Meet the Parents

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G'day.....

Well, we never actually thought we would make it to Australia. Back in November it seemed so far away and now this is the last leg of our trip. With the hard parts of Asia behind us we re-enter civilisation. We are understood, we can cook for ourselves in kitchens not situated in an alleyway and not inhabited by other animals (although there are more than a few dubious "younger" backpackers here). Even though eating out is fun, after 3 meals a day for 6 months that first bowl of home-made bacon amatriciana was almost as good as at home - almost! I am sure the novelty will wear off but its great at the moment. What has taken a little longer to wear off is the cynicism and mistrust we picked up in Asia, as the Customs man soon found out. We have become pretty guarded when people speak to us in English. Usually on entering into a conversation about how long we will be staying in a country it has been closely followed by "my friend has a guest house", "you sould come to my mums restaurant", "dont buy your suncream from there my cousin has a better shop", etc. etc. and so on and so forth. So I think the customs man got a shock when I bit his head off going through. At least it could be put down to Jetlag.

I was stoked (already down with the lingo dudes) to see mum and dad. Stepping off the plane the tears were welling and some people say you dont know what you have until it's gone. It is no secret that I am a bit of a pussy and yes to answer all the questions of course I cried when I hugged me mammy and daddy.

So Melbourne....the home of Neighbours and what a gorgeous city it is. It has to be said our first few days were spent catching up with Ken and Alison or 'hop along'. Yes, after successfully persuading Alison to get on a plane to Australia after we had left, she managed to fall down a hole on Day 1 of their holiday in Hong Kong buggering her ankle and requiring a walking stick. Bloody typical Orr! After they had departed for their trip to Ayers Rock and after much sleeping, blogging, doing our washing and generally just mooching it was time to take in Melbourne's finest sight...Pin Oak Court or better known as Ramsey Street. Without a doubt the cheesiest and best tour done this trip. From The Neighbours bus, which picked us up to the street sign you have to hold up yourself. I shit you not, people stare at you as they go past and a whole bus is singing their hearts out to Kylie, Jason, Stefan Dennis and does anyone remember the Alessi twins - I did not even realise they had released anything. It is a tour purely for British backpackers and girls, although I was surprised to learn that Neighbours is followed in 180 countries.

We arrived at Erinsborough High or Melbourne English Language School in actual fact for our first stop and whipped out the sign and posed for a piccy. After folding up the sign (erm) we were off to Global Studios on a star hunt. Despite the stalking tendancies of our driver we did not see any stars and headed out to Ramsey Street. It's tiny in real life! But who cares about the size once you have seen where Harold lives, Susan Kennedy and of course the Scully's. We got the goss on and off set and watched an episode or two....for all you fans, stu has already left the soap over here. Gail Robertson returns with a surprise for Paul and an old neighbours star returns as a nun. Plus in real life, sorry to disappoint you guys, Susan is a raving lezzer! Also, did you know that the homeowners get paid an annual lump sum (enough to live off) to put up with the front of their houses being filmed, and, only 1 house has ever been sold in Ramsey Street, or Pin Oak Court as it is really known. in the last 21 years over the internet to some poms ! Having seen the sights of the soap it makes sense to meet them...Neighbours night here I come! On the way back every girl on the bus was in a subdued neighbours frenzy when the old episodes started to play...beth and brads wedding, charlene and scott, todds death and worst of all Drew dieing. Gemma Ash do you remember sitting in our house in Seven Sisters crying when he died. I swear I had a day off uni in mourning. Well, its no better when you watch it and you know its going to happen....sad....me ....never!

