Melbourne

I came across Pap early on Saturday morning, muttering to himself as he looked through all his compartments in his backpack "I wish I'd listened to save me unzipping all these zips ... I heard the blue bag part!"

First tram ride

One of the things the kids were looking forward to was "city" transport - trams, buses etc. So we took the 112 tram in to the city, where we did a little shopping and had lunch before walking to the Treasury and Fitzroy gardens. Cook's Cottage is located in the Fitzroy gardens. It was shipped over to Melbourne in 1934 in 253 crates, complete with a cutting of the ivy which had grown on the building, and rebuilt in the gardens for Melbourne's centenary celebrations.

The cottage where James Cook spent part of his childhood

The remarkably preserved Fairy Tree

Ella loved the Fairy Tree, carved by Ola Cohn in the 1930s as a gift to the children of Melbourne and everyone enjoyed the mini Tudor Village. The day was heating up and it was 30 degrees as we walked to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Unfortunately it was closed early due to the Big Bash on that night, and so was the free bus stop, although we didn't know that and spent 30 minutes waiting at the bus stop. We ended up walking many blocks back to the city, where we caught the free tourist bus and enjoyed an air-conditioned tour of the city highlights while sitting down! We caught the tram back to Coburg, where we all had a swim to cool down.

We were invited to brunch at Georgie and Fiona's on Sunday morning, and we managed to find them with the assistance of the GPS. We had a good chin-wag and catch-up while the kids had a lovely time playing with the two little boys and their fantastic Lego collection. We thought we would have to leave them there! After we eventually prised the children away from the Lego - and Ella away from their cat, Whiskey - we went back to camp to organise and pack for the ferry crossing to Tasmania the next afternoon. Thanks again for the lovely day, Georgie & Fiona.

Guess Who? (Prize to the first correct
emailed answer)

It rained all night which left us with wet gear and a messy packup before we left our van and went back into the city on Monday morning. We decided to try the MCG again and got there quickly as we knew the drill - tram, tourist bus and voila! The MCG. We booked a tour and were soon wandering around the arena, touching the hallowed ryegrass! Our volunteer tour guide, Jan, was a long-time member of the MCC. Her husband has been a member for over 50 years, so her knowledge of the place was probably unparalleled! It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning looking through behind-the-scenes of the MCG. We were fascinated by the practice pitches underneath the stands - the cricketers could choose low to high light conditions and wet to dry pitches to get ready for upcoming conditions, whether they be at the Gabba or Bellerive.

After lunch, we spent time in the National Sporting Museum which is also at the MCG. We explored the Olympic, Horseracing, Cricket, Tennis, Motorsports etc. exhibits. The newest exhibit was Cadel Evan's winning Tour de France Bike. The kids - and the big kids - loved the interactive section, where we had hotly contested archery, netball, soccer and handball competitions. The cricket "Run-out" was also lots of fun. The kids couldn't resist joining a game of AFL as we were leaving.

We took the bus and the tram like seasoned professionals back to the camp to complete last-minute jobs and hitch up the caravan ready for our departure. Tassie, here we come!

Stay tuned ...