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It was a sweaty, tense journey from Frankston up to the northern suburbs of Melbourne at least for Patrik who was driving. I thought it went really well but I guess I was just sitting in the passenger seat. We did get to the caravan park without any problems or wrong turns. When we got there and started to look at what we wanted to do in Melbourne, we realized that the 3 nights we had booked would not be enough. We went to book 3 more nights straight away and that wasn't a problem we would just have to move half way through to another sight. We didn't go anywhere the first afternoon after we had set up, we just went for a walk around the caravan park and for a swim in the pools. They had a heated pool which was very nice which even had a Jacuzzi function.
On the first day of sightseeing we went to the Sealife Aquarium. It is a really beautiful place with, among many other sea animals, a huge salt water crocodile and penguins. Max and Elise loved it! The rest of the day we just walked around looking at the city and we ended up in the Docklands where we had dinner. On our way home that day, Max said: "It has been a wonderful day"!
Eureka skydeck was our first stop on the second day. We went up to the 88th floor and had a look at the view of Melbourne. A little hazy but we could see most things. Then we went to the outlet shops at DFO Southwharf but we didn't find anything and the kids were not really into the shopping. We went to the library at Dockland as some random guy we met on the street had recommended for the kids. They enjoyed reading some books and building with blocks and then it was time for dinner. We went back into the city center and had dinner at Vapiano.
As we had to move sight at the caravan park on the third day, we took a half day of from sightseeing and stayed at the caravan park until after lunch. We went for a swim in the pool before lunch as well. After lunch we went to Smith Street in Collingwood to see if we could find any good outlet stores but we didn't. We realized later that we had turned off from Smith Street just a little too early. We walked to Smith Street from Brunswick Street via Gertrude Street. I really liked Gertrude Street, nice little shops and cafes. We stopped and had really nice cake at one of the cafes. I'm sure they were healthy too.
We got off to a late start on the Friday when we were going to St Kilda. So Max and Elise were both tired, hot and hungry when we were on the last leg of the tram ride down there. They were both upset and crying. We went to one of the closest restaurants to the tram stop and had quite a nice meal once everyone had gotten over their tantrums. Then we went to the beach for a swim and a play in the sand. They had promised rain late in the afternoon but it was really nice and sunny when we were on the beach and the water was really nice. It was great to cool off after the hot tram ride. Elise had a little sleep on the way to the beach but woke up to join us for a swim. After our swim we went up to one of the cafes to have a snack. On the way up, there was lightning out at sea and some thunder. Later, just as we were finishing our snack it became really windy all of a sudden and started raining. Our plan was to walk to Church Street and then walk up Church Street to find somewhere to have dinner. As we got further from the beach it got less windy and the rain eased up a little bit after a while. We found a Japanese/Korean restaurant to have dinner at. When we were ready to leave the heavens opened up and it poured down bucket loads of rain. We had to get back to the caravan to get the little ones to bed so we walked a few blocks to our tram stop. Most of the time there were roofs at the shops along the way so we didn't get too wet. When we got to our final stop however, there were no roofs so we covered the kids up with some towels and then walked as fast as we could. We got drenched but at least it was warm in the air and not cold and the kids thought it was a little bit exciting.
Valentine's Day was our last day in Melbourne. My present was a day to myself to go shopping while Patrik stayed at the caravan park and played with the kids. They spent the day at the playground and swimming in the pool. I went to Harbour Town outlet shops but only found a couple of things to buy and some presents for the kids. I also made a stop in the city but there were too many people there as it was Saturday. I went to Brunswick Street instead and had a look at an outlet store there and found a really nice dress. Probably the most expensive dress I have ever bought and it was still 50% of the original price. Ouch!
We finished of our Valentine's day by having dinner at a small restaurant just down the road from the caravan park and then we did some food shopping at Woollie's.
It was a great stay in Melbourne, we really enjoyed it. Felt that some parts of Melbourne looked a little worn but at the same time there were some really nice new areas as well. Still so much to see so we'll have to come back.
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