And so I was off to Melbourne...

After a brief and not unpleasant day wandering around Sydney in between landing and catching my bus, during which time my Australian love affair reignited, it was a not brief and most unpleasant bus ride via Canberra that took me back to Melbourne. I arrived travel-grubby despite my airport shower, shattered, jet-lagged, unslept and slowly going crazy by having to translate each sentence I wanted to say into Spanish and then back out again (it's going to take a while to get used to this English-speaking malarky) - but by the time I was sitting with a cup of tea at Steb's, I felt right at home.

Steb is a friend from the last time I was in Australia, with my Univ friend Han. We were put in touch with him by our college and stayed with him - part of keeping up the Univ Old Members' network (and I'm still doing my bit!) and luckily we'd kept in touch. It was SO GOOD to be back in a house with my own room and a kitchen and nice bathroom, but even nicer to be back at Steb's. We had a lovely catch-up with the kids, Eddy, Charlotte and Will (not actually "kids" at all anymore!) over lunch and that was it - I'm a fan of Melbourne all over again.

I was due to stay in Melbourne until New Year's Day and in that time I not only had socialising with Steb and his girlfriend, with "the kids" AND with Dermot and Scotty from S America's travels to fit in, but a fateful visit to the MCG on what turned out to be the last day of the 4th test. Heartbreaking though England were (seriously, bless the Barmy Army for being the only thing we can still be proud of), it was a great day - sunny, not too hot not too cold, fuelled by Scotty-sponsored rum and coke and rounded off with the honour of applauding Warney off the field for the last time at the G.

I spent Christmas Day with Steb's family at his ex-wife's house with a huge crowd of French, German, Japanese and Australian folks, which made for a fab mix of conversation! And obviously the Melbourne weather god was smiling down on me on the occasion of my first Christmas away from home as he gave us cold weather and even the odd spot of rain, which certainly helped with the odd pang of homesickness! Although I have to confess, there weren't many of them...It was a wonderful day, complete with unexpected pressies and parcels from home that were the finishing touch really!

The social whirlwind of Melbourne took me all over the place. On Christmas Eve, only just recovered from final bits of Christmas shopping and jet-lag, Steb and I went out for a few drinks with my S American friends. Although Steb bailed early, it was a fab fab night. It was so wonderful to see my boys (Scotty and Dermot) and meet their crowd in Melbourne - a lot of fun and sure to be a good crowd whilst I was there! On Boxing Day, after going to supper with Eddy's girlfriend's parents (plus Steb and Wendy), it was off to PJ O'Briens for a good old Irish night out. Or it should have been - unfortunately PJ's had been taken over as the Barmy Army headquarters and it was CARNAGE, but wonderfully so! I was taken out by someone important of the Sandringham Yacht Club to watch the Sabots racing in Port Philip Bay - a real treat to spend the day out on the water, getting really into the races and cheering on the Victoria team. Will and Eddy, or more to the point Eddy's friend, took me out to St Kilda's famous Esplanade Hotel to a hip hop gig that was happening the night before New Year, where we had a great night full of good music - and even got to spend a good few hours backstage with the band, Ugly Duckling, listening to their tales of West Coast hip hop (and me pinching myself every time a big name was dropped - top blokes). After that night it was hard to imagine New Year's could come close, but the event proved me wrong...drinks in St Kilda with Simon (Scotty's friend), Dermot and the girls (Lorraine and Grace, Mrs Dermot) were followed by fireworks on the beach at midnight with everyone and then up to a fab bar where we met Scotty and drank silly amounts of champagne. All was going so well until I left, couldn't find a cab ANYWHERE and spent 2 hours walking back...but that's New Year for you!

And so today it's off to Sydney. The good news is, I decided I couldn't possibly leave this part of the world without coming back to Melbourne, so I'm flying over from NZ with Mum and Dad. I'll be around for Will's birthday, among other things, so it transpires that this time it is indeed au revoir.