A BIG GOOD'AY FOLKS

After a fantastic time with our friends Chris and Judy we were back in the road again solo. We loved Singapore and couldn't wait to arrive into Melbourne with the same expectations. We got to the airport nice and early (4 hours to be precise) for our 8 hour flight with Emirates . With 4 hours to kill after checking our bags in we went and looked in the shops I saw a camera shop and went and looked at the waterproof ones. We had been doing loads of research into the waterproof ones and the one we were after was in there. It was a good price and I managed to get Some stuff thrown in for free so we ended up buying it . We were very happy with our purchase and I couldn't wait to use it.we were both looking forward to board the plane so we could take full advantage of the free drinks and food on board. As usual the flight was a pleasure with Emirates apart from the screaming child the whole way :/. Lauren wasn't happy to say the least , I did try and drown it out with music but didn't have much joy .

After retrieving our rucksacks and getting through security after some personal questions on our arrival we made our way to our hostel which was space ! We got there early and couldn't check in till 2pm which was a pain. But we had some good news we had been upgraded and put in to a double room so we were over the moon. It was in great location just a 5 minute walk to the supermarkets and the CBD where there are huge shopping malls. We were rather tired once we got here after loosing a nights sleep so once we checked in we crashed out for pretty much the rest of the day.

After a long old sleep in our lovely quiet double room we ventured out to look around the CBD and see what the city had to offer us. There is a free monorail service that runs around the perimeter of the CBD. This was so useful for us and our first day in the city we went around on it taking in the sights and saw what appealed to us the most . We got off at Bourke street where it was very busy and did some shopping Lauren managed to finally get some new flip flops she has been looking for , so she was really pleased with her purchase.

Our next day we had planned to go and check out st Kilda beach . Hoping for beach weather we were awoken by heavy rain . We couldn't believe it, it had ruined our days plans. So we decided to do more research and go shopping to Aldi and buy some stuff to cook for dinner hoping the rain would clear up . Eventually the rain did clear up but late on in the day . that night we did venture down to st.kilda but not for the beach it was to see our friends Curtis and Sarah we met in ko phangan over the new year . It was great to catch up with them and share stories from when we left each other. We went out for a couple of drinks to a local bar before leaving them to catch the last monorail home . Oh and the rain returned to our delight .

The rain cleared up for us the next day so we were happy to pack away our rain jackets and get our shorts and t shirts back on ! We went and visited the harbour town where there was a collection of lovely yachts and a view of the Melbourne star observation wheel. There was a shopping outlet here which had over 120 stores and 1,500 brands at discount prices . Lauren was onto this like a bull with a rag. We shopped again and found her a bikini she had also been after and it was a steal at £5.00 another happy girl. We also visited the eithad stadium which is set in the harbour shame we couldn't get in for pictures.

We decided we were going to do the neighbours tour .....this was a very popular show when I was younger and I never missed an episode and I always wanted to go to the FAMOUS Ramsay street one day . Lauren was up for it aswell as she used to watch the show too. It was only a three hour tour of the street where they film and a tour of where they do all there filming. It was a short half hour drive away and our tour guide was great fun filling us in with all kind of facts keeping us entertained on the way. I was unaware that it still holds one of the highest viewed episodes of all time at 21.9 million viewers, beating eastenders by 200,000.I also didn't know that Russell Crowe and Kylie minouge both appeared in the show in the early stage of their careers. The show has also been running now for 26 years and I don't think it will be ending anytime soon. So on arrival to the so called 'Ramsay street' which is actually called 'pin oak street ' everyone was shocked at how small the road was. It was a coldasack with 6 houses ! Our tour guide had a make up Ramsay street sign for us to hold to get pictures outside the houses where they film their scenes. We got told that the people that own these houses get paid A sum of £28.000 from the show and also another £20.000 pounds for maintenance through the year to keep the house in ship shape. All for one full day of shooting down their street a week without a footstep being put into their house .....sounded good to us. After walking round the street and getting our photos we made our way to the studios where they do all there shooting for the show. On arrival we were greeted by the veteran of the show that is Dr. Kennedy . He's one of the main ones we remember from our time and he was a very nice man and was willing to answer any question you had for him.he took us round the set showing us how they shoot the scenes and how they change from one to another . It's so so clever how they bring stuff to light and make great entertainment . Everyone grabbed a photo with the doctor outside one of the props before getting back on the bus to be taken back to the office in the CBD. We got to watch a 20 year anniversary show on the telly showing us the highlights the show had given us from the last 20 years. The tour was a great afternoon and we enjoyed ourselves and can now say we've actually been to Ramsay street ..... Or shall I say Pin oak street haha.

