We've arrived on the other side of the world!

After a 12 hour flight to Bangkok we spent 2 hrs in transit then caught another plane to Melbourne. Nine hrs later we arrived in Melbourne at 8.00pm yesterday evening. With all our bags we just had to take a taxi, although there was some talk of the bus this was quickly rejected. When we got to the hotel (hotel Discovery) it was shockingly basic...lino on the floors, fluorescent lighting everywhere, and shared showers AND LOOS! an early introduction for Robert and Hannah to backpacking holidays. But at least the beds are comfy and look (!) clean. Of course none of us wanted to go to bed when we got here (it being midday for our body clocks) so off we went sightseeing at 10pm at night. Not as bad as it sounds because we saw a different side of Melbourne life as we walked down Sawston St. looking for somewhere to have a coffee and a bite to eat. All we could find thou' were Asian joints! not quite what the family had in mind, but eventually we ran into a Starbucks. Hooray, it felt like home at last. On the walk back to the hotel at midnight I managed to get away with only being shouted at and abused once for my Pommie accent. How about that for a predictably Aussie welcome? Robert now thinks Australia is "full of weird and scary people"....maybe he has a point, I'll reserve judgement for the moment.
Thankfully we got back to the hotel in one piece, and all fell asleep quite quickly. It is now 8.30am on Thursday morning, and I am writing this in the lobby while waiting for B,H,R to wake up and show up (is there a song there somewhere?!). Today (my) plan is to visit Melbourne Museum, go on a tour of the Markets, and see the Maritime Museum. Let's see if this country changes from weird and scary to weird and wonderful. Tonight its dinner with Peran, I'll ask him what he thinks. Seeya, P