CHEERS!

First up, HAPPY CHRISTMAS to all our family and old friends back home and also to all the new friends we have made in Australia. We send all the very best to everyone and also to any blog followers, those we know and those we don’t; whoever you are, and wherever you maybe, we wish you season’s greetings and hope you have the most perfect day. It seems a weird thing sending our XMAS day greetings knowing folk back at home are just waking up and starting their C day but that’s just the way it is with the time difference out here.

I’ve only had time to skim read Phil’s last blog so you must excuse me if I repeat what he’s already talked about. I read enough though, to know that Phil didn’t relay just how grumpy knickers he felt. Our drive into Sydney was a fairly smooth one and we found our way to the Nova car park without too much trouble. The concierge at the Oaks Goldsbrough apartment block was a little vague and we faffed around , unloading the car and find our way back to cell block 350 in Prymont Street. In fact, if I’m honest, it was fairly complicated finding the car once again after we first parked up on level 4 and finding the right lift back to our apartment. Phil has said that my face looks like a sore arse on more than one occasion on this trip to Oz but you should have seen his grumpy old man boat face yesterday, it wasn’t a pretty sight!

The apartment was indeed like a prison with hardly any natural light, certainly not a room with a view but as I said to Phil “hey cowboy what do you expect in the middle of Sydney for a hundred bucks a night over Christmas (that’s about 50 quid to you and me back at home), and he agreed. Okay the views were pretty dismal but the accommodation was clean and modern and I was overjoyed with the washer/dryer and the full kitchenette. What more could an anal cleaner girl like me wish for at Christmas?


It didn’t help Phil’s mood after finally getting the room key that we couldn’t find the car again to offload the luggage; it was a trek from the apartment reception lobby back to the Nova Hotel car park and we searched floors from 1 to 4 before we could find the car. It was hot and sticky when we did eventually find the Ford Falcon. Phil was really disappointed with cell block H and was looking forward to views over Darwin harbour. It didn’t help his mood when we found the toilet wasn’t working and we had to call out the plumber. Phil had booked us on a riverboat lunch cruise for Christmas Day and it was important that we found an internet café to print out our confirmation. We found an internet cafe on level 2 but unfortunately for us, when we finally got on line, we saw that we didn’t have an email in the inbox to confirm our booking.

The XMAS day cruise was a last minute thing and Phil had to phone around several companies to get us on a boat. After checking the mail at the internet café we decided to go back to the room to pay for Wi-Fi in the room and to check out the toilet situation. The plumber had indeed been but after a little tinkle and a flush, the toilet wouldn’t flush so we had to call reception and get the plumber back out. Remember in Oz it was Christmas Eve so it wasn’t the best timing. The nice Australian friendly “no worries” plumber came back to room 350 and said the spring needed replacing but unfortunately he had no spares on board so had to take out the half flush system. By this time I had unpacked the back packs so wouldn’t have been keen to move rooms.


To make matters even worse, with a toilet that half worked with a flush that took half an hour or more to stop, Phil got on the laptop and purchased a 50 dollar Wi-Fi connection. Weird sad people that we are with a need for 24hr internet access, a connection over Christmas was an absolutely necessity. Bad news again, after Phil paid his bucks with his credit card we couldn’t get a connection. How shit was that and my DH (dear husband) wasn’t a happy bunny and I can’t say I blamed him.

After the plumber finished we went to Darling Harbour in search of a cold beer and bumped into the lovely ‘Tim’ where we were entertained for an hour or two. I simply adore the people out here; they talk to anyone and don’t seem to mind us inquisitive poms with one hundred and ten questions. I wonder what they really think of us.


Thankfully Phil had a good nights sleep and woke me up with a sloppy chrissie snog. The Sydney weather forecast was grim but we pulled open the curtains to see a fairly sunny sky with only a few clouds. Phil went out of the block to find a supermarket and came back with kitchen roll and tomato sauce. It was lucky because we already had some supplies on board so Phil made us cheese on toast for brekky. What more could a girl want?? Okay a glass of bubbly with some smoked salmon would be preferable to start Christmas Day but I’m really not that fussy. All I really need is a good hot sweet cup of tea.

