Park Regis Griffin Suites Melbourne

... stop along our journey today was just along the side of the road in the woods. Brian took a dirt road up so we could look for Koalas and we found them-it was awesome to see them in their natural environment and most of them were sleeping-but it was very very cool!

We also ran across red headed parrots and they came flying in looking for food around us-Brian carries a little natural birdseed for just such an occasion. The birds were ...

... as they all thought the green was very heavy! It was a grass green and they measured it to be running about 12 1/2 - 13 seconds .. so as far as we are concerned .. a lovely quick green hahaha It looked lovely! And i also met some other people that i have been chatting to online .. PJ, Grunt, Plumage, Deep Throat

Once they had finished bowling i went on the green with one of the guys ... we put up 4 bowls each and walked to the ...

... person to chuck would lose. If no one threw up, the agreement was that Scotty would come round to my house in the morning with his 16 month old twins - whoever dealt with that best would be crowned the winner!

To be honest, I think I'm glad I chucked because there's no way I could've handled the twins this morning. We got things underway at about half 2 in the afternoon and things just escalated from there. It was an open bar so obviously ...

... t sure because they didn't know I was coming. Hoping the were even home, I knocked on the door and got the lovely response of "What the hell are you doing here?" from George. :) When I walked into the kitchen Kathleen looked at me, thought "Oh, there's Gary." and then carried on making biscuits. Only after a second it clicked that I wasn't supposed to be there.

I was ...

... sea birds. By this time the weather had cleared and blue sky appeared. It was good to blow the cobwebs away. We saw an alarming sign warning of copperhead snakes (think we saw one of these, behind glass, at Australia Zoo – they like colder climates). Apparently there is no anti-venom if you get bitten by one of these! Didn’t see any though, thankfully.

Drove on to Summerland Beach, where the little penguins come ...

... The casino was massive and very Vegas-esque. People in Melbourne are cool... but in a vintage, grungey kind of way. We lost count of the number of retro clothes shops and got the impression that everyone there took the business of being cool very seriously. Undoubtedly the highlight of our time in Melbourne was our visit to Ramsey Street. We did the ...

... in and parked in the parking garage there, I called the number and paid my toll with a credit card. I find it odd that this is not explained better with signs and that there is no toll booth as you enter the tunnel. I am glad the folks at the petrol station told me what to do, or I would have had a fine waiting for me at the rental car agency when I dropped the car off tomorrow. The Atlantis hotel is conveniently ...

... only able to watch the Williams sisters for a few minutes before we had to set off back to our ship.

The Trams were jam backed and it was a really uncomfortable trip back to the harbour. It seemed the whole city was on our tram - There would have been more room in a sardine can and it was a rather unpleasant way of endng our day in the city.

However we need not have rushed because several passengers were late and with each passing moment we saw the captain become ...

... 4820km in a campervan down the east coast from Cairns to Melbourne and becoming short-term members of the often mocked caravan and camping community. A sub-culture in its own right it's clearly all about size and how many spaces you, your caravan and camping equipment can occupy. - A breathtaking balloon flight over Sydney at dawn. Thanks guys, you know who you are. - Learning what being on the high ...

... made our stay with them so very easy (must remember to properly thank them). In the mean time we made our way for a day in Melbourne, which was really nice - a very cosmopolitan city and fantastic architecture and really friendly and overly happy people. We wandered the streets, the river banks and some gardens, and even sought out their prized shopping mall windows where each year there is a festive scene built; this year it was a ...