5.2.10

We Arrive in Melbourne - pouring rain and floods in the Western suburbs . Trying to avoid a hurricane and we walk right into a flood. We were, however, pleasantly surprised by the three people offering help at 6:30am in the morning in the pouring rain. We loved Melbourne already.

We find the hostel after wading through what seemed like two foot of water for 20minutes. It was 7am. With 6 hours before we could check in we amused ourselves as best as possible by looking at maps and brochures and trying not to think of the amount of money we were about to spend in the upcoming week.

By 1:30pm we had booked three day trips and acquired free tickets to many city sites. This obviously meant a well deserved nap once we finally got to our beds.

At 6pm we were up and about searching for wine and wedges (our staple now in Australia). We then made our way back to the bar next to the hostel. Maz miserably failed and tucked herself into bed by 9:30pm, whilst Lissie and Amy met up with Annie (Lissie's friend from Reading) and danced the night away to the beat of $1 Goon.

6.2.11

Once Amy and Lissie awoke from their slumber they spent the day hunting down a Pie Face(nothing like pie and mash to sort out a Goon hangover). Amy nearly stacked it in glorious fashion, but saved herself with some impressive Torvil and Dean moves. They then ended the evening listening to some painful Chinese Karaoke on the South Bank to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Maz met up with Joy and David (lovely friends of the Malcolms) who took her to 'Tram 130' for lunch. A lovely and quaint tram stop which had been converted into a little dinner/café serving the best coffee and poached eggs Maz has ever tasted.

After lunch and a catch up Joy and David took her on a whistle-stop tour of Melbourne hitting all the main sites - The Formula 1 Track, the botanical gardens, the stadiums, the university, the markets, the town centre, the dock - you name it, she saw it! It was BRILLIANT!

An exciting day for all!