Melbourne

I flew to Melbourne by myself with the plan of meeting Matt at the airport when he landed from London. Luckily, the timings went smoothly and he arrived about half an hour after I did. So we hopped in a taxi to our hostel trying to catch up with each other but struggling to get a word in edgeways due to a very chatty taxi driver! When we arrived we popped out for a quick drink round the corner but soon crashed out.
What a way to spend our first full day in Melbourne – Australia Day! We wandered through the lanes of Melbourne making our way over to an area called Fitzroy where we had bought tickets for a cider festival. We were given two drink tokens each to try some of the ciders they had on tap. This was great because it meant that between us we could try four different ciders. We also got a pulled pork roll AND apple crumble for pudding so I was extremely content. In the evening we headed to the river and strolled along the Southbank. It was a beautiful area and had a great atmosphere partly because of Australia Day but also because they had some big screens showing live tennis. So we stopped to have a drink and watch part of the Djokovic quarterfinal before wandering on in search of food.
The next day we went to Melbourne Park clutching tickets for the Rod Laver Arena. We were lucky to see an amazing trio of matches; Azarenka vs

Kerber, Johanna Konta in her first ever grand slam quarter final and finally Andy Murrary vs Ferrer. The tennis was awesome, I loved every minute and to top it off we saw both British players win. A great day out. By about 6:30, the matches had finished and we both felt exhausted from all the concentration and tense moments. We went back in to the centre of Melbourne once again in search of food. We decided to try a Thai restaurant called Cookie that had been recommended and it didn’t disappoint. In fact at the end of the week Matt even said it was his favourite meal.
On Thursday we thought it would be a good idea to check out St Kilda, Melbourne’s only beach area. So we got the tram halfway and stopped to have brunch in a place so trendy that we had to google at least one ingredient for every option on the menu. It was worth the effort of translation though because the food was delicious and left us both feeling uncomfortably full (which I consider a positive). We then got on another tram to take us all the way to St Kilda. We noticed that, during our brunch, the sky had turned a slightly darker shade of grey, but we were not prepared for the almighty rain shower that greeted us the second we got off the tram at St Kilda. Buckets of rain fell from the sky so we decided to huddle under the tram shelter and wait for the next tram to take us back to the city. Not the most successful beach trip. Instead we had to change our plans and we checked out a museum inside the Melbourne public library. That evening we had my favourite meal

of the week, at the Meatball and Wine Bar. The menu was simple; choose your balls, choose your sauce and choose what you want your balls to sit on. Obviously we chose two different options and strictly halved the meals when they came. YUM.
On Friday morning we met Ed and Kat for brunch – they had just arrived in Australia for a two-week holiday. Unfortunately for them, rain drizzled all day and it was one of the coldest days we’ve had in months. Not quite what they were expecting from Australia but hey ho. We then took a stroll around the botanical gardens but we had to take shelter in a café when a heavier rain shower turned up. Later on our group expanded by two more – Sparky and Katie. We all went to watch Australia play India in 20:20 cricket at the MCG. It was a huge stadium and the atmosphere was amazing. Despite not really supporting either side, we got into it and cheered every exciting event that came up on the big screen.
The next morning we made a second attempt at St Kilda. We met the others for brunch and then went for a walk along the pier. It was a sunnier day so we saw the beach in a much better light. We made the most of the good weather by sunbathing on the beach followed by some beers in a pub courtyard listening to live music. That evening we had drinks on a rooftop bar called ‘Naked for Satan’ followed by a boozy Afghan curry. We suffered for it the next morning though. Matt and I forced ourselves round some Sunday markets until we decided the only cure was to sit in a dark room for a few hours. So we went to the cinema before heading to the airport. Unfortunately

our flight was during the men’s final but we sat in the departure lounge watching the first set and then managed to catch the last set in Sydney. Sadly not the result we wanted though :(