We flew out of Bangkok on Thursday 25th January, and after a short stop at Singapore Airport, we landed in Cairns, Australia on the Friday morning. After a quick look around, we quickly realised we had made the right decision to start our trip from Melbourne (Cairns was extremely hot and muggy and pretty much deserted!), so we booked a flight for the following morning. Finding accommodation for our first night in Melbourne however, was a challenge - everywhere was booked! After a couple of hours ringing around, we finally found a dorm room at the Exford Hotel in central Melbourne. We stayed friday night in the Cairns Beach House Hostel (which for our first experience of a hostel, wasn't too bad!) and flew down the next morning.

When we arrived, we jumped on the Airport Shuttle bus, which took us directly to our hostel. First impressions weren't bad, it seemed clean enough! We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Melbourne, visiting Federation Square and eating at Bridie O'Reillys (good ol' Irish pub!) in the evening. It was an early night that night as we were shattered from all the flying, and needed a good nights sleep...

Oh dear, oh dear. Not the best nights sleep we have ever had...the beds were infested with bed bugs!! Ewww! And the bunk beds felt like they were going to fall apart if you moved! So we booked to stay in a place called Lord's Lodge, in Prahran just outside the city centre for a few nights starting tomorrow. We left the hostel early, and walked to the Melbourne Museum. It was very interesting and we spent a lot of time looking at all the wierd bugs they have here. We then headed to the Queen Victoria Market, which has hundreds of stalls selling everything you can think of! We visited the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, where you can play on computer games designed by the students who study at Melbourne University. For dinner, we went in search of the Vege Bar on Brunswick Street (recommended in our guide book), and had one of the nicest meals ever!! It was a busy day and we headed back to the hostel to endure one more night with the dreaded bed bugs...

Arrived at Lord's Lodge (after a much longer walk than anticipated!) late the next morning, and were relieved to find no bed bugs there!! The hostel was an old converted house, and completely reminded us of our student days so we felt right at home! A 10 minute walk from the hostel was Chapel Street, fantastic for shopping, and thats where we spent the afternoon, before heading back to the hostel to chill out.

The following day, we walked into Melbourne to visit the Aquarium, which was really good (if not a bit pricey!). Not much you can say about an Aquarium, but check out the photos! It did have quite a good simulator ride though! Wednesday we walked to St Kilda, a small town south of Melbourne, right on the beach. Unfortunately, it was a bit too cloudy to sunbathe, so we did some window shopping along Acland Street and had a cup of tea and cake in one of the many famous continental cake shops found there. We went to the cinema in the evening to see Pan's Labrinth, which was a bit strange, but still a good film!

Theres not really much to write about the next few days as they were mainly spent car hunting! It proved to be a lot more difficult than we thought to find a safe and reliable car to take us up the coast. So the weekend was spent trawling the hostel notice boards for cars for sale - however, we did find time to relax in Flagstaff Gardens, one of the many lovely parks in Melbourne and visit the St Kilda Arts and Crafts fair.

Only one thing to write about Monday...we headed into St Kilda in the evening to the Elephant and Wheelbarrow pub to the official Neighbours Night!!! We met Paul Robinson, Sky, and Toadie! They were all very friendly, but really short! Later in the evening, Dr Karl Kennedy's band, Waiting Room, played a gig, and they were surprisingly good! They played some classic Ocean/Walkabout tunes!! We really enjoyed ourselves, it was definately a highlight of Melbourne.

Tuesday was the day we finally found a car. We bought a Ford Falcon Station Wagon from a rent-a-car dealer for $3000 (thats about 1200 pounds). The car came with a Victoria Roadworthy certificate (the Oz version of an MOT) and out of all the cars we viewed, appeared to be in the best condition. However, she is an old car, creaks a bit when we drive her and likes to go nice and slow (about 40 mph!)....hence her new name, Alma. We spent the next couple of days looking in charity and camping shops for all the gear for our road trip, and on Thursday morning we headed out onto the open road....

Overall, our time in Melbourne was fantastic. The city has so much to do, all within walking distance and the shopping is great! Prahran and St Kilda both have a really good vibe about them, and we were very tempted to stay a bit longer! However, with so much more of the East Coast to see, it was time to leave with the intention of getting to Sydney in a few weeks.

Next stop....the Mornington Penisula National Park...

Love Rach and Dave xxx