So we arrived in Melbourne after what can only be described as a horrific overnight bus journey extremely tired and a little fed up. We realised when we got off the bus that we didnt actually know exactly where our hostel was or how we were supposed to get there ( you would never know we had been at this travelling business for months now). All we knew that was the hostels name and that it was in an area called St Kilda. After a lot of grumbling a not so friendly taxi driver did by some miracle manage to deliver us to the correct address. We arrived at the hostel to find out that we wouldnt be able to get into our room for hours. We werent exactly thrilled. After a few hours of attempting to sleep on the sofas in the reception we were finally let in however and were very happy to find out that the hostel we were in was genuinely lovely, clean and quiet. After a very early night and lots of sleep we were refreshed and very excited to explore melbourne.

so the next day we headed to the reception to ask some advice on how to get into town and to pick up a map ( we now try to be sensible and never leave home without one). we were advised that it simply couldnt be easier and all we had to do was pop outside the hostel and jump on the first tram that came which would take around 15 mins. easy. so off we went and thankfully a tram appeared within minutes. on we got and we even managed to successfully purchase a ticket each from the slightly confusing machine that was on board, no problems. after about 40 mins of sitting and chatting on the tram we both checked the time and were slightly concerned that perhaps we had missed our stop or more likely the hostel had lied to us about how far out of town we were. guessing it was probably the latter we returned to gossiping happily not thinking anymore of the situation. it was not until the tram actually stopped, the drive got off and so did all the passengers that we became slightly alarmed. it was then that we asked the new driver of the tram how long it would be until we got into town. his response was "do you mean melbourne town?" we looked at each other blankly, was that not slightly obvious? well apparently not as we had actually climbed on a tram that was going an hour outside of st kilda which was itself 15 mins outside of central melbourne. we truly are geniuses. after much confusion and a lot of laughing at our own stupidity we eventually made it into the centre of melbourn and got off the tram in federation square a beautifully modern area of the city with trendy bits of art and coffee shops. we then spent the rest of the day wandering around the centre and getting a feel for what we wanted to do and see while we were there with obviously a little shopping thrown in for good measure. we even went to the information centre like proper tourists and after sian had bluntly said " what do we do here" the lady very helpfully circled lots for us on her trusty take away map. even in such a short time we had decided we wanted to live here even more than sydney and were extremely over excited about the prospect of a whole week here to explore.

the next day we managed to get the tram in the right direction and made it into town without an extra hour de-tour and were extremely happy with ourselves. we piled onto a free shuttle tourist bus to hopefully painlessly take us around the city. it was literally rammed with members of 'the sheila club' (which appears to be like the WI) who were clearly having an annual trip to the city and kept us amused all the way to the second stop which was the sports area of the city. here we looked around the cricket ground, the tennis ground (home of the australian open) and saw the old olympic park (who knew melbourne had hosted the olympics?) and a couple of footy (aussie rules) grounds. it was here that we came across the 'victorian centre for sport'. it had been bothering me for the whole day that everywhere we went the victorian era seemed to be massive, it was victorian this and victorian that, but really an institute of sport? was sport that big in victorian times?. so i turned to jenkins (who i thought may have some insight into this) and asked her. unfortunately we both couldnt understand it. it wasnt until some time later that we actually realised that melbourne is in victoria, its a state, like saying the yorkshire centre for sport. god we can be stupid! we then decided to walk back from the sports area ( for two reasons, it was busy and actually we didnt know where we were or how to catch a bus back into town) and ended up walking down beside the gorgeous yarra river in the sunshine through a lovely purpose bult park. the lovely tourist lady had also told us that the national gallery of victoria had free entry. well we dont like art ( slight sweeping statement) but hey its free so off we went. we didnt exactly last that long, im not sure why but neither of us seem to be able to do anything in galleries other than semi run through the rooms making "ooo" and "ahh" sounds when we think its appropriate, we werent exacrtly inspired by the modern art that was simply a chair or the fashion design that looked like a sheet that had been attacked so we left but felt very cultured for even trying.

we have been attempting to budget and budget hard in melbourne (which obviously failed) so we did a massive aldi shop and planned eating in every night. tonight was like every other with a simple meal accompanied by some vino tinto and chocolate for dessert. the only thing that really changes is wether or not the main course is pasta and sauce or jackept potato. so we ate a nice ( well not exactly meal) and headed to bed early as saturday was to be the first installment of neighbours goodness!!

so we awoke ready for the neighbours tour. we both agonised on what to wear though im not really sure why as it was really quite freezing outside and all the pretty little outfits we thought of we totally inappropriate. it was also rather silly as we were simply going to do a tour of sets but hey we LOVE neighbours. we arrived over early to where we thought the tour began and decided we could order some lunch before hand. however this took a lot longer than we thought it would which resulted in us running down the street attempting to eat a pannini and nearly missing the bus. THANKGOD we didnt in fact we were much earlier than a few stragglers. so we all piled on the little white bus plastered in the neighbours writing and off we went to ramsay street! we had an amazing few hours of visiting the sets of lassiters, the gernal store, charlies and of course the street itself. we took a million photos and squealed at everything we saw. at the end of the tour we even got to meet an ex-star, nell something who played janel and we were star struck. awesome day all around. it should have ended there but instead we decided to meet my cousin for a few drinks and bought 4 and a half litres of wine for a few pre drinks. lets just say the end of the evening saw adam attempting to put us in a taxi and the next day was the first time in three and a half months that we didnt phsyically leave the hostel. sore heads indeed.

in the day on monday we went to visit the old melbourne gaol. such a touristy thing to do but it was actually really intresting learning about all australias criminals and the justice system and lots of fun when a sergeant pretends that you have been arrested and locks you up in real life old cells.monday was also neighbours night. quite possibly the best night of our lives ever! we arrived at bang on half 6 for exactly when the doors open, a little keen but we needed good seats. the first half of the evening was a quiz night which was general knowledge with a few neighbours questions thrown in. we thought we were awesome but actually did appalingly. throughout the quiz the neighbours stars walked around the room taking photos. dr karl, declan and irish connor all let us hug and kiss them and take as many photos with them as we liked! we also now have the biggest crush on declan who is actually 22 so its absolutely fine!!! after lots of mini competitions and dancing around the quiz was over and it was the time for the main event. dr karl and his band 'the waiting room'. we pushed our way to the front and behaved like totally crazed groupies as he sang along and wooed the crowd. he was IMMENSE. you would honestly have thought that we were watching some world famous band not a middle aged actor who sings songs about his on screen wife susan but we loved it so its fine.

on tuesday we went to visit the queen victoria markets which were lovely and full of fresh fruit, veg meat and fish. it was no borough market eleanor but it was lovely all the same and we had a really relaxed day wandering around there and having a lovely little bakery lunch outside of one of the stalls. on wednesday, our last proper day in melbourne, we headed into st kilda the area in which we were saying but hadnt really seen much of. its the old red light district of melbourne but has now become quite trendy and is quite cool and kooky with little old streets, cafes and boutiques. it also has a gorgeous beach that we walked along for ages in the lovely sunshine. that evening we also met up with my cousin again for a gorgeous ( and cheap) pizza meal in a lovely little restaurant in st kilda. the evening was spent passing travelling stories and talking about the family until we eventually had to go back to the hostel and pack our stuff up for the next day when were leaving.

the next day we took our second australian over night bus to rainy adelaide which iswhere i leave you now... SH