Wednesday 29th April 2009

We have really enjoyed visiting Melbourne! It hasn't got the iconic attractions of Sydney but what it does have is a wonderfully attractive, unhurried city centre which is easy to get round on foot, exploring the dozens of narrow lanes and byways, full of cafes, bars and shops, that bustle with life beneath the glass and metal skyscrapers towering above. We certainly arrived in style, after an 854km train journey from Adelaide on'The Overland', leaving in the dark and wet and arriving in ...the dark and wet. Federation Square in the heart of the city, sitting on the Yarra river is one place we especially enjoyed. Melbourne seems to have as many festivals as Cheltenham; we just missed the Comedy Festival but the Jazz festival was in full swing (sorry!) and free concerts at lunch time was one of the highlights of the square. When you get tired of walking there are FREE shuttles - either a bus or one of the trams which rumble around the centre. We are staying in the Metro YHA, which is more like a mini-hotel than a hostel, with a great cafe and a roof terrace with city views you'd pay a fortune for elsewhere. We are close to the enormous Queen Victoria Market. I always feel I should like markets more than I do, but by the time you've passed the 30th stall selling the same tat or the same polished apples, the appeal (sorry again!) begins to pale. We visited Melbourne gaol, very atmospheric and remowned as the place where Ned Kelly was hung - the scaffold is still in situ. You can see his 'armour' at the state library nearby, along with some other great exhibitions. The best was this afternoon though - a tour of the legendary MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground for you unsporty types, although more Aussie rules football is played here than cricket). It is awesome, a vast oval ampitheatre, we got a tour of the dressing rooms and the long room and members area. Apparently there is a 20yr waiting list for membership, people but their childrens names down at birth! It is also home to the National Museum of Sport - with the highlight being an interview with a ghostly hologram of Shane Warne - including a few wickets taken against the poms just to rub it in. We fly to Brisbane tomorrow, the start of the last month of our trip, time is just racing away....