Leaving Melbourne

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Autumn and Winter in Melbourne

We managed to fit a bit more into the final couple of months in Melbourne despite the fact that we were working full-time and triyng to save for the rest of our trip. We paid a visit to Melbourne Zoo which had an excellent collection of bears, lions, tigers and monkeys, all in a huge natural setting with plenty of wandering space for both us and the animals.

We also took a boat cruise down the Yarra River on a sunny Autumnal day from Southbank to the quaint seaside town of Williamstown, just the other side of the bay from St Kilda. Somehow we even managed to end back up at the Neigbours Nights again where we got to meet (and abuse) the 'stars' as well as receive another rasping performance by Karl Kennedy and his band...

Seeing friends and leaving Melbourne

Towards the end of May we were first hosts to Mick, who came to visit for a few weeks before heading off to New Zealand, so we took him around some sights of Melbourne including the Dreamtime Aussie Rules game at the MCG which is the Aboriginal showpiece game and highlight of the AFL season. And finally Ian visited us for a week before he headed off up the east coast and we managed to have a few decent nights out around town and a blast on the driving range at Albert Park.

With Mick and Ian moving on we managed to organise the rest of our trip around Australia including some flights and our campervan for the west coast. With our travels sorted and our bags packed we had one final farewell night out before tidying the flat and sending home 14kg worth of clothes, bags (Suze) and other stuff we didn't want to carry around with us for the next five months. On our final day we big goodbye to the mansion as Bill picked us up to take us back to the suburbs for one final evening before we headed of the following day first thing on a foggy winters morning to catch our flight to Alice Springs.

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Photos

'Steve'?
He was a right berk

Eureka Tower
Tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere