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I am officially living the dream. Last night I met Toadfish, Steph and Dillon.

I went to St Kilda to meet my friend Vicky at the Base hostel. I’d booked in for the night to make the most of this life-changing event. Unfortunately, Rob had a back injury so I bought him a commemorative fridge magnet to compensate.

Vicky, her friend Fi and I, went to the hosting pub and queued for several hours, waited for more (during which I was nearly thrown out by a security guard for throwing paper aeroplanes -they really made us wait for ages) and then finally, Dillon, Steph and Toady arrived on stage.

We were sat right next to the stars themselves and so when my question was among those selected to be put to the actors, I had full eye contact with Dillon. Swoon.

Compere: So, Linda from England wants to know: Which conditioner do you use to maintain your silky mane?

Dillon: Well, I must admit to using a healthy dose of chip fat rather than conditioner. I just get round to my local fish shop, and dunk my head in the deep fat fryer. So, I’m afraid, I don’t use any conditioner at all.

That was the actualy transcript! I must note here that Dillon is actully very attractive off the screen. Vicki gets up close (above).

In the heat of the moment I thought it would be a great idea to get involved in the kareoke competition. The choices were; a rugby song, the neighbours theme tune or your national anthem. I chose Neighbours and narrowly missed out on some serious booing. Not everyone was as lucky as me.

Also on the cards in this cheese fest of a night was a dancing competition. I later hunted down the breakdancer extraordinaire and drunkenly challenged him to a dance-off -you got served stylee! I think I may have lost. All this could be yours for just $35 AUD a night on Mondays at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. Coupled with hostel costs and Metcards, it was expensive but worth it. Rob just needs a pound.

Later that night, we retired to the hostel and luckily found two lovely young chaps cooking our supper. How did they know we liked curry?! So we joined them for a meal of hot chicken madras then went to our dorms. Due to hostel arrangements I had to go to a dorm on my own and all the dorms were mixed. I met some very unpleasant fellow from the be-rude-and-they’ll-love-you school of romance.
Base is a veritable palace by backpacker standards. Although it could be a bit cleaner, the minimalist furnishings are dapper. I found most of the staff helpful even though I ventured to reception in my pyjamas in search of a towel. The location is second-to-none since St Kilda is close to the city, yet feels like a holiday resort with its own carnival, market and bohemian little cafes.

I returned to Berwick to find it on fire. Firies, doused the last of the embers just a few metres from our digs. Meanwhile, in Gippsland, the bushfires have had a resurgence.