Neighbours Tour!

Like most British backpackers I made a special pilgrimage to the set of Neighbours during my stay in Melbourne. Sure, the tour was overpriced and a bit cringy -Australians must find it amusing that daily busloads of mostly British and Irish tourists pay $40-65 to take pictures of the car used by a soap character; and the 'Neighbours bus' could not be any less subtle - but it was worth it. The unsubtle bus, parked in the

studio grounds.

I grew up as a devotee of the iconic soap, and seeing the Lassiters complex and Ramsay Street in real life was the culmination of a faintly tragic childhood ambition. I admit it's not the best programme in the world, but its cheesy nature, occasionally questionable acting and comedy storylines only add to its charms.

Years ago, a character called Lou was in Singapore, but instead of filming there the actor delivered his lines infront of this on-set canvas painting pinned to a wall. It looks fake even when it's two inches tall!

Unlike the doom and gloom we get from most British soaps, life in Neighbours is nearly always sunny, tanned and happy. When there are issues, they come with family-friendly values and a few weeks later life is back to normal. Everything is glossed over: drug addictions are indicated by someone finding pills in someone's bag, alcohol problems from a sudden interest in clubbing. The show has a reputation for being a student favourite, but it has a following among all ages judging by the number of people in their 50s on the bus, and as it has never been cutting-edge television it doesn't age that badly if you dip in and out of it. In short, it's the one soap that I couldn't imagine living without for too long.

Sydney So Far

Amusing Australian Shop Names

Sometimes the names of businesses don't translate that well to overseas visitors:

A retro clothes shop in St Kilda

A St Kilda linen shop

An ice cream shop, logically named Trampoline

The name implies an adult shop but this is actually a liquor retailer, hence the use of phonetics

Blue Mountains

Snuggled 100 km from Sydney, the Blue Mountains are visited by over three million people annually, and it isn't hard to see why. The valleys are bookended by habitats differing from eucalyptus woods to temperate rainforest, with the aforementioned mountains rearing up in the background. The views are amazing.
I visited a spot frequented by wild kangaroos, saw holes dug into the ground by funnel web spiders and took a trip on the world's steepest railway in Katoomba. Walking around Wentworth Falls, a spindly waterfall hundreds of metres high, was invigorating to say the least. The stairs down were so steep at some points that everyone in the group complained of leg shaking. The owners of the train have a captive market as most people would gladly pay the steep (excuse the pun) $10 ride to the top rather than walk for 40 minutes. The lift up lasted just 1.5 minutes, but despite being expensive was a fun journey. And it's not every day that you go on a train with an incline of 52 degrees. Wild kangaroos

The view from the top

Wentworth Falls

Sydney/ Bondi Beach

Sydney. I don't think I've ever been anywhere that so closely lived up to the image in my head of the 'ideal' destination like this metropolitan city does. Spacious, multi-cultural and teeming with things for the budget traveller to do, it's also perfect for simply wandering around. The clean, modern lines of the Opera House are as impressive in real life as they appear in photos, and it's made extra-special by being so close to that other marvel of Aussie architecture, the Harbour Bridge, spanning 3,700 ft across Sydney Harbour. And it gets better because the Botanic Gardens are another draw, with numerous species of Australian plants and trees, huge fruit bat colonies and bread-eating cockatiels.

..................................................Bondi.................................................

I also spent two days at Bondi Beach with friends, and Australia's most famed beach was so close to living up to its almost mythical reputation. It had amazing views from the clifftop walk down to the rocks below, beautiful sand, sun and a photogenic shopping centre. The waves were pretty good too, and even metres from the beach they came in higher than I am tall. In fact, the only thing that the iconic bathing spot was missing was warm water. Keen to embrace the Australian outdoor lifestyle, I enthusiastically rushed in - only to discover that the chilly ocean could equal any beach in Britain for coldness, and when waves crashed over your shoulders it was like having an icy shower. The water temperature improves the further you go up the East coast, and although it's not bath-warm in Australia, it will be more pleasant in sunnier Queensland. But pettiness aside, I doubt I could love anywhere more than Sydney, and I'm determined to take another visit there one day.

The view from outside Melbourne City Musuem

nice, originally uploaded by Jenna pink fairy.

Melbourne's city planners have spent a good deal of time on modern art

More Melbourne

Sunset over the beach at St Kilda

The view over the bridge in Melbourne's city centre

Modern art in the Docklands area

The city uses a lot of bright, futuristic architecture

The skyline showing some of the business premises- if you look closely you can spot a Murdoch tower or two

Not sure of this bird breed but we certainly don't have them in England. It was very large and had no problem with letting me get close to take its picture. Check out the posing.

Decorations on a pub in the Chinese district of the city

Australia Images So Far

The wonderfully clear water.

A jellyfish washed up on St Kilda beach.

Trees in the Dandenongs in Belgrave, a suburb of Melbourne. They smelt nice and minty.