The journey from Christchurch to Melbourne was a nightmare one: we had a transfer in Sydney and our first plane was delayed by so long that we had just 45 minutes to go through customs, quarantine and immigration, collect our bags, check in for the next flight and get to the boarding gate. We made it - just. We needn't have bothered rushing; we probably would have been quicker catching a later flight. Our second plane ran into some thunderstorms meaning that we had to spend a long time circling bumpily in the air before it was deemed safe to descend. The same thunderstorms had caused utter chaos at Melbourne airport and we were stuck on the tarmac for over three hours before the pilot was given a parking space and we could disembark. Our bags then took a further two hours to reach baggage collect. It was 11pm by this time (2am New Zealand time!) and we had just missed the last door-to-door airport shuttle so had to settle for getting a packed shuttle that stopped miles from our hostel, and a cab. We were so thankful when we reached our teeny creaky bunk bed and could relax.

The next day we woke up to a grey sky and rain. The day after that we woke up to rain as well. And again the next day. We have been told that this is unusual for Melbourne. Even so, it's still depressing after the perpetually clear skies we had in New Zealand. Melbourne itself seems like a cool place though. There are trams and old buildings everywhere, entire streets set aside for arty graffiti, hundreds of coffee shops and what seems like thousands and thousands of shops. It is killing me not to go out and buy lots of new shiny things. Okay, well I shopped a little bit but only bought one swimsuit and a top and a dress and a bag, and they were all in the sale, which doesn't really count. Jak is having to hold me back :-(

What we have bought though is a hop on and off Greyhound buss pass that will take us all the way up to Cairns. This was only $363, or about £240, which seems very reasonable considering the distance we'll be covering. We've pencilled in the stops we think we will making but have left it flexible so we can change our minds and decide how long we want to stay in places as we go. Lots of travellers have warned us that Australia is expensive and if this turns out to be the case we may exit sooner rather than later. So far it doesn't seem too bad for day-to-day costs but accommodation looks pricey: about the same for a dorm bed each as we've been paying for private rooms in New Zealand and America.

So, what have we been up to over the last few days? Well we rode the free tram around central Melbourne, jumping off every now and then, to get a feel for the city first of all. Since then we've been shopping, abused the free internet at the huge public library, watched the Aussie Football League final on a big screen in Federation Square (if you've never seen Aussie Rules football before, watch a game on YouTube - it's crazy), went to the historic Queen Victoria Market (over 1,000 stalls!) and watched England play Scotland in the rugby world cup. Today we jumped on a tram to St. Kilda, where we ate fish and chips on the beach and are now lounging on a patch of grass watching the world go by. Thankfully it has stopped raining and it even looks like the sun might be trying to come out...