Melbourne
Well I think I have to say that Melbourne has been my favourite city in Australia. It is so laid back and there is so much to do. It reminds me a bit of Edinburgh in terms of it's atmosphere and activities.
On my first full day there, Stef and I went shopping in the morning and got a feeling for the town. As we stopped in past the tourist information centre (opposite Flinders Station - photo below) we found out that there were tickets available to go to the second last night of the World Swimming Championships. So yup, we bought tickets!
However before we went to that in the evening I did manage to fall down some stairs and hurt my ankle just as we were away to go to an Australian Football League game! Not very clever of me. Anyway I hobbled along to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with Stef and some others from our Great Ocean Road trip and we wet to see the game. It was Collingwood versus the Kangaroos. As I knew nothing about the teams I decided to support whichever team didn't score first - then I could hope for a come back. I didn't think this come-back was ever going to happen until the last 15mins of the last quarter when Collingwood scored quite a few goals (sorry can't remember how many now) to become the winners of the game. It was great fun. 
While in Melbourne I also met up with Hannah and Helen again. On the Monday night, Helen and I went to the Neighbours Night. It was such a shock as when I was in the queue waiting to enter, I bumped into Rick from Uni. He was there with Claire, Amy, James and his friend Craig from home! It was so good to see them and catch up. Craig and I also found out that he lived with Richie Cameron, one of my school friends, when they were in Halls in 1st year. Such a small world! The neighbours night was fantastic. I met Darcey Tyler, he was lovely and really down to earth. We got some really good photos with him. We also got to meet Karl and Libby Kennedy and Izzy! It was so much fun. Karl and his band also played at the end which was very entertaining. I would definitely recommend people to go to the quiz night. I had such a laugh. Also Claire won the dancing competition that night and managed to win a 2 for 1 sailing trip round the Whitsundays on the same boat as I went on! I have since found out that they actually managed to get 3 on for the price of 1 with that voucher!
After Hannah and I had gone out for a meal one night we went to the hostel bar and was asked by James and Jannis to join their quiz team. Little did I know that this would result in me finding my drinking partner for the next week! Yup James and I then spent the next week touring Melbourne together and we went out drinking every night. I really cannot remember when I last went out for so many nights in a row! It was great fun though. 
Between all the drinking though we did see a lot of Melbourne. We did a tour of the MCG, in one part we had an old man guide us around the museum, we were a bit worried he was going to collapse on us though as he didn't seem too strong! The tour was good though.
On my first full day there, Stef and I went shopping in the morning and got a feeling for the town. As we stopped in past the tourist information centre (opposite Flinders Station - photo below) we found out that there were tickets available to go to the second last night of the World Swimming Championships. So yup, we bought tickets!
However before we went to that in the evening I did manage to fall down some stairs and hurt my ankle just as we were away to go to an Australian Football League game! Not very clever of me. Anyway I hobbled along to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with Stef and some others from our Great Ocean Road trip and we wet to see the game. It was Collingwood versus the Kangaroos. As I knew nothing about the teams I decided to support whichever team didn't score first - then I could hope for a come back. I didn't think this come-back was ever going to happen until the last 15mins of the last quarter when Collingwood scored quite a few goals (sorry can't remember how many now) to become the winners of the game. It was great fun. Stef and I then headed back to Federation Square in the centre of town to watch the Water Polo on the big screen before heading to the Rod Laver Arena for the swimming. The Rod Laver Arena is the centre court for the Australian Open Tennis competition but for the week of the swimming they put a pool in it! The evening was fantastic and we ended up sitting next to the uncle and aunt of one of the Australian swimmers, Danni (silver in the 50m butterfly). So we got to meet her when she came up to see her relatives. This was such a great day to start my time in Melbourne.
While in Melbourne I also met up with Hannah and Helen again. On the Monday night, Helen and I went to the Neighbours Night. It was such a shock as when I was in the queue waiting to enter, I bumped into Rick from Uni. He was there with Claire, Amy, James and his friend Craig from home! It was so good to see them and catch up. Craig and I also found out that he lived with Richie Cameron, one of my school friends, when they were in Halls in 1st year. Such a small world! The neighbours night was fantastic. I met Darcey Tyler, he was lovely and really down to earth. We got some really good photos with him. We also got to meet Karl and Libby Kennedy and Izzy! It was so much fun. Karl and his band also played at the end which was very entertaining. I would definitely recommend people to go to the quiz night. I had such a laugh. Also Claire won the dancing competition that night and managed to win a 2 for 1 sailing trip round the Whitsundays on the same boat as I went on! I have since found out that they actually managed to get 3 on for the price of 1 with that voucher!After Hannah and I had gone out for a meal one night we went to the hostel bar and was asked by James and Jannis to join their quiz team. Little did I know that this would result in me finding my drinking partner for the next week! Yup James and I then spent the next week touring Melbourne together and we went out drinking every night. I really cannot remember when I last went out for so many nights in a row! It was great fun though. Between all the drinking though we did see a lot of Melbourne. We did a tour of the MCG, in one part we had an old man guide us around the museum, we were a bit worried he was going to collapse on us though as he didn't seem too strong! The tour was good though. I also visited Ramsey Street. It is so small!! Was good to see it in person though. Also on the tour I got to meet Susan Kennedy. She was lovely but all the characters are so small! 
One night we went to the Casino where I managed to shock both James and Jannis by winning money on Roulette, I even scared myself a bit as to how many times I got it correct! It was a good night though. The comedy festival was also on so we went to see Ardal O'Hanon (think I have the last name right but not 100% sure!!) from Father Ted. He was so funny. It was such a good night. I also did a tour of the Australian Open complex which was really interesting. One night I met up with Sara who I met on the east coast and joined her and her friends for her birthday. That was a great night too. James and I also went up to the top of Rialto Tower to get views of Melbourne from above. Here is a taste of some of the photos I got:
Lucie - there is a photo of Albert Park for you!! We went for a walk in it one day too and James had been helping take down marquees after the F1! We did lots of other things too but I'll tell you more when I come home. Thanks for a great week James. I really enjoyed it.
I then left Melbourne on an over night bus to spend my last 11days in Australia in Sydney. More about this in my next post. I can definitely see me coming back to live in Melbourne in the future. It was fantastic fun.
Lucie - there is a photo of Albert Park for you!! We went for a walk in it one day too and James had been helping take down marquees after the F1! We did lots of other things too but I'll tell you more when I come home. Thanks for a great week James. I really enjoyed it.I then left Melbourne on an over night bus to spend my last 11days in Australia in Sydney. More about this in my next post. I can definitely see me coming back to live in Melbourne in the future. It was fantastic fun.
posted by Louise @ 2:25 pm
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