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Arrived in Melbourne after 36 hours of travelling (via Bangkok, Penang and Singapore). Journey delayed further by a vehicle crashing into aeroplane's engine 20 minutes before take-off! Had to switch planes which was fun...nobody moaned, as you can imagine! Melbourne was a scorching 34 when we arrived. Checked into nice hotel, Kingsgate on Kings Street. Explored river walks, city, Botanical Gardens (stunning), Aquarium, Observation Deck, Queen Victoria Markets, Chinese and Italian Quarter. Had a fantastic Christmas with family (Pip, Paul, Peter and Karen) - Jen did a nice roast chicken! As usual, ate and drank too much. Was great staying in our fancy apartment over Christmas (Saville on Russell St highly recommended) - Jen was over the moon to have a washing machine and tumble dryer! On the downside, the weather was only marginally better here than in the UK, in that it was hailing and generally cold and miserable Christmas and Boxing Day - it didn't stop us heading for the hotel pool and sauna though! On the plus side, we were sharing the hotel with the England Cricket Team, and kept bumping into various players in the lift and at reception (however, we didn't recognise them too easily, with our terrible cricket knowledge) - everyone else, especially Pippa, was very excited! Sadly, they don't seem to be doing too well, but good luck anyway. We didn't manage to resist the Boxing Day sales here in Melbourne, the shops are pretty amazing. David went on a shopping spree, and got lost, and managed to get a load of free samples from the 'Origin' ladies! Surely some flirtation going on there... Melbourne is a lovely City, its very tourist friendly; theres a free tram and bus that circles the city and goes to most of the major attractions. The people are also friendly and laid back, and have a fantastic lifestyle.
We fly to Sydney in a few hours. We heard on Christmas day that our accomodation had fallen through, which put us all into a bit of a panic, especially since all the hotels in Sydney book up over New Year's and charge extortionate rates too - we were lucky to find a fairly central hotel in the end. We're looking forward to seeing Julie and Jake there, spending a bit more time with P&P, and then heading off to Narooma the following week to see Jen's Uncle Charlie and his dog Ellie. Hopefully the weather will pick up a bit. Thanks for all your lovely Christmas emails. Happy new year!
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