Our first impressions of Melbourne were a little fraught...trying to drive through the city was difficult, especially given that Australian road signage is apalling and maps are worse. The first campsite we tried was staffed by a snooty madam who then wanted to charge us an extortionate rate so we moved on and saved ourselves $6 (!) but wasted more than that in petrol trying to find the place!

That night we booked ourselves a night at Draculas - a gothic comedy night out. You had to brave the ghost train to get to your seat (Kim had her eyes closed most of the way and jumped out of her skin when sticky tendrils brushed her face...ugh!) The night was fantastic - excellent comedy and gothic rock music, and a fantastic meal including white chocolate mousse served in a chocolate coffin - complete with opening lid.

We spent a pleasant few hours cruising the river Yarra in the hot sunshine (finally we got nice weather) and watched Philipines vs. Sweden in the Homeless Football World Cup 2008 before heading off to freeze our extremities in the Ice Bar where we enjoyed cocktails in -5 degrees and drank from ice glasses. Sadly we then had yet another bad experience with Australian public transport! Our tram line wasn't operating and we ended up walking 4km back to the campsite.... with all this exercise why isn't Kim stick thin???

We finished off our time in Melbourne with a Neighbours tour. Yes the ultimate cheese-fest... we visited Ramsey Street, Lassiters and other iconic locations (like the bus stop that Toadfish was tied to naked for his stag do....are you impressed?!?) To top it all we met the girl that used to play Michelle Scully - remember her? Though to be honest we were gutted not to meet Harold or Dr Karl!

Our time in Oz complete we thought we'd share a few observations about the country:

1) Aussies don't do pints - your choice is a pot or a schooner - bizarre!

2) Advertising is straight and to the point e.g. "If you drink and drive you're a bloody idiot"

3) Visitors Centres can become an obsession. We found ourselves singing 'follow the big yellow i' (to the tune of yellow brick road) everytime we would see the logo and obsessively collected leaflets. It's also worth a mention that Visitors Centre officials take their jobs very very seriously - this is not a job for the blue rinse retired brigade oh no - it's a career and a vocation!

4) Internet cafes were easier to find in Africa than in New South Wales. We actually resorted to seeking out libraries to blag an hours free internet use (with stern librarians tutting over our lack of membership card....)