After two boring nights of cooking pasta in a tomato sauce we thought we would treat ourselves and buy some meat . We went to the local supermarket and purchased some rump steak. It was really cheap and we both got two good sizes and had it with chips ! I became head chef and cooked the steak with Lauren as my assistant cooking the Chips. We had an early night as the following day we were getting up at 6 to do the Great ocean road and were going to see the 12 apostles.

So we set off nice and early in the morning to get the monorail to st Kilda where we were meeting our friends Curtis and Sarah before making our way to the car rental place. We arrived at the car rental place with our pack lunches it felt like a school trip . We hired the cheapest car they had as we are so tight these days . We were given a Nissan pruman which cost us only £10 pound each. It was as basic as they come , but she was a beauty the colour was hideous though and we had no Ariel so no music allday .... Check the picture out . So we set off on our mountain of a trip it was a 600km round trip . Me and Curtis were the designated drivers and I started off to get us going . We planned to swap every couple of hours so it didn't get too boring for us ! After 20 minutes of trying to get out of the rental place we were on our way up the highway and going towards the coast of the 'Great ocean road'. It took us 2 hours to get the start of the ocean road. The scenery was amazing at our first stop and we watched all the surfers smashing the waves. It made me really excited for when we go to Byron bay and surfers paradise so I can hit the waves aswell. After being on the road for 4 hours we found a national park where there was a picnic area and benches we stopped there for a long break in the sun and eat our food. Half an hour after rejoining the road we came across a viewpoint along the road , this was our favourite place of the whole ocean road. It was a Stretch of mountains and beach with crystal clear water as far as the eye could see. I grabbed plenty of photos here with my new Olympus ;) .

We come across some lovely houses set up in the mountains that overlooked the whole ocean. We couldn't help but wonder the kind of prices these properties must of gone for. We went through some lovely little towns and villages too . In one of the towns we stopped off and had a look around before grabbing an ice-cream . Out of pure coincidence to us this ice -cream shop has been voted the best ice cream in the whole of Australia. It had every flavour you could think of and it was Divine. We were so happy to stubble across it , it was called Dolleys ice cream and had more awards than wall space. After a quick break we were back on the road , we had two last stops before it was the end of the line and time to turn back around. Our next stop was cape otway , this was a National park that you drive through where there are lots of koalas hanging around in the trees above you . So we were on koala watch. Not long after entering the park we spotted three all up high in the trees sleeping. Five minutes after we couldn't believe our luck there was a long branch about 2 metres high hanging right out onto the grass . At the end of the branch sat a full size koala bear just sitting there watching the world go by . I slammed on the anchors and we all made our way over to it. I couldn't believe the size of it and how sharpe it's little claws were. I managed to get some good pictures up close and personal .we tried to get as close as possible without disturbing it and getting hurt. Within ten minutes there was around 20 people all wanting to get close up snaps with it so we left and carried on our way through the national park. Our last stop of the road was the 12 apostles . These apostles are slowly disappearing due to weathering and the roughness of sea. We were very happy to have witnessed these because in years to come there will be nothing but pure ocean. We took a long break here taking in the sights and getting some pictures before we started our trek back through the mountains and returning to Melbourne central. Curtis started the first half of the leg and I took the last couple of hours taking us back Into the city! It took us an extra half hour because trying to locate our hostel in the city centre was a trouble but we eventually found it and home safely. We were well and truly shattered it had been a Long day and were looking forward to getting some sleep. We only had one last full day in Melbourne and planning on going to check out the beach in st. Kilda.

We didn't get up to much in our last day in Melbourne as we had a lay in and the weather was pretty grim again . We wanted to go in the jacuzzi on our rooftop and enjoy the sun but that never happened . We took the afternoon to go into the centre and guess what.........I finally got to throw away those awful Havainas I got left with and I got myself a new pair of quicksilver ones . The shop was doing 50% off everything so I got them so so cheap . After a walk around the Victoria park where we used the wifi we went to see our friends Curtis and Sarah one last time before we leave. We enjoyed 2-4-1 cocktails in a nice bar before going home and cooking some chicken in pasta with peri peri ......yum.

We fly to sydney today on a short 1 and a half hour flight where we finally get to see bondi beach we can't wait. Oh and I can try out my new bad boy flip flops

Bye for now xxxxx