My time in Melbourne :) part 1

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Well this week has just been incredible. My Melbourne experience has been so different to the rest of my trip and Melbourne as a place is so different to the places I have been so far.
Obviously being over 2000 miles away from Cairns one might expect a change in weather. I really should have done my research before leaving the UK to appropriately pack clothes suitable for where I was going but, being me.... I didn't - My "warm" clothes consisted of: one pair of jeans (which I actually got in Perth) and one jacket (which actually isn't very warm at all) so as you can imagine... I was cold and needed warm clothes - even more so because i'm flying to New Zealand next week which happens to be close to 0 degrees on the south island!!!!!

So anyway my week in Melbourne has been so lovely. I have been staying with my cousin Justine and her Husband Bernie along with there 3 gorgeous girls - Peri and Shaini (6) and Marley (7) who are just the most adorable kids ever - I felt like a big brother 😊 it was great.
I arrived on an evening flight so on the first day I managed to find Justine waiting outside the airport with a warm coffee for me and peri (one of the twins sitting in the back although at that point I wasn't sure which one was which as they are identical twins); I spotted her pink number plate "P B4 U GO" which made it a lot easier to find! Fab number plate as well!!
We got back to the house (and what a beautiful house it was to) and I met Bernie and the other 2 girls, got shown around, settled in to my new room (Marley's very pink room haha) and then had a lovely warm shower which was a luxury!
Justine and Bernie had plans that evening so I met up with Andrew (another cousin) and we went and played some pool and had some food which was good fun - although Andrew is like.... top 100 in Australia for snooker so as you can imagine.. he thrashed me - even more embarrassing was the fact he tried to help me win by potting my balls! Oh well.

The next day we went to Soverign Hill which is a recreation of the gold digging days. Was really interesting looking around how things used to be... we panned for gold - I thought if I could find some I could pay my way but with no success. The kids dipped candles and we found out how candles were made back in the day. We got to ride down a snow slope on inflatable rings.... walk round an ice sculpture exhibition - I would have looked in more detail if it wasn't -10 or something in the freezer we were in. It was a great day out and the kids loved it to... I just loved how they fought to hold my hand or sit next to me in the car.
That evening we all sat down for dinner... I haven't seen food that good in nearly 2 months!!! When you go from living on pasta and baked beans, pasta and cheese, pasta with pasta and special reduced bread for 2 months it really was amazing to have a good meal that actually filled me up!!

I spent alot of the next day sorting out all my photos as I had 1000's from the road trip, I also booked my flight to Sydney and organised all my moneys etc. The kids were back at school so it was a perfect time to get everything done that needed to be done (that's right mum, I'm learning to be organised!!)

On Tuesday, Bernie drove me down the Great Ocean Road which was built after WWI by all the men returning from the war. The views along the road are just picturesque - there are no other coastal roads like it. We spotted a whale swimming around a few hundred meters from where we had parked which was an added bonus.
We then went up to a view point which again had views that you have to see to believe - a short walk to a waterfall which was beautiful then to get some much needed pub food!
For me, the drive was a great chance to take some proper landscape photos (which I have been trying to get more experience of since I started my hobby of photography) so it was a great opportunity!

On the Wednesday it was Harry Potter day!!! Yay 😊 Since I started traveling I thought I would miss out on seeing all the new films coming to the cinema but Justine is a huge Harry Potter fan and we went to see it with her cousin Nat! We even had popcorn and ice cream in the cinema!! Ice Cream!! Apparently ice cream is a very popular cinema treat... and everyone has to have popcorn at the movies.. was great!! We should be more like that at home!
The film its self left out chunks from the book which was a shame but I loved it all the same! What made it even better was that being 9 hours in front of the UK meant I got to see it before anyone at home 😊 haha!!
We came back home after doing some shopping, got the girls from school, played "the still game" (sleeping lions) which is now one of the girls favorite games to play with me - whats funny is: I suggested we played it in the car to keep them nice and quiet on the way back from school... never would have thought that it would actually work! Thinking back to when mum played it with me and my friends.. clearly there was an ulterior motive haha.
We then had another meal which was just amazing followed by a apricot pie which was the best pie I have ever had!!

