The day had arrived. Boxing day test match here we come! Everyone from the hostel pretty much was heading to the cricket so the atmosphere was building well before we reached the stadium. Once we arrived there was a real buzz about the place with thousands of poms and aussies dressed up, with friends, on their own or just having a family day out; the whole of Melbourne seemed to descend on the MCG!

For all you cricket fans out there, im sure you`ll agree the morning session couldnt have gone any better. It wasnt until the end of the day when we looked back over the days events and realised we`d probably seen one of the best days of cricket in the Ashes history. The atmosphere didnt diminish and by the end of the day the crowd were doing mexican waves (impressive when the crowd topped 85,345) and making snakes out of plastic cups. Thankfully we wasnt near one when it got thrown in the air! The day was topped off nicely with a wander around the city to see captain cooks cottage in the park which had been shipped over from the Uk and flinders station before catching a tram home. We could get used to these aussie christmasses!

In between trying to catch the cricket on the big screens dotted around Melbourne, we spent the following day wandering along St Kilda beach which was rather a windy and chilly experience. We were learning Melbourne's weather really can change at the drop of a hat. That afternoon we caught some more of the cricket and visited the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) were we enjoyed the 'Screen Worlds' exhibit. Ash even enjoyed filming his ninja kick matrix style. http://www.acmi.net.au/timeslice/Timeslice.htm?file=ts-20101227-336e4ed696e4298bd30b77fb33434074.flv

Our last day in Melbourne was spent doing the notorious Neighbours tour. I must say Ash was much more excited about this than I was but once we arrived at Erinsborough High School and saw some of the sets including the garage, I was really excited about arriving in the famous Ramsay Street. On our way, the tour guide reminisced on some favourite Neighbours moments and once we reached the street we were all surprised at how small it is! Needless to say we all managed to squeeze in and have our pictures taken with the famous sign. The tour was topped off with a surprise appearance of one of Ashs favourite characters Stingray. A Melbourne must do! A Melbourne must do!

Melbourne done, Sydney here we come!