Hey everyone, hope you are all keen to read what we've been up to. As most of you know we are settled into Arlene & Jay's house very nicely. It's a great arrangement, we get looked after, vehicles provided, fed, TV & our own bathromm which believe me, is a huge luxury after the last 4 months!

As were not really up to much in the week other than working & sleeping we've decided to write only about our weekends or anything exciting out of the ordinary.

On our first weekend Arlene & Leon (Arlene's little 'un) took us to enjoy our first experience of a game that the locals like to call 'footy'. Now all us poms might have something to say about that as footy is football. NOT Aussie rules. Just had to hold our tongues as best we could, which wasn't easy.

Surprisingly though, it is a lot more than punching, chasing a ball & kicking at the biggest goal in any sport. There's 7 umpires for a start, no red cards, guaranteed brawls & no security. All the opposing fans sit together & it's really family orientated. We loved it.

The game was between Hawthorn Hawks (Arlene & Leon's team) & Richmond Tigers (Jay's team). Jay was back in the UK at this point so we sided with the Hawks......who got destroyed & looked like it was the first time they've played the game. Tigers were awesome that day & judging by the league table, that day only!!

The stadium was, of course, the World famous MCG. With 45,000 inside it looked empty. The place is huge & we defo intend to get back there at some stage. Cricket is next on the calendar, so look forward to a few slabs of beer in the baking summer sun.

So now we skip from Sunday 17th August to Saturday 23rd August. We decided to check out The Victoria Markets in the city centre. It was massive. Stall after stall of random but similar goodies. Carly picked out some work clothes as she has managed to get some work already but nothing else worth mentioning as were still very poor!!

After a neat trick by Arlene, we escaped paying for the car park as we didnt have any change for the machine, we arrived in the CBD to see the Realto Tower, or more accurately, the Melbourne Observation Deck at the top. We got free parking again 'cos the meter was smashed in. Not our doing I swear!!

After the fastest lift ride in history we were 50 plus floors up, looking down on the whole of Melbourne. Port Melbourne one way, TelstraDome another, MCG another, Crown Casino, Flinders Street station & too many other landmarks to mention. It was breath-taking.

We were all tired after our strenuous day, so we drove home & watched Alpha Dog with a few drinks. Another great day out.

The next day we went over to the local market/car boot to get some bits for lunch & see the much talked about 'British stall'. It was quality, they had Monster Munch, Branston pickle, Bisto, Walkers & loads of other stuff. We had pizzas delivered on the evening & watched a couple films, Kenny & The Man Who Sued God. A really cool weekend.

There is more to tell, but all in good time. We have been very busy so not much chance to update the blogs. We will be back in touch shortly. Until then, everyone stay well & enjoy the limited number of pics!! Oh yeah, we both have full-time jobs now, lasting right through to the New Year. Things are falling into place nicely. All our love to all!