Day 6

We checked out of our hotel and we had no where to stay that evening, we were homeless. We headed towards the Tourist Information to use the Internet and find somewhere to stay. We found Sodens Hotel in Albury for 1 night, phew!

We were sent all over Melbourne to sort out our East Coast Discovery Pass (our transport) and we eventually found it; but we were beginning to worry. Thankfully we booked the last train of the day to Albury. The train system is very different in Australia than the UK, it is more like an airport, as we were able to drop off our rucksacks and they would put them on the train and we would pick them up from our destination.

We wanted to go to St Kilda beach but the weather wasn't great so we headed to the famous Queen Victoria Market. There were lots of different areas, some for tourists to buy 'tat' but mainly for the locals to buy local fresh produce. Al particularly enjoyed the free range chickens in the cages as they were 'clucking' although Lorna thought it wasn't quite right. We picked up some lunch too, our parents will be pleased to know we are eating healthy....we ate a carrot, ha.

We went to the Docklands to chill out for a bit and we also view the Telstra Dome, home of Ozzy rules footie. Then watched street chess in the CBD. Lorna also found time to window shop around Myer, and Al got told off for taking photos of Lorna looking at Fridge Freezers.

We boarded our train at 1930 to Albury, what was on our arrival was the biggest surprise we've had.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we decided immediately that we were ripped off. $50 for the night was far too expensive, even if they were paying us, as hillbillies would not have stayed here! In our room the following things happened;

• The heater didn't work and had a sanitary paper bag sign saying 'Not Working'.
• The TV was from the 19th century.
  
• The bed was broken at the bottom and the mattress had no springs and sunk in the middle.
• There was pubic hair in the bed.
• The room was cold and Lorna slept in her fleece.
• We were woken up all night by a bunch of rugby lads...drunk.
• We were unsure to shower due to whether the water would come out brown like in the Goonies...but we were safe here.
• The wash basin tap made a horrendous noise that we thought it was going to explode.
• Breakfast - the tinned peaches were brown, Al ate them. Lorna checked the water urn for limescale, but it was ok, but the plate was dirty.

So needless to say we left swiftly. One bonus of the area was that we got free internet at a local cafe.

We then boarded our train and connecting coach to Canberra. Once there we chilled out.