Day 332 (Saturday 1st November 08)

Headed onto Melbourne as soon as we were up to get there as early as possible. Once we had found our way back to St Kilda popped to see the guy that we had booked our wicked through and asked if we could stay in his lock-up as he had said we could when we booked it. He gave us the key straight away so popped off to find some showers and toilets for tomorrow and then onto Aldi. Left the van in the lock-up then into the city to do some christmas shopping and a look for a few other things. After a long day back to Hoki Poki and luckily everything ok! Made something to eat and then down to Base to use the internet. Walked down to McDonalds once we were done to use the toilets then back to the lock-up to settle down for the night. Hoping that it won't be too noisy with the club next door open until 5am and in not the best area of St Kilda!

Day 333 (Sunday 2nd November 08)

Luckily a good night's sleep. Went down to the beach for a freezing cold shower! Off to do our washing and then drove out to Living Legends. This is where some of the racehorses get retired to. Impressive to see the amazing horses and how much money they have won! Back through the city and it was getting to be a nice hot day. Not a very good thing for the Hoki Poki! The slow driving through the city got the engine very hot and we were just hoping we would make it back to the lock-up before it over heated as then the engine automatically cuts out. Unfortunately as we were going down St Kilda Road in the lane furthest from the side the engine cut out as it had overheated. Em managed to free wheel it over to the side and we had to wait for about half an hour before we could start again! Headed to the lock-up as quickly as we could but getting dangerously hot again! Luckily just made it in time. Made our way straight into the city to meet up with Sri. Had a good time catching up in Starbucks. Afterwards quickly popped back to the van to change into warmer clothes for the rugby and then back to the Telstra Dome. Awesome atmosphere. Really enjoyable match but England got wooped 52-4 by the Aussies! Oi Oi Oi! A mission to get back to St Kilda!! All the trams very busy so ended up walking to the other side of the city to get a different tram but again had to wait ages for it to turn up!

Day 334 (Monday 3rd November 08)

Another good night's sleep. Left early again to go and find a toilet! Went off to find a campervan park for the night so we could have a hot shower before the Melbourne Cup tomorrow! Ended up finding one in Williamstown. Not the best but it had a iron and hot water! Tried to make a hot drink and found out that the gas had run out! Couldn't believe it with only a couple of days to go! Went off to find some food for the next couple of days that we could eat without cooking. Then back to the campervan park to wrap the rest of the presents, sort out things for the post home, iron and tidying up the van.

Day 335 (Tuesday 4th November 08)

A nice hot shower on a freezing cold morning, hoping it is going to warm up a bit for the Melbourne Cup. Got all dressed up and then drove back to St Kilda to leave the van in the lock-up. Got the tram which was pretty packed. Off at Southern Cross Station and the queue was massive for the train to Flemington Racecourse. Luckily it didn't take long to get there as they had so many trains running. Met up with Daniella and Chris. Very nice to see them. Got a beer and watched a couple of the races on the big screen. Then headed into the main area around the racecourse. It was packed and you could hardly move but we managed to get nearish the racecourse to watch one of the races. Soon realised we would be better off by the mounting up area as we managed to get right to the front and then could watch the race on the big screen. Em became famous as she was in the background when they were filming the winning jockey. Got free hats from Emirates as they were sponsors. For the big race of the day the atmosphere was amazing! Everyone appeared from all over the place and as the prize money for the owner was $3million there was a lot riding on the race! Brilliant to watch, then headed back up to meet Daniella and Chris by the bar. Watched a couple more of the races and headed off just before the last one so that we could beat the crowd, learnt from the rugby! Still very busy queue but soon back at Southern Cross and then the tram to St Kilda. Made our way straight to Hoki Poki as Em really needed to get her heels off, very blistered feet!! Went down Fitzory Street to treat ourselves to a yummy meal out! Very full when we headed back to the Hoki Poki to finish packing.

Day 336 (Wednesday 5th November 08)

Up early again and off to the toilets. Cleaned out the van and made sure everything was packed up. Dropped off our bags at the hostel we were staying in for the night and then onto the post office once it was open to post another couple of parcels home. Then onto the bank to sort out our money for New Zealand, luckily they told us about a travel card which will save us some money. Went in search of some tax packs so we can claim our tax back when we leave, took going round a few newsagents to find some. Took the Hoki Poki back to Wicked depot and then started our long trip back on the bus, train and tram to St Kilda. Checked in at the hostel and spent the rest of the day sorting out tax forms, doing things on the internet and getting ready for moving on.