The bus journey wasn't too bad and we got into Melbourne at about 8 am. We only got about 3hours sleep so we were pretty tired! The coach was not as comfortable as the Canadian greyhound's, they were newer but less spacious.

We decided to walk to the hostel as it was only about a 10-15 minute walk plus it was rush hour so the tram would have been busy. It was too early to check in to hostel but they stored our bags for us until we could check in. They let us the free breakfast, bonus!! :) We got changed and freshened up and went out for a mooch!

We headed to the River which isn't far from the hostel. We sat there and planned what we wanted to see and do in Melbourne. We decided to head towards the harbour and docklands first. The weather was nice and made a change to see the sun! Melbourne has a huge tram network, supposedly the biggest network in the world. The central circle line is free so we took advantage of this to get us to the harbour. It even gave a commentary while you go along which was handy!

First impressions of Melbourne are good. It seems very modern, with lots of new snazzy and colourful buildings, especially by the harbour. We found a Nandos which had some lunch with our names on! It was yummy!! we mooched around the shops and the modern area of the docklands. They are still working on it so much of it is yet to be finished!
We caught the free tram back to the visitor info centre to find out about the great ocean road and car hire! We are planning to hire a car and drive along the great ocean road next Tuesday until Friday.
We had coffee in Federation Square where there are lots of bars and cafes and is just a nice place to sit and chill! From there we got the tram to the Old Gaol which was a very cool experience! You get to walk through the main prison building containing all the cells, which are just as they were left when they shut the goal. They have information about previous inmates, about the crime they committed and when they were hanged. They included information about Ned Kelly who is a notorious criminal who was hanged at the goal and about someone who was wrongly acquitted. They even showed the actual beam which was used to hang many of the criminals.
We went to the holding place where criminals were held when they had been arrested. We were treated as though we were criminals (all pretend) and given charge cards detailing the crime we had committed! We had to line up, have our hands and mouths checked and were locked in a cell 'overnight'! We got to see all the different cells, including the padded ones and the ones for the drunks (they had plug holes in the floor to wash away sick!) and the tiny courtyards that they could exercise in. Then, the grand finale, we were able to take mug shots holding our 'criminal number'! How cool!
From there we caught the tram, the free one of course, back to hostel. We checked in to our room and were very impressed! Its a lovely big room with a really nice view over the city! We chilled for a bit but were both shattered and falling asleep by 8pm! We managed to drag ourselves to the shops for some essentials before collapsing into bed for the night!