G'Day Mate!

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Australia already??! How'd that happen??

When planning this trip and even throughout our time away the Australia leg has always seemed way in the distance and here we are! How time flies. We were a little sad to say farewell to Asia but we were looking forward to getting back to some sort of normality after the constant madness and adrenaline rush which Asia had to offer! So we said our goodbyes to my Pops and hopped aboard our flight Down Under - where we had a toast to Asia and making it to the half way point in our trip; still bestest pals, with a million amazing memories to take to our next stop!

Our first stop in Oz was Melbourne. Whilst in India we absolutely loved staying with local families and getting a feel for their day to day life, so we decided to continue the trend in Australia and try our hand at Couch Surfing - basically sleeping on someone’s couch (or spare room) in return for our absolutely crackin' banter! Our couch was an hour outside of Melbourne in the suburban town of Aspendale. After seeing the highlights of Aspendale (4 shops), we followed our directions and felt as though we had just arrived on Ramsey Street. We were then warmly welcomed into the home of Katherine and Daniel, who were to be our hosts over the weekend. That evening they took us along to a horse show - which definately lived up to some Australian stereotypes!! It was a great way to spend our first night in Oz and something we otherwise wouldn’t have done had we not been couch surfing.

We spent the next couple of days wandering around Melbourne, in and out of museums and enjoying many of the street performers. Melbourne seems to have a constant festival feel about it, and with that we enjoyed some of the beer gardens around the city (although not too many, as Oz is soooooooo expensive!). We also took a trip to St Kilda which is a lovely seaside town where we had some fish n' chips and wondered in and out of the many mouth watering cake shops. Later that day Jamesy has arranged to meet some school friends, Kate and Hannah, for a drink in South Yarra - which was another really nice area of Melbourne. After a good natter Kate to us to her oh so swanky Melbourne apartment which had amazing views of the city!

Our last night in Melbourne was spent in true Ozzy style, as we decided to get the BBQ going and rustle up some steaks for our host. It was the perfect end to our long weekend in Melbourne!

Next stop Sydney!

x x x x

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