For our Melbourne blog I thought it would be best for us to each do a section due to the length of time spent here also unlike everywhere else we have been we both have had quite different views.

I will do my (Jonny) section first as really its my opinion that matters :)

Well Melbourne.. Where to Begin...

It was near enough 1 year ago we landed in Melbourne and headed to our hostel in St Kilda to start our Australian adventure. It was on the first day that I met two of the best friends I have met whilst travelling, Joel from Pakistan..wait I mean India and Evan from Moose Country Canada. They were our Room-mates in the hostel and ended up spending over 6months with them both.

The Hostel life was an experience to say the least. During my time in the Hostel I did a Furniture Removal job for a Jewish Tosser that is probably the biggest a******* I have ever met in my life. At the time though was thankful for work and was better to look for a new job whilst in a job. Did that work for near enough 1month before taking a Door to Door Sales job for a Sales and Marketing Company in St Kilda.

By the time I had started this job we had just moved out of the Hostel into a house in St Kilda that we shared with Joel and Evan and also an English girl Laura who also was a room-mate in the hostel. The time we spent in the house has umpteen memories and some of the wildest parties I have experienced :). The sales job also was going very well during this time with me becoming a Team Leader and meeting a huge number of people, many of which will be in contact with for years to come.

The Summer in Melbourne was awesome and with Christmas being in the middle of it made it a very different experience to the X-Mas I would have had at home. The list of things we did is far too long to list but had an absolute amazing time and will cherish the time I lived there. One note able thing now is my love for AFL and Rugby. Have taken Hawthorn as my team in the Footie as Aussie's call it due to them being Tasmania's team and Tazzie being my fav place in Oz so far. The Hawks are sitting top of the league at the moment so hopefully they make it to the Grand Final which will hopefully be able to watch somewhere in New Zealand.

The winter in Melbourne however I was not too fond of as was quite crappy weather. Still had a great time regardless and in my last few months worked for another Furniture Removalist where made friends that again will be in contact with for years to come.

The time we spent in Melbourne overall in the year I will look back on and be proud to call Melbourne Home. The city itself has an amazing feel and the array of people and things to do creates such a wonderful place to live in. I really will miss Melbourne but am really looking forward to moving on and starting some more travels. Melbourne will always have a special place in my heart and am so thankful for the time I have spent here.

Our first stop is Adelaide which I am told has very little to do but will be a good way to break up the journey to Alice Springs.

Again.. Thank You Melbourne, Hopefully Until Next time!

Jonny

And now for Brishay's bit on Melbourne.

So lets try and sum up this past year, here goes...

When we first arrived in Melbourne last September, I instantly knew that I was going to enjoy living here. Since we both come from a small town in Scotland, it was very exciting to think we were going to be living in this massive city for the next 3 months. Apartment searching was fun...for a start. It very soon became very tedious. The hostel we stayed in was great, we met some awesome people that are now freinds I will keep in touch with forever. Our daily routine became apartment and job hunting during the day, then drinking excessive amounts of goon at night. Goon is Australian boxed wine and its lethal but it the cheapest thing they have to offer, so as backpackers we resorted to the goon.

After 5 weeks, I had managed to find an office job in a sales company and Jonny was working as a furniture removalist. We found a house that we were going to share with 3 other people. Joel, Evan and Laura.

For 3 months, we worked and went out every weekend and a lot of the week nights, we were soaking in the city life and looking back, maybe partying a little too much. But it was great, before we knew it Christmas was upon us. As much as we both missed our Christmas's at home, we were excited to spend it in the sun. That didn't quite happen, as on Christmas day it was hailing....great. But that sounds about right for our luck. Over the festive period our friend Joel was being a little bit of a Scruge at times. With saying things like "Oh f*ck santa" which we all found hilarious and this quote has been said many times since. We all chipped in for food and a massive traditional Christmas dinner was cooked, there was about 10 of us all sitting around the table, eating drinking and having a laugh. Our friend Joel then said....."this is my 3rd f*cking Christmas in Australia" again this has been repeated and laughed about several times. Oh Joel.....haha. Christmas night was spent doing the usual drinking and playing games, standard really.

