• I’m standing around at a party talking about what kind of push-bike I ride instead of how big my Holden Commodore engine is!
• I go to a used clothing store and buy an oldskool adidas woollen sweatshirt and pay $70 because apparently it’s not a used clothing store but a “vintage” clothing store!
• Building something involves constructing my IKEA furniture (and yes when they say to put something under the metal bit your hammering it is because if you think you know better and don’t do it you end up cutting chunks out of your rental apartment carpet – at least I know I’m still man as I don’t follow instructions – photo taken after I cut the carpet)
• I use a beard trimmer instead of a razor.
• I wear a man bag instead of a back pack (guilty, I have been using a man bag for many years now, but it’s made in India so doesn’t that make it more of a spiritual accessory?)
• I cross my legs when I’m sitting at the café drinking my skinny flat white (sorry I got that wrong, I’m the skinny flat white guy drinking my coffee). I think crossing my legs makes me feel profound and I need all the help I can get with that.

“Building” my own furniture with my $2 store hammer (and yes I am posing for the photo)

With my bi-polar lifestyle I also get my fix of man time as I spend 2 out of every 3 weeks working in Tasmania’s mining industry – you don’t get much more manly than that, maybe if I worked as a Holden mechanic in a dark greasy workshop with calendars of half naked ladies on the walls would be a bit more manlier. For my 2 weeks of work in Tassie I leave my beard trimmer at home in my IKEA bathroom rack, I enjoy the freedom of farting and burping with pride, ordering a big juicy steak with greasy chips and a pint of James Boags at the local pub (the only pub in my town of 400), driving a V6 pick-up truck and smashing rocks and carrying heavy things like the cave men of yesteryear.

I think I used this photo in a previous post, but hey it shows me earning major man points, using a power saw to cut rocks and most probably whilst burping and farting!

But I must say, I arrived in Melbourne a month ago (2 weeks of which spent in Tassie) and I love this city. My first bullet point I mentioned guys talking about their bikes, this is because Melbourne is riddled with interlinked bike paths which allows you to bike everywhere, it’s perfect training for my Africa expedition.

Me in the “used” bookstore (holding the cycling expedition book I’m currently reading) modelling my “vintage” sweatshirt with my spiritual Indian made man bag and freshly MANicured beard.

Melbourne is a city that has it’s finger (not it’s thumb as the thumb also has a pulse so you should always check the pulse using your index finger to get and accurate reading – I just completed my first aid refresher course last week) on the trendy arty, music scene. Heaps of cool chilled out cafes and bars where I can cross my legs and drink my coffee. Walking down the city street you aren’t overwhelmed by the suits and ties but rather a mixture of people, and a lot of people that my grandfather would of categorised as “weirdos or dickheads”. So far Melbourne is meeting all of my extremely high expectations I had for it and I’m looking forward to the following year of being here while I organise my Africa expedition and hopefully save money to fund it. Two thumbs up Melbourne!