Ok, so back to the important stuff. Melbourne is an awesome city. It reminded us a lot of London so we had to come back a second time round after saying goodbye to Mum and Dad. In search of more relies and the sun....well one out of two ain't bad, we had actually planned to spend a fair bit of time in Melbourne on this trip but as things panned out we headed off again a few days later. The city itself is really cosmopolitan and multicultural and is renowned for its obsession with food and sport. First we took in the sights. A climb up the Realto tower gave us fantastic views of the city which at a first glance seems pretty small but is actually really sprawling. Chocka full of old buildings we wandered down Collins Street and Swanston before taking in Federation Square, Flinders Street Station with the famous clock (check out some Jet lyrics) and finally all the lanes and arcades which clog Melbournes side streets...honestly the shopping is to die for if we had any money. Well, after all this walking it was time to indulge in Melbournes cuisine. A few coffees later on Brunswick Street (kind of like shoreditch) a tram ride to funky St Kilda found us on Acland Street enjoying some cake. Back to Southbank for a dinner and a final stroll before bed. This kind of sums up how most days were filled. Melbourne has such a great atmosphere it is a place for just wandering and people watching.

As well as catching up with my parents, on our return trip it was time to meet more relies and have the pleasure of meeting a few more Orrs. Although we had met up with Uncle Nic previously, having not seen my cousin since I was about 10 and Chad was a 19 year old, larger than life, Canadian who spent most of his time in the UK being dragged into trouble by my sisters, to see a family man was quite a change. Not to mention how great Keli and his little boy Ethan were. And what a cook! After a wander around Queen Victoria Market which has a great foodie vibe we were treated to some of the best fish we have ever had. Thanks Chand and Keli for being such great hosts, giving us tons of info and lending us your pillows!

Melbourne is not just about the food though. It is arguably the sporting capital of Oz too. We narrowly missed out on the Commonwealth Games and the Grand Prix but we were just in time to catch the start of the season for AFL or 'Aussie rules'. In Thailand we met up with Louis and Dom - two Melbournians determined to show us a good time so we visited the Telstra dome to take in an Aussie Rules Game. Geelong v's The Western Bulldogs. It was great. Completely different to football - a real family game with the cheesiest team songs and a distinct absence of swearing and chanting it was a great day out. It did not take long to master the rules - pretty much anything goes, it is almost impossible to foul a player and they enjoy a good rumble. Oh yeah... and there is some kicking and stuff.

What else...

Phillip Island is just a short drive away and was a cool place to visit. There is Koala sanctuary and this is where we got our first taste of Aussie wild life. Koalas are a bit like pandas except they eat eucaliptus, not bamboo. They eat and sleep, appearing during the day to be balls of grey fluff up a tree. Looking across a marshy, grassy area from the boardwalk in the sanctuary we even caught a glipse of a distant kangaroo. The island also has some rocky shoreline (The Nobbies) from which you get terrific sea views and can just make out Seal Rock - home to Australia's largest colony of fur seals. As the sun went down we joined hordes of other entuiastic tourists on Summerland Beach for the daily Penguin Parade. Yes, every evening the worlds smallest penguines (imaginatively named "little penguines") toddle up the beach after spending days at sea. They form groups in the surf then make their way past the crowds into the sand dunes where they build nests. They look just like little old men. Unfortunately, there is a 0 photo tolerance (despite Ken and Lara's best attempts), so we all have to rely on mental images for this tale.

A drive (once again by Ken) in the other direction is the Great Ocean Road. Banded about as the most beautiful road in Austrailia, the GOR winds its way from Torquay, where surfers enjoy the waves at Bells Beach, through the pretty little seaside towns of Anglesea, Lorne, Apollo Bay, almost as far as Adelaide. We had pretty decent weather to begin with until just before reaching the highlight that is the 12 Appostles - a series of craggy outcrops in the sea (there ia only actually seven of them but who's counting?). As if on cue the hiddeous weather from Japan found us and the sky came crashing down to ruin the photos of this most photogenic stretch of coast. Bugger. Poor Alsion and Ken experienced our curse and we drove back to Mels fealing dejected and squelchy. Andrew and I swore to return in days to come.........

So, Melbourne itself probably has some of Australia's richest cultural offerings and I can definitely see why so many Brits set up as home here. In fact it took a fair few hours to actually hear an aussie accent in Melbourne. Shame about the weather though. Rain and cold, its like the UK. It is getting on for winter here but you just don't expect to go to Australia and get rained on. So, having heard tell of 25 degree temperatures in Sydney we booked a Greyhound and shook a leg further North.

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Photos

A Koala
Incase you did not know what one looks like

The Neighbours Bus
How happy does she look!