G'day folks from Melbourne, Australia! I can't quite believe it but I have made it Downunder, and it feels surprisingly familiar here - it's just like Neighbours!

Auckland Airport feels a million miles away now, but after an ungodly start at 2:30am, I caught a bus to the airport and my low-frills flight was surprisingly smooth. I even managed to get a seat with extra leg-room, on the agreement that I would open the escape door in an emergency and be the first to bounce down the yellow inflatable slide - of course I would! It was cloudy most of the way but cleared as we reached Melbourne and I was very excited at the sight of skyscrapers rising up out of a sprawling city - wow, my first proper city for 6 months! And Melbourne certainly has lived up to everything that my cousin Louise raved about - I love it here!

I am very lucky to have somewhere to stay - with Bob & Anita, some family friends who live in a suburb called Box Hill. So each day I have been catching a tram into Flinders Station and exploring far and wide, I love the hustle and bustle of the city. Melbourne is so multicultural it is incredible, and instead of endless sight-seeing, I have been soaking up the culture. I can't get over how just many cafes and restaurants there are - I have never seen so much food in my life! There are cafes full of every type of cuisine imaginable, and everywhere I look there are people slurping on sushi, noodles, curry, pizza, muffins, rolls, smoothies (and good old McD of course). And the foodcourts everywhere too - they are just fascinating! One lunchtime Anita took me to try dumplings - I was rather embarrassed that I hadn't tried what is clearly a staple food here - but they were great! On Friday, I met Anita at the Queen Victoria Markets - a Melbourne institution, and wow I have never been to a market like it. There were rows and rows of huge, open-sides sheds and halls full of everything imaginable. I spent ages gazing at the food - loads of Vietnamese, Greek and Italian, as well as a massive deli, patisserie, rows of colourful fruit and veg piled high, and stalls of fresh pasta, olives, fish - I was bewildered by it all! I tried a boret (a Turkish pastry) and French pudding - yum!

And of course the coffee - Aussies clearly take their coffee as seriously as Kiwis do. One morning I did a brilliant walk that followed the narrow lanes, alleyways, historic and boutique arcades, and took me to the heart of the Melbourne cafe culture. I was fascinated by the alleyways - they were so narrow and dark but lined with tiny cafes and sushi bars with their umbrellas up, and people perched on stools right on the pavement. The street art was part of the atmosphere too - graffiti covered the high buildings on either side. One in particular, called Degraves Street was clearly THE place to get lunch, it was so hidden away and so narrow but crammed with people. After much deliberating I went for it - I darted into a cafe and ordered a flat white (I was relieved to have the right lingo from NZ), perched on a stool on the pavement and watched the world go by. It was probably the most interesting 30 minutes of my travels so far - I was buzzing - this was Melbourne!

Besides the cafes, Melbourne is surrounded by beautiful parks and the Yarra River. I did a great walk one day from Federation Square - the centre of the CBD, over to Southgate (similar to London's South Bank), and west along the riverbank, past the Melbourne Entertainment Complex (a mini Las Vegas - very exciting despite feeling totally out of place) and over to Docklands - a new development area jammed with waterfront appartments, some great public art work and massive shopping complexes. I met Anita for a great boat trip east down the river and past the many sports stadiums, and explored the Botanic Gardens one afternoon too, getting my first taste of Australian flora and fauna - so different to NZ. I walked miles in the boiling sun - it has been 27 degrees the past few days - crazy!

I must mention last night as well, where I got another hit of Aussie culture - I went to an AFL (Australian Rules Football League) game with Anita at the 100,000 seater MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground - the pinnacle of Melbourne sporting culture. We saw Melbourne beat the Brisbane Lions 103 points to 51. The game was absolutely bizarre, I laughed and laughed! For a start, the pitch was a circle, there were 4 goalposts at either end, 8 referees on the pitch (who I initially thought were another team), plus there were seagulls all over the pitch and encircling the floodlights around the stadium - they were as entertaining as the players on the pitch! The scoring system was easy to pick up but the play just so messy, it was a mixture of rugby, football and basketball - no joke, and random people were running all over the place during play giving out water and instructions - what?! The atmosphere was immense though - noise echoed around the staduim and we cheered at every goal. It was such a funny experience and definitely my best sports experience on my travels so far. I can only conclude though that the beautiful game is yet to be beaten - the English Premier League...ahhh...., oh and League One too :)

Finally, I must update you on some amusing Aussie lingo. Kiwis call cornetto ice creams 'trumpets', but Aussies call them 'drumsticks' - classic! Also a newsagents is a 'milk bar' (again it beats the Kiwi 'dairy'), sweets are 'lollies', and the grass outside a house is called a 'nature strip'! I have plenty more to bring you soon, bye for now!

Grace xx