After our goodbyes Emma and I jumped on our first internal flight with Virgin Blue. We were on a 5 day old plane with plush leather seats....a tad different to sleazy jet back home! The views from the plane were amazing, you could see the coral beneath the sea and everything. We were so excited about coming to Melbourne as we had been in Cairns too long.

The flight was 3 and a bit hours long and as we touched down the Pilot told us that the outside temperatures was 16 degrees, we thought he was joking as the previous weekend (Grand Prix) weekend it has been around 40. He was not lying and Em and I thought we were going to die of hyperthermia. We jumped on a shuttle bus and went to our hostel, Base in St Kilda. We shared a room with two nutty irish girls and ended up going out with them a few nights. In the bar downstairs I was shocked to see 2 people I had met back in Sydney, we literally stared at eachother for ages as it had been around 3 months since we all saw eachother. Mental!

I was really excited about getting to Melbourne as Lou, who I worked with about 4 years ago had moved out here with her boyfriend and I was going to meet up with her. We had the nicest time over Easter and stayed at Lou and James's house. It was so lovely to see her and she took us to Ramsay Street!!!! The one and only! It was really surreal standing outside Harold's house and seeing the Kennedy's place. Its a lot smaller than I imagined and REAL people live there, it's mad! After we went there we went to Chapel St shopping, its a funky street and we had a nice lunch and stuff and it was like I had necer been away from Lou. We hadnt seen eachother in such a long time but it was brilliant.

Em and I also met up with a really nice person I met working for Clydesdale, Alison worked in London for 3 years and came home over a year ago. It was weird being round her house having a barbie, but it was fantastic. Everyone makes you feel so welcome and they really looked after us.....sending us off with tuperware boxes full of food for the next day. Bless them.

We have also already been to Neighbours night. All backpackers seem to go! We were disappointed that Karl Kennedy and his band werent there but we got to meet Stuart Parker (who, at first I thought was really hot but then realised he was a bit squiffy looking!) we also met connor (who has got REALLY chubby) and Rachel who is gorgeous (the b****!) We had the best night ever. It's held at The Elephant and Wheelbarrow pub on Fitzroy street or as I like to call it "Fitboy" street. It was such a laugh and word on the street is that Toadie is no longer allowed to the official neighbours night as he has been caught doing naughty things with backpackers! ooooh eeerr missus!

There was no room at Base backpackers after our 5 nights were up so we checked into "Cooee" a hostel on the main road in St Kilda. It soon became apparent that this is where all the prostitutes and trannies hang out....literally! ha ha. It is a bit dodgey but the longer we have been here the more normal it seems. During broad daylight blokes shout things like "get in the car" and " how much?" to normal people like myself. Absolutely charming. k*** heads, the lot of 'em.

We've had loads of nights out including going to Bridie O'Reillys in Chapel Street, CQ in the city (which was awesome for other Emma's birthday) The Saint for live music on a Thursday night, The Lounge Bar etc etc. There are so many amazing places to go out here you could go out somewhere different every night and not run out of places to go for about a year!

A group of us went to our first AFL game (Aussie footy) at the MCG. We didnt go to a particulary good game but I sort of understand the strange game now. Firstly, there are far too many players, umpires and bloody water boys on the pitch all at the same time and secondly I noticed that they are all pretty muscular ;o) It was really cool to be at the MCG and we walked all the way to the heavens and took some nice pictures of the city and the stadium. Made my tummy go funny as it is ridiculously high and I didnt know if I was going to manage to get down! What a wimp!

Shopping in the city is pretty good. There are a range of shops and I was gutted to have to buy a COAT, yes you heard it right. I also had to buy stuff for work as I was also looking for jobs and had nothing but bikinis and short skirts....maybe I should've joined the ladies of the night in that terrible attire....probs better money than most jobs! ha ha

Emma and I also met up with a girl called Carly, who is a mutual friends sister. Its odd to think that Emma and I didnt know eachother before we came away let alone had mutual people we know in common. We met Carly and her friend in St Kilda, had a drink and then went for coffee and cake. Acland Street is the place to bum around and chill out and eat cake. There are so many amazing cake shops there! After our coffee and cake we went for a walk along the beach and the pier. It was a really nice afternoon and it bought a little piece of home here again! You realise how small the world really is.....

Emma and I had been looking for jobs and we had various registrations at agencies. Last week (beginning of April) we both finally got jobs. Emma is working for Telstra and I am working for a Management Consultancy. Its only temping but the money is sooo good $22 per hour which is just over 11 quid...its mental! You would never get that much at home. I work with a bunch of really nice people but I dont know how long they will need me for as they are looking for someone to fill the position permanently. Ah well, just have to go with the flow. Its cool though cos I work on Chapel Street next to the Channel TEN building. Its such a cool area with lots of funky shops and cafes.

