We arrived at Melbourne airport in the evening after our short and unremarkable flight from Christchurch. After a while waiting for our free shuttle bus to fully load we eventually got on our way to the city, getting a good view of the downtown skyline lit up in the distance as we drove along the highway.

The bus took us past the city and south to the suburb of St Kilda, dropping us off first at our hostel. After getting checked in and dropping off our bags in our 4-bed dorm, shared with a couple of slightly odd Taiwanese boys, we headed out to get some dinner, starving after the best part of a day travelling.

We opted for a pizza place on nearby Carlisle street and over-ordered slightly, ending up with a full pizza left over to take home, which wasn't too bad as the food was great.

After dinner we were tired so just headed back to the hostel and conked out for the night.

The next morning we got up and headed out for a walk around St Kilda. We wandered down the quiet residential streets filled with quirky old houses with overgrown gardens, then down Acland Street, evidently the main street in St Kilda, which was lined with interesting shops (including lots of cake shops). The street had a slight Haight-Ashbury vibe and was obviously quite popular with the 'alternative' crowd.

Working our way through the streets and past the Luna Park funfair, we eventually ended up at the beach, where we took a walk up the windswept promenade, quiet apart from the odd jogger and an amazing dog which was trying to dig up a stick with a hilarious 'both-paws-at-once' digging style.

The cool windy weather and grey sky didn't show the beach at its best but we could imagine it being beautiful (and busy) in the summer. The views of the distant city were cool and we walked for a while in that direction before cutting back in and through some more of the commercial streets in St Kilda before returning to the hostel.

After eating our leftover pizza for lunch (minus the slices some degenerate scumbag had stolen) we jumped on a tram outside the hostel and cruised all the way up St Kilda Road into the city, passing from the suburbs through commercial areas and the arts precinct before crossing the river into the city proper.

We got off the tram at Foundation Square beside the big yellow Flinders Street Station and had a look around the square with its angular futuristic buildings housing the Australian Centre for the Moving Image or ACMI. We then made our way into downtown Melbourne, impressed by the scale of the city after the smaller urban scale we had gotten used to in New Zealand.

We wandered up some alleyways we'd been pointed towards, which were completely covered with incredible graffiti of all colours and styles. Not the pointless hastily-sprayed illegible tags that deface innumerable urban surfaces, this was proper street art and we enjoyed wandering the alleyways and taking plenty of photos.

From there we made our way up Swanston Street, one of the city's main thoroughfares. Once again we were a bit taken aback at how busy and big the city was, but we enjoyed the bustle as we made our way up the length of the main centre, checking out the odd shop. We doubled back and came back down the parallel Elizabeth Street, this time detouring through some of the numerous alleyways which interspersed the main city streets. We felt as if we had been transported to some European city every time we entered these alleyways, with their closely-packed cafes with bustling outdoor seating areas and eclectic clientele.

Eclectic definitely described the populus of the city as a whole. We saw all sorts of characters as we wandered through Melbourne and could see why it had a reputation as a fun and interesting place to live.

After a stop for a beer to refresh back near Flinders Street Station (our first taste of the incredibly high price of drinks in Australia) it was approaching dinner time so we opted to wander back to Chinatown, set just back from the main shopping streets.

On our way through Chinatown, we ended up close to a bar we had heard about, so decided to pay a visit. Finding the entrance to a non-descript alleyway (if you don't count the colourful graffiti adorning the walls) we made our way down, winding through the narrow brick corridor until we eventually saw a small sign at the dead end of the alleyway heralding our destination: The Croft Institute.

We entered and found ourselves in what seemed to be an early 20th century laboratory but was infact a cool cocktail bar, done up complete with lab sinks, tiled walls and cabinets full of assorted laboratory gubbins.

We ordered a couple of drinks and chilled out for a bit in the unique ambiance before continuing our Chinatown mission, eventually opting for a cheap Asian chain restaurant for dinner, where we got some excellent food.

After dinner we were tired out after all our walking around so we got back on a tram heading to St Kilda. Not having seen anyone have their tickets checked earlier, we were a bit cheeky and didn't bother buying a ticket but soon regretted it, as a group of transport officials boarded the tram and began checking everyone's tickets. Preparing our excuses, we waited as the officials approached us, but decided to check the girl across the aisle from us first. Looking embarassed, the girl admitted she didn't have a ticket either and the official then began taking her details in preparation for fining her. Realising we could be in for another unnecessary extra cost, we made our move as the tram pulled into a stop, slipping past the officials and off the tram just as they were finishing up with the girl and about to move onto us. After our narrow escape we resolved to buy tram tickets from that point on!

Once back at the hostel, we weren't long in heading to bed, enjoying another decent sleep, including a long lie the following morning.

After our long lie we got up and once again made our way into the city on the tram. We decided to have a look at the south side of the river this time, so headed across to the built-up riverfront, full of high-rise office blocks and fancy bars and restaurants.

We grabbed some lunch in a shopping mall food court and had a look around before heading back across a footbridge and wandering up through the city centre again, this time taking more of the cosy European-style alleyways.

We returned to a book shop we'd visited the day before and picked up a guidebook in a sale before stumbling across a really cool old shopping arcade nestled between buildings, complete with tiled floors, ornate metalwork details and cosy little shops including some opulent-looking but incredibly busy tearooms.

