A taste of Aus - Melbourne

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Well we finally arrived at our hotel in St Kilda, Melbourne, at about 7pm, nearly 48 hours after setting off (inlcuding 11 hours time zone difference). It had been a mighty journey, consisting of a 13 hour flight from London Heathrow to Taipei (taiwan), then after a 6 hour stay in the airport, a 9 hour flight down to Sydney. To top all off, a conecting flight from Melbourne to Syndey was 1.5 hours late leaving, so we ended up in Melbourne about 7pm on Sat evening.

Our first full day (Sunday 12th) we basically explored the city. We took a tram in (Melbourne has a very extensive, efficient system), and took in some of the main shopping areas in the centre. In the afternoon we wondered down to the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) where England were playing against Victoria in a friendly before the next test match. There were only a handful od poeple in the stadium, but it was still good to see the stadium and a few classy strokes from Matt Prior. Unfortunately, it was pretty cool through the day with showers and sunshine, so didn't really feel like we'd completely escaped the UK winter, but I still wore shorts throughout the day just because I could.

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Photos

Breakfast on first morning
Looking a bit apprehensive due to the jet-lag and the realisation that the Aussie dollar exchange rate isn't doing us any favours. This croissant cost £5, so I was savouring every bite!

Cricket at the MCG
Our boys were just keeping loose ahead of spanking the Aussies again at Perth later this week.
Needless to say, rain stopped play shortly after