Saturday began with me waking up at a ridiculous 12.20pm!!! I must be so tired. Or just completely not used to the low noise level. I got dressed really quickly so that it didn't seem like I had been in bed the whole time. Not sure if it worked though.

I had been asked on Friday (this day was Saturday) whether I wanted to go into their local shopping centre with Carol, Glenn and Stuart as they were getting some clothes for the boys, so Russell took Glenn and me down to the old people's home where Carol was working in the refreshments area. They described it as Fort Knox as it is so hard to get in and out of. It was quite quiet down there and we met Carol as she was just tidying up. We then swapped cars; Russell went back home and we went to the shopping centre with Carol where we were going to meet Stuart who had been at sleep over.

It is a really nice complex; it has an entertainment area with restaurants and tenpin bowling. We walked through there to the shopping area which Carol described as small but was easily bigger than Northampton and Leamington shopping centres. We walked basically all the way to the back of the centre to the department store called Myer. I went off to look at the girls clothes to see if I could find some longer trousers since the weather hasn't been as great as I expected. I don't think Myer was the best place to look though as it was way too expensive! Glenn was much more successful though and found everything he needed really quickly.

Glenn then went with Carol to get some new trainers whilst I had a quick look around some other shops, once again looking for trousers. No luck still, I found a couple of pairs but they weren't just right and normally still too expensive. I think I will just brave it until the summer really begins and put up with being slightly cold. I head down to the trainer shop where Carol and Glenn were and waited with them whilst Glenn tried on different pairs. They give much more advice on shoes over here, for example they take into account whether you run on the inner or outer sole! They actually care rather than just try to sell you the most expensive pair possible!

Glenn had forgotten to get a wallet so we went back to Myer where he found one quite quickly again; he's good at shopping for a lad! We then went to a small café in the middle of the centre where I had a cappuccino and a mars bar cake! It was lush but not the same as having coffee with my mum when we go shopping, I do miss little things like that from home. Once we had finished that we head back to the car and started back towards the house. Half way back Carol mentioned going to the Sky High observatory which she had said about when I first got there. Since it was a nice day we decided to go there. It is an observatory at the top of the Dandenong ranges where they live.

The views were great, I didn't realise just how small the city centre of Melbourne is!! But we could see Port Phillip Bay, the city centre and all of the suburbs which was really nice. We then had a wonder around the area which had a little English garden and a giant's chair which we had a picture taken in. The maze was good fun but turns out I'm not all that great at Mazes, the lads got through far quicker than Carol and me. We then had to find our way back through it as well as the main exit was locked!! So we had twice the fun for the same price (free!!).

Once we had found our way out of the maze we head back to the house where we had to prepare to go out to the Christmas carols. We were having dinner there since it would support the local fire fighters so all we had to prepare was waterproofs and warm clothes. Russell head off first to help set up the instruments, as the boys were playing in the band, and also to get us all a good spot to sit. We got there a little later and went to get some food before the queues got too long. I had a hot dog and a pancake which was lush! The Carols were set on a stage in a field surrounded by trees and everyone else bought their own chairs or blankets to sit on. It had a real community feel as everyone seemed to know everyone which was really nice. I wish we had more things like that in England. The whole event was in order to raise money for the fire fighters especially since it is coming up to bush fire season.

Different schools took part in the Carols and we all had a booklet with the hymns in to join in at some points. There was an Australian style Jingle Bells that goes...

Dashing through the bush,

in a rusty Holden Ute,

Kicking up the dust, esky in the boot,Kelpie by my side, singing Christmas songs,It's Summer time and I am in my singlet, shorts and thongs
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut !,Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
Engine's getting hot; we dodge the kangaroos,The swaggie climbs aboard, he is welcome too.All the family's there, sitting by the pool,Christmas Day the Aussie way, by the barbecue.
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
Come the afternoon, Grandpa has a doze,The kids and Uncle Bruce, are swimming in their clothes.The time comes 'round to go, we take the family snap,Pack the car and all shoot through, before the washing up.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,

Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute

I loved it but they didn't get the chance to play as it began to tip it down so they had to cut the carols short which was a shame. We did get over half way through the programme though which was nice enough. I couldn't believe it but they actually made me tearful a bit. I've been trying to ignore Christmas as it makes me feel a bit homesick but obviously I couldn't ignore this so I had a tear come to my eye. I came home and spoke to mum afterwards who made me feel slightly better but I would really like to be at home for Christmas.

The next morning was an early start as we were off to Phillip Island!! Stuart drove us down as he is currently learning to drive and they have to have driven a certain number of hours before their test. It took about an hour and a half to get there but Stuart is a good driver alreadyJ. We went straight to the Visitor Information Centre who gave us a map with stars on of the main Tourist places. The first place on the map was a chocolate factory over the road from where we were so we went there first.

The smell really hits you when you walk in there, it is so sweet!! We decided not to have the tour because it was so expensive for what it is; they obviously whack the prices up because it's such a touristy area. We decided to go down to the beach near us then which was one end of the island. It was a really nice beach and we walked all the way along. People weren't allowed in the sea though due to the high winds making it very choppy! The wind was quite cold but nothing compared to later on!

