TUESDAY An early start was not the best recovery remedy after Neighbours Night, but we managed to prise ourselves from our beds in time to make the checkout deadline of 10am! We were going back to Rosie's house that evening but our train was not until 5ish so we went out in search of brekkie. I had decided on eggs, so I bought two free range eggs, an orange, and a courgette, and Kim settled for half a watermelon. We ate back at the hostel, taking our time and savouring the fresh produce from the market, picking up a few useful hints and tips from some fellow 'breakfasting' backpackers. It was only when it got to around midday that we decided to make use of what was to be our last full day in the city, heading once again to the market, as there were still the clothes and bric-a-brac sections to get to grips with. A good two hours of window-shopping later, we had exhausted the markets endless avenues, so we went to the National Museum in Federation Square to catch the free, newly opened Aboriginal art exhibition. It was an interesting, eye-opening exhibition which explained the roots of Aboriginal art and how it became the popular sort of 'modern art' it is today. There were also some paintings depicting the arrival of the European settlers to Australia and the oppression of the Aboriginal people as a result. After seeing the exhibition it was time to get back for our train, so we got back to the hostel, picked up our bags, bought our tickets, and settled down on the train for our journey to Belgrave, 20 stops away at the end of the line. We arrived in Belgrave an hour later, where we were picked up by Rosie and taken back to her house for the second part of our stay with her. One of Rosie's 'famous' roast dinners was on the agenda for tonight so I was highly excited by dinnertime! Alex also managed to make it over for dinner as well, which was apparently a rare occurrence since he started living in the city, so I was honoured by his presence. It was also lovely to meet his (relatively new?) girlfriend, Courtney, who was really friendly and easygoing. The roast dinner lived up to its reputation, and we gorged ourselves on roast lamb, roast beef, and various roasted veggies like potatoes, pumpkin, and sweet potato. Dessert was a delicious apple and rhubarb pie with ice cream and cream, followed by cheese just for good measure. Suffice to say I was with Rosie when she suggested we leave the washing up until the morning...! WEDNESDAY We woke up semi-early this morning as it was our last day with Rosie and there were a few dishes to attend to! With chores and breakfast aside, we sped off in the direction of the 'Healsville Sanctuary' via a post office, where I bought an Australian sim card for my phone. We arrived at the Healsville Sanctuary which is basically a conservation area for all types of animals native to Australia, and we saw koalas, kangaroos, lizards of all shapes and sizes, Aussie pelicans, platypus, wombats, Tasmanian Devils, and a spectacular 'Birds of Prey' show. (Oh, that reminds me - there is a photo on my photo website which may be hard to decipher, but it is actually of a 'raptor bird' flying really, really close to the camera, honest!) Anyway, we were due at Olivia's school that afternoon to pick her up so we left the sanctuary at about 3pm, and I drove back to Ringwood, where we collected Olivia. I was given a brief tour of 'Tintern High School', and we set off again in the direction of home. We stopped via a petrol station, a supermarket, and a log store, and finally got back to the house where we had warming tea and 'dunkable' shortbread biscuits to keep us going till dinner time. For our last home-cooked dinner for two months, we had Blue Grenadier fish which was beautiful, with baked pumpkin, aubergine, courgette, and peppers, rounded off by a hearty helping of raspberry cheesecake. After dinner entertainment included watching the 'State of Origin' rugby league game and the DVD's of my bungy jump and my sky dive. So... quite a lot to take in but hey - I hope it made for some interesting reading! I'm off to bed now as we have an early start in the morning to make sure we get back in time for our Philip Island tour tomorrow! Off to see some penguins which should be cool so I'll leave you lil' people now with thoughts of good food, national parks, and cute n' cuddly koalas... Spk soon Tom xx