So here we are, having said our goodbye's to Kirstin, Ryan and little monkey Erin, we are now mid-air at 7162m above Dandenong (according to the in-flight tracker) and 2539km from Auckland. We had time for a little coffee with Kirstin before a quick look in the Aussie souvenir shop and making our way to the gate ready to board. I'm already planning my next trip to Melbourne to see all the sights (and shopping malls) we missed! For now, I'm going in search of ...

Last day in Melbourne (noooooo!!!) We headed off to the Yarra Valley to Chandon with Kirstin, Chris and Erin. After a little wine tasting (mmmmmm) we had a wonderful lunch and the most delicious chocolate dessert with salted caramel - YUMMO!! On our return home we had a visit from Erin's "Nanny" - Ryan's Mum, with her adorable puppy (Daddy - I want a little puppy when I get home ;p). It's now time for Mum & I to try and get all our shopping into our case...

So, I'll start off where I left off yesterday... Last night we had a lovely dinner with our lovely former neighbours Karina & Cam. Two of their three adorable kiddies Jas & Mitch waited up for our arrival to say hello, and I even got a big cuddle from Mitch before he went off to bed (miss those gorgeous kids!). We had such a lovely catch up over delicious food. Today we headed off to Harmoni, the salon owned by Ryan's sister Cara. We were treated to a m...

Time for a two-day update. Yesterday was a quiet day, packing up our things at the Crown Promenade (yip, some serious re-packing required to fit in all our shopping!) We then met Auntie Kath for one last lovely glass of champers. This was followed by being treated to a second massage at Isika Day Spa... LOVELY!!! We then said our goodbyes to Auntie Kath and Uncle Pat before Ryan picked us up. We arrived at Kirstin & Ryan's in Berwick to find little Erin s...

So today we had only one thing on our mind..... any guesses??? SHOPPING... of course!! We headed back to Chadstone Shopping Centre (for future reference - if you visit Chadstone, a map, compass and spare credit cards are essential!) where we started with a caffeine fix to really get us in the shopping mood. After some serious girl talk with my Mum and Auntie, we went off in search of the first of our purchases. Following a good couple of hours browsing the sh...