Hi Everyone,

I haven't done one of these in what seems like an age now, so..... I thought I would do the update today.

As Lauren has previously mentioned we have decided to stay in Melbourne for a little while, this partly being because we have found a lovely house to stay in (so we dont have to stay in hostels anymore, yay), jobs, a cooler more managable climate but mainly because Melbourne is so cool.

My job will keep us here for around 6 months so we can continue to be tourists but the bank balance will be going in the other direction which will be fantastic, and give us plenty of dosh to finish off our travels. There is plenty of things on our list to do in Melbourne, so we can join in with the affable amble of everybody here and go at a snails pace.

Why Melbourne I here you ask........ There is just so much to do and the culture is just soooooo laid back, nobody is ever in a hurry, 'ever'.. Most streets outside the CBD (central business district) are lined with quaint little cafes, lovely restaurants, vinatage/retro shops selling things from the 50's and 60's. It is so easy to get caught up in the crowd and just amble along with them. We love it!!

What have we been upto this week? Well as we have been going at a snails pace we have only taken in a few touristy things. We took a trip to the Old Melbourne Goal and learnt about the famous villans of Melbourne; Ned Kelly and Squizzy Taylor. We also got to do the 'Watch House' experience where you basically get treated like a criminal who is being put in the holding cells. We didn't really know what to expect so when the doors opened and we were shouted at "Stand with your backs against the wall, females on the left, man on the right!" we were a bit shocked. The 'sergeant' then gave us role cards which had our criminal alias information e.g. name, date of birth, what we'd been arrested for, and she went round the group asking for these details so that she could sign us in. It was amusing listening to the Chinese try and pronounce the details! After we were signed in we were taken to the cells, all the men were put in one cell and the women in another, we had a brief period of 'lights out' then the whole facade was dropped and we were free to explore the building.

We have climbed the tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere, the Eureka Tower, and taken in the spectacular views of Melbourne and surrounding surburbs. When I say "climbed" I really mean flew; the lift travels at 9 metres per second so it took us no time at all to get to floor 88.

At the start of the week we enjoyed a lovely walk around Yarra Bend Park and found out where the local golf courses are. They are in the process of building a crazy golf course so I can leave Lauren to play on that whilst I play on the proper course haha!

Melbourne is famous for it's street art so we spent a day walking down laneways and alleys coming off the main city streets. In the process we also found some great lanes full of bars and restaurants (we'll be revisiting a few of these come the first payday!) It's amazing what you can find hidden away when you come off the beaten track.

We've also enjoyed a lovely walk around the Southbank area taking in a lovely drink at the Crown Casino Sky Bar, which gave us spectacular views of the Melbourne skyline at night. We also had a little wander around the Casino itself, whilst in there we got approached by one of the staff members that said he would teach us how to play some of the games so we got to play Blackjack, Casino Wars and Carribean something or another (cant remember it's name!) without actually spending a penny - it was great!

We are just coming to the end of winter over here so it should start warming up very soon, we are only a few hours away from the mountains in Melbourne where you can ski, so we have decided to hone in our skiing skills/learn before we get to New Zealand at the end of our travels. We are very jealous of the heatwave back home, but it is amusing how much the Brits moan about the temperature, the Aussies are all laughing at us.

We are both looking forward to the start of all the sports in the spring and summer. On our list is the Melbourne festival, The Moto GP at Phillip Island, The Grand Final of AFl, the Ashes Boxing Day test at the MCG, Australian Open Tennis, Melbourne Grand Prix, the australian masters golf and more, which I cannot think off at the moment. All of these Lauren cannot wait to be dragged along to and is so excited to go... haha!

Lots of love,

Davie and Lauren xx