We both got showered and dressed and headed down to Darling Harbour to meet the boat. Phil was still stressed, with no confirmation in the in box, we had no idea where to meet the boat. Nobody had heard of “Rythemboats” but some 2 hours later we found the right pier right beside the Maritime Museum. Finally, the boat docked in and, guess what - our name wasn’t on the list. Phil had phoned so many companies to try and book a Christmas Day lunch cruise that he’d got confused about which cruise company he had actually booked and paid for. Poor Phil, he tried so hard to make the day special.

Any way, to cut a very long story short, we eventually got on board the Rhythemboat cruise and paid cash up front for the privilege. We ended up with one of the crew’s family sharing a table with Joyce, Diana and Mickey up on the top deck and what a brilliant time we had. In fact, it was most memorable Christmas Day I have ever spent. Lunch was hot pork and apple sauce, roast spuds, fresh prawns and lots, lots more. Booze was included and me and Phil did a couple of bottles of Chardonnay as we sailed around Sydney harbour with a smile on our faces. It was brilliant being on the top deck even though the weather got a bit ugly later on. We got off the boat and the rain started so we went back to cell 350 for a nano nap and then got up for cheese and biscuits in front of the telly. All in all, a perfect Christmas day.

Sydney (Cell Block H) New South Wales

Sydney is now Australia’s largest city and the first British colony founded in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, commodore of the First Fleet. The city was built on hills surrounding Sydney Harbour, an inlet of the Tasman Sea. The indigenous people that were here for at least 30,000 years before the British settlements are mainly from the Cadigal tribe but the British called them “Eora” because when asked where they came from, these people would answer “Eora”, meaning “here”. These people were split into 3 main clans that all spoke different languages, Darug, Dharawal and Guringai each having their own territories. I bet it was the Aboriginal people that had to learn English rather than the other way around.

A few years earlier in 1770, British sea Captain Lieutenant James Cook landed in Botany Bay where Cook made contact with the Aboriginal community known as the Gweagal. The first convict settlement arrived in a fleet of 11 ships on January 18th 1788 but the site was deemed unsuitable for habitation so they moved further up the coast to Sydney Cove on 26th January 1788. The original name was to be Albion until Philip decided upon Sydney after the British Home Secretary Thomas Townsend, or Lord Sydney. In April 1789 alone around 1000 Aboriginal people died of smallpox brought over by the Brits. Again, population increases due to the gold rush around the 1850’s saw exponential growth.

Sydney also has a large China town, I don’t think I am going to loose any weight while we are on this holiday.


We had a great start with sunshine from the start and only about 80 miles left to our destination. This last stretch wasn’t as pretty as yesterdays stretch but we stuck to the Princess highway into Sydney and I had programmed the car park rather than the hotel into the satnav so we could get rid of that first. We found it relatively trouble free although we weren’t convinced that we had parked in the correct carpark so we locked up and set off on foot to find the hotel. We found it fine but they said that we could not check in until 2pm so we headed back to the car to get the bags, drop off and have a walk around Darling Harbour where we would be staying for the next 4 nights. We had a quick look at the pool near reception and also spotted the gym next door. We had a walk down to the harbour for a drink and it was as good as everyone had told us before we got here.

Great, we went back to check in and we have a large lounge kitchenette with a separate bathroom / laundry room and a separate bedroom with a queen bed. We also had a balcony but that was a little disappointment because we didn’t get the Darling Harbour view that we expected but instead a very large dull brick wall. Outside in the corridor it looked a bit like “Cell Block H”; I guess they had modelled it on the first buildings that the British had built when they first came to Australia. That was fine until I thought I could hear some inmates, no guests, clanking their metal cups on the bars. We headed off for the lift to try and get out again but the lift never came; we waited for what seemed like about 10 minutes and then looked for the stairs because we only needed to go down one floor and found a door marked as fire exit. We walked down the stairs to our floor but it was locked, we walked back up again to the door we had come out of but that was locked. I found the outside door also marked fire exit but I noticed a sign that said there was a $1000 fine for a false alarm. Shit, no phones, no obvious way out so we went down another floor but that was also locked; Claire started to change, after all it was my idea to try the stairs. We went up to the top flight and bingo; it was open so we waited patiently for the lift and got out.

