Rain, Hail or Shine- explorations still happen down under

It was Saturday the 6th of March, and my friend Ellen lured me in to go exploring in the city of Melbourne for the day. We were going to check out some festivals and maybe go see the Shrine of remembrance. As we rode the tram down the sky slowly became darker and darker- it was as if a translucent dark shade had been cast over the melbourne sky. The clouds became moving faster- as if one were watching a time-lapse of the sky. Ellen and I, looked at each other, and we knew that it would probably rain, but we figured we could get our way around it.

Little did we know,however, that within five minutes of getting off the Tram at Swanston street-'Hail' the size of golfballs would be pouring down on us. Just as we were about to cross over to Flinder's street station we took cover under a small tree- several other pedestrians joined us. The tree provided some protection, but the hail was so strong it still managed to knock me in the head and neck a few times- this was serious. The hail lasted for about 10 minutes and I noticed that the streets were started to fill up, and I knew that we needed to cross the street and go into a local business. As the hail began to dissipate and transform into a downpour Ellen and I rushed across the street into the pub Young & Jacksons. There were heaps of people taking cover in this building- all of whom, like us, had their day plans ruined. So why not? We decided to buy a couple beers and hang out till the rain started to recede. We got a delicious amber Lager called "Chief" mmm. We ended making fiends with a local, who took us around to a few more pubs and out for delicious shanghai dumplings (service wasn't the best there, but the food was decent and cheap!).

The lesson learned, is that your plans can be totally changed by the environmental conditions. Ellen and I thought we were going to have a day of explorations- and we did in a way- but rather than to the shrine of remembrance, we went through a rainy day of remembrance. All HAIL that day of of remembrance.