I luuuve Melbourne.

The garden city.

It has as many inhabitants as London but feels much more a small city like Edinburgh. The architecture is a mixture of grand old Victorian Gothic, slick stylish skyscrapers and modern funky unusual buildings. It is sophisticated and artistic in a kind of Bohemian way. It is vibrant and exciting and fun. It is multicultural but with a strong Italian influence.

On the night I arrived, Donna and I had dinner at a waterside restaurant on the south side of the Yarra River. We were sat at the edge of the balcony overlooking the crowds on the waterside and ate the best Italian meal. Warmed olives with rosemary, crusty bread with wonderful home produced olive oil. Roast quail with a rocket salad. We had to give pudding a miss but managed a gelato with Olivia and Tim when they came to pick us up. I had cinnamon ice cream- Mmm-Mmm. Olivia had just come from the gym. She works for L'Oreal and was feeling very uncomfortable being seen in the city in her sports clothes. L'Oreal is running Melbourne Fashion Festival just now (a bit like London Fashion Week but longer) and Olivia is very busy.

I am staying in a 'Guest House' (glorified backpacker's-very old fashioned but scrupulously clean) near the Botanic Gardens and have the NO8 Tram rumbling below my bedroom window, every 10 minutes from 5.30am till sometime around midnight. The up- side of this is the 12 minute ride to the city centre for only a few dollars. I have wandered around much of the city centre, sat and watched an outdoor fashion show, eaten wonderful lunches, drunk always good, bitter Italian coffee, been to the famous Pran Market- a great food market, very old and very Italian (surprise surprise). Still lots to do. Donna has an interview this morning for a job as a health educator at an Opal mine somewhere north of Adelaide. Some distance away, so, not surprisingly, the interview is being held by telephone! We are meeting for lunch and then heading for the Art Gallery. The only thing defeating me is the heat. By noon it has been between 27 and 30 degrees, due to get hotter over the next few days, so planning to escape to air conditioning in the afternoon.

More later.