Ok, so by the time we reached Melbourne, I had got a little tired of sightseeing, so apologies if there are a few less pictures here than there should be...
Following the exhausting 13-hour journey, we arrived at our hostel safe and sound - it was bearable but rather like the one in Sydney - full of drunks! We were staying in St Kilda, which is a lovely little seaside town right by the beach, so we perused the weekend markets on the Sunday, and after managing to not buy anything (a first for me!), caught sight of Luna Park - an old theme park rather like Brighton Pier but not quite as tacky (although it would give it a run for its money!) As we wondered whether to go on any of the rides, we noticed that the rickety old wooden rollercoaster had scaffolding up and was under construction - very reassuring (although it is apparently the oldest continually-operating roller coaster in the world - maybe not anymore!) Anyway, we decided that there wasn't much there, so we wandered down to Acland Street and went into one of the many cake shops for a lemon roulade and a cup
of tea - yum!
The following day, I had an early start, and met up with another friend Kylie who I'd met in Thailand for breakfast at 8am in the city, and she showed me some of the sights of the city (Flinders Street Station, Federation Square, Docklands) before leaving me to meet up with Wayne and do some shopping. We hopped on the tourist tram, and listened to some of the commentary, before heading to the IMAX to watch Deep Sea 3D - a short documentary narrated by Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp which was just like going for a scuba dive! Unfortunately, that meant we had missed the Neighbours night out in town, but no fear, we had managed to nab the last two places on the tour for the following morning!
Cue another early morning, and the Neighbours bus picked us up for the tour, which took us past the set, onto 'Ramsay Street', to Erinsborough High School, and to Susan Kennedy (cue lots more piccies and autographs!) That afternoon, feeling thoroughly pleased with ourselves (ok, just myself, don't think Wayne was too bothered...) we got the train to Sunbury to stay with Kylie and
her family for the next couple of nights. The next one and a half days for me were bliss - home-cooked meals, endless cups of tea, watching Sex and the City (no not the film, just some episodes) and generally being able to catch up on everything I needed to - washing, journal, emails, blogs etc. And then it all came to an end - Kylie kindly gave me a lift to the airport at the unearthly hour of 6am the next morning, and I was on a plane bound for Christchurch, NZ - exciting or what?!
After spending almost 3 months there, I finally had to say goodbye to Australia, but with so many awesome memories of my experiences I was definitely was not disappointed with my trip! As I write this, I am sitting in my hostel in Christchurch, and I have to confess I have fallen in love with the place already...so you'd better look forward to my next blog!
Australia's Flag
Map of Australia