Anyway, so we set off to Sydney for New Year, my birthday and Great Ocean Road for Jonny's birthday, we have written blogs for these and they are already uploaded. So if intrigued, take a look at those blogs.

On our return from Js birthday, it was time to move out of our house and say our goodbyes. Our 3 months were up. We originally said after 3 months we were moving on from Melbourne but, we hadn't really saved enough and we were loving Melbourne so we decided to find another house that was cheaper and really start saving.

Joel left us to go to Adelaide to finish his studies and Laura flew to Perth. It was hard to say goodbye to the people we had became so close with but we promised to keep in touch. J, Evan and I found a nice house in the suburbs of Macleod, around 40 minute train journey outside of Melbourne. The couple that owned the house were some of the nicest people we have met and we became good friends with them over the 3 months.

J and Evan were both now working for the same company as Sales Reps, doing door to door knocking. Not ideal but they both love to talk and were very good at their jobs so were making pretty decent money. I had changed jobs and started working for an Insurance company, which was much better paid.

I loved the job I was doing, it wasn't thrilling work at all but I was making really good friends and it was very laid back within the office. Since arriving in Melbourne I was finally making lots of girl friends, I was getting a little tired of hanging out with guys haha. I quickly became very close with one of the girls I was working with and struck up the most amazing friendship, we would go out most Fridays to our college bar for cheap drink and see where the night takes us. Some quality nights and memories that will never be forgotten.

A couple new girls started working within our team at work and the team started becoming really close, as we are all girls. We did so many things together and after every weekend we would always have some crazy stories. There are way too many stories to tell, so I will just leave it at...

Since meeting these amazing people and them becoming best friends I will never ever forget, I had the most incredible time in Melbourne and I have them to thank for that. From going on nights out, to going to the gym, it was never a dull moment. Even sitting having lunch in the breakout room (that we soon got banned from) would turn into a laugh or a "slagging" match on how we all speak differently and our word pronunciation. I think I managed to keep them amused with teaching them some Doric words/phrases and how I say the word "porpoise". There are just too many things that come to mind to even get into. But anyway, the last 8 months for me in Melbourne were incredible. I was shown around to all the sights and got to know the best bars/cafes and restaurants. We had a weekend away in Mornington where we went horse riding and wine tasting, a trip to the Dandenong Ranges and a trip to Nepean Point. Every trip was fun filled and memories that will not be forgotten.

Before I knew it, my weeks were flying by and it was approaching time to leave Melbourne. Our visas were going to run out so we planned some more travelling. If our visas weren't away to run out, I feel I could have stayed in Melbourne. But that wasn't the case, so it was time to pack up and leave for good. It didn't really hit me until my last day in Melbourne, I was completely overwhelmed when I got into work. All my colleagues had set up a morning tea and surprised me when I walked in, they put on a massive spread and had bought me a kindle and pop tarts. I was speechless. That night we went out for farewell drinks, it was free champagne and I definitely took advantage. I had the most amazing night of drinking and dancing into the early hours of the morning. It was then time to say goodbye which was so hard. We hugged and promised to keep in touch which I know we all will.

The following morning J and I woke at 6am, we had only had 3 hours sleep and were both still very drunk but we jumped on a tram for the last time and headed to our train. We boarded and just sat in silence thinking back on our year in Melbourne, as the train pulled out of the station I couldn't hold it together any longer :( It was just too sad to think of everyone we are leaving behind and that we are no longer going to live in Melbourne.

So that takes us to now. Sitting on the train to Adelaide for the next 12 hours, both feeling very hungover and emotional. Its surreal that our backpacking adventure has started again. But after a good nights sleep I think we will both be ready to take on "Jonny and Shay's World Travels, Part Two".

The past year living in Melbourne has been one I will never forget and I am so thankful to have met such amazing people throughout the year. It been a massive learning curve for us both in many ways and I really really hope that one day I will return. I am leaving a massive part of my heart in Melbourne and I feel so lucky to be able to look back at our time here with such fond memories. I will miss everything about it.

Now its time to see more of what Australia has to offer and I cannot wait.

Until next time...

J + B