Adventures down under

Apart from both working loads to save lots of money for our adventures we have also been enjoying life in Melbourne.

We have been taking full advantage of the bar in our complex that has a happy hour. The other Friday they were offering a free glass of Champagne to all ladies. Chris contemplated dressing in drag (he could have got advice from our drag queen neighbour!!) but he thought better of it!!

A couple of weeks back we went on a wine tasting tour in the Yarra Valley. They taught us how to swirl, sip, slurp and spit (we didn’t bother with the latter). We made friends with a couple of Aussie girls from Melly who were a good laugh. We exchanged numbers and have arranged to meet again this week. They will be able to show us some of the best bars around Melbourne!

I have to admit that the weather has definitely changed and become more autumnal. We still get sunny days but it is also chilly (oh well we will have good weather when we go to Queensland). The Easter bank holiday weather was very typical i.e. lots of rain. On Good Friday we were forced against our will to spend the afternoon in the pub (It just didn’t stop raining!)

We have visited a few tourist places namely the National Gallery of Victoria and The Australian Museum of the Moving Image (the sort of places we all seem to visit when the weather is not good enough to go to the beach!). We also watched an act from the comedy festival called Hip Hop for Dummies which was quite good (taking the mickey out of white kids that want to be black!). We are hoping to catch some more comedy before the festival ends.

On Saturday we went to the Crown Entertainment complex to go ten pin bowling for a laugh. To get there we had to walk through the casino. The bouncer stopped us and asked for I.D (I think you have to be 21 to get in). Chris showed his driving licence but I didn’t have anything. “How old are you lady?” the guy asked. “31” I replied. He then asked for my date of birth. “Man you look young!” he said. He had made my day right there at that moment. He didn’t think I looked 21 (must be because I am still carrying my puppy fat around!!)

We have also made plans to visit other places in Victoria. We are hoping to visit the Great Ocean Road, the Grampians, Bendigo, Echuca and Ballarat.

We have now started to plan our adventures after leaving Melbourne. Firstly we are visiting Adelaide in June (whilst still living in Mel). At the end of July we are leaving Mel and flying to Tasmania to spend 5 days exploring Hobart. Then we are going to fly to Sydney and spend 4 days there. Then we are going to put our large luggage into storage so that we can do the backpacking thing around Queensland without lugging suitcases around.

We are going to leave Sydney and fly to Cairns on the 6th August. We are then going to buy greyhound bus tickets so we can travel and explore all the way down the East coast. You can get on and off the bus whenever and wherever you like. We are hoping to visit Hervey Bay, Magnetic Island, Whitsundays, Frazer Island, Rockhampton, Surfers Paradise, Noosa, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay etc. We are planning to arrive back in Sydney around the 30th of August! After that we will settle in Sydney and find somewhere to live for three months. We are also hoping to visit Alice Springs, Uluru (Ayres Rock) and travel on the Ghan Train up to Darwin.

Then of course we will be looking forward to the arrival of the Baileys down under that’s when the party will really get started!!!!

That’s the plan, we can’t wait to put it into action. Meanwhile we need to work, work, work to save as much dosh as possible!!

Bye for now

Donnie