Melbourne - with Andy!

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We were delayed a bit flying into Melbourne but got a taxi ok & headed to Sophie's Aunty's house in Toorak, (a suburb of Melbourne) where she was house sitting whilst they were on holiday. We went for a walk & did a bit of food shopping & then got ready & went to meet Sophie & some of her friends in Federation Square. We spent the night in a bar called Transport & had some dinner there before going home about 11.45pm.

On Saturday, Sophie, Andy & I went to Melbourne Zoo after a fry up breakfast. We had a great day, we got to see Orangutan's really close up, (one even gave me a kiss through the glass), we saw an elephant chase & make loud noises at a peacock & lots of other cool animals. In the evening Sophie's cousin Katie, her boyfriend Michael, their friend Pru, Sophie, Andy & I had a curry, dessert & coffee & baileys afterwards whilst watching AFL (footy) & a film.

On Sunday, after trying Kangaroo sausages for breakfast, (not too bad but not fabulous), Sophie, Andy & I went to the MCG, (Melbourne Cricket Ground) & watched the Western Bulldogs versus the Kangaroos, (Australian football - the kangaroos won). We had a beer, hot dogs (Andy) & meat pies (me), like the Aussies do. In the evening the three of us got a takeaway & I got a surprise phone call from Aunty Anne, Uncle Jim & Megan, I could not believe how grown up Megan sounded. It made me quite emotional as it was also Lil's birthday & I spoke to her & speaking to Mom & Dad, it made me a bit homesick.

On Monday Soph wen to work & Andy & I had booked ourselves on a day trip. We got the train into the city & were taken by bus to the Dandenong Ranges where I feed the wild birds, including Flamin Galahs, (alf Stewart quote from Home & Away), cockatoos & other birds. We had a Billy Tea, (made from natural bush plants) & some Lamingtons. We were then taken to the Puffing Billy Steam Train where we travelled from Belgrave to Menzies Creek, (3.75 miles) hanging out the side of the train & admiring the views of the Victoria countryside. We then got taken to Ferguson's Winery where we had a great roast beef dinner & sampled about seven different wines, including white, red & a nice desert wine. This was in the Yarra Valley, a well known wine region in Australia. We went on to Healesville Sanctuary where we got to see Koala's, wombats, kangaroos, platypi, (Andy's favourite) & allsorts.

When we got back to the city we did a bit of shopping, or should I say Andy talked me into buying clothes that he could take home for me. We then had dinner, Fajitas & Taco's with Sophie & her friend Katie. Andy & I tried to book accommodation for the Great Ocean Road with no success so decided we would just find it when we were there.

On Tuesday we got up & got a taxi with all our stuff to the car rental place. Andy was a bit disappointed as we had booked a Mitsubishi 380 or something 'similar' that might be sporty & fast but instead they gave us a bit of an old mans family car, (this made me laugh!) We had the best day, the weather was perfect, really sunny & beautiful blue skies. We stopped off a couple of times to admire the views & take photos, & went for a walk along the beach in Lorne, (Andy was driving), before we stopped for lunch at Apollo Bay.

The countryside was beautiful & it was a really nice drive, I was even allowed to drive for a bit but I think Andy was scared after seeing photos of the 4x4 on Fraser Island that I let him drive. We made our way towards Port Campbell where we hit gold & found a nice apartment to say in, round the corner from the beach & in town which was quite central. We asked the lady who ran the complex about helicopters & she recommended the first company we had seen & said that if we told them where we were staying we would get a discount.

So as my birthday present from Andy, (well one of my presents), we went up in a helicopter for our own little private ride over what was The Twelve Apostles, (now 11 or maybe even 10 as they are starting to collapse in the water, which is sad). It was so amazing, the best birthday present I could have asked for, it was so good I nearly cried!

Afterwards we walked across the road to the cliffs & took a million photos of us & the Apostles. We stayed to watch the sunset, which was magical & then headed back to our apartment. We got ready & went for a lovely meal in a nice restaurant in Port Campbell. I felt really sad at the thought of Andy leaving but we had just had a great day. We went to a bar after we finished our meal & got two bottles of wine to take out & drink back at our apartment.

