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Final stop on this amazing journey was Melbourne - the place where I got stuck in the ash cloud many months previously.I have to say, I was glad not to be arriving by plane this time. Now sometimes you become rather delirious on a 12 hour bus journey and this trip from Sydney to Melbourne was no exception. I got off the bus and instead of doing the "normal" thing and getting a tram to my hostel, I trekked right across to the other side of the city (about 40min walk) with my rucksack and my 2 pieces of hanf luggage. Oh and it was incredibly windy on this particular day. The daily commuters must have thought I'd lost the plot. In truth, I just about had.
I arrived at my hostel - a mansion - changed and then went to meet up with Tess once again. We headed to the markets and had a potter about and I grabbed a muffin for my brekkie and then we went on the Neighbours tourl.
We were sat on the bus ready to heqad out to the set when Kym aka Libby in Neighbours suddenly jumped on the bus. Now I've not watched Neighbours since I was about 15 and it was on when I got in from school, so it was odd to see someone I really recognised but didn't actually know. I also wasn't 100% sure it was her. Anyway we all had a little chat with her and could ask her Qs etc and I got my photo taken with her and then we headed off to Ramsay Street. Ramsay St (Pine Ct in real life) is an actual street with actual people living in the houses. Like anything on TV, it is much smaller in real life but all the houses are exactly the same. Apparently they close the cul-de-sac off once or twice a week for filming th eoutdoor scenes. Photo, photo, snap, snap and we were off to the set. Here we saw Lou's Garage, the school, the police station etc and realised that they use every inch of ground outside and inside for the tv.
In the evening we headed back to our hostels and I went for a run around the gardens we had visited with my friend Mike, way back in June when we got stuck in the ash cloud; Oh my lord I am so so unfit!! It's a good job it's the end of my trip so I can get back to the gym, running and netball!
Last day and I was awake at 7am sharp ready for my final few hours in Oz. I went for a long walk through the city and then headed out to St Kilda - small beach town south of Melbourne, renowned for it's coffee shops - and we had a final Chai Latte and a bit of a catch up, before heading back to the city. A few last minute gifts and a trip to McDonalds once again to abuse its free wifi and it was time to go!
I like Melbourne, don't get me wrong but the buildings are a lot more worn looking than most of Sydney's and the city is so much busier. You can easily walk through the streets of Sydney at 5.30pm and not feel like you're trying to pass through the crowds of businessmen eager to get home. This isn't the case in Melbourne. I also think the botanical gardens in Sydney are glorious and there are more nice cafes/restaurants to enjoy than there are in Melbourne. Some say the people are much nicerr in Melbourne and whilst I didn't have any bad experiences there, I still think I preferred those from Sydney.
Going back to Melbourne airport was funny in the fact that we'd spent so long queuing there a few months previously and I felt like I knew the terminal like the back of my hand!
Luckily this time the plane took off without any hitches and it was homeward bound!
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