We again went to the harbour but this time to eat so we inspected all the menus outside each place but they were all quite high priced because of the location. Also they all have set times for lunch and set times for dinner with about a 2 hour gap and we had just missed lunch. Claire found a place that still did lunch until 5pm instead of the usual 4pm so we sat in the sun while I got the drinks and looked for a menu. I couldn’t find a menu so asked at the bar where I was told that lunch had finished and dinner didn’t start until 6pm but they had a snack menu which I took back. Claire decided to wait bit as I wasn’t that hungry, probably because of the stress of the day; I haven’t told you about the Christmas Cruise on Sydney harbour that I had booked online yet. Anyway, I settled for the snack menu which I really enjoyed.

A tall guy on the next table seemed to be trying to catch my eye and eventually we started to talk. He was a marketing manager for a large hotel chain and a 5th generation Irish Australian that had first came here on Her Majesties Service. I thought, great we might get some escape tips from our apartment. He turned out to be a really great guy with immense knowledge of, not only Australia, but the world and was incredibly well travelled. He borrowed a pen and paper from the bar and wrote a list of all the places that he advised us to see on our trip between Brisbane and Townsville which will be a great help when we get to that leg. He, like us was enjoying the wine on the harbour; in fact his email address is lord.chardonnay@can’t_give_you_the_rest.com.au. He left us his card expecting us to give him a call so he can show us the sights of Sydney bars over Christmas as he is between partners and expecting a lonely Christmas.

Have a great Christmas and wish us luck on getting onto the Sydney Harbour Christmas lunch Cruise that we have booked, paid for but can’t seem to get a receipt or directions to and nobody is answering the phone because it’s Christmas! Have a good one!

South New South Wales coast

We started our journey today from Eden which is the most southerly town in New South Wales. If you take the coast road to, Pambula, Merimbula, Tura Beach and Tathra, rather than continuing on the Princess highway, it will take a little longer but you will be rewarded by the most spectacular scenery it is a must. Continue up to Bermagui then rejoin the highway and even the main road has sights for sore eyes right up to Narooma. You are constantly crossing little bridges over rivers, travelling by the beautiful coastline or alongside lakes. For me it has far exceeded the Great Ocean Road regarding the views. What a shame we couldn’t get any decent photos along the way; even when we could stop and take a quick snap, the outcome is very disappointing. You will just have to come and see it for yourselves. It reminds me when I took a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon in 1980 and was so blow away with the views that I shot 6 films of 36 exposures and was disappointed with them all. Photos just can’t seem to capture the most spectacular of views yet; if they ever will. Perhaps film is better at it but I can’t ever imagine that it will be as good as seeing it for yourself.
We continued along the coast through Bateman’s Bay, Norwa, and Berry but finally settled on Kiama where I had set the sat nav for. For the first time since we left I switched the sat nav on, reset it and it booted up first time. It worked. Usually I have to press the damn reset button continuously for at least 10 minutes before it starts without sounding like an alarm clock. We had been looking for accommodation in earlier towns without success but there are plenty of suitable places in Kiama; trouble is the first four we tried didn’t have wi-fi so we kept trying. Here we are in our lovely tree house room in a place called The Sebel Harbour side which is part of the group www.mirvachotels.com . It’s not our usual choice as it’s a little more expensive at $169 a night for the two of us, but it does include breakfast. We have to pay extra for the Wi-Fi and you have to use it continuously so we won’t be making the phone calls until the morning. The word, “wi-fi” was underlined to show I had spelt it wrong so thinking maybe there should be some capitals I Right clicked and all it offered as an alternative was, “wife”. I told Claire because I thought it was funny and she said, “It is your wife”! Anyway, it’s a fabulous room, maybe even nicer than the Crowne Plaza that we stayed at in Melbourne. There is a 4 story underground car park, breakfast rooms, bars, even a Thai restaurant which Claire wants to go to tonight but I don’t feel hungry.
We stopped for lunch in Bateman’s bay at a place called “Hogs Breath Café” which I took a photo of and decided not to put it in because it wasn’t up to much. Overpriced, rubbish service and average bland food. Having said that I enjoyed mine, that’s why Claire is hungry and I’m not. Claire had the chicken Caesar salad and only ate the chicken. I think I’ve finally got my old knack back of choosing the right dish after reading the menu and getting the vibes from the place. I didn’t get this size for nothing.
We have a little fairground at the bottom of our road by the bay and some people were dressing up getting in the Christmas spirit. Can’t say it feels like Christmas here yet, especially when the sun shines. You need snow and a white Christmas, just like we have at home at the moment; what a shame we came away! I’m sure we have had a white Christmas in my time but I can’t remember when the last one was. It did seem to snow every year but never before Christmas; and the sun always shone when it was the school holidays, except for when it rained but you don’t seem to remember those days somehow.

