M is for...

Morning.... We were up this morning at the crack of dawn, partially because we had to leave Kennett River and get the camper back to Melbourne, and partially because of the torrade of rain that was slapping our camper van and leaking onto my pillow (please note, the Icebreaker NEVER leaked...). It was somewhat distressing, particularly as last night in the the shower block I had another spider encounter. Only a baby huntsman this time, but it was still fierce looking and it tried to straddle my foot. Seeing as I was wearing flip-flops, I wasn't very happy about it and actually decided to forego having a shower because of said arachnid intruder. Still, although the morning was rainy, we still saw some fantastic scenery as we made our way north to Melbourne.

Minicab... We got to Melbourne at lunchtime, and after a lunch of soup and apples on a rocky outcrop overlooking the suburbs, we delivered our camper back to Kea safe and sound. The camper depot, however, was about 100000 miles from the city so we were facing the prospect of an expensive taxi journey. Fortunately, Howie's resourceful cheekiness bought us a shared taxi with some French people who had also dropped off their campervan. The minicab driver wasn't too impressed at the amount of luggage we had, but we squeezed it all in. Phew!

Melbourne... We pulled into Melbourne with all of our things and got to our hostel in one piece. After checking in we decided to check Melbourne out, so we strode out into the city for a snoop around. Our first impression of Melbourne is that it is simply marvellous. It has quite a European feel to it - much more so than any other city we've been in on this trip - so it has a bit of a homely feel to it. There are some very cool public buildings and lots of fabulous shops and resturants. In short, we love it.

Max Brenner... The return to civilisation (being in Melbourne only makes one realise how tiny and non-cosmopolitan Adelaide is) also meant the return of Max Brenner, the most fantastic chocolate cafe (although Chocolate Bean is a serious rival) this side of the equator. Simply yummy treats were had and I had the first decent hot chocolate I've had since leaving Sydney.

Mmmmm... So tonight we are planning on going out for dinner in Chinatown, which we are told is cheap and cheerful, with plenty of choice for backpackers such as ourselves.

It feels brilliant to be on the move again and to be seeing somewhere completely new. We have missed the feeling of being in a new city and finding out way around and we really like Melbourne. We went to the river and watched some of the rowing clubs out for training which gave us a titbit of Durham nostalgia. We'll be leaving tomorrow, heading up and out to pick up our second campervan, then we'll be heading for Glenrowan and - eventually - the outback before hitting Sydney on our way out of Oz. The open road beckons!