Tuesday 15th February
G'Day from Melbourne. We landed at about 5.30 a.m., a little ahead of schedule, and then it was to immigration and passport control. As we had some vitamins we went into the something to declare section. They were allowed in with no problems but we had the short queue and sailed straight through to collect the bags. It was raining when we got outside and smelled of wet tarmac. I wasn't expecting that at all.
We found that there was a bus that went into the centre of Melbourne and from there you could get a shuttle to take you to your hotel. We registered in the Hotel Victoria, who had a room available straight away, and by 8.00 a.m. we had a cup of coffee. We then unpacked the cases as we were going to be here for a few days. So we settled into the southern hemisphere. The temperature is quite pleasant coming from the UK but the locals are saying that they have had a cool summer and more rain than usual.
We got in touch with Sue and Bill by text. We were in walking distance of where they were staying by design, so we went round to their apartment for a second breakfast of fruit juice, fresh fruit, toast and marmalade. We caught up with the news and the plans for the day.
Communication is going to be a needed whilst we are in Australia. The easiest way seems to be to get a pay as you go mobile phone. We are given details of a good deal by Bill. We did not quite get the same good deal, which had finished, but we did get a phone for about £30 including £15 worth of calls. What we will do with it in the long run remains to be seen. We had a bit of a rest in the afternoon, as we did not get a proper sleep on the plane, and met up with Jenny's other sister Liz and her son in the foyer of her hotel about 5 p.m.. The 4 of us then caught a train out to Barney and Ingrid's (the happy couple!). Even in the rush hour, the trains did not seem overly packed and ran really well.
There was the first of many family get togethers. We met Ingrid's parents and went out for a Thai meal. As far as I can remember, it was a good evening and a fun time was had by all. Hats off to Megan for driving us home and for doing it in a strange city, a car she had not driven before and 5 tipsy back seat drivers.