Georgina managed to get home after allot of messing around and all the girls are tired but fine. Hopefully, I will talk to her tomorrow on Christmas day. I think the girls got more of an adventure than they bargained for at Euro Disney.

We have the standard Australian Queens bed, a lovely bathroom with nice towels and a little balcony that looks like it is perched in a large tree directly outside. We can even see the sea if you hold onto the rail on one leg and lean over; glad we didn’t pay the extra $50 for a sea view now. Claire is very happy here and doesn’t want to go out; except for a Thai meal later and she has noticed that we don’t have to check out until 11am so we might just use that. We originally wanted to stay quite close to Sydney for our last night so we had an easy run in and could settle into our apartment ready for Christmas over the next 4 nights but its such a shame to waste such a nice room. If we had had free wi-fi it would have been perfect but we have to pay just as you always have to in the better places. They want $10 for one hour and $15 for 12 hours, but it’s continuous so we can’t use a bit now and more in the morning. It is important to us to have wi-fi to do the blog and also so we can call home using Skype; especially today as it’s my dad’s birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!! XXXXXX OOOOO XXXXX

The Garden of Eden

We had a bit of a slow day yesterday after Jane and Ian left, just shopping and getting things ready for our big drive to Sydney and back. I phoned my mum at about 8am UK time and she said that the snow in England was awful and had stopped the Channel tunnel running. Also that my daughter Georgina had gone over to France for the weekend with a few friends and couldn’t get back because of the snow. One of the dad’s was on their way as a foot passenger as you can’t get your car over at the moment because of the backlog. They were able to stay in the hotel they were in for one more night and hopefully they will be back by the time this is posted. I will try and find out more and let you know tomorrow.

We headed off early and didn’t stop until we got to Lakes Entrance which it the first time that the Princess highway gets to the sea on its way to Sydney. The Princess highway is either called the M1 or A1 according to how many lanes there are, sound familiar? There are some spectacular views from the air where the lakes and sea meet. Not so good from the car but we had a small snack and a stretch along the sea front and headed of again. The highway led back inland again and it wasn’t long before we were in the middle of a rain forest. We drove for mile after mile, hour after hour with no roads leading off or breaks in the forest. No villages or towns to slow you down so you make quite good time even sticking to the speed limit. If you were caught along this stretch when there was a fire you wouldn’t stand a chance. The name of the forest kept changing from one national park to another but it was all the same forest; or bush as they call it over here. If it’s not the town, it’s the bush and the other side of the bush is the outback and that stretches all the way to the other side of the continent without break.

