Peter's Trip Report

Text by Peter Hughes.

Day 1 24/9/2000: Get up early to say hooray to Mum and get picked up by Mr. Kyle at approximately 3:30 am. Take off to Auckland to catch plane. Take off at 7:30 am and get to Melbourne at 11:30 New Zealand time. Meet first hosts, Brian and Dorothy Morrison. Very nice people. Go up to top of Mt. Dandenong for the view and ride on train. After tea, went to bed after a very long day.
Day 2 25/9/2000: Raining. We were going to an animal sanctuary, but instead we went to a humongous mall. 487 shops? We nearly got lost trying to get out but found a way.
Day 2 26/9/2000: Raining again. But with another one of Brian's brilliant ideas, we went indoor go-karting. Learnt how to use chopsticks today.
Day 4 27/9/2000: Beautiful day for a change so we packed a lunch and went to Healesville (animal sanctuary). Took 65 photos! Met Stacey (last year's exchange student from Australia), very hard case. That night we went to a Kiwanis meeting.
Day 5 28/9/2000: Changeover day. Packed up all my gear and went to meet Mike and Kerry Turner. In the afternoon we went to the Shrine and also for a cruise on the Yarra River Ferry - very relaxing.
Day 6 29/9/2000: Today we went to the Melbourne Aquarium which has just opened. Very interesting. Went on the Motion Master - not too bad.
Day 7 30/9/2000: Went to old Melbourne gaol. Full of history. In the afternoon I went for a ride in Noel's (Mike's brother) V8 MG. Very powerful.
Day 8 1/10/2000: Changeover day. Packed up gear and headed for Safety Beach. Met George and Phyllis Cecil. Very kind people! Sit back and relax to watch Olympic closing ceremony.
Day 9 2/10/2000: Headed for Sorrento and caught the ferry over to Queenscliff on the other side of Port Phillip Bay. Did a little bit of sightseeing and went to a café and had lunch. Went back to Safety Beach after lunch. Very tired.
Day 10 3/10/2000: We got up Early and headed for Sale, a little town about 220 km southwest of Melbourne. Took a few photos of Alpacas and then had tea and came home.
Day 11 4/10/2000: Changeover day. Bye George and Phyllis Cecil. We headed into Melbourne again with my now bulging suitcase! Met Alan and Ivy Wren. Very funny people. Nearly fell over when I saw that they had 34 computers downstairs. Did some more shopping in Doncaster and then headed back home.
Day 12 5/10/2000: Went to the Kevin Heinz Garden Centre for the day. It is a big place built by Kiwanis Doncaster for disabled people to come and do their crafts and gardening. Very good idea.
Day 13 6/10/2000: Met Ted and Annette Bass, more Kiwanis members, and we went to the Melbourne Zoo. It is too big to see all of the place in one day, but we saw what we wanted to see. Took 120 photos!
Day 14 7/10/2000: This was one of the best days of the trip. We went to the Rialto Tower and then to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Very tiring day. Too many details to write about!
Day 15 8/10/2000: Time to go home. Had a bit of trouble packing my suitcase. Too much stuff. Managed to fit it all in and then headed for the airport. Got on the plane and said goodbye to Melbourne.

Glad to be home again.