It's been a while since the last blog update so thought I'd add one before we depart for New Zealand next Monday. Melbourne has been good fun and it's been great staying at Benzo's and not having to share dorms/facilities with any old jonny foreigner! The weather here has been indifferent for us but generally pretty hot most days, just not Speedo weather! This is a place where you really can have 4 seasons in a day.

Christmas day here was very different to back home. We had a BBQ for Christmas lunch and sat outside in the sun all day soaking up the rays! The Aussies don't celebrate Christmas like we do though - I don't think I heard Slade's "Merry Christmas Everybody" once! Boxing day was spent at the MCG watching the South Africans beat the Australians. It was good to see Ponting get his 100 but we're glad the South Africans won - the Aussies think they're the best at everything! We also went to watch Melbourne Victory play Sydney at football, or should I say soccer?! The standard wasn't great (probably League 1 equivalent) but Melbourne ended up winning 3-2 in an entertaining game. One notable member of the Melbourne team was that likeable chap, Kevin Muscat, who used to play for Wolves/Millwall. Unfortunately nobody gave him a dose of his own medicine but I'm sure he's got it coming - NCFC fans will understand!

Our New Years Eve was spent at a house party in Fitzroy with some Irish folk who were playing hosts. It was a good night and the partying finally finished around 9am the next day. Needless to say, Jan 1 2009 was very much a non-productive day! On the subject of the Irish, I swear there are more Irish in Melbourne than there are Aussies, they're everywhere. Not a problem though as all the Irish we've met are "Gas!"

After New Years Eve, we went on a road trip for a couple of days to a place called Sorrento, which is about 150 Km south of Melbourne. We swam with seals and dolphins whilst there which was good, although we didn't see Flipper!

We've also been on a wine tour round the Yarra Valley which was superb. We visited 4 different winneries and tasted over 50 different wines, including several types of champagne. We were taught how to taste wine and are now officially wine connoisseurs! There's a wine tour that we're going to do in New Zealand which should also be interesting, particularly as you do the tour by bike!

Earlier this week we went to a "Neighbours Night" at one of the local bars. The night was a massive disappointment and the only character we saw from our era and recognised was Amy - she used to go out with Lance who was a complete dork! We expected to see Carl Kennedy and his band and also some older characters... Mrs Mangel, Des, even Bouncer, but unfortunately no luck.

The last couple of days we hired a car and drove the Great Ocean Road which was really good and helped by the scorchio weather (38'). We stopped off at several places along the route and saw the 12 Apostles (although there are only 6 now) and the London Bridge. We stopped the night in a shoddy hostel in Warrnambool and then drove to Halls Gap in the Grampians the following day. There we did a huge walk that felt like 20 miles and then went to Mckenzie Falls which was pretty impressive and swam under the waterfall, despite the numerous "NO SWIMMING" signs!

We're playing lawn bowls again tonight and Benzo has a house party on Saturday for his 30th which should be good, especially if the last one was anything to go by! It'll then be a case of saying our goodbyes here and heading for New Zealand on Monday which we're both really looking forward to. However, given the latest news at Carrow Rd I may have to cut my trip short if my application for the vacant managers role is successful!

Will be in touch again soon to update y'all on our activities.

Chow for now,

Dan