On Wednesday we got up to a really rainy day, (we had been so lucky getting the beautiful sunny day on Tuesday). We walked to a cafe in Port Campbell & had breakfast before getting back on the road. We stopped & had a walk around the shops in Lorne & stopped for lunch in Torquay. We had a look around the shops while we were there before heading back to Melbourne. We dropped our bags off with the Concierge at the hotel we were staying at, (another treat off Andy for my birthday), & then took the car back to the rental place. We brought some Gin & Tonic on the way back & relaxed for a bit. Andy had a sleep while I wrote in my journal & had a bath & a glass of wine.

We got ready & walked up a little back street near our hotel & found a great little restaurant where we had dinner, again it was a lovely night & I felt sad about saying goodbye to Andy.

On Thursday (5th July) it was my birthday, (whilst Andy was with me), I got to open my presents in bed, (well most of them, I had to keep some for my actual birthday) & had a cup of coffee. I got two books, a necklace & a funky passport holder from Andy & Ceri sent me a necklace, bracelet & lovely blue tunic to wear on the beach. We got ready & walked down the river & had lunch in Southbank. Afterwards we met Claire & Michael for a coffee & Andy brought me a little cake, very thoughtful of him.

We said bye to Claire & Mike & spent the afternoon looking around the shops. Andy brought three old fashioned metal wind-up robots which were really cool. It started to rain late afternoon so we went to a funky looking bar & he got us both a glass of champagne & we had some nibbles. We went to pub round the corner & met Claire & Mike for another drink & then headed back to the hotel to get ready.

We got a taxi to the Docklands area & I got to pick where we ate, (as it was my birthday!) I choose the Indian restaurant as it looked funky & we both love Indian food. We had a nice meal & then headed back to the city where we went for a nightcap, (cocktails) in Transport on Federation Square. We went back to the hotel, had G&T's & then went to sleep. I woke up about 3am & couldn't get back to sleep, I think it was the thought of saying goodbye the following day.

On Friday morning we checked out of the hotel & left our bags there. We walked to the Botanical Gardens where we had planned to have breakfast but there was only one cafe & it didn't look very nice so we walked along the river & had breakfast in Southbank. We walked around the shops, trying to find Andy a bag, we couldn't find one he liked so we went to the supermarket & got some food & got a taxi to Sophie's Aunty's with all our stuff. It was at this point I started crying but managed to stop by the time we got to the house, (I think the taxi driver must have thought I was mad).

We had lunch & had a cuddle before the taxi came to take us to the airport. The traffic was really bad so it took ages & I started crying again in the taxi, I looked such a mess. When we got to the airport it took us ages to get Andy checked in & all I wanted to do was sit with him & get a coffee or something. I was surprised to find they let me go through to the Departure Lounge with him, (I think because he had to fly to Sydney first so it was only domestic) he brought a bag & we had a drink, Andy had a fruit juice, I had a beer!

I was crying on & off all the time now & then we went & sat by his gate, when they called his flight we said our goodbyes & I watched him walk through to the plane & it was such a horrible feeling, I went in the toilets & cried for a bit. I came out & washed my face & I looked terrible in the mirror. I listened to my ipod & put my sunglasses on to cover my puffy eyes whilst I got the bus & train back to Sophie's Aunty's. On my way home I went into the shop where Andy had brought his robots & got him another one. I was still upset & managed to get on the wrong train, I realised straight away though & got off & eventually managed to get myself back.

As I was opening the front door Andy rang to check I was ok, he was already in Sydney it had taken me that long to get home. Soph was an absolute star & knew I wouldn't be feeling great, (she had gone on a works night out), when I got back on the table waiting for me was a load of goodies & a little note to cheer me up, including chocolate, snacks, wine, tissues, a magazine & a blanket to curl up on the sofa with the cats.

Soph came back when I was feeling better about 10 & we had a glass of wine together & she gave me a cuddle. I went to bed & actually managed to sleep quite well, Andy text me when he got to Hong Kong & Heathrow.

I had the most amazing time with Andy & looking back at it we had so much fun & laughed so much! We got to see & do lots of things in Melbourne & going down the Great Ocean Road on our own little road trip was great. It was going to be strange going back to being a backpacker after two weeks of luxury & not having to cook or live in hostels but I knew that's how it would be & that I'd get through it.

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