Melbourne Day 1

We arrive in Melbourne about 8pm and get the shuttle bus from Avalon airport to the city and head for the hotel.

The hotel is okay, not great, but we're only really after a place to crash, and it's handily located in Chinatown, which is pretty much dead centre of the city.

This also means that we have ample opportunity for grabbing some sustenance as well. Melbourne is noted for its foodie delights, and first of all we check out a small laneway which is packed with restaurants and has mellow 'jazz' playing live, to add to the ambience.

Didn't reckon on the restaurant 'touts' though. After travelling, even as short as it was, all we wanted was to amble past, peruse some menus and sit and eat. Comeptition is obviously tough in Melbourne though, as every restaurant has someone standing outside waiting to reel you in as you pass. Nothing worse when you're trying to read a menu and someone's hovering at your back.

My awkward Ayrshire gene kicks in and their efforts fail miserably as we decide to just brush past them all and go somewhere else instead.

They were less present in Chinatown, so we wandered up and down and got seated in a bustling little place about four doors from the hotel.