Thirty Before Thirty... 

I never thought it would happen to me but in twenty two days i will be turning thirty. I have already started thinking about my next big list of things to do before i turn forty... geez!  My last list was extensive... Some of them i did, some of them i never got a chance to do but here is a list of the best and most memorable moments that i have had over the last thirty years...(In no particular order)

1. Sitting on a pier watching the sunset over Santa Monica Beach eating a big bag hot french fries covered in Ketchup. 

2. Dressing up as Kung Fu Panda at the 2011 Rutherglen Winery Walkabout. I wont lie to you it was hot, very hot but well worth it in the end.

3. Getting robbed in Barcelona Spain of everything that i owned...terrible at the time but still talked about five years on.

4. Graduating from University, the hard work payed off. 

5. Getting unbelievably drunk on straight Whiskey and playing cards with a 60 year old on a nine hour bus ride through South America.

6. Watching my little brother grow up into an amazing person who i couldn't be more proud of. 

7. Getting a tattoo of a moustache on my index finger. 

8. Starting up a program to assist women escaping family violence by providing short term accommodation to their pets. 

9. Falling in love. It didn't work out in the end but tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all...or so they say.  

10. Watching my mate Claire drink pint after pint at an 'all you drink in 15 minutes' special at a brewery in NZ. 

11. Spending every last cent i had on vet bills but ending up with a healthy and happy Siberian Husky.

12. New York, New York. Meeting Ricky Gervais, eating a huge slice of pizza in the street and taking hundreds of photographs of squirrels in Central Park.

13. Riding a bike down 'The Death Road' in Bolivia and simultaneously praying and crying into my helmet. 

 14. Freezing cold and jet boating in Queenstown NZ. 

15. Getting a true backpacking experience and having almost every inch of my body bitten by bed bugs.

16. Finding a best friend who can make me laugh more than anyone on earth. (Note not Guy Sebastian)

17. Arriving in Paris at 1am, getting a taxi to the hostel, turning a corner and seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time and bursting into tears. 

18. Getting things pierced and thinking i was super cool.

19. Singing Journey's Don't Stop Believing at a Karaoke Bar in Little China Town.   

20. Walking the streets of LA until i finally found the Chevy Chase Star on Hollywood Boulevard. 

21. Catching my first fish...a trout at a trout farm. 

22. Playing with tiger cubs in Thailand. 

23. Wearing oversized undies with an offensive slogan to the Tom Jones concert. 

24. Playing with elephants in Chiang Mai.

25. Discovering Roller Derby and joining the Northside Rollers. 

 

26. Arm Wrestling Competitions in a remote village and winning. 

27. Travelling alone in Bolivia (Only for a couple of days but man it was scary).

28. Getting fit and passing my first martial arts grading. 

29. Being woken in the middle of the night by an unknown animal trying to get into my tent on the Inka Trail. 

30. Finally buying the car i had wanted for ten years. 

The Vampire Player... 

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." - Marilyn Monroe 

I love Melbourne, I think it is the most wonderful place on earth. Amazing coffee, quirky lane ways, interesting people, oh and did i mention Ghosts?

A couple of years ago i went on a ghost tour at the Beechworth Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum. It was excellent, the tour guide had a certain La Trobe University Arts degree feel about him and he kept us well entertained throughout the night. So i jumped at the chance to see what the Haunted Melbourne Ghost Tour had to offer.

After some Greek cuisine and a few brews myself and a group of girls from work headed off to the meeting point for the tour,The Haunted Bookshop. It was clear from the first few steps up those stairs that this was going to be an interesting night. The shop was a smaller version of what i would imagine the 'Magic Box' in Buffy the Vampire Slayer to look like, if it was real...(Yes i am a huge nerd). It was filled to the roof with books, statues, tarot cards and magic stuff for spells and what not.

Behind the counter stood a man dressed in black, much like the priest from 'The Exorcist', he had the whole get up; hat and all. He definitely had something about him. I handed over my $20 and eagerly grabbed my pass for the night.

It was quite clear early on that this guy was for real, he was definitely not a La Tobe University Arts graduate.  He was quirky, charismatic and funny, one hour in I had quiet the crush. The tour continued on winding its way through the streets and alleys for over two hours with our stud muffin of a guide  pointing out significant places in Melbourne's Ghostly history.

After the tour ended the larger group scurried off and my group lingered back as we had a few questions about ghost's. While we chatted our new friend revealed his views on life, he was definitely interesting and unique and i was tempted to ask him to head out for a drink with us. I didn't. Instead i got home, added him to facebook and googled the shit out him.

As it turns out he is a kind of celebrity in night of the living dead land. He apparently hosted a television program about ghosts; a channel 31 equivalent of Master Chef or so im lead to believe.

I also discovered the following...

1. He is a vampire. Apparently he was declared a vampire in the Victorian Magistrates Court and no i do not have any further detail.

2.  He is a satanist. He is a leader at the Melbourne Church of Satan. He has also written a book on the subject- The Anti-Christ Bible. Not to be mistaken with the 'The Good News Bible'.

3. Perhaps my favourite; he is the Australian Ambassador of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula. Quite the introduction at next years Christmas Party...

4. Finally and most terrifying of all- In his former life he worked as an Advertising Exec and also trained to be an Anglican Priest.

I was in quite the predicament. I had met a man who i believed to be single, gainfully employed, well educated, funny and attractive. But on the other hand there was the blood sucking, worshiping the devil and frequent trips to Romania to contend with. My mind started bouncing ahead as so many single, almost 30 year old females minds tend to do. There was the meeting of the friends, no issues there as they have met countless ex boyfriends. The sleeping arrangements, would i have to trade in my Harvey Norman White Lauravale queen size bed for a coffin? Not to mention those awkward Christmas Party introductions. And the sucking of my blood business, i wont lie to you im not even big on hickeys.

So after careful consideration i have decided to put this one on the back burner...just for now. Though i suspect i will be back, in the words of Stephen Dorf "Vampires to me have always been very sexy".