The next day I decided to go into the city to explore a little. I caught the tram into Federation Square which is a really bazaar area with strange buildings all very ridged and "square" - walked along the river, then down to the university area. Stopped off at a small cafe to get some lunch which was yum - then went shopping for some more warm clothes.
When I wanted to get back home the trams were down so I just sat and chilled out which was great until it started to rain. Eventually the power came back on for the trams so I was able to head home.
We went out for a meal that night which was lovely.. the best part was by far the chocolate pizza!!! Yep.. chocolate on pizza.. it was yummy!!! After the chocolate we had rhubarb and cream on Pizza which was sooo good!!!!

On Friday Justine took me and her friend from the states Julie to the Queen Victoria market. It was very different to the markets we have at home. Was great to look around and see all the fresh meat, fruit and veg plus all the art and crafts on sale. I managed to get some gloves as my hands were frozen!
There were 19 people for dinner that night so we also bought some tasty things for the meal. We got home and started preparing for the meal, the table was already set as we had started on the Wednesday (whats even more incredible is 19 is a "small" dinner for them and they do it every Friday!!) but we were able to start putting food in the freezer and putting things out on the table etc. At about 6.30 people started to arrive and the food started going out. The meal had more courses than any meal I have ever had. We had a starter, then soup, then a main then some fruit, then ice cream, then cake, then tea and coffee! I actually let the team down as I felt full after the main!! I managed to have some ice cream and cake though.. couldn't leave out desert!

Saturday was Aussie Football day!!! So good!!! It was Carlton vs Sydney Swans which was a huge match for Carlton (the team that everyone who comes to Melbourne should support) as they hadn't beaten Sydney in something like 12 games!!
Aussie rules is easy to work out after maybe a quarter or 2 so by the second half I was yelling at the top of my voice at the game... I got really into it actually haha!!
What made it even better was that Carlton thrashed Sydney 124 to 63 (19.10 to 9.9) which was a great finish to my first game. It was just incredible going to a real football match over here, the stadium (which wasn't even the big stadium) can seat like 65,000 people. Its so different over here, the 2 teams sit amongst each other without any problems at all. Unlike the games in the UK where police can be seen in every direction to stop riots, the atmosphere over here was just so friendly. The game was so fast moving, its was non stop action the whole way through. What made it even more exciting was both teams kept scoring making it impossible to tell who would win! Carlton just rose up in the 2nd half and literally pelted Sydney! Was great!!!

Yesterday we went to celebrate the birth of Andrews twins which was lovely, I met lots of family that I never knew existed which was quite something. Lots of lovely people and lots of food, was really nice. The baby twins were so cute!!
I baby sat last night to help earn my keep as this week I have been treated so well and i'm even leaving with a package of food!! How lovely is that!! At least now I wont be hungry!
Today I went to look round the girls school with them so they could show me there work which was lovely and then came home, packed, went to the biggest shopping center ever, had a big breakfast and now just waiting to go to the airport 😞 dont want to leave!!

Melbourne really is the sort of place I would love to live, it has everything. Even has 2 apple stores, nando's, loads of shopping centers and my 3 little angels 😊
can't wait to come back and I havn't even left yet

xxxxxxx

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Comments

[Dad]

Special
I knew Melbourne would be a special place on your trip but did not realise how special. Out of all of your blog entries i think this is certainly the best. You are a very lucky man. I hope that the memories of being the first of our immediate family to visit cousins most of us never really knew excisted will stay with you for ever abd that please G-d you will see them there and we will see them here in the near future. Enjoy the leg of your journey with yet more family and we will speak soon. Take care