Landed in Melbourne at about 7am feeling absolutely bog eyed as I hadn’t really slept a wink by the time I had watched the films and ate the meals. We had expected the customs and immigration bit to be a really long process and I had prepared Phil for the worst. We had been making sure we had eaten as many food items as we could before we got to Oz so that we didn’t have an quarantine issues etc. The only thing I had got left were the tea and coffees and some chocolate and sweets, all of which Id kept in my hand luggage so it was easy to get to.
As we queued up waiting to go through passport control I could see a large line of customs people on the other side all facing the queuing people giving them the once over. I knew from watching “nothing to declare” or “border security” as its known in Oz, that they were looking for any suspicious or nervous behaviour etc.
I didn’t think I looked either but I must of looked dodgy (maybe the tattoo) as the minute I came through passport control I was quizzed by one of the customs women who wanted to know how long I was in Oz, look at my itinerary (luckily I had it printed out in my bag). She asked what I was going to do while I was here, who I was travelling with etc. Even though you know you’ve done nothing wrong you still feel guilty.
After passport control the customs people looked at out cards, which we had ticked Yes to the food and plant sections to be on the safe side. I told her what I had but she wasn’t worried about the items when I showed here they were all in small sealed packets etc.
Our cases came off pretty quick and we went straight to the information desk to find out the easiest way to get to our hotel. The woman sold us a return ticket on the Skybus that also included a free shuttle from the city to our hotel (so she said).
When we arrived in the city at the depo the girl explained that they didn’t go as far out as our Citigate hotel but to another near the city. It wasn’t too bad though as we just jumped on a tram that went near to our hotel and then walked for about 5 minutes.
Arrived at the hotel at about 9.30am and checked in but our room wasn’t ready so we had to crash on the sofas in reception while we waited. I just couldn’t wait to go to sleep but the room didn’t end up being ready until 12pm. We made out way to the room and then had a sleep for a bit as we hadn’t really slept properly on the plane. We agreed to wake up at 2pm and go and do some sightseeing as we weren’t here long, but didn’t wake up till about 5.15pm.
Had a quick shower and change and then got the tram into the city to get something to eat and have a look around. We walked up and down one of the main streets for a while and then decided to eat at one of the outside-seated cafés. We both ordered a T-bone steak with chips and salad for about £10 each. The Worcester sauce they brought out with it was really watered down and just tasted like brown water with a bit of vinegar in it or something. The chips had that taste of cooking oil where the fat wasn’t hot enough when the chips were put in so they soaked up lots of fat.
After food we bought a few souvenir bits, postcards and stickers for my case. We then had a couple of beers in a put type place that looked like it could have been brought from England. They sold loads of different beers, guest beers etc and even cider, so I was happy and so was Phil.
After a few drinks we headed back to the hotel and got to bed about 12am.
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