11.01.2013
It took just an hour to reach Melbourne on Day 5 of the road trip, which started with an Aussie BBQ Brekky roll at McDonalds, or Macca's as they say in Oz. Unlike Canberra, Melbourne instantly reveals itself as more of what you expect in a city; much more Sydney-like where we spent our first 5 months in the country. On route to the caravan park, we drove across West Gate Bridge which spans the Yarra River (the centre of Melbourne city life) and spied the beautiful cityscape backdrop of the multiple high rise buildings along its banks. Over 4 million 'Melburnians' call the city home, and it is not only capital of the state of Victoria but referred to as the cultural capital of Australia too. Cram-packed with museums and history, it is the birthplace of Australian film, television, football, arts and dance, as well as the location of national events such as the Australian Open, Australian Grand Prix and a "race that stops a nation," the Melbourne Cup. All of this meant we were very excited to be in the nations second largest city! There really is so much to see & do here that 4 days just isn't enough. Luckily for us and unbeknownst to us at the time, we would be returning to Melbourne to base ourselves at the end of the trip to discover much more of this awesome destination.
It was scheduled to be yet another scorcher so we spent the day chillaxing at Ashley Gardens Holiday Village, as near to the refreshing pool as possible, whilst the thermometer nudged 39oC. A day in the sun was just what was needed before going to see Rick-Lee in concert later in the day. Whilst the park was great with a pool, BBQ area, helpful staff and all the facilities you might need - it was the most expensive caravan park of the trip at $52 a night(!!), but this was due to it being the closest one to Melbourne CBD with very little in the way of competition. That said, we did stay in equally nice parks for about half the cost across the rest of the trip.
We had bought 'goon' for pre-drinking before the gig, which - if you aren't aware - is cheap boxed wine found in Oz which (due to some of the ingredients added to it) gets you very drunk, very quickly and with a very bad hangover. Due to its low price - 4 litres is $11 - it is obviously popular with travellers as other alcohol is much more expensive than back home. For comparison, it sets you back $20 for a 6 pack of beer, $50 for a crate of lager or $40 for a bottle of spirit - this is at least double of what you pay in Europe. So after a couple of glasses (or 4) of goon, we were all dolled up and ready to head into the city to see the concert.
Ricki-Lee is an Australian singer who became famous after appearing on the second season of Australian Idol back in 2004, and we were already fans before leaving the UK. It is her catchy pop songs which make her popular (especially with the gay community, us included!) but she also sings slower, heart-felt songs which show off her amazing voice. It would be our second time seeing her in concert after going to a Sydney gig back in September - the day before my 24th birthday. Of course, we were very excited when we arrived at the impressive Crown complex where she was performing and began the evening sipping an aptly-named Crown lager, eagerly anticipating the start of the show.
Ricki-Lee gave yet another incredible performance, mixing old songs with the new, exactly what the crowd wanted. She has always been a true star, who is very down-to-earth and humorous on-stage, excitedly chatting between songs. She regularly interacts with her loyal fans through Facebook and Twitter and both of us have received tweets back from her. As such, it was an amazing moment for us when we were able to meet & chat with her after the concert. She loved our English accents and signed a poster & tickets for us, as well as posing for this photo; a cheesy, grin spread across all our faces!
The night proved to be a fantastic highlight of the trip and a great start to our stay in Melbourne. We couldn't wait to see what else this fabulous city would have to offer. See more in my next post!
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