Melbourne

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well and that things in the UK are going alright. We have just checked our email for the first time in about a week, and so are tracking the story of the swine flu outbreaks. Hope that everyone is ok and that this doesn't spread too badly.

So... we are in Melbourne now. We dashed out of the internet cafe the last time I checked my email, to see Paul and his boys Daniel and Ben. They were very kind and a great laugh, and we had great fun learning poker and eating Indian takeaway with them too. We then headed to Pauline and Jeff's again, who were their lovely, welcoming selves, and had a good catch up with them too about our trip to Uluru. Also managed to do quite a lot of well needed washing which was absolutely fantastic!

So we departed Adelaide, and decided to see the Gorge Wildlife park on our way out. It was fantastic. Kangaroos and wallabies came bounding up for a little chat to us, a puma paced in its cage, fruit bats hung from the ceiling and looked curiously at us, and we saw wombats, which are stocky, fluffy pig things. Absolutely brilliant place, really enjoyed seeing all the animals, - most of them you could pet which was great. We also saw a koala - and managed to have a cuddle with it. About 6kg heavy, and the size of a small toddler, she was beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. Definitely wanted to keep her for our trip!

But we had to leave her behind, so we headed along the Great Ocean Road. It was pretty and nice, but nothing like the raw, deserted beauty of the Outback. It was great stopping and taking photos of the many rock formations, especially as we weren't with a massive coach of people... but it was freezing at night, and our van's heating had packed up! We were sooooooo cold. And it took ages to cook anything on the BBQ. Luckily H was able to get us quite a few discounts by fluttering her eyelashes at the campsites, which was always a bonus. We stayed at Apollo Bay on Thursday night, after a bit of an issue during the evening...

We were desperately low on petrol. We had a 40 litre tank (not much for a van), and not sure if we had a reserve tank. We were 30km away from the nearest town, and the pointer was already resting on the 'E'. Luckily by doing a lot of coasting, we managed to get to the town and put in 39.5 litres into the tank (thank goodness it was downhill a lot of the way!) but we were very worried! Not many petrol stations on that road... And then the following morning, our battery was absolutely flat, so we had to kidnap a random man to help us jump start the van (we had jump leads already luckily!). However, we did have to phone up Wicked's 'Roadside Madam' to ask her where the battery was... (underneath the driver's seat in case you need to know!) We eventually made it into Melbourne, and went straight to the Wicked Depot. We then raided the free table again, and managed to come away with a blanket (the guy felt sorry for us), 3 more pairs of fluffy handcuffs (he was bemused by us), and a couple of stickers too. We found out that the reason the van wasn't starting properly was because it had a manual choke. Oops!

So we stayed with Nick on Friday and Saturday night - we met him in Mexico. Absolutely great guy, and so kind. He lives in a mansion! It is in Melbourne, and his family are lovely. We were so well looked after, fed and wined, and had a great couple of days exploring and looking around the town. Also had a couple of drinks with his friends on Friday night, which ended up in a quite a late bed time... oh well, it was fun. Saw some brilliant art exhibitions in Melbourne - the whole city is fantastic. It reminds me of Covent Garden in places - small alleys with lovely cafes and shops along them, with jazz buskers playing in the street (International Jazz festival that weekend). The river is beautiful - as is their South Bank. Wouldn't complain if I had to live there! But as always, we had to leave Nick and his pool and gorgeous house, so...

We said goodbye to him yesterday, and came to see Mike, Chris, Daz and Nathan (Hayley's stepdad's cousin is Mike), on the outskirts of Melbourne. We had to do a vital detour to see Ramsey Street first - very surreal! Kept an eye out for Susan Kennedy, but unfortunately they weren't filming outside on a Sunday afternoon. Very sensible!

So we are staying with Mike again tonight - he and his family were brilliant last night. Had a delicious barbeque (we definitely don't do them right in the UK) with a gorgeous steak and red wine. The kids, Daz (21) and Nathan (14) are brilliant too, - it's such a pleasure staying with them.

We went with Chris today to see where the bushfires had been. Words cannot do justice to it. The fires were travelling 33km in under 2 minutes. Mike and Chris's house is 15 minutes drive away from where the fires were - they were incredibly lucky that the wind changed direction. The extent, the temperature and the aftermath are things that in the UK we just cannot fathom. It was miles and miles and miles of burnt trees. You could see along valleys which used to be covered in leaves. There was nothing on the floor of the forests - no leaves or vegetation. Occasionally there was a burst of life, as leaves great out of the tree trunks. But the devastation is just horrific. Melted buildings are still lying on the ground. Metal is warped and bent. There is so little left. Whole houses have been reduced to a few scraps of metal and bricks - nothing else survived. It was emotional and awful to see, however we are really glad we have seen it. Just to be more respectful of the damage these bushfires can do. It is very different now, as to when we were hearing about them in Bolivia, where names and places didn't mean anything to us. Now they do.

So we are back in the house, and have run a few errands again. Chris has been great and has done our laundry (simple pleasures really excite us!) and we are looking forward to chilling out with the family tonight. Might go skiing in Mount Buller if the snow is good enough - must call to find out. So we are going to start heading up to Canberra tomorrow, not sure how far we will get, but will use an internet cafe there and upload some more photos.

Lots of love from us all, to you all,
Alice xxx