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So unfortunately the final blog does come from 'Sunny' St Albans (of course it has rained a lot since returning after there had been such amazing weather apparently! (just our luck).So To carry on from where I left off:28th July 2008: We were still in Canberra for the morning and visited the National Gallery, The new Parliament building which is pretty impressive and finally over to the War memorial and museum which was absolutely stunning, I only wish we had more time to look around it all! Then we started the long journey down to Melbourne about 1.30ish in the afternoon. It was a long drive of about 650km (400miles) and took a considerable amount of time but we got there eventually!The next day (29th July) saw us 'do the Great Ocean Road'. It's a scenic loop at the bottom of Victoria starting a round 50km south of Melbourne. It was indeed very beautiful chundering along in the vans down the road with the sea constantly in view. We had a few stops on the way as suggested by someone at the information centre we had slept outside the night before; these included Belles Beach the sight of the World championships for surfing, Apollo Bay golf course to see the Kangaroo's, a short but nice rainforest walk, the sight of the '12 Apostles' (rock formations off the coast) and the Bay of Islands. All are worth well a visit, and the fish and chips we had for lunch in Appolo Bay was also very nice. We then headed back up towards Melbourne after a very enjoyable day, had some burritos for dinner and then relaxed in the Vans for a while.Wednesday 30th July was an emotional day because we said goodbye to the vans! :( after arriving in Wicked and saying our emotional goodbyes and filling in the paperwork that went with them we headed into central Melbourne to find our hostel. The Nomads hostel where we had two free nights from the initial package we booked up in Cairns was really nice! First stop of course was a HOT shower (bliss) and of course laundry. After that we relaxed for a while and read about Melbourne. Then while the girls headed off for some retail therapy (with unfortunately very few purchases I'm told because of finances) Phil and myself headed off to play 'soccer' with some guys from our hostel and another hostel in Melbourne. We had a wicked time with a great bunch of guys playing on a pitch of what can only be described as mud! We then headed back to their hostel for a few free beers before heading back to our own hostel for another shower to clean ourselves up. Then we went to get our 'free meal', which was actually a slice of pizza; but we topped it up to 3 slices for $4 at least! Then after a brief spell on the Internet to check our emails we headed back up to the hostel where Phil and I had been after the football for their pub quiz. Unfortunately we didn't win but we did ok and we had a pretty good time doing so.The next day we spent exploring a bit of Melbourne. This included the Queen Victoria market in the morning, followed by the state library to see an exhibit on 'sport and war'. Our next stop was at the Australian moving images centre in Federation Square, where we watched a number of short and very strange films as part of the film festival! After that we walked up to the MCG stadium and of course managed to catch the rain on the way back! In the evening we played pool and cards in the bar and chatted until heading up to bed.August started with an unsuccessful first attempt at going to the market, as Jade and myself arrived before the majority of the market traders themselves (dedication in souvenir buying for you!). But we did then head back after a shower back at the hostel with a little more success luckily. After that we moved our stuff to a cheaper/bigger dorm room because our free nights were up! Then we headed out towards St Kilda, where we saw a Neighbours 'star' you may know as 'Jo Scully' in a coffee shop, headed over to the water front to see the boats, went to the iconic entrance to 'Lunar park' the 1920's theme park and finally to the cake shops! I don't think I have ever seen so many cake shops all in such a small place - for some St Kilda could be considered heaven! We also bumped into Clive and Natasha who we met on Fraser Island just by chance. we then headed back to the hostel before Phil, Vicci and I headed off to watch the football ('Aussie Rules') at the MCG. We had amazing seats about 10 rows from the front in the HUGE stadium so saw a lot of the action and it was pretty exciting and fast stuff. We eventually managed to make it back after the longish walk from the stadium, as the trams were jam packed so there was no room when we tried to get on. We then met the girls back at the hostel and played a brief few games of cards and stuff before heading up.We packed up our stuff early on the 2nd before putting it in storage. Then we headed back into Melbourne where we went round some very individual and funky shops, before heading over to Fitzroy for some more of the same and also to see some amazing graffiti. We then spent the early evening playing cards and chatting before it was time for the four of us (Jade, Phil, Vicci and myself) to go and get our night bus to Sydney. We lugged our stuff down to the bus terminal at the, luckily, nearby train station where we picked the bus up from. We said our temporary goodbyes to Becky and Hayley before boarding the bus and starting the journey to Sydney. Luckily there were only about 10 of us on the greyhound bus, which meant there was plenty of room for us to spread and get some sleep.After stopping about 1.30am and 7am we finally arrived in Sydney about 11am on the 3rd August after a 12-hour journey. We then walked down to our hostel we had booked whilst in Melbourne and dumped our stuff in the storage room before going off in search of food, which we luckily found quite quickly. We then went back to the hostel to check in at 2pm after getting a well-needed shower. We then walked down to 'the Rocks' area of Sydney where we went to a very expensive weekend market where we naturally bought nothing as a result. We then walked up to and along the Harbour Bridge, which gave stunning views, even through the wire mesh railings that run the length of the bridge.We then played some cards at a pub where we also got to witness South Africa beat England in the second test of their series. We then headed back and changed before leaving for 'The Gaffe' where we got a FREE roast Chicken dinner as long as we purchased a drink; I mean come on we even got pumpkin! There was also a pub quiz but once again the result wasn't breathtaking, but rather distinctly average!We started 4th by going to the fish market, but unfortunately all the trading had really finished by the time we got there and so it was more like the fish counter at Waitrose or Tesco, only a lot bigger. We then walked through some more of the Darling Harbour area before I went off to Paddy's market on my own leaving the others to go to the art gallery, which of course was closed until the day after we leave! From there I headed across to Kings Cross and Woolloomooloo (yes eight o's!) where the poorer side of Sydney was unfortunately obvious. I then walked back up through the botanic gardens, which were pretty nice and very well kept and back up to the Opera house before heading back down to the hostel. Then while I was on the Internet catching up with the backlog of emails the other three also arrived back. We spent the evening relaxing, I chose the book rather than the cards this time, before going for a walk round Sydney about 11pm before going back to the hostel to sleep. 5th of August was our last full day in Sydney and indeed away from the UK (discounting aeroplanes). We walked up to the quay, somehow losing the girls who were behind us and only found them on the ferry we were all going to take that was just leaving the harbour, having double backed to the hostel to look for them! Phil and I then got some food and played cards for the hour until the next one came to take us on the trip out to Cockatoo Island. Then we walked down again through the botanical gardens to Kings cross where we played some free pool for a while before slowly heading back to relax before our last night out. At 8.30 Jade, Phil and I (Vicci wasn't feeling well so decided to stay in) went down to reception to start the night with some free wine before the party bus picked us up to take us to 'The World Bar' over in Kings Cross. We had an amazing last night, which even included dressing up as a female at one point in the important cause of gaining free alcohol! (This consisted of swapping tops with Dorothy, one of the Canadians we had initially met on Fraser Island but had met in Sydney the day before) At around 2.30 we then walked back via a visit to McDonalds, which almost reduced me to tears, after an accident with a bursting tomato sauce sachet, which ended up all over my shirt. Then we chatted in the corridor for a while with the group we had met before heading to bed for an unfortunately very short sleep!
The 6th and 7th mainly consisted of air travel, and waiting, for air travel. However before we left for the airport we did manage a few final games of cards and pool on the resident pool table at the hostel, which is probably the worst pool table I have ever played on! After they left at about 2pm I headed up to Circular Quay to briefly meet Pippa (a friend from St Albans out on Holiday), which was nice before I too headed off to the airport. The following however many hours felt ridiculously longer than they should have! But two long haul flights and a stop over in Brisbane (which I wasn't aware of!) and KL later I touched down in London; having spent the time getting what sleep I could and the remainder either reading or watching films I was pretty shattered, but it felt nice to be home (I suppose). It was definitely nice to see Mummy and daddy at the airport though after so long, and that's where the story ends and the story telling begins. If you would like me to tell you a story (I'm particularly good at telling Jack and the Bean stalk!) and even just for me to tell you more about my travels don't worry about asking, I will be more than willing to oblige.
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