13th july first day melbourne.
we booked into a hostel in st kilda, just outside the city. stayed at base, which was a modern building and good facilities. (plus highly recommended by a guy we met on the whitsundays who worked there.) we were so tired on the first day from the long day of driving that we had long lie in, then spent the day getting things sorted out like our laundry etc. that night was neighbours night which we were really excited about! :)
we went to a bar called the elephant and wheelbarrow, where we met some of the cast... declan, rachel, dillan and stingray! then we watched paul robinsons band and then karl kennedys band! they were actually really good!!! after 'karl' came off stage we went after him for a pic but he was doing one, then he stopped forf a pic with a girl and basically punched me in the head!... he rubbed it better though and then let me and anna have our pic taken with him haha.

14th july melbourne, last day with beaut the camper van!
when we got to the hostel we had our first dilemna with the camper, anna broke the left wing mirror! eek! we took it to try and get it fixed today, but in the end we just took the camper back to the other side of the city and gave her back. good job we had fully comp insurance!
that night we had a few drinks in the hostel (free!).

15th july sightseeing
we head into the city for some sightseeing. we went to federation square and into an art gallery there, then for a well earned coffee and biscuit lol. after that we jumped on the free bus which takes you around the sights of the city eg the mcg staduim, docklands, botanical gardens. we got off there and went to the shrine of remembrance, which honours the fallen anzac soldiers.
that night we had a free bbq at the hostel, then some drnks, caz and anna aplayed killer pool, and caz got worse for wear! then those three went out into the city with some of the bar staff, but i got myself an early night as didnt feel too great.

16th july neighbours tour/ladies night
we were supposed to be going to victoria markets bright and early, but as the girls had a late one we never made it. me and anna went for breakfast in st kilda and got a new top for ladies night that night...essential of course! :)
that afternoon we did the neighbours tour which was fun! the bus took us to the studios where we met a cast member, which turned out to be karl kennedy again haha, he remembered abusing me on monday night and apologised again.. def my claim to fame i think! we saw some of the outside set eg greasemonkeys and the car garage. then we went to ramsey st itself (which in fact isnt called ramsey st)!! it was wierd!... it looked smaller then it seems on tv! had pics taken outside a few of the houses. we also went past erinsborough high on the way back! good afternoon all in all!
that night, the night we had been waiting for... ladies night! our friend paul was back to the hostel which meant not only did we get free drinks til 11pm, we got drinks free all night! woop! it was the first time i had been really drunk since cairns! had a wicked night dancing and stuff, and the hostel got really busy. was funny to see guys that dress up as ladies to get free drinks too, travelling folk would do anything for a free beer haha. had a very late night!

17th july sightseeing/ausssy rules match!
after 3 hrs sleep i had to get up and go to our booked tour of the golden mile in the city. we went round with a guide called clive, who was a ledge! he basically gave us the history of the founding of the city and how it started to where it is now.. showing us all the old buildings and points of interest. i was struggling from being so so hungover with my 'goonover' but managed to pull through it! after that we went to have lunch at a pub called the mitre which was the oldest building in melbourne.. good food! then after that we went to the eureka tower. its actually higher than the sydney sky tower, and cheaper! the view is great and it has points of interest written out so you know what you are looking at, which helps! we paid extra to do 'the edge' experience, where u go in a glass box which takes you outside the buiding which was wierd, the view was good though.
we headed then for the victoria markets as we thought it was open til 6 but when we got there all the stalls were shutting which was a shame.
we headed back to the city to meet tim (who we met in vietnam) who had got us all tickets to go see an aussy rules match... bombers vs bulldogs, we were supporting the bombers! really enjoyed the game, got to grips with the basic rules after the first quarter and then got into it. not the same atmosphere as a footy match at home though, a bit more chilled and civilised. good game, but disappointingly the bombers lost! after the match we went for a couple of drinks with tim and his dad at a bar on the docklands and then got the tram back to the hostel, where we had a few farewell drinks with our friend paul. i went to bed at 2am, our bus for the airport was picking us up at 6am and i hadnt packed... fun and games!!!

all in all loved melbourne equally as much as sydney, and the same as sydney there was stuff we didnt get to do. we didnt get time to fit in the immigration museum or a river trip etc.

the next day we got the plane to NZ... we were all pretty sad to leave oz and feel that we need to go back again!