Thirteen hours in a Boeing 777 after leaving Abu Dhabi, two dinners, one sandwich, two films (Birdman and The Theory of Everything) and all of the Eurovision 2015 songs (at least twice) later Etihad flight EY460 was in Melbourne. I even managed some decent sleep - woohoo! The flight routing took us from Abu Dhabi over Muscat in Oman, southern India passing Chennai and then after running parallel with Indonesia headed to Australia crossing the coast close to, possibly rather appropriatley, Derby from where it was still three and a half hours flying time to Melbourne. Arriving into Melbourne the flight was about 20 minutes late but being able to use the electronic customs gates I was out of arrivals and on the bus into the city having met my good friend Nigel within 30 minutes of touchdown! Travelling to Williamstown, where Nigel lives, involved using the Skybus and then the Metro changing at the very modern Southern Cross interchange. It was great to catch up with him but it was a shame that David, his partner, could not be there. It was however really nice to have a meal outdoors at an Italian restaurant on my first evening in Australia with Nigel as the weather in Melbourne was being very kind. Saturday morning enabled myself and Nigel to have a cycle around Williamstown before we caught the Metro into the city ahead of lunch with Jeff and Nadine on the wonderdul Colonial Tramcar Restaurant. Given Jeff has previously lived in Belgium meeting at the Belgian Beer Cafe was possibly an obvious choice before boarding the historic tramcar as it trundles along the streets of Melbourne. It was nice to meet Nadine for the first time and hopefully I can introduce her to Heather when she and Jeff next visit the UK. Lunch on the tramcar was very good and after a couple of hours of fine food and (included) drinks it was then time to head back to Jeff and Nadine's house at Emerald in the leafy outer suburbs of the city. A little visit was also made to the Puffing Billy Railway and Oscar's Bar in Belgrave before actually getting to their house for dinner and some more wine. I really should have been taking it easy ahead of the Great Train Race the following morning - but then again it is not every weekend you pop to the other side of the world for the weekend! Sunday morning was the day of the race itself and given Jeff and Nadine's involvement at the Puffing Billy and organisation of the race I took the time before the start to enjoy the station and to get my photo against the train I would be racing. Nearly 3,500 people lined up for the start of the 13.5 km (8.5 mile) race that started at 0930. It was a fairly tough run and I was really surprised to see people walking up the first hill less than a kilometre from the start line. I did not stop once and kept a sub ten minute a mile pace despite some challenging and long up hill sections. Completing the run in about one hour and twenty minutes I did not beat the train but I was very happy with my achievement. Travelling back to Belgrave I had the opportunity to travel in the cab of G24, a 1926 Garratt locomotive built in Manchester, England. It was a great bonus to see the line from the cab. What a fabulous way to round off the Great Train Race event. Nigel made the journey to Belgrave to have lunch after the race with Jeff and myself at a local pub/restaurant before saying goodbye to Jeff as we headed back into the city for coffee and then onto Williamstown for the evening. So with an 0530 alarm set for Monday morning it was time for bed on my last night in Australia. Nigel made sure I was on the 0634 Metro train into the city before catching the bus to Melbourne airport and my flight to Perth with Virgin Australia departing at 0915. I would like to say a big thank you to Nigel, Jeff, Nadine and the staff at the Puffing Billy Railway for hosting me in Melbourne. It was a wonderful and very memorable few days.