We were convinced something was going to go wrong with our Tiger flight to Melbourne as everyone in front of us seemed to be getting stung for excess baggage etc, but to our amazement, check in (when it finally arrived) was a breeze! The only slight downside was we realised we were flying into Avalon not Tullermarine, which shouldn't really be classed as Melbourne at all because it's in the middle of nowhere at what looks like an army base! So after leaving Fiji in the morning we had taken a taxi, a plane, a train, another plane (after a 5 hr wait), a bus, a hike across town (where I threw several strops due to my backpack) and a tram, we FINALLY arrived at our hostel, which was a really nice one in St Kilda. Needless to say we were pretty beat, so we hit the sack but not before chowing off a filthy pizza from the takeaway round the corner!

Next day we went for a wander round St Kilda as it was glorious sunshine and walked down by the beach which had a kind of Blackpool feel to it but obviously much better weather! As we sat and ate a Subway in the park it still hadn't really sunk in that we were in Australia! Later on we chilled out in the hostel, cooked tea and had an early night as we were both nakkered!

Wednesday was a rubbish day weather wise so we spent most of the day trying to plan out the rest of our time in Oz, as unfortunately the spreadsheet has become slightly out of date, much to Jonny's disappointment! So after literally spending all day deliberating and then having a last minute change of heart, we decided which stops we were going to make on the East Coast and booked our Greyhound Bus Ticket, a 3 day Great Ocean Road trip, a wine tasting tour in Adelaide and a 6 day trip through the Outback up to Ayers Rock, all for the end of January! Expensive Day! That night we went for a drink to celebrate in a funky bar in St Kilda called Abbey Road.

Next day was again amazing weather so we went down to the beach to top up our Fiji tans (!) where we witnessed probably the most cringe worthy first date in history ("I'm a shy person- if I was braver I would try to kiss you right now"), and met a guy who called me 'Red' due to my hair colour and he couldn't understand why I wasn't sunburned (errr..... Suncream?!). In the evening we headed back to the beach to the pier to watch the penguins who come back to their habitat at sunset, they were the smallest penguins in the world which we could see up close and were sooooooo cute!!

Friday we decided to move hostel to one more in the town centre, and be a bit closer to the action. Unfortunately though we made a bad choice of hostel because the kitchen was sooooo small, you had to pay a deposit if you wanted to use a pan (?!) and the beds were sooooo creaky we barely got any sleep the 3 nights we were there. Add that to a horrendously expensive bar, the lights on our corridor not working and the slowest lift in the world and we both developed a case of AHR (Acute Hostel Rage). We did however enjoy being closer to town and spent the next couple of days pottering around the markets, shops etc.

On Friday night we went out for dinner (obviously I was gutted that the kitchen was so small that it forced us to eat out), then we wanted to go to the cinema but it was 20 dollars to see a film which we weren't even that bothered about!!! No thanks!!!

On Saturday we visited the famous Queen Victoria Market and then the Melbourne Old Gaol where we looked round the old prison where several people, including Ned Kelly have been hanged over the years. We were also given an experience of what it was like to be locked up in the cells, and the look on Jonny's face when the Sergeant told us we were going to be strip searched was priceless!!

That night we went for dinner in China Town then hit the casino - where we played roulette using the numbers 3 6 9 for our gambling basis and finished 40 dollars up and cashed in for 100 dollar bill!! Show me the greens!! Must have been good luck to have the campest croupier in the world who basically did a dance every time he said 'no more bets'.

Sunday we went to a Christmas Carol service in St Pauls cathedral to get us in the Christmas spirit which was nice then we headed to chapel street to a pizza place Myers had recommended where it's 4 dollars a pizza! Was a really cool place but we had to wait ages in the rain for a tram home!

On Monday, after moving to a much nicer hostel in a better location we did some Christmas shopping for our pressies to each other, pottered around and did some little jobs we'd been meaning to do for ages including spending 3 hours uploading photos to cd.... Wild!!!

Next day we went to explore Brunswick street near Fitzroy as we'd met some girls who had raved about it saying how there are loads of funky outlet stores and boutiques... However we struggled to find them and it was pouring with rain again, although we did have a coffee and I bought an adapter plug to make the journey worthwhile! On the way back we tried to go to the Melbourne Museum but it was too expensive. As the weather had picked up by this point we took a walk out to the MCG only to find out the tours had finished for the day!! Melbourne was definitely winning on this day!!!

Next day it was cracking the flags, so we decided to do a walking tour guided by yours truly. My map reading skills were impeccable and I guided us through loads of cool arcades and little laneways to admire the 'street art' and generally soak up the atmosphere! Then as we were a bit fed up of not being able to ever afford anything and because it was Christmas Eve Eve Eve, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice lunch which was awesome (even if it did have a sprinkling of shattered glass added towards the end!) Jonny had 'skippy' which was really tasty but I felt guilty when I thought of it hopping around! The food, as usual, properly cheered us up along with the good weather!

Jonny's personal highlight was jus visit to the all singing all dancing public toilet where everything was automatic (right down to the synchronised hand dryer and flush!) and it even played music to you whilst you were in and wished you a good day as the door opened. The only bad thing was that it limited your visit to 10 minutes, after the door would automatically open, seemingly whether you had finished or not!! He's a simple soul!!

That night we went to the night market where we sampled the amazing international food and drank sangria (almost like visiting the Manchester Xmas Markets). Unfortunately Jonny was feeling a bit 'off colour' as he stubbed his toe on the curb and nearly passed out/vomited in the middle of the market!

So after a LOT of walking over the past week, we headed back to Avalon on Thursday ready to make a killing in Sydney!! After out first stop in Oz we had also learned a very important lesson: it does not say 'goon' on the side of the box of wine!! No one ever tells you that!