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Published: August 27th 2006
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Hey all! We are back! (i know you are all so pleased!!hehehe!)
So we have now finished working in Melbourne. We had a real ball there...we both met some really lovely people and more importantly we have saved up some more hard-earned cash ready for the next adventure!
We lived in a suburb called Brighton (which made Zoe feel very at home), and both worked in the city. Family friends of Zoe's (Libby, Ian and family) made us feel very welcome and at home, and sorted us out with somewhere to live! (thanks again Libs!). Melbourne is a brilliant place to live. Really vibrant with loads going on all the time. Unfortunately as it is Winter here however it never got over 15 degrees in daytime, so it really was just like being in England!
We are well into the Aussie way of life now...including the Aussie rules football! Its like a weird cross-breed between rugby, american football and basketball! Good fun though especially as it is really violent! Loads of injuries all the time! We caught two games in Melb and really enjoyed them! Massive stadiums right in the city centre - MCG and Telstradome. MCG holds
100,000! It is only really that popular in Melbourne. There are teams from Sydney, Perth and Brisbane, but all the other teams in the league are from areas of Melbourne!
So once we had finished working we started up on the tourist trail again. We visited Phillip Island and saw the cute penguins. We also visited Healesville Sanctuary with Jasmine (from Hastings over here for a year) and her friends. Saw kangaroos, koalas, wombats etc! Really good fun! We also drove down the coast a little and visited some wineries and saw our first surf beaches!
We then headed off on a whistle-stop tour of the Great Ocean Road. It is really beauiful, however it is quite similar to the West Coast of New Zealand. We went on a helicopter ride over the 12 apostles which was really cool though!
After that we got ready for the best bit yet....our Neighbours tour!!! We visited the school and saw the studios. We then went to Ramsay Street and they were actually filming there! Saw Boyd, Dylan, Zeke, Stingray, Bree and Katya!! Well cool huh! We had actually already met Dylan as he was in the same restaurant as
us when we went out for Zoë's birthday dinner! Anyway that night we went to the "Meet the Neighbours night" in this hilarious backpacker pub in St Kilda (most lively area of Melbourne). We had already been there once to watch England being beaten by Portugal, but it was cheap and cheerful!
Neighbours night really funny though...there was loads of silly competitions, and then 3 stars from the show...Janelle, Dylan (again!) and Paul Robinson! He was so slimy! Really good fun though! We both had a go at winning something...Zoe in a singing the national anthem competition and Rich in an air guitar competition! We were both robbed! Oh well maybe next time.......
So we then went on our little holiday...skiing at Mt Buller, 3 hours from Melbourne! SO mad to be skiing in Australia! Really good fun though. Zoe had never done it before so had lessons each day and fell over lots, but was just getting the hang of it by the last day! Rich headed off onto the harder slopes but it wasn't that great as loads of the runs weren't open as there has been little snow this year. Both really enjoyed it, but
Neighbours Tour!
Meeting Dr. Karl Kennedy! were ready to leave the cold after 4 days!
So then we headed to Sydney, where we hooked up with Lucy and Charlie (Zoë's sister and her boyfriend). Great to see them again and hear all the news from home (such as your recent good weather! We are really jealous!). Spent the week here doing loads of tourist stuff (climbing the harbour bridge, visiting Manly and Bondi Beach, hanging out in the Botanic Gardens, goign to a concert in the Opera House etc...). Sydney is a really beautiful city. So green and the harbour is just breathtaking. Taking ferries around the city is definitly my idea of commuting!
so we are now ready to head off again onto the next adventure. We pick our camper van tomorrow which we have rented for a month (sorry no colourful painting on the outside this time!). We plan to drive all the way up to Cairns, and get onto the beach! Bring on the sun!
Hope you are all well...do let us know how your doing. Rich is happy as Everton are 2nd in league. Its only early days though! hehe!
Rich & Zoë
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Eddie
non-member comment
Everton will never stay there
Good to see your on the move again - shouldn't be staying that long, its called travelling for a reason. Please tell me you sung "gonna make fel good" by stephan dennis (paul robinson) to him when you met him - I was a huge fan when it came out and I would love to hear a live rendition. Been trying to get in the austrailian spirit as i have just got back from the Gower peninsular in Wales, surfing and body boading -superb!. speak soon eddie - p.s. Everton don't look bad - Johnson is going to be a good player for you lot