Once the bush runs out you are back to the sea and we had already decided to stay our first night in Eden. While we had been driving Claire was researching hotels and motels to stay at within the area. Her favourite one was called Heritage house www.heritagehouseunits.com which was the first place we came across and pulled into the car park. We asked the cost and it was cheap at $98 with free internet so decided to stay. We unloaded our bags and cool box that we have borrowed from Arlene and set off for a walk around. Eden is by the sea and has two bays which they call twofold bay and as we were walking down to them could see them clearly; it’s a shame my camera doesn’t have a wider angle, but I tried. Down by the bay we walked to there were little restaurants and shops; most of them seemed to be called “Great White Bite” so we won’t be venturing into the sea here. It seems a lovely little place with lots of tourist things to do like boat trips and plane trips amongst them. Chose a big boat, you don’t want to be caught saying, “We need a bigger boat”. The plane rides are advertising whale spotting but I guess it’s at certain times of year only and haven’t researched that. We had a walk back past our motel and found a little pub called The Great Southern Inn www.greatsoutherninn.com.au . We stopped to wet our whistle and liked it as the draught beer was cheap and was really draught. Over here, if you ask if they have draught beer they say yes, we have Carlton draught, you order two and they bring out bottles which are called “Carlton Draught”. Maybe I need to find out what they call draught. We also noticed that they did double rooms for $65 and singles for $35 which is the cheapest I have seen that are not backpackers dorms. The menu looked good too; they had grilled silver Dory for $19 on the specials board. It’s quite a modern place with large elevated decking at the back overlooking the sea a large modern restaurant and huge public bar with a pokie room at the side hidden by a fish tank. If we come back this way on the way back we might check it out if the sun is shining. It’s been overcast most of the day today, which is perfect for travelling, and the sun briefly came out on our arrival but the clouds soon came back for a small shower.

Claire has been watching TV and they are warning of a cyclone heading towards Sydney, due to arrive on Christmas day; joy.

Say Hello Wave Goodbye

To be honest, it feels like a big anti climax in Victoria since Jane & Ian have flown back to Sydney just yesterday, which to folks back at home, was Monday morning but as you read this now, to us, it will be Tuesday morning, very early indeed. I hoped they had a good time in Melbourne; they said they did, and they were certainly great guests and we tried our best to show them the sights and tried our best to be good hosts. But who knows. They certainly enjoyed seeing Phillip Island and so did we, much more the second time round. Unfortunately Jane got her knickers in a twist and Ian thought he was coming to visit Geoff & Denise’s lovely 5 bed villa with a pool so the anticipation and the reality was slightly different by the time they got to Berwick in the torrential rain. Phil’s hot chilli didn’t help the situation, but never mind I think they were still pleased to see us, especially as we had given them the master bed with the en-suite. Both Jane & Ian seemed to enjoy Buffing Billy and lunch in the Dandelongs and to be fair so did Phil and I, in spite of the breezy weather. At least it didn’t rain. Saturday evening, dinner was good, we were stuffed and the wine flowed. It was just such a shame that Jane had 2 nights of disturbed sleep.

On Friday night, the neighbours next door had a kids party witch seemed to turn into an adults drinking party by the time we hit the sack and apparently, according to Jane and Jem who were both kept awake, it turned into some kind of domestic violence which kicked in around 1am and ended around 5am. Me and Phil, being in the back wing, didn’t hear a dickybird and neither did Ian. So poor Jane who was already worried about the kids in the snow had a very restless and sleepless night. The next night wasn’t too good for her either. Around half one she heard someone shimmy over the back gate and then voices in the kitchen, then a car speeded off with high revs. We suspect it was Jem with a friend forgetting his keys after a night on the town but he denies all such knowledge. When I quizzed him yesterday about the matter, he tells me, it maybe, Arlene’s ex partner Jeff who apparently is back in Australia and is threatening to break into the house to get back his stuff. Great, I think to myself, that makes me feel really safe!!!!!!!

