Melbourne, Australia

This time last year I would have felt sick at the thought of a 17 hour flight from Santiago to Melbourne, but these days I have been on buses for longer. We flew with Quantas who plied us with food and drink and I watched Forest Gump for the first time. At one stage they gave us choc-ices. Best. Flight. Ever.

We decided to have an extended layover in Melbourne on our way to South East Asia, where the lovely Jenni put us up for a week and looked after us like royalty. We did not realise how badly we were in for it with jetlag, but we were so happy to be in a friend's home with our own room and fluffy towels...and Barry's teabags! 

Jenni has lots planned for us including a trip to see the city lights and some home comforts for our first day.

The next morning we blew off the cobwebs with a walk down the beach in St. Kilda, and it was so cool to see Luna Park because I remember my brother sending us pictures of it when he lived there years ago and now there I was standing in the same spot.

After being spoiled rotten by Jenny's family in their beautiful home, the next few days were spend cruising The Great Ocean Road. 

We used a company called Ride Tours and our guide Todd was the best. We had so much fun with Todd and his inappropriate jokes and his feckin fantastic playlist, but he was also so knowledgeable about the road and the best places to stop along the way. He also knew just where to go to find koalas and kangaroos in the wild which was so cool to see.

The highlight was definitely waiting for the penguins come onto the beach as we watched the sunset at The 12 Apostles, drinking wine and eating cheese (which we'd bought earlier from a magical place called Cheeseworld!). 

And here's one for Irish people of a certain age, we even saw the light house from the kid's TV show Round The Twist - the theme tune came flooding back when we saw it!

The whole tour took 2 days and included a hostel and a BBQ, would definitely recommend Ride Tours. 

Now, I'm slightly concerned that this blog is making me sound like a wino, but nevertheless we spent our last day in Melbourne doing what we do best - wine tasting! 

Jenni had arranged a surprise winery tour for a friend's 30th birthday, so we set off on a bus with 20 Irish girls (the most Irish accents we have heard in a long while!) and we were blessed with a glorious sunny day at three drop dead gorgeous vineyards. Very different to the vineyards in Argentina where the focus is on how the wines are made, in Yarra Valley it's all about the magnificent surroundings and socialising with a glass of your choice (Pinot Noir for moi, incase you were wondering!). It was such a perfect day with a lovely bunch of girls.

We can't thank Jenni and her family enough for how they looked after us for the week, it was like a home away from home and just what we needed before starting the next leg of the trip in South East Asia. Bring on the sunshine!! 

Next Stop: Bali, Indonesia