I eventually arrived in Southern Cross station at 6.15am. Gill had reserved a ebd for me at the hostel but we didnt know if id be able to check in so early - luckily my bed was free which meant i could get a few hours sleep before getting up again. After heading downstairs in the hostel (which claims to be the biggest in teh world) i found Holly and Oli, it was so awesome to see them again. They were really excited about seeing us too so took us on a tour of the city. They took us to a cute place for lunch they found the other day - it was a creperie on a little back streep - lunch was yummy. After further exploring the city we headed to supermarket and bought stuff for tea and some alcohol. We drank as making tea and then headed to room to get changed - Gill and i got back to our room to find everyone in bed (it was 10pm - we were not impressed!) so we headed back to Holly and Olis room and continued drinking there before heading downstairs to the hostel bar. by the end of the night we had all had a little too much too drink!

10th jan - We all woke feeling a little sorry for ourselves. Gill and i went to the shops as we had not much energy for anything else. In the evening we just hung around hostel and randomly bumped into Katie who travelled with us for 2weeks in Cambodia - it was lovely to see her again. We put a movie on in the hostel cinema and did not much else that evening.

11th jan - today was to be a productive day so we got up quite early. Our first stop was Queen Victoria Market (the largest indoor market in oz). It was indeed massive - they solde everything u could imagine. We then jumped on the free city loop tram and hopped off in Fitzroy - we walked up and down Brunswick street - a very bohemian street and had lots of little boutiques and such a mixture of people. We had lunch on a random bench and watched the goings on of Brunswick St. We headed back into city and jumped off tram at Federation Sq - it was heaving as there was some street performance competition going on. We walked along the Yarra River which was lovely and peaceful before heading across the bridge to Southbank where we grabbed a drink in a riverside bar. Mlebourne is such a beautiful city, it kind of reminds me of Manchester with all the trams. Its a lot more cultured than Sydney and a little more laid back.

After tea the four of us decieded to put our brains to good use and entered the hostel pub quiz! Believe it or not we actually won...well we came joint first and decided to split the prize with the other team - so we got a bottle of chamoers earch. the other team came over and joined us - this is how we met Bryan (and american), Stu (irish) and Priya (english). The rest of the evening was spent chatting to our new found friends.

12th jan - the hostel offers free daily tours so we decided to sign up to the neighbourhood tour - our tour guide Phil was a local and he drove us to many different suburbs. it was pretty cool seeing the real melbourne as opposed to just the central area we were staying in. The trip included a little walk along a river where we saw thousands of bats - which was kind of creepy. Teh tour concluded at an old nunnery and a small non profit organisation run cafe where you can literally pay what you want for the food. In the evening, after queing over an hour in the overly busy kitchen for a pan that actually has a handle and a space on the hob, we finally ate tea and then watched superbad in the hostel cinema.

13th Jan - Very early start this morning as we head booked ourselves on the Neighbours tour and we were being picked up at 8.30am. I was so incredibly excited - we were actually going to be on Ramsay street and we would get to meet an existing or past cast member! anyway first stop was outside Erinsborough High - really didnt look the same as the school isnt actually caleld this and signs etc are old put up during filming. We then headed to the studios where we sat outside Grease Monkeys for a burger, had our bus fixed at Carpenters Mechanics and sat at the bus stop waiting for a lift into the city! Next stop was.........RAMSAY STREET!!! First impressions were it was really small, but when you actually looked around and at each house on the street it became to look really familiar - lots of photos were taken! We then drove to St Kilda (a suburb of Mebourne) where we were to meet a neighbours star....the bus pulled up outside an old theatre and there was a man standing with his back to the bus - didnt expect this to be our star but then he turned round and waved and i screamed its Max Hoiland! hehe he waved at us and came on bus and started speaking to us. We all got off the bus and had our pic taken with him and got his autograph - one girl had her top signed and anothed guy (whose body is covered in tatoos) had his bod signed, joking he would have the signature tatooed over! Max looked alot older in real life and seemed really cool. We said our goodbyes, were dropped off back at the hostel where we packed our bags as we were going on a mini ROADTRIP to Philip Island with Holly and Oli.

We picked up the car at 3.30pm and set off - Oli drove most of the way. When we picked up the car we asked for a map but they said they didnt have any - they told us what road to get on to get to Philip Island and said as we approached it there would be signs. However, after driving for almost two hours (it was supposed to take us two hours to get there) we had yet to see a sign for Philip island and we could not see the coast! so we pulled over and asked for directions - we had gone the wrong way so we had to double back ...cutting a long story short we got to Philip island eventually. We were staying with some extended family of Olis which was great as it made this trip real cheap! Philip Islands main attraction is it is home to the smallest penguins in the world, called fairy penguins. Anyway we had a bbq with the family before driving to the penguin parade. The lady of the house, Sally works with the penguins so she managed to get us into a vip area for free! it was incredible...we took our seats about 30mins before dusk. At dusk the penguins start coming out of the water, making their way across the rocks, the beach and up passed the viewing area to their nests where their babies are waiting to be fed. They are sooooo cute, especially the babies who were just like little fluff balls. The babies are unable to identify their parents so they run at every adult penguin hoping its their mum or dad, which is soo funny to watch, we stood and watch one baby penguin run at every adult penguin for about 15mins and it still hadnt found its parents so we moved on. Teh parents identify their babies by the noise they make so its ok and the babies dont wander too far away form the nests so the parents know where to find them. the penguins were just so cute the way the waddle and the way they keep stopping for a rest. You are not allowed to take photos of the penguins but they realy were adorable. We left the penguins around 10.30 and saw a few wallabies on the way home. We also managed to get lost on the way home, suprise suprise! We chatted to Roger and Sally for a wee while before celebrating my birthday at midnight with sparklers in the garden!