Emma and I had our first proper weekend since we came travelling i.e. the attitude "every days a saturday" suddenly doesnt apply cos we're working. On Friday night we went round Lou and James and we were so tired emma slept most of the time we were there. We got up saturday morning for our $4 full english breakfast at the hostel, then went shopping to Chadstone shooping centre. ON Saturday night we went to CQ in the city for other Emmas birthday and then on Sunday we sat on a rooftop bar and then chilled out all evening. it was the best time ever!

The Melbourne Comedy festival has been on through March and ends on 13th April. We met some mad irish lads through the mad irish girls at Base and last night we went to see Irish comedian Jason Byrne at The Forum in the city with them. He was soo funny I almost wet myself!

Em and I have finally found a flat which we move into next week (28th April) we cannot wait as it will be nice to have our own space to scratch our arses and fart and burp....c'mon everyone does it! ha ha. Planning on being here until just after my birthday in June...then the travelling starts again! Whooppeee! I cant believe Ive been here a month already, I absolutely love it here although the weather is pants and my tan has gone.....bring on holiday lotion!

Will keep updating this, it will still show as blog entry date 31st March though.

Well, it's now 10th May and We have been in our flat for almost two weeks, its fab! Its so tiny as its a studio but it has a queen sized bed on a funny platform and even a balcony! So nice to be able to sit in your knickers and wander around in a towel! Little things amuse little minds! It's been an interesting few weeks though as I had to leave Beaton Consulting which is where I was working in Chapel St, South Yarra for a month. I loved it there as everyone was lovely and I got on with them so well that my boss even invited me round for lunch at the weekend with her family. It was so lovely and everyone there was amzing. So I finished there but I was "lucky" to get a job straight away working as a receptionist....it was a 3 week booking and I absolutely hated it. I got a call from my old boss at Beaton saying "Tracy come and work for us until you leave melbourne!" RESULT! I had to phone the agency who got extremely arsey with me, but at the end of the day I can do that cos I am a TEMP!!! GRR! It didnt matter that I annoyed them cos I dont need them to find me a job again! Woo hoo! I start back there on Monday and I cannot wait. The reception that I worked at for just over a week was the most crappy office I have ever been in, there are some fab girls there who i will stay in touch with but most of the office were rude and pretty unfriendly...I finished there yesterday! WOO HOO!

We have been having fab nights out here, we went to Cushion lounge on Fitzroy (Fitboy) Street on a Tuesday night - which is quality and The Saint on a Wednesday night and we've been to Robarta, Monroes, random places in the city etc etc. It's just brilliant here.

Last night we decided to treat ourselves and go out for a posh dinner. We went to The Waterfront which is a seafood restaurant on Southbank, it was amazing! The food was gorgeous and the service was amazing. It was Em, Antje (my mate from Cairns) and I. Sitting by the Yarra at night with all the pretty lights and then every hour on the hour a fire show. It was gorgeous. It's part of the Crown Casino complex and I cant believe its taken us that long to go there, this place is amazing and it has made me want to go to Vegas big time! We ended up going back to St Kilda quite early about 12:30 ish but hen we bumped into some of our other friends and ended up going back to the city to the Casino! We ended up rolling in at gone 5am! It was such a good night and I will defo be going back there!

The more time I spend in Melbourne the more I love it, it is such a nice city but I worry that I am picking up too much aussie slang and am starting to say "Hows it going?" and "Bogen" and stupid stuff. AHHH!

The last few weekends have been a tad mental! Having booked my trip to Ayers Rock and West Coast I realised that before I know it I would be leaving Melbourne. I fly out June 19th and whilst I am looking forward to continuing my travels I have made a life for myself here and have really settled….as you can tell I am still HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE WITH MELBOURNE!!!!!!!

Like most weekends, Em and I go shopping at the weekends and then go out in the evening. A few weekends ago (17th May) we went to the Barkly Hotel (which is where we stayed for a week before moving into our first apartment) It has a fantastic bar and my gay friend Michael from work was meeting us in there. We met a few other people but Em, myself and my little Michael (or Betty as I call him) decided to go to a gay club called Exchange which is just off Chapel St…. It was brilliant!!! If you have never seen a group of trannies performing songs from the film "Hairspray" you have never lived! It was awesome and fun was had by all.

