As I'm writing this entry it is the evening of our last night in Melbourne. On my last entry I got up to us moving hostel to St.Kilda and that's where I will continue. We arrived at our new hostel mid-morning after a short tram ride. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to get there from the CBD but we didn't have a clue where we had to get off so it did seem much longer. We found the hostel ok, and it turned out to be nicer than we had expected. It's much smaller than the last place we stayed and a bit more rough around the edges, but very clean for a hostel. We had an en-suite too this time which makes things so much easier. We didn't get up to much the first day, just went for a walk about to explore the area. The hostel is in a great location just a couple of minutes from the beach and right near the main strip Fitzroy St, which is full of bars and restaurants. We walked down to the beach and along the famous St.Kilda pier which has only recently been restored. It's generally a really pretty place and you would never guess you were so near the city centre if you couldn't see all the skyscrapers in the distance. Unfortunatley Justin didn't feel too well that afternoon so we went back to the hostel for a sleep so he felt ok to go out later. There was a nice bar really close that had an offer of $10 meals so we went there for dinner. That's normally our maxium budget when eating out nowadays, which seems quite a lot until you realise it's only actually 5 pounds. Anyway the steak sandwich I had was amazing! After dinner we went down the road to a nearby pub for some drinks. The Esplanade Hotel (or the 'Espy' as it's known here) is something of an icon in St.Kilda. It's a bit of a dive inside but it's right on the beach, and it all adds to it's charm. They had about 3 or 4 bands playing that night who were all really good so it was a great night. They really love live music here in Melbourne and there are normally bands in most pubs or bars you go into. We went to a couple of places after that, and got just slightly tipsy in the meantime!

The next day we had planned to spend all day at the beach but the weather wasn't that good for the first time we had been in Melbourne. It wasn't that cold, just a bit too windy to lie by the sea. We had a lazy morning and a long lunch then went back to the hostel. It's an Aussie saying that Melbourne can have 'four seasons in a day,' but up until now we hadn't seen much evidence of that as it had been so hot. However today the weather changed alot so by mid-afternoon it was sunny again and we spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. We went out for dinner later that night back in the main city, and as all the cheap cheap places were closed we had to treat ourselves a bit. I couldn't remember the last time I had a dessert so it was worth it. After dinner we decided we would go to the casino. It's quite a big thing here, and used to be one of the biggest casinos in the world until quite recently I think. We didn't want to gamble a lot as we couldn't afford to but we thought it would be fun to go for a bit. Between the two of us we had $40 and had a go on the machines and tables like roulette. We managed to win half of that money back so we were happy with that. It was alot of fun so it was worth losing $20.

On Monday the next day the weather had improved and this time we went to the beach for the whole day. We got up late and had breakfast and I even treated myslef to a book to read while relaxing. The beach isn't as good as any of the ones in Sydney and won't be one of the best we see by any means but it was good enough to lie on for a couple of hours before we went for dinner. I still managed to get a bit red around the edges, which was typical as it wasn't that hot but on the days that were scorching I didn't even catch a tan! We had to go back and get ready early as we went to Neighbour's Night in the evening. I was tired and not really in the mood to go out but I was really glad I did in the end. It took a while to get going when we arrived but it tuned out to be such a laugh. We met another couple there who were really nice, and we hung around until the cast members we were meeting turned up. They did introductions, quizes and crowd-warming and then we had to go off in our groups so the cast could come round and meet us and have a chat. We had our pictures taken with Libby, Dylan, some random person I didn't recognise, and of course Dr Karl Kennedy. It was so funny! Justin scared Karl by giving him a full blown smacker on the cheek when I took the picture. After that was all finished Karl and his band 'Waiting Room' performed. I expected it to be completely cheesy and awful, and it was, but everyone was drunk so it was good fun at the same time!

Despite the hangovers we had to get up very early the next morning (Tuesday, the day I'm writing this) as we went to the Australian Open. I'm not really a big tennis fan but I was really looking forward to it as I haven't ever been to anything like that before. We just bought a ground pass which got us into all the arenas except the main two courts. It was cheap and as we were here we thought we might as well go. I don't think I would have bothered with getting a full pass as it was twice the price that we paid. In the end we both really enjoyed the day. The weather was back on form unfortunately as it was really too hot on the courts. We arrived at 9.30 and went straight to court 3, but the first match didn't start until 11. We ended up sat there for 5 hours, sweating as we went. We saw a womens match first, Morigami (japenese) v. Kraijeck (dutch) and then a men's Naldbanian (argentinian) v. Smeet (australian). We watched both of those in full, but then we had to cool down so we went and watched the band that was playing outside in the shade. We walked around the courts a bit more and saw a few more players, then we went for dinner and headed back to the hostel. It took us ages to get back as the tram was packed and I thought I was going to faint. We are both very tired so we are having an early night tonignt. We have to leave the hostel at 5.30 in the morning to be in time for the bus back to Sydney. I am dreading it as it's going to take 13 hours this time. We couldn't get any sleep the past few nights as the people in our dorm kept coming in very late and making as much noise possible. It takes a lot to wake me up but they still managed. Also they keep bringing back other people to stay in our romm with them even though they haven't paid which takes the mick a bit really. It doesn't matter now though as we are off to stay with Penny and co so there will be no more hostels for a while. I can't wait!