G'day mate!

So, after nearly 2 months of travelling and we were off to our fourth destination – Australia. Taking a reasonably short flight from Christchurch to Melbourne (4 hours), we arrived in the early evening ready to tackle the outback. Having arranged to stay with family friends of Soph we got a coach into the city and met up with Minka (the younger daughter of the family we were staying with).

Arriving at their beautiful home in Brighton, we were welcomed by Vanessa and Chris to our room where we were surprised to see 3 boxes full of Christmas presents sent over from England! Having a light snack for dinner following a meal on the plane we spent the evening getting used to our surroundings and settling in.

The next morning we got up and went out to Melbourne for the day. Arriving in the city in glorious clear blue skies, we got off the train and headed for a bit of culture through the aboriginal arts centre, and since Australia has little history compared to New Zealand this was perhaps the only option. Leaving the centre, we timed our departure to a tee as the heavens conveniently chose to open simultaneously.

A little bit of aborigine art

As the afternoon approached we went for a wander around town buying a few typically aussie things – boomerangs and road signs - before heading back to Brighton in anticipation for our night out ahead with Minka and co.

Heading out into Melbourne as the sun set made it easy to understand why so many find it such a cosmopolitan area to live. Arriving at Madame Brussels (a bar converted 1920’s brothel) we had a couple of cocktails and some finger food before heading out to a few other bars. On our way we did see our first celebrity of the trip, none other than Michael Vaughan (former Ashes winning England captain for those who do not know). Myself unaware to him, Soph pointed him out before I told her not to shout and raise attention to ourselves, something she has not let me live down since.

Soph and a friend of Minka's dancing on bins in the street

Me and Soph from night out in Melbourne

As time went on we arrived at our final stop, Pony, where I was confronted with one of the more dickheadish bouncers you’ll meet – sorry for the language but he was an absolute… Anyway, so asking me “How many beers have you had?” I responded by saying four, at which point he didn’t believe me, (bear in mind during this ridiculous questioning he was letting everybody in under the sun, regardless of their inebriation to both drink and drugs). Re-asking the question I answered saying I had had 2 beers, 2 cocktails and 2 half ciders, and after quite a bit of persuasion and being told I wasn’t allowed any more beer I was in, soon realising the place was full of wasters and pill heads. Obviously being the considerate gentlemen he was, he did keep checking up on me to maintain that I was beer-free!

As Christmas Eve arrived we spent the majority of the day chilling out and having an amazing brunch in

Chapel Street

. That evening we headed out with Chris, Vanessa, Trenton and Minka to Chantelle’s house (C and V’s eldest daughter). Being treated to a wealth of food, including make your own pizzas, we spent the night watching “The Carols” on the TV (an Australian tradition).

Christmas Eve with "The Carols"

Christmas Day! So the day had arrived, and it was to be our first hot Christmas Day – although you can’t have it all, as the day started slightly overcast. Waking up early, Soph went for a walk to the beach with Minka whilst me and Chris went for a bike ride along the pier and into a few other suburbs. Given that we had been treated to such a feast the previous day it was a great way to start the day, and even after the ride we all decided to skip breakfast. Present opening over and a couple of Skype calls home and we were ready for the main event…Christmas dinner. With all of Chris’s family coming over, Vanessa and Chantelle did an amazing job with all of the cooking. Rather than ‘shrimps on the barby’ we were treated to a traditional British dinner with all the trimmings! Following a few hours of chatting and a brief nap, we went for a walk along the beach before heading back for an evening of Michael McIntyre.

Me and Soph pulling a cracker and my cheesy grin!

Following Christmas day the next day we were up and ready to watch England take on Australia in the Boxing Day test match, and what a day it turned out to be. Arriving at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) we were in awe as the 100,000 capacity stadium stood there before us, steeped in sporting history from various Ashes campaigns to Aussie Rules Grand Finals.

Our view at the MCG

Since Australia had comprehensively won the previous test to tie the series at 1-1 the stage was set for an incredible day of cricket. National Anthems over and we were into the thick of it. With Australia being put into bat, England took full advantage as the first of the top order batsman began to fall at the wayside (including Ricky Ponting and his poorly pinky). With a short delay for rain, the match way back underway…and so were the Aussie wickets as they began to tumble into the point of no return as England skittled them for a meagre 98.

A shameful Australian display

Listening to the Aussie commentary, most were talking about how difficult it might be to bat on and for England not to count their chickens too early, however, none were expecting what happened next. With Captain Strauss and undoubtedly England’s talisman for the series Alastair Cook coming to the crease, there was a feeling of excitement amongst the Barmy Army, whilst the Australian contingent were utterly deflated. By the end of the days play these feelings for both supporters had magnified 10 fold as England’s openers had coolly cruised to an unforgiving 157 for the loss of no wicket - simply an astonishing day!

Having witnessed one of the most historic days in Ashes history – and undoubtedly England’s greatest boxing day experience - we headed for Chapel Street to meet Minka after work, and to also buy a new camera (since she worked in an electricals store). Having saved over $300 dollars we headed to a bar for a bit of pool before returning home for the evening.

The next day Vanessa and Chris took us out, away from Melbourne so that we could see a little bit of the country. Our first stop was the Cardinia reservoir where we managed to get out first sight of a kangaroo. An incredible animal, twice the size I had ever imagined! After driving around for the remainder of the morning we headed to Dandenong Observatory in the afternoon for a view over the city of Melbourne and were also lucky enough to see some Kookaburras and Rosettas.

Why did the kangaroo cross the road?

In the evening we cooked dinner for everyone, eventually deciding on our signature chicken stroganoff which turned out to be a great success thanks to our culinary genius of course.

Family Tree!

As our final day arrived in Melbourne, our adventures were far from over. With Chris and Vanessa taking us out to Phillip Island to visit some friends who happened to own a… boat! After a few minutes on the boat we were offered the chance to have a go at wakeboarding. Watching the man’s son Chris have a go – he made it look incredibly easy…infact it was quite the opposite. Myself failing epically a number of times, before Soph had a few goes and nearly, very nearly managed to get up onto the board but fell at the last minute, however, she did do better than me! In the evening we were treated to our first taste of a typical Aussie barby! With steaks, sausages, salads and potatoes it was incredible.

My woeful attempt at wakeboarding

Soph's near miss

How it should be done!

The next morning we sent a few things home (it’ll only take 3 months to arrive) before heading off to Sydney for the next few days to celebrate New Years and experience the big city!

Things to do:

-          Find an aussie with a proper aussie accent

-          Try some goon (box wine)

-          Eat some kangaroo meat

-          See England retain the ashes…maybe we’ll win 3-1 including 3 innings victories, you never know (actually I do as I’m about 3 weeks behind but hey!).