April 11After a decent lie in, we headed off to the local travel agents - Peterpans in St Kilda where we hoped to sort out the next few week in OZ. We had only expected this to take an hour maybe 2, upon which we would go and walk to the beach to visit one of the many cafes Dan and Dawn had told us about.However, 5 hours later, bleary eyed we left the travel agents with our wallets much lighter! But we have now booked all our nights accommodation, planes, trains, automobiles, outback tour, island hopping and liveaboard diving course and the majority of meals for the next 4 weeks left in OZ. Sorted!
Pizza and beer for the rest of the evening at Dan and Dawns with plenty of chatting!
April 12We caught a couple of trains to Mooroolbark station. We met up with Pauline and her husband, Gerald. (Pauline was one of the people on our trip to India, and shared the boat we were on down the Ganges.)First off they took us to the Domaine Chandon Vineyard, in the Yarra Valley. A beautiful setting and the sun was shining! We had a very pleasant early afternoon sampling sparkling wines, sipping our way through a couple of bottles of Cuvee Riche and a cheese platter. On leaving we decided to buy ourselves a couple of bottle of sparkly stuff to thank Dan and Dawn for letting us stay at theirs.We then went up Mount Dandenong for a spectacular view across Melbourne all the way to the coast. However, to stop big bush fires they have been back burning the undergrowth and had created a massive blanket of smoke which in the still air, managed to completely block out any view - Oh well better luck next time!
We then headed down back into Melbourne town and met up with Matt and Ange (also from the India trip). We walked along a road which must have a good 60 restaurants on it foods from all corners of the world, but mostly Italian. We settled for a small Italian on a side street.We said our goodbyes to Pauline and Gerald and us "younger people" (well kind of!) found our way to an Irish bar to chat away the evening. Come 11.30 it was time for us to make our way across Melbourne where Ange stuck us on a number 16 Tram - adament it was the right one! Along with a few other drunk people we travelled across Melbourne, however, none of the tram stops had signs to tell you which stop it is. We knew the tram journey was about 40 mins long and were really hoping we would spot somewhere we knew from the 2 days we've been here. To our relief we passed a BP garage which we recognised and quickly hopped off at the next stop. If it hadn't been for that great petrol station I think we would have ended up at the end of the line with a long walk home! Ange was right after all (sorry Matt!) and we arrived home safe and sound.
April 13Had a bit of a lazy morning. Around midday we walked into St Kilda (in the sunshine). We got to the sea and walked along the seafront. Stopping off at a beachside cafe for a spot of lunch and glass of wine in the sun - nice!We popped into some of the shops on the way home, being very restrained and not actually buying anything.
Dan cooked us dinner and we enjoyed a bottle of Bubbly with it. We met up with a couple of Dan and Dawns friends and headed on the train into Melbourne for the Comedy Festival. We had a quick drink before going into the show. We were on the top floor of the town hall in the "wee room" it held about 30 people. We watched a young Aussie guy called Tom Dassalo. Thank goodness he is young as he needs a few more years experience to become funny! We did learn a couple of new words though - some of which we cannot repeat on this blog! Dan said he's only 20 so how far can his worldly knowledge stretch - think he's trying to stick up for the poor lad! We went to a Jazz bar after the town hall and enjoyed a few more drinks and chats. We got the tram home - this time we had Dan and Dawn with us so we were safe.
April 14Dan cooked his special beans and bacon for James' breakfast.We went on the train into the city and met up with Matt and his mate, Andrew. We had a couple of drinks in a local pub. Then walked over to the MCG stadium ready for the footie match. Matt is an Essendon supporter and they were playing Carlton, a bit of a grudge match as these 2 teams were at the bottom of the league last season. Bit different to English footie league as the same 16 teams stay in the premiership and there is no relegation - boo!!
April 15As rent to stay with Dan and Dawn, it had been pre-agreed in Thailand that James would make and fit a shelf in their store cupboard. So we headed to the local B&Q (or Bunnings as they call it here) to get the necessary equipment. Along with a few other things, including 96 litres of water!We met Dawn at their facourite place to eat in Balaclava and had Folafel pitta - out of this world!For the afternoons activity Dan and Dawn took us into the city to show around. They took us through the market along the river and up lots of side streets with cafes. We went up this network of alleys which had become sort of allowed area for grafetti art - some of it was really good.
April 16Today was a pretty lazy day as we just chilled out at the flat.Tracey ventured into Balaclava to get ther hair cut and get some fish (for dinner) But it seemed Mondays are when everyone else chills out too as half of the shops were shut, so no haircut and no fish!!Managed to figure out what else to cook that was veggie, so the day was saved.A nice evening in with a bottle of wine and watching the comedy gala on the TV.
April 17Trace had her hair cut in the morning. We then got on the Tram into the city.We headed for the tallest building in Melbourne - the Rialto. Where they have a 360 degree observation deck. Unlike the Petronas towers, we have to pay for the priviledge of going up 55 stories! There were some amazing views over Melbourne though. Quite a few of the buildings have tennis courts on the roofs. We had a hot chocolate and beer in the cafe whilst admiring the views.We walked around by the river and caught a train to Prahran. We spent the next 2 hours wandering up and down the high street perusing the vast array of little designer shops and boutiques. However, all we managed to pick up was a couple of pairs of pants and socks for James - cos goodness knows where they go!A quick sprint meant we just caught the train back to Dan and Dawns place. Where we chilled before catching the train back in the city to meet Ange and Matt. They took us for an Italian and 2 for 1 cocktails. Trace had a Chicken Parma. Followed by a drink in the sports bar with horrific karoke. We made a quick exit for the casino, and the roulette table. James and I decided to make these interesting by taking $20 each and seeing who could come out with the most money - if any. We both decided on the roulette table, it was a close competition for a while with both of us being up on chips ($2.50 each chip) however the final outcome was Tracey victoriously had doubled her money and James had broken even. But all in all a successful piece of fun.To finish the evening off we took a stroll along the river bank where they have a line of large steel sculptures from which they blast large flames every 30 minutes or so. we were lucky to be there just at the right time. You could feel the heat from quite a way away.We said our farewells to Matt and Ange - quite sad as don't know when we'll see them again.On the way back to the train station I needed the loo so stopped off at one of those automatic dalek-looking public toilets. This was an experience in itself!! I pressed a botton on the wall and magically with a click and a whirr a toilet seat appeared out of a letter box above the loo - bizarre!
April 18Another quite lazy day and our last day in Melbourne. Sat in the sunshine reading.We walked into Balaclava to get some stuff for Dan. I cut James' hair in the afternoon.Dan cooked us dinner, we had a few drinks as Dan wanted us to drink the remaining alcohol as we were getting up early in the morning!
Love to ya's - and can't wait to hear about all these booked trips!
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