Second week

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Day 5

Howdy Everyone!

Today we had lots of fun exploring the busy busling streets of Melbourne city. We had a late start as I sifted through my suitcases trying to find something to wear; but EVENTUALLY we ventured out :)

 The train station luckily was a two minute walk away from where we were staying and with our "Myki" - the equivalent to the Oyster card, we were able to use buses, trams and trains and go all around Melbourne city.

Now Melbourne for those who haven't yet had the pleasure; Melbourne is a far far larger city than the Uk people are used to, it's VERY spacious; with lots and lots of shops, cafes, bars and restaurants and had many little gardens thrown in amongst them so you can kick back and have a chill on the grass. There are a great many buskers; very good ones too! and colourful graphetti hidden on some of the side streets.I'd describe it as like London but nicer, better weather and on a far far larger scale...

I mean...we walked for hours! - Good exercise though! Anyway here are some random pics of Melbourne...(I'm sure better ones will follow as we do more exploring)
                                                   

We started off in search of a place recommended to us by Jamie's Mum 'Marios', this unfortunately due to our terrible map reading skills and partly due to technical malfunctions with Google or our phones; didn't happen...instead we ended up in a bit more seedier part of town (yes, EVEN beautiful Melbourne has them) and after exhausting ourselves and running away from some druggy who had taken a shine to Jamie we decided...shops and picnic food would do us fine! So we stumbled across a supermarket and got the essentials every veggie needs - bread, houmous, falafel, crisps and ice cream and managed to jump on a train to St. Kilda beach.

St Kilda beach was beautiful! We had a good explore there, met a nice London lad called Mason who gave us some helpful advise and invited us to a pub crawl next Friday and we found Luna Park, Melbourne's famous Theme park (for a future time)  We then lay back and enjoyed the sun and the beach and the food  :)

 

Then we tram and train jumped home to chill with the family in the evening; who had of course been missing us..and us them ;)

We also eye spyed some excellent looking jobs, so fingers crossed we shall secure one soon!

That's all for now, Chow! :) 

Australia - we have landed...

G'day mate!

We have now been in Australia for 2 days! and..it's rained and rained!! However; despite the weather we have had a lovely time. After what seemed like a never ending flight we were picked up promptly from the airport by my cousin Brett and returned to their lovely house in Mooroolbark (Melbourne suburbs)

After being quite jet lagged, we had an early night and in the morning we had the pleasure of meeting the kids; Indie (6 yrs old), Epsy (4 yrs old) and Delphi and Ellie (the twins - 11months old). We then had a super day with the twins and Epsy where we went to a chocolate making place; which of course was a winner of a day for everyone. There we went to the cafe and enjoyed gourmet pumpkin pizza and berry ice cream. There was also a huge field where Jamie enjoyed chasing and playing monsters and crocodiles with Epsy and Chelsey and I enjoyed playing with the twins and letting them explore the environment. Needless to say we tired them out :)

 

Today we ventured to Skyhigh point and got a fantastic view of Melbourne, explored some gardens, saw some wildlife, had tea in a cafe and took a scenic tour around the Mt. Dandenong . Indie and Espy loved playing in the fields and running off around the gardens in search for fairies -  they had so much energy! Meanwhile Jamie, Chelsey and I juggled the twins between us taking turns in keeping them happy. They were very cute! and wanted to put everything in their mouths, especially the pretty flowers.

  


                                                 

So far we have an an amazing time thanks to Brett and Chelsey and the kids who have made us feel very at home :)

              Take care everyone, that's all our news for now from Down Under!

First post/arrival photo

Hi there everybody, how are things on the other side of the world?

Just writing a super-quick post to tell you that we've landed safely in Australia, in Melbourne to be more specific, and currently we're both a little jet-lagged and adjusting to the time difference.

We didn't take many photos or video footage during the plane journey, as a.) we were particularly tired and b.) the journey wasn't particularly exciting. Oh well.

Picture from the plane as it began flow over Australia

We're staying with Ruth's relatives for the moment in Mooroolbark and they've been absolutely incredible, hospitable and welcoming.

We've spent today with Chelsey and the children Indy, Espie and the twins. Visited a chocolate centre and tested out the local flavour, then just enjoyed walking about, driving around and seeing the local sights and sounds.

We're going to take a trip into Melbourne itself in the next few days, take a look at all the touristy types of things before going out to find jobs to start the working holiday experience.

Wish us luck and feel free to comment and/or get in touch.

Jamie