On the Sunday we did the usual and went to the Espy in St Kilda for our Sunday session. We were having a really nice night and we met a group of really nice Aussie guys from Perth. We haven't met any nice Aussies so it was refreshing to chat to a group who didn't have any dodgy motives. I was chatting away to this guy and I asked him what he did for a living and he said "I'm a musician" I was like "ah that's nice what sort of music do you play…" blah blah blah and I joked saying "Ah I bet you're in a massive band and cos I'm English I have no flippin' idea who you are!" He was like "No not at all!" Turns out that he is in a HUGE Australian Band but was really modest and playing it down. It was only cos the next day I googled his band Gyroscope that I realised they've won Aria Awards (Oz's equivalent of The Brits!) They were a really nice group of boys and as I am going over to Perth, Brad, (the dude from the band) has said that he and his mates will take me to the good places in Perth, that's if he's not on tour! Ha ha how glamorous eh?! As fame does not impress me one bit, it's just nice to meet some good people who are up for a laugh. After they went we met up with some other friends called Mike and Henry who are hilarious.

As always, the week was spent working hard…I love working at Beaton as the people are fab and I have been adopted by a lady called Kathie who looks out for me and we go and have lunch and stuff which is fab. It's going to feel like leaving home all over again but its harder this time as it's not like I'll be back here within a year….or is it? Ha ha

I can't believe how quickly time is going though. .before I know it'll be my birthday and I'll be 23! I really don't want to leave Melbourne. Part of me wishes that I didn't get my working visa and that I just travelled this time and then came back to work in Melbourne for a year. It is the best city..so much to do and see, fantastic bars, lovely CBD, great food and cafes. It's just amazing. Ah well, every happens for a reason eh?!

That week was pretty chilled for us. We had Lou, her boyfriend and his mate round in the week for dinner but not much else happened really!

On the Friday we met up with the boys, Mike and Henry. We decided to have a little bit of a pub crawl. We started off in the George Lane Bar (which is one of my fave places) it's literally down a dark little alley off the main street and it's so quirky! After there we went to Cushion, which was a laugh and then went to the George. It was a nice chilled ish night although Emma was really smashed and so was Mike and he was trying to tell us all that his drink had been spiked but in reality he was just a light weight! Ha ha. The Saturday day time was pretty chilled as usual, popped to the city shopping and we were resting as on the Sunday we were going to Phillip Island (see separate blog)

The start of the messy week……

We met a really awesome girl on our Phillip Island trip called Steph. She was only 18 but a real character. She had mentioned that she wanted to go to the theatre and that if you go to Fed. Square on the day of the performance you can get reduced tickets. Em and I were so up for it (I love the theatre) so Steph managed to get tickets to see Guys and Dolls for $52 instead of $89. We ended up having to run to the Princess Theatre as the performance began at 7pm. So we rolled up at 6:55pm only to find that we had front row seats in the middle of the stage….JAMMY! It was the best night out and we ended up the nicest pizza on the way home! Unfortunately Steph was leaving a couple of days later but we had the best time with her… you get used to having a great time with people and then they leave :o(

On the Thursday night we went for a quiet drink with the boys Mike and Henry. They are so amusing and we always have a laugh with them. We started off in the Barkly (it's our local you see and the boys stay there) and then we went to the Vineyard…one of my other favourite places… before we knew it, it was 2am and it was a school night! We didn't go to bed til 2:30 am and had to be up at 7am for work…not clever!

The boys had mentioned that there was a funk/jazz band playing on Brunswick Street so we all decided to go there on Friday night. It was brilliant, such a fantastic atmosphere and everyone was dancing all night, it was one of the best nights out I have had since being here! We had such a good time, I even gave a random girl a make over in the loo as she was trying to impress a guy! It was so funny. It was such a good night that we didn't end up going to bed until 9:30am…we have become party animals! Ha ha We slept until 1pm and then got up and went shopping on Chapel Street about 3. We bumped into a girl called Alice that I met on my plane out to Australia (I had randomly bumped into herin South Yarra near to my work in the week) we were in Soda Rock which is a diner/themed burger joint…so yummy!

That night (having only had a few hours sleep the night before)Em, myself and Laura (a nice girl I'd met at the Barkly Hotel) decided to have a girls night out. We met Laura in the Barkly first and then went to George Lane Bar. We then went to Eve….it was just like club Sky in Ware but much better! Dustin and Greg (from home) had told us that this place was awesome and that we should go…and we did! Wall to wall of beautiful people, good music to dance to (which has been a bit hard to find in Australia!) and I also got a free bottle of champagne, courtesy of a nice girl in the toilets! It was a hilarious night and after the bubbly we were all a bit "tipsy'… Laura and I were throwing all the shapes on the dance floor, which was like something out of the Michael Jackson Video…funky chicken, shopping trolley, stacking the shelves…the lot came out! It was totally AWESOME! As luck would have it there is a big McDonalds across the road, so we stumbled out of Eve and ended up in there laughing at all the wasted people…although we were quite entertaining ourselves!

