Melbourne

Today we head back into the city as the Thatcher clan are flying into Melbourne tomorrow to join us for the next 3 weeks!

We left a big bag of bits at Maddy's before we flew up to Cairns back in September so now we have a lot of luggage again, so with a very full car we headed into the city. We took the scenic Bayside route which was really nice and stopped off in Parkdale at the Beach Cafe for a delicious iced coffee with Maddy's friends Sweeney and Clark and their little girl Ruby. It was lovely sat outside in the sunshine and before we knew it it was 2pm.

For the next week we are staying in an apartment in Southbank not far from the CBD. By the time we arrived it was gone 3pm and we hadn't had any lunch so we went out in search of some food before Simon committed double homicide (his words, not mine). Just around the corner from the apartment is South Melbourne market which has lots of cool little eateries. We all opted for burritos before heading back to the apartment. It's a lovely apartment with a cute little balcony. It also has a pool and a gym, so Maddy and I went for a swim whilst Simon checked out the gym. Unfortunately the cleaners didn't do a very good job of cleaning the apartment, in particular the toilet (it was absolutely disgusting) and the kitchen. Simon called up the lady though and she was super apologetic and sent someone over to sort it all out which is nice. With a shiny white toilet (I honestly didn't realise it could get so white) we headed out for a few drinks with Maddy.

The walk along the river into the CBD through the hustle and bustle was really nice. Melbourne is so pretty at night all lit up. There was even some strange fire show going on (apparently that happens every night so we will have to take Simon's family) out of huge towers on the side of the river. In the summer, there are a number of bars that pop up on the river. Sweeney recommended we check out Ponyfish Island which was really cool. It's literally in the middle of the river and a great place to sit and have a drink. The plan was to visit some rooftop bars however they all shut at midnight so we ended up going for a drink at the Gin Palace before heading back to our apartment. We hadn't really had any dinner so we all got a cheeky McDonald's on the way home. The McDonald's was in the casino which was absolutely mental! I have never been in a casino before but now I can see how people can lose hours in those places. It has everything you could possibly need and is almost impossible to find your way out! After what felt like forever we finally managed to escape and find our way home.Read more