YUK cos I do like to wake up with a cuppa and so I am already planning to boil the shit outta that kettle before I use it. Isn't it funny the plans we make.

I am trying to decided whether or not I am gonna be brave and try out UBER for the first time cos they have just been granted access to Melbourne Airport. But I haven't used it before cos my old phone was rubbish, and the info from the hotel is that a cab will be about 50 bucks and they had no clue about UBER although they did seem to think it would be more expensive, but that might be because they'd prefer their guest to arrive by cab. Anyway I will check it out when I get there.

And I have done a reccie to see how long it will take to walk from my place to the conference and it all sounded manageable until now when I have to factor in Melbourne rain. I am not sure I want to puddle through 20 minutes and arrive all wet and unnecessary to then sit all day in aircon listening to stuff. I will wait and see, cos the 4 seasons in one day reputation of Melbourne is well founded and it might be that I can chug along in brilliant sunshine and settle in before the rain starts.

Do you get the idea that I am excited about heading away? I certainly hope so. I love going to Melbourne. It's such a grown up place. It almost demands that you dress up and behave yourself. So I am planning on putting on proper clothes - including a bra and shoes and maybe even a bit of face paint, and eating up some delicious food and sitting and watching the beautiful people wander by, oh and if I learn some shit at the conference well that'll be a big bonus.