Melbourne: The Final Chapter

Today, today... what a grand day it was.

We got up early because we had to return the rental car to our rather demanding friends at Thrifty Rent-a-car.  Today, we wanted to see all we had missed of Melbourne.  After a brief breakfast at a coffee shop we set off across town to grab tickets for tonights Australian Football Game.

We snagged the tickets then set off to see the final sights that Melbourne had to offer.  We had an awesome day catching all the major sights and sounds of the city.  We saw the Exibition of 1890 center, the old Mint, the World War I memorial, the parliment building, numerous museums and of course... Young and Jackson.

Young and Jackson is Melbournes oldest bar established in 1860 after the first land auction.  What started out as a single pint quickly escalated after we made friends with a local chef.  One pint suddenly was well a few more than a pint.   As we reached the bottom of the glass I had learned a few things.. most notable and memorable were the fact that sharks and crocs could and would eat me in a single bite. 

Australian Rules is the game you would invent if given a ball and asked to invent a game that involved tackling.  I am not going to bore you with the rules only the knowledge that the game makes perfect sense and was probably invented on a playground.  It is also the game Clayton was born to play.  He is big, fast, can throw and kick, which all make up the game of Australian Rules Football.  Sorry Clayton you were born on the wrong continent.  We had a fantastic time and became true Aussies.

Tomorrow its off to New Zealand bright and early.