Australia - Melbourne

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We arrived in Melbourne at 7pm on Tuesday 24 July and checked into Melbourne Metro YHA at the northern end of the city. After walking to the supermarket for groceries, we cooked dinner and then sat in the TV room for a while before going to bed. On Wednesday, we took the free tourist shuttle bus around the sights of Melbourne. We stopped at the Shrine of Remembrance and walked around the grounds before exploring the museum. We then took the short walk to the Botanical Gardens and then sat on a bench by the lake in the park. After cutting back through the park, we walked to the Olympic Park and then wandered around the Rod Laver Arena. Hungry, we walked back to the city and went to Subway for lunch before going to the TAB (betting shop). Two hours later, we both left the shop in profit and we found a bar (Joint Bar) to have a couple of beers that overlooked the busy Flinders street. After walking home, we freshened up and returned to the Joint bar for 2 for 1 jugs of beer and free BBQ sausages. We ended up staying in this bar until closing at 3am and on the walk home we boxed a few pigs (Rocky style) in Victoria Market. On Thursday, we walked to the Docklands and had lunch in a small cafe before going to the Human Body Exhibition. The displays were amazing and I spent a couple of hours there reading and listening to the audio commentary. We took the free tram home and cooked dinner before going to meet our friends Ezra and Mardi at a bar. After a quick beer, we went to watch the Simpson’s movie on its opening day. This finished at 11.30pm and we walked back to the hostel to sleep. On Friday, we took the free tram to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and went on the 90 minute tour. We then walked to Wagamama's for lunch and then went to the TAB for a couple of hours. We returned to the hostel for dinner and then got a taxi to the Telstra Dome where we watched an AFL game with Ezra. After the game we met Mardi and we all went out drinking for the evening. We only went to a couple of bars but we had lots to talk about so we didn't get home until 4am. After a couple of hours sleep, we got up on Saturday morning for our 3 day tour bus to Sydney. The bus never turned up so we were able to claim a refund. We then booked a Greyhound bus for Monday evening which meant that we had 3 extra days in Melbourne so we were really excited. We went back to sleep and woke up at 2pm and then walked to Victoria Market for lunch. That evening we went to a Collingwood AFL game at the MCG and then walked through the city back to our hostel. On Sunday, we had a late breakfast at the hostel and then walked to the Telstra Dome for our third AFL game in as many days. This was easily the most exciting game of the three as the others were blowouts and this game was only decided in the closing minutes. After the game, we walked to an Italian restaurant near our hostel for a pizza. That evening, we sat in the TV room and watched 'Animation Night' for a few hours. On Monday we had breakfast at the hostel and then checked out the local university before going to a photo exhibition showing portraits of famous people. We then caught the free tram to take us around Melbourne and hopped off at the Immigration Museum where we spent a couple of hours learning about the history of the people arriving in Australia. Walking back through the city, we got to our hostel, packed our stuff and checked out. We took a taxi to the bus station and caught the 8pm Greyhound to Sydney.

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