As soon as we stepped out of the airport the heat hit us, it was so nice to have some real Australian weather as the last few days in Sydney were a bit dull weatherwise. Our early flight meant that we had most of Monday to explore the city. We wandered around Melbourne through the lanes of the city behind Flinders Street station. We stopped for lunch in one of the lanes, before catching the free city circle tram which has a commentary so that you can learn the history of Melbourne. This was good as it gave us our bearings. We also stopped off at the tourist information in Federation Square. The square itself is amazing with its contrast of old and new with the steel and concrete architecture of the square right opposite St Paul's Cathedral and Flinders Street station. After returning to our apartment Fi set off with Mum and Dad Evans to find the supermarket - it was only when Sam and Lau looked at the clock did they realise that they'd been gone for over 1 hour. It turns out that they had been on a 7 km trek but they did eventually return with food!!!!!

The next morning we explored South Yarra, where we were staying. This is definately the place to live with its boutiques, cafes, park and bars as well as it's laid back atmosphere. We went shopping at the Jam Factory before taking a peek into the Prahrna markets that we're filled with amazings foods. We caught the train back into the city centre where we headed straight for Victoria Market. The market was huge and full of great bargains and souvenirs. We managed to walk through 1 and a half buildings in about 2 hours but there was still lots left for us to do. We decided to save ourselves and do it again on our next trip and instead headed off to Lygon Street for lunch. This is THE STREET for Italian food in Melbourne, hence why we ended up there! After wandering past many amazing places and encountering the homeless man talking to an empty buggy we finally stopped and ate! Let's just say that we could have been in Italy - it was that good. From there we crossed the river to The Southbank where we perused the shops and admired the river views before returning to our apartment in time to head out to dinner in a nearby restaurant where we all ate the most delicious duck!

On wednesday we had an early start as we had to get our Neighbours tour bus from St Paul's at 7:40. We were joined for the day by Bex as we are all obsessed with the show. First off we met Kim Valentine who as i'm sure you will all remember used to play Libby Kennedy. The whole bus was very excited about having their pictures taken with her and with autographs - obviously we weren't!!! On our way to Erinsborough we watch Madge and Harold's wedding episode to get us in the mood for the day. We stopped first at Erinsborough High for a photo with the sign. From there we headed to the studios where we wandered around some of the sets including the garage and grease monkeys. From there it was off to Ramsay Street where the houses looked exactly as you'd imagine but the actual street was shorter than how it seems. We had pictures with the sign outside the Kennedy's before catching up on the latest gossip from the security guard on what had been filmed the previous day. Watch out in 6/8 months time there's a few deaths occuring!! (There's one happening alot sooner too). This was the end of the tour, on our way back we watched Daphne's death. Unfortunately Bex didn't remember any of the characters we think she'd have prefered something a bit more recent. Once back in Federation Square we went to the Docklands and Newquay. We ate lunch at a steakhouse which again was really good, it'll be a shame going back to pasta and sauce!! Had a lazy last afternoon and night in Melbourne just chilling out by the pool.

Melbourne was amazing and we all feel like we could easily live here and we're definately coming back.