Say no to Puffing Billy

I thought it was time I made an entry as Rob's titles are making me cringe (says I). I've been feeling a bit lazy as I haven't adjusted to the time change as quickly and so keep waking up at 5am and lying awake remembering all the things we haven't remembered to bring. (We were very pleased with ourselves for having light luggage but now I know why! Not that any of the things matter really, I only want them because I know I can't have them.)

But despite being slightly
under slept I am really enjoying Melbourne. Our hotel is an old Victorian mansion and I love the simple style of the rooms, am happy to share the bathrooms and am eating a hearty (free) peanut buttery breakfast. We're based in Richmond which is a little way out but nice and leafy.

Yesterday we walked into town and all around most of the city. We went to the
tourist centre for the obligatory maps and pamphlets, mingled with the suits in the CBD (central business district) and pretended to be cool over lunch in a boho cubby hole cafe in Centre Place amongst the street art.

Melbourne is a very good looking city. When you're walking into town it feels like you imagine Aus to be but in the city it feels like Manchester, maybe Toronto or San Francisco. Its easy to find your wayabout, there's lots to look at, there's a real buzz and people are friendly.

After three hours of walking that morning we decided to save the rest of the city for another day and went back to the tourist office to investigate trips. We booked into a trip to Phillip Island to see the little (Fairy) penguins on Saturday.

We decided to splash out and upgrade to a sand based viewing with a ranger rather than sitting in the theatre seating with everyone else (yes we do think we're special). In exchange for this extravagance that's the only trip we're going to do in Melbourne. I was hankering after a ride on "Puffing Billy" the steam train which you ride through the Dandenong mountains, however the lady in the booking centre noted that the trip also includes a visit to a farm for goat petting and I got the impression she thought we should prefer more grown up activities (how wrong she was). Nevertheless the expense of indulging the inner child got in the way and so I bravely resisted Puffin Billy (smug in the knowledge that we get to feed kangaroos on our penguin trip on sat).

After a short power nap we headed out again last night to a local bar/pub on Chapel Street called the Lucky Coq; a really relaxed bar with cheap $4 (quality) pizzas and fun local ales and good music. I'm really glad we did our research and didn't go into the centre for the eve as it felt we experienced real Melbourne rather than the usual city tourist package and then jumped on the tram back "home".

So today we're heading back into town after another large breakfast to take in some art and bit a bit cultural. It is nice and sunny today.