The City of Melbourne

December - already! Where is the time going?! Anywho, we have spent 4 nights in Melbourne and found it a pretty hectic city. It has a population of 5.5 million and for that many people it is pretty small!

Thursday 1st December and it is our first lay-in for a while! We had a salad for lunch too which made an interesting change from the norm!
In the afternoon we head out to see what the shopping is like - I end up purchasing a new pair of trainers (mine really are beginning to smell!), some new socks and a handmade advent calendar - 24 stockings on a line. Will be sending it home in the new year! Becky found herself a waterproof coat - so if it does rain again she won't get drenched!!
It is really just a day to unwind and chill out!

On Friday we head back into the shops, I take back something I bought. We have been looking for a particular journal - designed by Paperblanks. They are pretty cool but the particular one I want is sold out everywhere. I may just have to order it online and get it delivered to Sydney.
We walk up to the top of the city to Backpackers World Travel and book a couple of tours - Neighbours (for tomorrow) and Philip Island for Sunday 11th.

We head back to our hostel to have lunch on the roof terrace and then head to Southbank. We wander down the river walkway through Federation Square and past Flinders Street Station.
We chill out in the hostel for a while and at 7.30pm go back across the river to the Eureka Skydeck. We got there at a decent time so we could see the city during the day, during sunset and at night. The skydeck is the highest vantage point in the Southern hemisphere at 300 metres. The lifts are the fastest in the Southern Hemisphere travelling at less than 9 metres per second and the glass on the top 10 levels are 24 carrot gold plated.

After sipping a shared hot chocolate we make our way back down to the bottom and walk back to the hostel. We come across a guy with performing poodles - very strange but pretty entertaining!

Saturday morning and we are up early to go on the Neighbours tour - figured that whilst we were here we had to do it! It was a fun tour - going to the actual street that they film. It's not called Ramsey Street in real life....it's actually called Pin Oat Court. The houses are owned by normal everyday Australians but they are compensated for using the street. On a recording day the residents have to make sure their gardens are prestigne and they have to move their cars out of the street.

We got a picture with the official Ramsey Street sign!

We head off around the corner to the studios and get to see all the outside sets - Lassisters, Charlies, the Police station, Uni and Harolds Store.

We head back into the city and get dropped at our hostel. We chill out, have lunch and then later on go and jump onto the free City Circle tram to take us around the city. There were some things we didn't know about so was a good idea to do it. Figured that, as we have been good, we would have some pancakes at the Pancake Parlour - 2 for 1 on a 2 stack with ice cream!

We go for a wander to Federation Square to let our treat settle. In the square they have 24 fake christmas trees dotted around - with mats so you can sit amongst them.

On Sunday we have to get up and check out of our hostel - this has been a really nice hostel - more like a hotel (even though you're sharing your room with others!)

We walk down to Flinders Street Station and board a train that takes us to Tottenham where we are picking up our Camper van. $3.20 for a whole days travel - not bad! It is a 20 minute train journey.

We do all the Britz paperwork and watch a DVD on how to operate various parts of the camper then head off down the road to stock up on supplies. We then go back to the train station, park the van up and jump on a train back into the city.

We need to kill some time as our ferry to Tasmania isn't departing until 19:30 so we have a look around some shops and get some more pancakes! We get back on the train at around 16:00, get back in the camper and head for the port.

Check in for the ferry is pretty easy. We go through Security who ask a variety of questions (one being are you taking fresh fruit and veg). We have just done a shop and have a bundle of salad, fruit and veg. So we make up a huge salad for the boat and take the fruit with us. Anything else ends up in the red bins they provide.

By 19:30 we are boarded and leaving the port of Melbourne on our way to Devonport, Tasmania.