I haven't been able to find the time this week to update my blog. Last Sunday I moved from my godmother's house to my cousins to be a bit closer to the city and get to know my family that all live close by. I am now situated just a two-minute walk from the train station and it only takes me about 20 minutes to actually get into the city by train.

I have taken advantage of this and on Monday I went into the City to the National Gallery of Victoria - International; the NGV has both international and Australian buildings. The international galleries contain both Australian and international artists and has both permanent and temporary displays. I started at the top floor - contemporary art and design - which although I have my doubts can sometimes actually be called Art, I was pleasantly surprised at the range of interesting and original ideas that were actually very clever. Not all of it I have to add, I'm not sure why scribbled blocks of colour can represent the homeland of your husband, but that's just my opinion I guess.

I stopped after two floors and had a wonderful little lunch at a 'pop-up' cafe. The bacon, egg and cheese toastie with a hot chocolate warmed me up nicely as it was a pretty miserable day. I continued on the bottom floor (missing out a few antique vases) and went to an incredible temporary display by an artist called Robin Rhodes. His passion for street art was amazing and even had an interactive room for children and adults alike to colour in the walls. My favourite piece of his work was a series of photos of him using a comb to 'colour' the walls of a building.

On Tuesday I followed my cousin's advice for a grand day out and took a tram through the city to Port Melbourne. I got off here and had a wandered down one of the piers. The colourful history of Port Melbourne was told through information boards scattered around the pier and I walked around them all admiring the stunning views across the sea. Fisherman sat with one or two rods each enjoying the sunshine work its way between the clouds. I then found a cafe with the nicest owner and had some of the best fish and chips; I had to sit for a little while afterwards I was so full! Then I walked along the boardwalk to St Kilda. A nice 4.4km walk with all sorts of people coming and going as well as an interesting array of architecture on the opposite side of the road to admire.

St Kilda was a bustling town with another pier to wander down. I took a walk down Acland Street to dribble over the magnificent cakes and treats that line some of the cafe windows. There were cute little shops to explore but I did not buy anything even though I wanted everything. The famous St Kilda Luna Park was under construction for the winter and so I could only get a few pictures of the entrance with no way of seeing the attraction inside. Having started to feel a bit tired I caught the next train back into the city before heading back home. I got back just in time to go out for Indian with some other family members.

Wednesday, I gave myself the deadline of completing my Vietnam visa paperwork and getting it to the travel agent I had used to book my flights. Unfortunately this travel agent was situated close to my godmother's house but not my new home so I had to take a train and a tram to get there taking me about two hours in total. I have been using Student Flights who have been fantastic in helping me sort everything out for my onwards trip to Vietnam but they didn't tell me quite everything about how to pay for the visa so I didn't manage to meet my deadline but I was a darn sight closer! With nothing more I could do, I took two buses to get to my godmother's for a family meal. I had pre-planned to stay the night for a day with my godmother on the Thursday.

We got up early and after dropping her son at school, continued on to Hanging Rock. The famous volcanic rock formation in the Macedon Ranges became well known after famous Australian author, Joan Lindsay, wrote Picnic at Hanging Rock in the 1960s. Set in the early 1900s it tells the story of a group of schoolgirls that go on a school trip to the Rock on St Valentines Day with two of their teachers. In a strange turn of events they return back to the school late with three pupils and one teacher having gone missing.

The book was then turned into a film that my godmother suggested I watch after reading the book. This was a trip we had been planning since I pretty much arrived in Australia. We looked around the discovery centre and then made our way up to the summit. With a walking track to follow and 20 distinct rock formations within the entire structure, that have been named, to find, we couldn't help but wander off course and explore the formation a bit closer up. The map is a bit rubbish and unfortunately half the signs with the names on seemed to be non-existent. We finally stopped for our own picnic at hanging rock with a stunning view across the Macedon Ranges. After searching for a bit longer, with no result, to find number 19, we gave up and made our way back down.

We left and drove up Mt. Macedon to Memorial Cross, a commerative stone cross the sits on a lookout site near the summit. We knew we weren't going to get much of a view though as the fog, that had encompassed the whole of Melbourne that morning, had not been able to lift completely from the top of the mountain. It was enjoyable all the same, albeit a bit eerie when you see other tourists walking towards you out of the fog. We came back down out of the fog into the sunshine and onto Gisborne to have a hot chocolate. It had been about five degrees at the top of the mountain and we needed something to warm us up. My godmother then dropped me at the train station and I came back for Thursday night.

Today has been about getting my visa completely organised and packing for my trip to Central Australia. My cousin kindly offered to drive me to the travel agent this time to save me wasting half the day on public transport which gave us more time to chat over a hot drink in a cafe round the corner.

I leave for Alice Springs tomorrow morning to begin my tour through the Red Centre and onwards down to Adelaide before making my way along the Great Ocean Road back to Melbourne. I'm so excited to finally go and see Uluru (Ayers Rock) and all the other sights the northern territory has to offer. I'm hoping I will have a chance to update you all about my travels when I get to Adelaide (If not in Alice Springs).