As we had a three park pass we head to the first park after this, which was Churchill Island. We weren't sure what it was before we got there but it turned out to be a working farm. Before we went in we had a cup of coffee and I had my first Tim Tam bar which was really nice; a bit like a penguin. The animals in there were typically farm animals, we saw a Peacock, cows, horses, lamb, chickens, turkeys, ducklings, guinea pigs and rabbits. We also walked through the old farmhouse which was like a miniature version of an old style English house.

We walked around there for a while and then head over to the Koala Conservation Centre which was the second on our three park pass. It was great; we went onto the board walks which took us up into the trees near the Koalas. We saw a fair few of them; one even came onto the railings and was close enough to touch. I didn't though because I saw the claws first!! We then went to the woodland walk where we were meant to be able to see Possums, Wallabies, Bats, Snakes and other Australian animals. I think they must have been asleep due to the time of the day though and we only saw more Koalas. We did see a Wallaby in the walk back to the Visitor Centre though which was so cute!

After this was the Nobbies. Along the way though we stopped at Cowes, which is Phillip Island's capital, here we looked at the views of the beach again. We also saw a few other beaches we were going to stop at on the way back as we wanted to make sure we saw the Nobbies before we went to see the Penguin Parade later. The Nobbies was extremely windy!!! I think the seals were staying in somewhere warm or were all out at sea as we didn't see any of them. We didn't stop out for long because it was just so cold but we spent a while in the Visitor Centre there which had a lot of information and active displays about the sea around there.

To kill some time before seeing the penguins we slowly went back up to Cowes, stopping at the beaches we had seen along the way. Cowes was a lot less cold so we sat on the grass near the beach having some fish and chips. We lay and sat in the sun for a little while just to relax which was really nice. Once that was finished it was time for the penguins!!!!

We were still there quite early but just had a wonder around the centre before the tour began. We were given green cards to go around our neck as we had a special private tour! We prepared ourselves with waterproofs and blankets again and then head to the meeting spot for our tour. We were given some portable 'seats' which were really just a fold up bit of padding really but did the job. We also had binoculars and some headphones so that we could always hear the guide. She told us a bit of history about the area and how the penguins were under threat from people building holiday homes and foxes which were introduced to the island for hunting.

We then head down to the beach front ready for when they decided to come in. We had front row seats because of the tour which was really good and just sat there looking through the binoculars waiting for the penguins. They were in the water already in 'rafts' which are big groups of penguins who come together a few hundred metres off land so that they can come in together as there is safety in numbers. It was quite funny watching them as they don't come out until it is almost dark so that predators can't see them, but because of the current they were getting pushed out too early so they kept all running back in.

It was just before 9 when they all started coming out of the water and oh my there were a lot of them! I think they counted about 900 in total. They tend to run across the beach because it is their most vulnerable area but there was a patch of rocks which some of them stopped in half way up. They all went up in groups when they decided to but some tended to turn back half way because they had chickened out which was so funny to watch!

Once a lot of them had come out our tour guide lead us up to the board walks where we could watch them making their way to their homes. We saw some being extremely territorial if another penguin came too close to their nest, especially since a lot of them had eggs in them. We also saw some chicks pestering every penguin that passed for some food! Most of them would just run by. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures at all, even with the flash off as the flash scares the penguins and some people would forget to turn it off. That's why there aren't millions of pictures of them.

Once we had finished watching the penguins we head back to the visitors centre where we were given a free drink, I had coffee of course, and then we head back home since it was half 10 at this point and would take at least an hour and a half to get back. We were back at 12 as predicted and I was shocked to find Lauren online as it was the middle of the day and I thought they were off Christmas shopping! But they weren't so we had a good chat before I went to sleep which was really nice.

This morning I woke up at a reasonable time of 10am! I got up and did a quick bit of exercise and then went to have breakfast where Carol suggested that I did the Puffing Billy today as it was actually nice weather! We went to catch the 11.10 one, it was just Glenn and me going on the train as Carol had work and Stuart was tired from the night before (and before that since he had been to a sleepover). The train carriage was full of school children making noise, I can tell I'm getting old now because they really annoyed me haha but they provided a bit of entertainment for the ride down.

We head down to Lakeside where we got off and had a quick ice cream. We then got on the train ride back, with no school children, which was so quiet!! It was a good experience but very cold out of the sun, I could really have done with those trousers I haven't bought yet! We got back and Carol was waiting for us at the station and she took some pictures as we pulled up.

When we got back to the house, Glenn and I walked up to the famous Miss Marples so that I could sample some of the food at last! Shockingly there wasn't a queue and we got a table straight away. I had an ice cream I can't remember what it was called, but it had chocolate sauce and honeycomb in it. Shock isn't really the word to describe the feeling of seeing it when it came out. It was absolutely huge!!! I tried my best to get through it but didn't succeed. It taste amazing though! Whilst we were in there we were surrounded by the typical Asians taking pictures, but one had officially taken it to the next level. He had a full on filming kit, along with lighting equipment! He was filming his family and the whole restaurant as people ate, I honestly couldn't believe it.

We walked back to the house and I have just spent hours trying to organise my photos a bit and writing this blog. A roast dinner is currently being cooked which I can't wait to have, firstly because they are sooo nice and I haven't had one in such a long time, but secondly because I need to eat something minutely healthy to equal out that huge ice cream! Well it's meant to be a really nice day tomorrow, 29 Degrees and full on sun, so the sun lotion is out and I'm heading to St Kilda beach for a day of relaxing sun, sea and sand. Not that I will be heading into that sea as it looks like coke but you get the idea J xx