I arrived in Melbourne in the CBD which is right in the heart of the city. I took a short train ride to meet Sarah whose family I'd be staying with during my time in Melbourne. They live in a suburb of the city called Hampton. It's a really nice place and is located right by the sea too which is great for walking their adorable dog, Henry.The family has moved since I last visited but only to the next street so I could remember most of Hampton. I spent the first day catching up with Sarah and Nick before going to pick Matt up from the airport the following day. He had been to Vietnam on holiday so we had plenty of tales to share about our time in the country.

I went to visit Sarah's flat which is in a place called Elwood, nearer to the city centre. We decided to make Nick homemade gingerbread and mango chutney for Christmas so we spent a productive afternoon at the flat. The next week or so was spent doing a lot of people-meeting and going to several festive season parties which were good fun. Christmas Eve was spent with Matt, Sarah and a load of their friends. We went to a fairly cheap pub nearby and I got to meet Sarah's flat mates as well as more of Matt's friends. We spent Christmas day in much the same way as it would be spent in the UK. We started by cooking a big breakfast before opening the presents and then having a traditional Christmas dinner. In the evening we went round to some friends houses and it became another late one, as Christmas should be really.

Unfortunately all the Boxing Day Ashes tickets had been sold out a few days earlier so instead we went on the third day when the sun was shining and England were well in control. I vaguely remember going to the MCG the last time I was in Melbourne 8 years ago but I didn't remember how spectacular the stadium was. We got some excellent seats and the sun shone all day as we witnessed the Aussies floundering under the pressure from the Pom's! The area that the MCG is in is a sports fans dream. There's the cricket ground where they also play AFL matches, the tennis centre that's used for the Australian Open as well as a brand new stadium for the Melbourne football teams. The roads surrounding the huge complex also make up the F1 track. What more could you ask for!

Originally we had planned to go into the city centre on New Year 's Eve to watch the fireworks but the weather made us change our plans. It was horribly hot and humid on the 31st with the temperature peaking at 42 degrees and there were some rumours that the fireworks would be cancelled due to the threat of thunderstorms. So instead we went out for a meal and some drinks and went to St. Kilda beach for the countdown. It was an interesting way to spend the evening and a great way to start 2011. I still have a few weeks left in Melbourne before I leave for New Zealand and I'll be fitting in a trip to the Great Ocean Road and the Australian Open before I leave so there's plenty of excitement to come!

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