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We arrived into Melbourne shortly after sunrise off the back of a 22hr combined flight (including a 6hr stop over at Singapore airport). After successfully navigating the strict sniffer dogs and custom offices at Melbourne International, we jumped aboard the bus heading for the city centre and checked into the Elephant Hostel based across the road from Flinders Street Station. After a 5hr wait we eventually checked into our dorm rooms and headed out to tackle the Lonely Planets 2hr walking tour, which takes you through numerous gardens, past historical statues and around famous buildings, including the Iain Turner Art gallery and the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground).

One of the things we really wanted to do in Melbourne was to watch an Aussie Rules footy game and luckily for us we were able to get tickets to see two of the biggest teams from the city - Hawthorns Vs. Collingwood playing at the MCG. The stadium can hold over 100,000 people and it was filled to nearly 80,000 for this match. The Collingwood fans are renowned for being a little on the wild side and they didn't fail to dissapoint, with whole familys (including Mums and Daughters) giving refs plus teams plently of stick and abuse. The Hawthrons had won all their six games so far this season and they contiuned in their winning form stuffing Collingwood 154-89.

That night we decided to see what Melbourne's night life had to offer and visited a few places inculding the Crown Casino and the Joint Bar where we 'shot' pool and downed plenty of beer. The next day we took the sensible approach and called in a much needed rest day, but we did manage to book a trip for the Monday visiting the Great Ocean Road, which is a strecth of coast line running below Melbourne heading out to the West. It promised to be an action packed day and with a 7am pick up & 9pm drop back time it was clear that we were going to cram a lot in. Our first stop on the tour was to view some wild Kangaroos and Koalas, then a stop at Bells Beach which is famous for holding the Rip Curl surfing competitions. We then headed further along to the 'Round the Twist' Lighthouse, The 12 Apostles (rock formations protruding from the sea, although now only around 9 remain), London Bridge and Lorne Arc Cove (also both rock formations). The highlight of the day was undoubtedly a 10 minute helicoptor tour over the coastline to the 12 Apostles, which gave us absolutely breath-taking views of this famous area and got the adrenaline pumping as the pilot turned left and right giving the feeling of the chopper banking at 90 degrees. After an uber-gentle landing, 10 minutes certainly wasn't long enough, but for only $60 each it was a pretty cheap chance to fly in a helicoptor (another first for us all!) and one we can all definitely recommend if you get the chance. Amazingly as we left the chopper it began to drizzle and a huge,bright rainbow appeared, arching from the sea to the land which only broadened our already beaming smiles.

As we arriving late back at the hostel we had to dash out to catch one of the other main attractions of Melbourne, (this will only apply to those that have recently been to university or who make it home before 5:40pm) "the meet the stars of Neighbours night" at the Joint Bar. Luckily for us the 'Stars' (and I use that term extremely lightly!) included Toadie, Lyn Skully and Boyd. The obligatory photos were taken and after more schooners of the local brew we retired to the hostel to pack for our bus the next day over to Sydney.

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