The great thing about going to watch the Formula One at Albert Park was that we got to experience the wonderful city of Melbourne too.
It’s a city where you can literally have four seasons in one day with the varying amounts of sun, wind, rain and cloud.
In addition to our four days at the Formula One we had a couple of days to explore Melbourne and see a bit more of the city before we bid farewell to Maria and Maurice and continued on our travels.
Melbourne is a beautiful city to look at. The city skyline viewed across the Princes Bridge, which spans the Yarra river, is stunning.
We mainly spent our evenings in the city after getting back from Albert Park, which meant we ate out a lot. During our stay we ate at Chinese, Greek, Indian, Thai, British and Italian restaurants! There were so many to choose from we were spoilt for choice.
During the daylight hours we did walk around the city, we saw love locks adorned across a pedestrian bridge, street side cafes and bars filled with people enjoying catch ups with friends and there were so many restaurants I found it impossible to believe that they could all sustain a profitable business!
While we were in Melbourne Tony Abbott (the Australian Prime Minister) was there too. We didn’t see him but we did see an organised protest about Aboriginal rights, planned to take place while he was in the city. Thankfully there didn’t seem to be any trouble, the protest walked right past us on the street.
When in Melbourne one must do the Neighbours tour, especially when one is married to Rich (possibly the biggest Neighbours fan in the world). I kid you not.
Having been raised watching Neighbours myself I was quite excited about seeing Ramsay Street in the flesh actually. It was a comedic couple of hours out of our day, thanks to our hilarious tour guide Jerry. Unfortunately we weren’t able to walk up the street as they were filming but we did get to walk around the outside sets of Grease Monkeys, Dial-A-Kyles yard and the garage!
Whilst we were perched at the end of the street, Harley Bonner who plays Josh Willis, came off set to head down to the indoor studios. He couldn’t stay and chat for long but said a quick hello as he came through before one of the assistants reminded him he had to be at the other set in a couple of minutes.
At the end of the tour we had the chance to meet Kim Valentine who plays Libby Kennedy as well. She was really lovely and friendly and had a few good stories about growing up on set as a teenager.
It was a fun morning out in Erinsborough and for Neighbours fans a must do whilst in Melbourne!
To get a birds eye view of Melbourne we headed to the Eureka Skydeck and the views did not disappoint. We could see for miles in every direction and got a great view of Albert Park and the race circuit in the distance. It looked tiny from so high up.
We also walked around the harbour area and enjoyed a lovely meal at an Italian restaurant there. As night time came the lights of the boats and city glistened in the water. It looked beautiful, just like the rest of Melbourne.
One great tip we were given was to go to Hosier Lane to see the graffiti. Although I knew we were going there to see graffiti I had no idea quite how much there would be and how good it would be.
Graffiti covered the walls of buildings up and down the street. Rubbish bins, window frames, doorways and railings were made into pieces of art. I couldn’t take enough photos whilst there!
On our final full day in Melbourne I spent the morning getting pampered with a haircut whilst Rich ran around the city getting things we needed for our travels in Asia!
When we met up with Maria and Maurice for lunch, we did a river cruise up the Yarra River. The sky was a bit cloudy following a bit of light rain earlier in the day but we still got nice views as we sailed up the river.
After the river cruise we strolled along Southbank and enjoyed a riverside coffee before hitting the casino! We didn’t have grand plans of gambling the day away, Maria had been told by a lady on the cruise that the casino in the Crown hotel was a sight to be seen.
She was certainly right, the casino was huge and as we watched people gambling fortunes in front of us it would have been rude not to have a flutter, wouldn’t it?
We found a roulette table which had a run of blacks and I was sure that a red number would soon follow. Unfortunately the red didn’t show for the bet that I placed or the two that Rich made. It did however show up for the following bet that Maria placed! Maria’s first bet in a casino and she walked away having doubled her money!
We had a brilliant time in Melbourne, not only at the Formula One but in the city itself as well. We could have stayed much longer but the day came when Maria and Maurice flew on to the next stop of their Australian adventure and Rich and I headed off to Asia.
It was great getting the opportunity to spend such quality time with Rich’s parents and as we waved farewell at the airport with them heading off to the domestic terminal and us heading to the international one, we knew that we all had exciting times ahead and wished each other safe travels.
Lambs on the loose 
Really enjoyed the week and your company too Sonia. Thanks for inviting us to the Grand Prix……it was certainly GRAND!!! Take care on your onward travels. xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Maria, we’ll see you back in Blighty!xx
LikeLike