We spent a really good day back in Melbourne city with Jane & Ian and saw some sights we had missed on our previous 2 visits. The docklands took my breath away (nearly) and I simply adored St Kilda, it was awesome, as the young Oz folk would say out here. I would have liked to have stayed and listened to the live band but none of were hungry that early and were worried about the catching tram back into the city. As Phil has already reported, we got the tram back into China town and experienced the worst meal I have ever had put in front of me. The wine was good but the food was so bad, aside from one chicken satay stick, I had to leave it all. Never mind, it was an EXPERIENCE which I won’t forget and at least the company made up for it. We finished up in the Crowne Plaza bar www.crownplaza.com.au for some very palatable red wine for one last farewell drink. Jane and Ian have been to Oz many times visiting Jane’s Brother John who lives somewhere in the suburbs of Sydney and have given us many tips of where to go and what to visit. In fact Ian was a real whiz sussing out the Melbourne map and trams, more so than Phil, who had been in the city 2 times before. Jane & Ian would have had to set their alarm for 6am so they could have a cuppa and shower before getting into their pre-booked private taxi at 6.45am. I hate goodbyes and needed a lie-in, so we choose not to get up and did our goodbyes when we went to bed, somewhere just after 10pm. It was a real shock to find they had paid for our room when we left, not anticipated or certainly expected so J&I if you find your way into read, T H A N KS for that and come again!!! Only joking, we will pay them back some way and we’ve already talked about meeting up at Jane’s brother’s house for lunch or maybe a BBQ on the beach when we are in Sydney. They can’t provide us with accommodation as they already overflowing with Jane & Ian, Jane’s dad together with Charlotte, Lauren plus Jane’s brother John and his wife Simone and their 3 kids but that’s cool; if we get to see them in somewhere in Sydney’s suburbs than we will do and it will be great. If we don’t, then we don’t, we’ve decided we shall go with the flow. “No worries”….

It is approaching Christmas and my thoughts are back to home. Thanks BTW for all the emails, Vanessa, Jill, Emma and HH. I think maybe I was being a touch too cynical when I mentioned the first snowfall, it is bad and worst still, more ice and snow are forecast. I hate driving and wouldn’t even venture out of the house in the car if I didn’t have too; I am a crap driver after my car crash back in 2006 in the ice where I broke my wrist and knee; I am a real woos. Rather here, in cloudy rainy Melbourne with temperatures today of 24 than back in the UK any day Sheila.


It was rather tempting to lie in the queen bed, wrapped up in white silk sheets with views across the city and the bridge and take a stroll to do some shopping in Strastone Street rather then come back to Berwick but that’s just what we did. It was a little bit of a shame taking the train, then bus, then a taxi and coming home to find a pile of dirty dishes but that’s just the way it is here in number 44.

We knew we had lots of things to do before we venture out on the big road trip to Sydney so it was the best thing to get back early. Phil woke up Jem to get the keys for the car and we drove into to get some supplies. It was a lovely bright sunny day (for a change) and we sat outside a restaurant called S and had a light lunch. Phil had the chilli beef which was served with rice and tortillas and I choose the chicken tandori salad, which, when it arrived, was very disappointing. Chicken was tender and plentiful but sauce was a packet mix, shame really because the service was great, but another meal in Melbourne and I come away hungry once again. Did I already tell you that we driving today all the way to Sydney??? Yep, I’m a little wary but that’s the plan and there is no arguing with Phil once he has set his mind on something. We will be spending Christmas in Sydney and who knows after that. Blogs may be a little sporadic over the festive season because we’re not sure we will have an internet connection along the ocean road from Melbourne to Sydney; but you know us, we will do our very best.

Melbourne by day and night

We have had quite a busy time with Jane and Ian these last few days with Phillip Island and the Dongledangs but no trip to Victoria is complete without a visit to Melbourne. As their flight back to Sydney was at 8am we felt it better to stay in Melbourne for the night, especially because it was a Monday morning they travelled back. We booked into the Crowne Plaza and have both become premier members just in case we stop in another one on our travels. Again we travelled in on the train which is so much, quicker, cheaper and easier than driving. A day ticket was only $3.10 on a Sunday and that allows you to travel on all zone one and two trains, buses and trams and I also believe ferries but we didn’t have occasion. If public transport was made this cheap, clean and easy in England I feel that more people might chose to use it.