Opting for a quieter cafe we sat and had a coffee and enjoyed a good people-watching session and rest of the legs, before wandering back down towards Foundation Square near the river.

We had arranged to meet a friend of a friend once she finished work in the city but, with some time to kill, we made our way into the free ACMI we had walked past earlier. Here, we checked out some cool exhibits about the history of film and TV in Australia before mucking about on some of the interactive exhibits, like the giant shadow puppet screen which turned your shadows into roaring, belching monsters by adding on extra shadowy appendages, spines and eyeballs. We also had fun in the Matrix-style bullet time enclosure filming slow-motion 360 degree sequences.

After a walk up Flinders Street we met Celeste at her office, and after a quick introduction, we all walked along to a smart bar on the north bank of the river, opposite the huge Exhibition Centre. After a drink and a chat there we headed across a bridge and past the gigantic Crown casino and hotel complex to one of the busy bars we'd seen earlier in the day for another beer, before crossing the river once more, stopping for a mulled wine at a quirky bar built on the base of a bridge support in the middle of the river.

Suitably lubricated, we decided it was time for dinner, so made our way up Swanston street, buzzing with Melbourne's nightlife, including a busker in a massive rabbit costume playing funky basslines, to a Vietnamese restaurant where we shared some more cheap and excellent food.

After dinner we decided to call it a night but agreed to meet up with Celeste the following day after she kindly offered to show us around some more of the city. We all walked back down the main street to check out more of the kooky nighttime characters, before jumping on our respective trams.

Back at the hostel we once again headed to bed, trying not to wake the Taiwanese guys who always seemed to go to bed really early and got our heads down.

In the morning we grabbed breakfast in the hostel, before getting on the tram to the city once again. We got off at the arts precinct, wandering through the smart art gallery buildings to the south bank of the river, where we walked along the riverside past the fancy bars and high rises once again. This time we made it as far as the Exhibition Centre, which we popped into to check out the car show which was on. Deciding we didn't have enough time to properly enjoy the show we didn't buy tickets, but looked at the cars in the foyer of the centre which were all up for auction during the show.

From the Exhibition Centre we made our way up through the city on trams and by foot, eventually reaching the Queen Victoria Markets. We entered the markets and were a bit disappointed to find stall upon stall of cheap knockoff clothes filling a huge covered area. However, our disappointment turned to excitement when we rounded a corner and saw the extent of the market, with buildings stretching miles up the street all part of the huge market complex.

We spent the next while wandering amongst the various stalls including huge fresh food areas with all sorts of things to buy. Tempted by some hot doughnuts, we bought a bag and chomped on them as we wandered around the busy market. Eventually we got a seat in the food court and rested for a few minutes before meeting Celeste outside the market.

From there, the three of us walked through some of the areas of the city we hadn't seen, north of the centre. We headed up one street lined with Italian restaurants and, lured by offers of free wine and bruschetta, we opted for one restaurant where we all had some great pasta as well as the aforementioned freebies.

After lunch we walked past a huge modern museum housing an awesome-looking exhibition on ancient Egypt which we sadly didn't have time to visit, and carried on through some residential streets, eventually popping out in the Fitzroy area of the city.

We walked up the main street in Fitzroy which was amazing, packed with independent shops of all sorts and filled with interesting characters. If St Kilda's Acland Street had a slight Haight-Ashbury feel, this was the San Francisco street transplanted to Australia.

Obviously the main hipster hangout of the city, we enjoyed the various fashions and hairstyles on show, popping into some of the quirky shops as we wandered around. The highlight of the area was the Rose Street Artists' Market where various local artists displayed their wares, including photographic prints, paintings and jewellery, including jewellery made from cutlery, and Lego cufflinks.

After wandering around the area for some time, we decided we were in need of a rest. Managing to get on a tram, we crossed to another new area of the city, the fancy and obviously recently developed docklands. Here we took a much-needed seat and had a couple of beers in the James Squire ale house with views of the waterfront and the massive Etihad stadium.

After relaxing for a while, we all jumped back on a tram and headed right across the city to the MCG or Melbourne Cricket Ground where we bought some tickets and found our seats in the stands for that evening's Aussie Rules football game.

With the sport huge in Melbourne we thought it would be fun to watch a game and Celeste was more than happy to join us. Despite the freezing cold and the fact that none of us knew the rules of the game, it was great fun watching the game between Richmond Tigers and Essendon Bombers, with the highlights being the cheesy team songs and the guy behind us screaming 'JESUS!!' seemingly at random throughout the game.

Despite Richmond initially walking all over Essendon, in the 3rd quarter they seemed to run out of steam and Essendon had a massive comeback, completely destroying the Tigers by the end of the game. Overall it was great fun and I now think we know the basics of the game, for whatever that's worth.

After the game, we made our way out of the freezing stadium and swarmed with the rest of the crowds towards the nearby tram stops. With Celeste going one way and us another, it was time for us to say goodbye and to thank her for showing us around the city. Having a local to show us around was fantastic and Celeste was great fun and it was good getting to know her.

After catching a few trams back through the city and South to St Kilda, we finally collapsed for our last night in the dorm with our Taiwanese friends, feeling that we'd done Melbourne justice. There was plenty we hadn't had a chance to see but we'd gotten a good feel for the city which we both really liked and would gladly return to.