14th jan - My BIRTHDAY!!!! Got up at 8.30 and Holly and Oli came in to my room with a cake and candles - and it was a chocolate cake - my fav! They also bought horn blowers, umbrellas to go in ur drink and a lovely top. I then opened Gills present which was a bag i wanted from Malaysia and a few bits and bobs and then i opened my other presents. We then headed down stairs and made pancakes for brekkie and ate those and chocolate cake! mmmmmm We left Roger and Sallys just after 10 and went to a koala sanctuary. the koalas were adorable - they just sat high up on the branches in the trees. We saw a baby one with its mum which was real cute. We walked along the boardwalks which were raised off the ground, we then did a woodland walk where we came accross a kookaburra and a wallaby - we were so excited - it stared us out for ages before hopping off. Our next stop was Nobbies rocks - they were amazing - the view from the top was incredible, again we did the little walk which took us to see a blow hole - the sea wasnt really choppy enought to see it in action though. We jumped back in car to drive back to Melbourne stopping for a few pics on the way AND a McDonalds drive thru just because we could - Oli particularly enjoyed this. And you will not be suprised to hear we got lost again - in Melbourne city centre - we knew where we had to get to just didnt know where that was in relation to where we were in the city - we phoned the car place to say we would b a little late and they werent very nice about it but in all honesty what to they expect if you dont provide them with a map! We made it in the end and it was all fine! We walked to tSt Kilda beach, had a wee paddle (yes i was on a beach on my brithday - has to be a first) and then we got the tram back into city. We had tea and then started drinking games in Holly and Olis room. We went with a few others from teh hostel including Brian, Stu and Priya to a bar called the workshop - it was real cool - the entrance was like going in a garage door so it wasnt really a mainstream bar. We wanted to go somewhere a little more lively but all the bars/clubs wouldnt let the boys in as they were wearing thongs (or should i say flip flops!). So we ended up in a bar called Fluid not far from the hostel which was ok but not exactly what i would of hoped for. Got back to hostel just after 2am.

For those of you who dont know......this was Gill and I's last night together - Gill headed off to KL to meet up with Andy for a week and on return is fast forwarding her trip so that she is home in middle of March. 9 months is too long for her to be away from home so she is doing the trip in 6months instead and i am extending mine to a year.

15th Jan - Gill woke me at 7am as she was leaving to go to the airport and we wont be seeing each other until I return to the UK :( I was still half asleep so there were no tears but it was a bit surreal. Anyway i went back to sleep and did not alot for the rest of the day - i was a little hungover, went shopping to spend some of my birthday money and all i bought was a $5 necklance! Chilled with Holly and Oli that evening.

16th Jan - Today i went on another of the hostels free trips - this time it was rock climbing. I went with a german girl called Nadia who was also at the hostel. There were 3 rock climbing walls - they werent very high - you had to make your way from left to right across the wall instead of up and down, which i have decied it much harder. the first few times i went across the wall using any colour i could but as i had more gos i started crossing just using one colour which makes it alot harder. i only manage to climb one wall - i just watched the pros on the harder walls that were at an angle instead of vertical. On the way back to the hostel we stopped off at South Melbourne market for lunch. In the evening (as it was Holly and Olis last night) we walked to Lygon St, which is a street full of italian restaurants as we fancied a pizza. All teh restaurants were quite expensive tho, then one man was trying to get us into his restaurant and i said it was too expensive...he asked us our budget and then gave us an awesome deal for any pizza/pasta and drink for $15 when the prices on the menu were between $20 and $25 per meal let alone drinks. and the food was delicious! we headed to fluid bar and met up with Brian and Stu and had a few drinks with them before calling it a night. Was sad saying bye to Holly and Oli as dont know if i'll see them again.

17th jan - today Stu and i headed down to check out the tennis action. Ont he 19th Jan the Melbourne tennis open starts, but the grounds are open free to the public today so you can go watch the players practice and there were a few qualifier games being played. We stayed for a few hours and watched the Japanese player Krumm in the qualifiers and then watched a men's qualifier game with an italian called Stoppini in it - it was such a funny game as the players were properly playing up to the umpire and getting angry on ball calls. in the evening went for drinks with Brian and Stu to meet a friend of theirs at another backpackers - was actually a really good night.

18th Jan - Didnt wake up until 12.30 which is a luxury in my room as its really hot and my roomies normally make a lot of noise in the morning so i was pleasently suprised when i woke. I spent the day in St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne by the seaside, i looked around lots of cute shops before finding a nice spot on the beach and spending the rest of the afternoon sunbathing. The beach was perfect as it wasnt too busy and wasnt too hot. Spent the evening chilling out in the hostel, packign my bags and at the pub quiz with Stu and Brian although we came second my 1point! I said my goodbyes and headed to bed as i had to be up ridiculously early!