After our busy weekend we chilled out on Sunday by meeting Lou for a spot of lunch in Roccoco (which is where Laura works and said was yummy) then ended up in a chocolate shop for pudding! It was such a good day, just what we needed. Although I could do with about 10 hours more sleep…roll on another week…. Only 2 and a half to go as of 2/6/8…. I am dreading leaving sooo much.

I apologise for rambling on so much but this city ROCKS and when you love something as much as I love Melbourne you can't help yourself! Ha ha

When we came back from Great Ocean Road trip we went to the Espy for the usual Sunday session...it was a bank holiday and the place was RAMMED, it was so amazing and such a good night I could move to Melbourne just for the Espy. A few of the girls were out with us and we just had such a laugh....hmmm gonna miss it tons!

The last week in Melbourne.....

I knew it was going to be really hard to leave but the reality of it was a lot more difficult! I was leaving and having a birthday within a couple of days! The last day at work wasnt too bad as I was going back into the office for a little party on the wednesday. Some of us from the office went out for a curry at lunchtime which was really nice. That night after Deidre and Fiona had left our flat, Em's, Jess and I went to transport in Fed Square for a "quiet" night, we had an awesome time and some friends had flown up from Sydney for the big Ireland rugby game so we also met them there too. We rolled home and went to bed around 4am. Bright and early the next morning we were up and about. We ended up shopping in the city which was nice but we were so tired! Saturday night was my proper leavin melb/bday do. Loadsa friends from work and people I have met out here turned up and we had the best time in George Lane bar in St Kilda and then onto Odeon at the Crown Casino. It was a really good night and I had a fab time dancing my little cotton socks off! Dont think we got to bed til around 6 or 7 am but it was defo worth it. As per usual Em and I went out for a nice spot of lunch and met deidre for my last walk along the pier on a Sunday. As it was Sunday again we thought it'd be rude not to have a night out...my last one and all... I didnt want to go back to the Espy cos I had had such a good night there the week before, we decided to go to the Voneyard..another one of my fave places. Heather, Michelle, Em and I headed out... I was shattered from the previous nights but its amazing how well you manage to wake up! ha ha. We had the best time and the DJ was playing funky house so once again I didnt stop dancing! I even bumped into a guy I had met in Sydney back in December..crazy! Bed at around 3am again! ha ha opps..

Monday was my first day without working so I wandered around the city and met the girls from the place I didnt like working for lunch (they were lovely!) I met Em and Jess after work and we went to see Sex and the City at the Casino which was brilliant..needed a chilled night.

Tuesday 17th June...my birthday! I woke up at 3am to find Em in the bathroom blowing up balloons and wrapping my presents! I was half asleep so I didnt really notice. Em had taken the day off so when I woke up in the morning I opened presents from Laura (my mate at home) and my card from my parents and also the presents from Emma. It was so lovely! We went to Smith Street shopping which was pretty good and then we went for a spot of lunch and then off to Eureka Tower...88 floors up, giving you a birds eye view of the city. It was amzing...I must admit I was crapping myself in the lift but the view was worth it. We went there just before it started to get dark so we saw it in the daylight and then with all the lights. It was beautiful and an odd thing happened...i bumped into a friend from home!!!!!!!! I went to secondary school with Cesca and I bumped into her up the tower..it was so random and I still havent got over it! ha ha That evening Emma, Jess, Myself, Michael and his boyfriend went for dinner in veludo in St Kilda and then loads of friends met us in Cushion Lounge. I had the best birthday ever and I wont ever forget it!

On the wednesday it was a sorting out day. I went to the office to say goodbye etc and they had made me a cd of loads of pictures of everyone and it was so gorgeous it made me cry as they showed it to me in the board room. It was amazing how close I had got to them in 3 months. I will miss everyone so much.

Thursday...the day of flying to Alice Springs...

Heather who i met on the Great Ocean Road tour had booked to come to alice springs with me which was fab. I knew that saying goodbye to Emma was going to be hard so we literally just hugged and said see you later. It was the only way we could handle it. Heather and I made our way to the airport...end of the Melbourne chapter... What a fantastic place and what amazing people I met. Wouldnt have changed it for the world! xx