The house was situated right next to a national park and in high season for bush fires was a little concerning but the there were plenty of walks for the dogs and my main worry was SNAKES! Lisa, the owner of the home gave us the low down on snakes and to keep eyes on the ground at ALL times. I was thankful for the advice because we saw..... 0 snakes. lol.
We were shown round the home and introduced to the animals which were:
A horse called Missy, she was a ex breed mare never been ridden, a donkey called Dobby who was a little shy at first but very inquisitive.
2 miniature goats Daisy the white one who was shy but loved to be stroked and Bonnie the brown one, she loves all the attention and cry's out to you when she first sees you or when your walking away. These were a character and always made you laugh, they always found something to cause trouble with, i understand why baby goats are called kids because it was like having 2 kids, you couldn't take your eyes off them.
Then there were 4 chickens which we got 3 or 4 fresh eggs from each day and Molly the spoodle (springer and poodle) dog who has to be the cutest little doggy, very well behaved, hardly made a sound and always loving. On the second week of our stay we looked after a family members dog called Oscar. He too was a spoodle a white one but he was very timid and hated loud noises. Sometime naughty when you wanted him to come in he would just look at you through the window and then run off.
While at our house sit we went to the nearby shopping malls, both of which were the same just one was slightly bigger. We looked at Village cinema and Hoyts cinema here but decided against it when we saw it was $21 (today's exchange rate £10.29) for one movie. To us that is expensive as we were paying $12 (today's exchange rate £5.88) in Queensland.
We also went into Melbourne for the day on the train. We had to purchase a MyKi card to use the train but this and our fare for the day only cost $14 (today's exchange rate £6.86) for an hour journey there and back which we thought was good value.
Melbourne Attractions:
- Eureka Tower: This can be seen anywhere in Melbourne city with its 'gold crown'. It has 365 degree views across Melbourne and cost $19.95 each (today's exchange rate £9.77) but you did have to pay extra for the 'Edge' experience $12 (today's exchange rate £6.24) which is not worth the extra money as there is a small section which is outside the building you can go on without paying extra and this was good enough. Within the tower there is dining and The Walk Experience, which is a green screen set which gives you the illusion your walking a tightrope suspended high above the city, this is an additional $15 (today's exchange rate £7.80) .
- The Royal Botanic Gardens: I'm starting to think every city in Australia has Botanic gardens and yes they are very pretty and lovely to walk round but once you've seen one you've seen them all.
- St. Patrick's Cathedral: You can not miss this Cathedral and is in the heart of the city. Its architecture is amazing and so detailed, you can look at it for hours. I think this is what makes Melbourne different from the other cities in Australia are the buildings and architecture it has. Not all the buildings are the same.
- Walking Tours: (We just walked on our own as it is a very easy city to walk, one main street and all side streets are parallel.) We walked from Flinders Station straight up to the State Library and then went down side streets on the way back to the station. I guess a girl from the country doesn't see the attraction of a crowded city, we much prefer shopping online. But like i said it to us is the nicest city in Australia as it was so clean and had history. Also what were liked was there were WIFI spots around the city that you could us so you wouldn't get lost.
- Museums: Like every city there are museums and lots of them depending on your interests, from City Gallery which is an Art Museum to the Australian Center of the Moving Image and many more.
- Puffing Billy Steam Train: This was not in Melbourne City, it can be found in the suburbs but an honest opinion is don't go looking for it. The tour cost $51.50 each (today's exchange rate £25.24) and was a total waste of money so my advice is DON'T DO IT!! We traveled from Belgrave to Lakeside and the views from the train were obscured by trees on one side and the other was of run down homes. There was no commentary on the train telling you about its history so the journey was silent. The train stopped at 2 places to let people off and all that was there was a small tuck shop which sold 2 preheated pies and sweets. Moving on to Lakeside we thought it would be a village to look round and a nice pub to eat in, boy were we mistaken. All that was there was a tearoom which sold only preheated pies and crisps, a small souvenior shop, and a cafe which was more like a truck stop cafe with dried sandwiches in. There was a lake secluded behind trees but we were only given 20 mins to look round, not enough time to walk the lake and get back. Even though we arrived back on the train after our 20 minutes were up we sat for another 40 mins not moving because there was a problem. The advert says leave up to 3 hours for the whole journey but it took us near 4. When we got back we asked for a refund we felt it was that back.
- St Kilda Beach: There are many activities to do at St Kilda beach which is only 6km from the city. If your interests are bike riding or roller blades, kite boarding, sky diving, fishing or just swimming in the ocean all this can be found at St Kilda. There are many events and festivals held in this area, but unfortunately for us it wasn't the season for it but if your there in May keep a look out.
After our 2 weeks were up we booked plane tickets to Christchurch, New Zealand for the 19th Jan with Jetstar and cost us $485 for both. (today's exchange rate £237) to start our 6th house sit. Join me next time in our adventure around Christchurch.
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