We started in the Victoria Market as it was only open on a Sunday morning and if any of you know Jane you will also know that she loves her shopping and it wasn’t long before Ian and I found a little bar amongst the stalls while the girls shopped till they dropped. Claire was the first to drop after our second round and Jane came in just before I bought the fifth round was ordered. However while she was showing us her purchases noticed that one item was faulty and headed back for a replacement. Two rounds later she was back and we shot back to the hotel on the free Number 35 tram to check our rooms out via Docklands for a spot of lunch. We had missed this bit along the side of docklands the first time around as we walked their from an earlier tram stop. This time however, we hadn’t got off until the tram disappeared around the corner and we soon realized that it was an area to see. We got the last stop and walked back along by the bay where all sort of things are going on with families enjoying their selves. We found the poshest little chippy that I have ever seen and couldn’t resist sharing fish and chips once more. This time they were really nice and very reasonably priced considering its position. If you had bought food on the south bank of London in such a location you may have paid slightly more. We hopped back on the tram for a quick stop of at our hotel. As the number 35 hadn’t come we waited for quite a while, while trams with different numbers came and went. We decided to get on the next tram that came along whatever the number. Again it was a different one and we didn’t recognise where it was going to but we got on anyway and were pleased when it stopped outside our hotel. I guess when you think about it, it couldn’t have gone anywhere else; after all it was on tracks, it couldn’t just turn off unexpectedly.

We had already left our luggage there at around 9am but it was too early to secure a room. We then got the tram from outside our hotel, at the advice of our Concierge, directly to St Kilda pier. What a buzzing place St Kilda is, although I was the second youngest around, little restaurants and bars and full of people. I would say that there were more people around St Kilda beach than in Melbourne proper. The skies were blue but the wind was cold and strong. If you look south out to see there is nothing until you hit Antarctica so the sea is permanently cold. When the wind blows from the south, it starts off cold and must get colder as the coldest air is made colder by the cold sea, all the way to Melbourne. I guess it is always windy at St Kilda judging by the number of Kite surfers. I cant imagine that such numbers just got lucky on a one off windy day.

We had a few beers in a bar called the Republica, again full of young beautiful people. Strange though, all the guys looked as though they had just come off the beach after a heavy day of surfing while all the girls were in their Sunday best made up to the eyeballs. The scruffier the lad from the beach the more successful he appeared if judged by the quality and quantity of talent that surrounded him. A great little bar with live music, cheap drinks, food and plenty of Ozzies enjoying themselves; this is more like I was expecting from Australia.

It was getting quite dark and Ian noticed in the brochure that the free circle loop trams stopped at 6pm on a Sunday so it was more difficult to navigate the other trams so we headed back into Melbourne and somehow managed to get off just around the corner from China town where we were heading. Ian liked the look of the little Chinese girl trying to get people into her restaurant which happened to be the first one on the strip. We hadn’t even had a look at the menu before venturing in which was our first mistake. Our second was to stay there before we ordered with the dreadful grumpy slow service. Anyway we didn’t leave, made our order and were all disappointed as the food was as bad as the service. Never mind we had all had a great day and the bottle of wine was good as all Australian wines seem to be wherever you buy it from and whatever it costs.

We managed to navigate and walk all the way back to our hotel with only one stop for a drink in an enormous pub called the Elephant and Wheelbarrow which seemed to us a rather unlikely pub name. “The Queens Arms” does go whereas; “The Queens Legs” doesn’t, except if you are Brazilian or Chinese. It was an enormous pub on at least three floors with those large sweeping thick wooden banisters and an old lift with copper doors. I wonder if it started life out as an Irish pub. One drink and we walked the rest of the way back where we had our final nightcap together as four in the hotel bar. We had a great three day Ian and Jane and we hope you enjoyed it to. In the morning we found out that Jane had paid for our room as well as theirs when they checked out earlier, so thank you guys come again!