Today we had a very early start (6:30am alarm!) so that we could catch the 8am train from Marshall. We arrived at Southern Cross station in the city just after 9 and headed towards our first stop of the day, the Immigration Museum…which we found didn't open until 10am!

To kill time, we headed for a much-needed coffee nearby. 10 am…back to the museum! It was well worth the $10 entry fee; it contained interesting exhibits on the millions of people who've emigrated to Australia since it was first settled and details on why they moved. They also had a special exhibit telling the stories of Britain's child migrants - abandoned British children who were brought over to Australia by various charities with the promise of a better life. Unfortunately, things didn't usually turn out that way once they arrived. Many were forced into what amounted to labour camps in the desert and there was widespread abuse of both the children and the system by the people who ran the 'homes'. We first found out about these kids when we saw Oranges and Sunshine in New Zealand and it was quite sad to read their personal stories. Often they were told that their parents were dead and by the time they'd found out the truth (that, in many cases, they had been still alive long after the children were shipped out) it was often too late for a reunion.

And now for something completely different…after a quick stop for lunch we headed to the Neighbours Centre on Flinders Street for our bus to Pin Oak Court, otherwise known as Ramsey Street! On the way, our tour guide filled us in on how the show is filmed and how many births, deaths, marriages and resurrections (1 - Harold!) there have been over the years. It all sounded quite ridiculous when he gave us the stats - for example, if a character gets married it's almost certain that one of the couple will soon get killed off!

Our first stop was the school used to film the external scenes at Erinsborough High, including a famous fight between Billy and Lance! We then drove on to the studios and visited the outdoor sets of Grease Monkeys and Carpenter's Motors. We also drove past the prison used in Neighbours and also Prisoner Cell Block H. We were introduced to the actor who plays Chris Pappa (?) and none of us knew who he was - we wanted Harold or Toadie! Apparently he plays a mechanic who is Neighbours' first gay character, but it meant nothing to us! We still posed for a photo, although Ray gave it a miss!

Then we were off to the street itself…where they were filming when we arrived! Susan Kennedy and Paul Robinson were in the street, so we had to wait at the end until they'd finished. While we were waiting they both waved to us during a break. Eventually we saw them drive off and we were finally allowed onto what must be one of the most famous streets in the world. I carried the Ramsay Street sign up the street and we posed for pictures outside the Scully house (as it used to be when we last watched!). We also got lots of photos of the other houses which all look a lot smaller in real life! At one point, one of the street's actual residents appeared to collect his mail, trying to fight his way through the swarm of tourists to reach his mail box. The residents do get compensated though - to the tune of $30,000 per year!

After taking lots of pics, we were back on the bus and heading back to the city - a fantastic afternoon!

Back in Melbourne, we had a ride on the free tram around the city and got off at Christmas Square, which turned out to be a few boxes wrapped up to look like Christmas presents in City Square - Melbourne should do better! Then it was back 'home' for a relaxing night of wine and telly!