Hi Guys, since we last updated the journal, we went back to Sydney for another 5 nights to soak up the city lifestyle and stay in civilisation again after Uluru!  This time in Sydney we had time to visit some of the suburbs so we went to Glebe and went on a trip to Bondi Beach and some of the other beach suburbs.  We've also been in Melbourne for 9 nights.

Melbourne is the second biggest city after Sydney.  There is loads to see and do and we've been really busy sightseeing.  Our first day here was really hot and sunny.  We walked along the Yarra river for a bit which is a really pretty part of the city.  There are lots of cafes and a huge casino along the riverside (don't worry we haven't lost all our money!).  In the evening we went to an Aussie Rules football match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.  The ground is huge - holds 100,000 people.  There were 36,000 in attendance at the game so the atmosphere was still great.  Luckily Ben had watched a few games on TV so we had some idea of what was happening but the game is a mixture between, Rugby Union and League and football so it's really hard to learn the rules!  The best bit is when the players KO each other and just fight for no reason!  There were 3 fights between players before the match had even kicked off!  We enjoyed some traditional Aussie footy delicacies of meat pies, burgers, hot dogs and most importantly beer!  We had a really fun evening.

The next day we went to Queen Victoria market which is a famous old market in Melbourne.  Then we went to the Old Melbourne Gaol where Ned Kelly was hung.  It was a really interesting place, if a bit gruesome, and had profiles of lots of the inmates of the gaol.  It also still had the original gallows where some of the inmates were hung.  Afterwards we went to Melbourne museum which was also really interesting.

On our third day in Melbourne we went to Chinatown and the chinese museum which had displays on chinese history, culture, costume and festivals as well as information on why and how the chinese came to Australia.  We then went to the aquarium and had dinner by the river which was really pretty in the sunshine with lots of boats and rowers passing by.

The next day was one of the most exciting trips we have done so far (for me!).  We went on the Neighbours tour!!  If you are Australian you DO NOT under any circumstances do the following two things - drink Fosters and watch Neighbours.  However, our guide was a young Aussie guy and knew everything you could ever want to know about Neighbours!  He told us lots of "useful" facts and lots about the storylines that are coming up so if any of you want to know what's going to happen in the next few months let me know!  On the way to "Ramsey Street" we got to watch an old school episode - Harold and Madges' wedding - brought back so many memories!  The first stop was Erinsborough High which is actually a school for foreign students who must wander why busloads of tourists keep parking up outside their school!  By the way, Erinsborough is not a real place, Neighbours is actually filmed in a suburb called Vermont and the houses where it is filmed are actually people's houses who have to get out every time they come to film (they get paid compensation for this!).  Next stop was the studios, we couldn't actually go into the studios but guess which star met us in the car park - Susan Kennedy!  She was such a nice lady and signed autographs for all of us.  After that excitement we visited Pin Oak Court (Ramsey Street).  It was so weird to be outside the houses which you have watched on TV since you were little (if you are a die-hard fan like me!).  We took pictures and our guide told us more stories about the characters who had lived in each house.  On the way back we got to watch the episode of Libby and Drew's wedding, secretly I think Ben enjoyed the tour!!

The next day we went on a tour of The Great Ocean Road.  First stop was Torquay for a Devonshire cream tea!  Not as good as back home obviously!  Then we travelled along the Great Ocean Road taking pictures of the stunning surf beaches and coastline rock formations.  We stopped at Bells Beach which is where they hold the Rip Curl surfing championships and where they filmed Point Break.  On one of the photo stops we saw Koalas in the trees although they were quite far away from us.  After lunch we travelled through the Otway National Park, however we fell asleep on the coach and missed this part oops!  We then stopped at the 12 apostles which are stone monoliths, Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge which is a huge stone arch in the sea.

The next day we decided to have a wander round the city and went to the cinema.  It was nice to have a relaxing day doing "normal" things after being so busy with the sightseeing.  The following day we did a trip to Phillip Island where little penguins parade up the beach each night to get back to their burrows after long days fishing in the sea.  The first stop was an Aussie Cattle farm but also had Kangaroos, Wallabies and emus.  These animals were in one big enclosure surrounding a lake which you could walk around and were tame enough to stroke.  Next we went to a Koala sanctuary   The Koalas live in trees surrounding a boardwalk which you walk along.  As we walked through the sanctuary, some of the Koalas were in trees right next to the boardwalk so we were able to get some great photos.  After that we went to Summerland Beach where you can watch the little penguins (the smallest breed of penguins in the world) waddle up the beach to their homes.  It was freezing cold sat by the beach at night but worth it to see the cute penguins emerge out of the sea in big groups and then waddle along to find their homes.

On our last day in Melbourne we went to the seaside suburb of St Kilda.  We had a walk along the pier and to Lunar Park, the fun fair (which was shut!).  There were loads of nice cafes and it was a really nice seaside place but the day we went was freezing cold and it started to rain so we didn't spend too long there!

We're off to Adelaide next for 9 nights and then we fly to New Zealand.  By the way, you may notice from the pictures that Ben has had his hair cut!  For those of you who are wondering - yes he did manage to find a Toni and Guy!