Hello lovelies, been a bit slack on updating this recently but have been very busy exploring Melbourne and schmoozing the stars. But more on that later...

We started yesterday with a trip to the National Gallery of Victoria which had a much more extensive collection of art than the Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. We saw works by Rubens, Lowry, Rothko, Hockney, Titian, Cezanne, Picasso, Turner and even a little known fellow called Mr Joseph Wright (of Derby, no less!). After that we tramped off to Fitzroy on foot, stopping in Fitzroy Gardens for lunch.

Oh my good lord: Brunswick Street in Fitzroy has THE BEST shopping in the whole world. Jim very kindly let me indulge for a couple of hours so I left him in a cafe and wandered in a daze from shop to shop of vintage clothing, past independent boutiques, record shops, book shops and amazing cafes and pubs one after another. In fact there was far too much to process but I did manage to come away with a wee frock and a little vintage handbag; it'd have been rude not to.

I refuelled with tea and cake and then Jim and I headed back to Flinders Street so that I could get ready for my night at The Elephant and Wheelbarrow pub in St. Kilda. Yes, that's right, I went to the 'Meet Your Neighbours Official Trivia Night'. It was unspeakably naff but absolutely brilliant fun.

Jim didn't want to come (even though he probably used to be the biggest Neighbours fan of anyone I know) so I went with a few girls from my hostel (two of which had encyclopaedic knowledge of every plot line and character ever - they scared me) and then met up with Tim and Nicola at the venue.

The format for the evening was a Q&A session with the stars, followed by an ongoing quiz during which the said stars came to your table and talked/posed for photos, after which there were horrendous dancing and singing competitions, all topped off with a performance from Karl Kennedy himself and his band Rythmia.

But who were the stars, I hear you ask? Well as I haven't watched the damn show for about four years I didn't have a clue who half the cast were, which actually made it easier to chat to them. I still had my photos with them though and they were Rachel Kinski, Marco (???) and Daniel Fitzgerald (??????). However, the others I knew - Janelle, Karl Kennedy and, wait for it, STINGRAY!

I was quite drunk by the time they got round to my table so proceeded to tell Stingray that I hadn't watched the show in years and he was about the only person I recognised - he high fived me for that one. And then when I met the good doctor I confessed about the time that I wept watching the episode when Susan confronted Karl in the middle of Ramsay Street about his affair with Izzy. I did explain I was hormonal and thought he might find it amusing but he obviously gets ridiculously obsessed Neighbours fans a lot so he just nodded solemnly and said "Well they'll be showing some scenes on the screen later that will make you BAWL". He was lovely though and is a seasoned pro at the whole meet and greet.

I was quite satisfied of my picture with Karl until I saw that Nicola had one of her kissing him so I had to follow suit and, when I saw the opportunity, I planted a smacker on his rugged (or quite haggard close up) cheek and Nic recorded it for posterity. His band rocked the joint after that (think a bad cabaret band covering all the classics - 'Summer of 69', 'Champagne Supernova', 'Let Me Entertain You' etc.) and then I staggered into a taxi back to the hostel.

It was a very good day...

xxx