You can find the Perfect Friend

Although we have been in Australia for a month and half and are well on our way, let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start....

We arrived in Melbourne and stayed with Lizzie and Trevor who very kindly put us up. Their dogs Cassie and Iggy are a bit crazy, but absolutely lovable and a lot of fun! It was so nice to stay in a home for a while rather than a hostel.



We were staying in a place called Reservoir just north Melbourne and regularly caught the train into the city which I found to be a good service. We visited Victoria Market which is absolutely huge, probably the biggest undercover market I've ever seen and got carried away buying fresh fruit and veg, the strawberries were lovely.

Our trip to the Old Gaol was pretty morbid as you spend the whole time reading the displays about the inmates whilst standing in the old cells which aren't exactly spacious. It was here where Ned Kelly was hanged. Although the place was dark and depressing it was interesting stuff. They take you on a tour around the Watch Tower next door where you actually get treated like prisoners and they lock you in cell - fun?!



The homeless world cup was taking place in the heart of Melbourne in Federation Square while we were there and we caught USA v Cambodia, USA won 6-5. Afghanistan won the tournament overall, Scotland came 4th.



On the Sunday we were in Melbourne we went down to St Kilda which is by the beach. The place is buzzing with people, there is a market selling crafty things, lots of cake shops and the streets are lined with people eating at cafes Al fresco. St Kilda is also home to Luna Park where we rode the 'Scenic Railway' which is an old wooden roller coaster built in 1912 and includes a driver in the middle of the carriage with a lever for a break! It was a rickety, bumpy ride and rather uncomfortable. It wasn't til we got off the ride that we saw the rotten wood and lose wooden pins holding it together that we realised how dodgy it was!



Having 'done' the Great Ocean Road we stopped off at Mount Gambier for a night before arriving in Adelaide where the rain came down in sheets and sheets! It was not how I expected Australia to be at all - where was the sunshine?! Despite the rain I quite liked Adelaide which has a great market, Central Market, which is a food market selling loads of fresh fruit and veg as well as other tasty treats.

From Adelaide we made our 21 hour bus journey to Alice Springs which was an experience in itself, but not one I'd recommend. If you have the money, fly there! It was from Alice Springs we would do our 1st organised tour - not bad considering how long we'd been away. When walking around Alice you notice and 'buzzing' sound which sounds like an electric hum, this is in fact all the big loud bugs and it then that you are really aware of the climate you are in. Later in our trip we would discover exactly how big these bugs are...

On my insistence, we paid a visit to the Royal Flying Doctors, out of a feeling of nostalgia for another TV show (other than Neighbours and Home and Away) which illustrated to us Brits a bit of the Aussie life. I think it used to be on a Saturday late afternoon? Anyway it was great to see the work the Flying Doctors do.

Our Outback tour lasted 3 days and commenced at 6am the first day, although this was by no means our earliest morning! We visited Kings Canyon, Kata Tijuta ( The Olgas) and of course Uluru. It was great fun despite the distances we drove and we were lucky to have a really good group of people on our tour. We discovered the joys of Goon (dirt cheap cask wine that comes in a cartoon) and taught the Dutch, Belgium and French how to play 21s.

We got to see Uluru at sunset and sunrise which meant getting up at 4:30am when it was still dark! (obviously)



Oh and of course the bugs, here I am happily holding a praying mantis....



....I may have had a few drinks before this was taken.

We came back to Melbourne via Adelaide and this time it was sunny - woo hoo! So we went down to the beach and met some lovely people in the 'Bay Discovery Centre'. I think they were all retired volunteers as they were all a bit older but all of them were really nice, told us loads of stuff and were interested in our visit to Australia.

We spent a couple of nights with Lizzie and Trevor again in Melbourne, it was very kind of them to have us back! So this time we made sure we didn't miss the out on the place where good neighbours become good friends.....



Yes, Ramsay Street! Or 'Pinoak Court' in real life. I think we both got a bit excited being there. Oh and yes, it is smaller in real life than it looks on the TV but then that may have something to do with the fact that there were loads of cars parked on the road while we were there...definitely not enough room for a game of cricket. Oh the things TV makes you believe! But worth the 4 hour round trip anyway!