Night 140 - Melbourne

Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary and we had an amazing day.

We started off down at St Kilda exploring the beach and pier. We had a coffee and ice cream out at the end of the pier in the sunshine. I love St Kilda, if I was going to live in Melbourne this is where I would want to live. Its got a great vibe.







We then drove into the city and went to Queen Victoria Markets. There is so much to see and do. I guess its a lot like Paddy's in Sydney, lots of fresh fruit and veg, touristy souvenirs, cheap clothes and toys and great food and coffee! We spent hours here just looking around at all the different stalls. The markets also have a hall which is devoted to fruit and veg, seafood, cheese, bread and organic food. Ahhhh....heaven for us all!



We met up with my cousin Charlotte who I never get to see, so lovely catching up with her.


We then ended the day with dinner on Lygon Street. Lygon Street is the best place around to get a great italian meal, which is exactly what we wanted. Pizza and pasta all round....and my favourite champagne....Blue Pyrenees.

Night 139 - Melbourne

On the drive up to Melbourne this morning the weather looked great, we thought we were in for a great sunny day. There did look to be some rain but not enough to stop us going to the zoo.

We arrived at Coles to buy some rolls and stuff for lunch and the checkout lady told me there was a massive storm coming our way. I told her no it looked ok and we were off to the zoo. She told me good luck!

I got back in the car and within minutes it was raining, not just rain but torrential rain. We couldnt see in 10 metres in front of us. Zoo plans cancelled!

So we drove to our caravan park and tried as best we could to set up in the rain. We were soaking wet and only half set up. We had some lunch and then decided to drive back into the city to take the kids to have a look at the Myer Christmas displays.

I can say one thing, we sure dont know how to drive in Melbourne! We were actually quite stressed. There are the trams, turning right from the left lane, white arrows instead of green arrows, lanes that end without warning and then Craig drove straight through a red light! So stressful. I have to say though that its a really nicely set out city. Huge big open roads that help with the traffic flow (well compared to Sydney anyway!), a beautiful river and distinct areas with different attractions.

We finally make it to Myer and the windows are amazing, so glad we took the kids here as they just loved it.









We then went inside to see Santa. He was the loveliest Santa you could ever meet. He spent ages talking to the kids and asking them questions. Ellie was pretty petrified as she was last year and wouldn't go near him. This was the best photo we got:



I really wanted to do some christmas shopping but it was all a bit overwhelming. Far too many people and not enough space!! We finally found our car after we realised we were heading in the wrong direction. Not quite sure how we did that but apparently it was my fault!

We got back to our caravan park a bit late so we had pizza's for dinner from a local pizza shop. The best pizzas we have had in years!