We were soon in Melbourne, refreshed for the next leg, well Walshy was - how she can curl up in a ball and sleep anywhere gets on my nerves! We had 2 nights in Melbourne, with the Melbourne cup racing week beginning on the Saturday of our arrival. So we ventured into the city and did what we know best by visiting the casino, which actually turns out to be a cheaper option for boozing as long as you don't go daft betting! It also made for excellent people watching as the tarted up birds and suited n booted fellas came back stumbling from the races! Anyhow, we signed up to gain our free 5 dollar bets (promptly lost) and then did 1, already beginning to feel the pinch of the seriously expensive land of Oz!
We were then picking up our campervan to drive the 'great ocean road'. 6 years ago we were bumming it over the east coast by hiring a small 'hippie' camper but this time around we consider ourselves 'flashpackers' as we hired a 'hippie hi-top' - oooohhhh I hear you say but yes that just meant we were able to stand up in it!
It was easy to see why they had added 'great' into the name as you twist and turn a superb stretch of coastline that stretches for miles and miles with little towns dotted throughout. The road itself is guaranteed to make you smile, the weather on the other hand wouldn't as the next 9 days didn't always prove to be the great Ozzie adventure. Luckily it was nice when we did actually do the road, the days after meeting my mate in Adelaide proved very wet and windy. Your heart bleeds for us, I know, but bloody hell we thought we were in Australia!!
I should mention that the 2 nights in Adelaide actually proved quite fruitful as yes once again we ended up in the casino (this time signing up allowed 6 free refreshments, of which we maxed out each night, only brews, hot chocs and tomato soup mind but over here anything that is free is a real bonus). Anyhow, we had found Stacey's Mecca with 'cent city' which were fruit machines that did what it said on the tin as you could have 100 spins for 1 dollar! I get bored of these pretty quick but luckily Stacey doesn't and reaped the rewards on the first night with a 60 dollar win. This meant only 1 thing...we would be back the next day! Stace then sat on the same machine and won a further 130 dollars!!! I was even more buzzin as it meant I was allowed to have a few beers...as long as I drank between the hours of 5pm-7pm as beers were half price!
We then headed into the hills to visit my old mate 'Cheddar' and his dad 'big Jim' who had just arrived a few days before. With it being a Saturday, it was only ever going to end up being a full booze fuelled day (well Jim had pretty much necked a full bottle of whiskey in an hour and a half!). I felt right at home as we entered into Cheds mates house which was a farmhouse, caravans and cattle. If anyone knows my mates Geoff n Jimmy Ebby in the valley, you'll know what I mean....as I'm not sure many of them could read or write either but by god they can drink!!!
The drive back to Melbourne was unfortunately damp n cold but as with anything the best thing to do is pick out the silver lining...and ours is that this blog comes from a very sunny Brisbane! With my dad arriving tomorrow, best mates wedding at the weekend and then the 1st day of the 1st ashes test here in Brisbane, we can be grateful we have a lot to look forward to.