We touched down in Melbourne late Sunday evening, caught a bus straight to the city centre then a taxi to our hotel. Accomodation was pretty expensive in Oz, but luckily we found a nice guesthouse that had good facilities and a fab brekkie!

Next morning, after a nice lie in, we caught the train to Flinders St Station to meet our friend Hayley (who we originally met in Huachachina, Peru and who features in some of our photos!) She had arrived back in Adelaide from Argentina in August, and had come to Melbourne for a few days to meet a friend and it so happened to coincide with us being there too! We went for some lunch in a cool little street full of outside cafes and bars, then wandered around the streets for a bit before taking a ride on the free tram around the centre of the city. After saying our goodbyes to Hayley, we went and sat by the river running through the centre of Melbourne. There were loads of rowers out practicing on the river, and as we walked along the river back to our hotel we were surrounded by runners all getting their daily dose of exercise! We felt rather fat and lazy at this point being literally the only people around not running!

The next day we visited the Queen Victoria Market, which sold everything you could ever think of! We spent a couple of hours browsing the stalls and trying to resist buying a load of stuff! After having lunch there too we caught a tram to St Kilda, a district on the outskirts of the city situated on the beachfront. It had a really cool vibe to it, a quirky main street full of shops and cafes/bars, and when we went and sat by the beach the water was full of kite surfers catching the wind and turning the sky into a blur of colours! It was a nice place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city centre.

Wednesday we walked down Chapel Street, which was great for shopping, and again had a cool vibe to it with lots of busy cafes and bars lining the pavements. That afternoon we bought some lunch and went and sat in the botanical gardens to relax and try to escape from the heat for a while! The next day we went up the Rialto Tower to the observation deck which overlooked the whole of Melbourne. The views were great especially as the weather was so clear so we could see for miles. In the afternoon we went to the Harbourfront where they had lots of factory outlet shops and tonnes of cheap shoes and clothes. Again we had to resist buying lots, but did treat ourselves to a few of the absolute bargains!

Friday morning we had booked ourselves on to a Neighbours tour, so we were up early to catch the train to where the bus was meeting us. We spent the morning driving around the neighbourhood, and taking pictures of us posing in Ramsey Street - oh so geeky but secretly lots of fun ;o) That evening we were travelling up to Sydney on an overnight bus, so after the tour we headed back towards our hotel to have some dinner, collect our bags, and make our way to the bus station.