Oz - first impressions

Sorry about that cobbers, had to get another tinny from the esky to put in my stubby.
Anyway Melbourne 29 Dec. The very first words an Australian citizen spoke to me on his own home soil were so typically stereo-typical! They were from the passport guy and he said 'G'day'! No word of a lie. Then, as we had to declare my Mum's cakes which she had forced into my luggage at Heathrow and Sarah's herbal medicine, we went through the something to declare channel where I asked the customs officer, in my naiviety, how the cricket was going. He corrected my tense to the past and took great delight in telling me that the Pommies had taken a hell of a beating (again!) at the MCG.
We then took a taxi to the hotel we were booked into for the night and were told that we couldn't check in until 10 am (in 2 hours time). So we had a shower and a swim in the hotel pool, then had a coffee and finally checked in and went straight to sleep. We woke about 3 hours later and wandered around the city, which was full of English men looking very bored shopping! (I wonder why that was?).
The next day, my birthday, we took a taxi to pick up our hire car to drive to Echuca (the city we will be staying in for the next 12 months). We got there in around 3 hours despite Sarah's navigating (but I don't blame her, I blame her gender). The Australians call Echuca a city and everyone is thinking oh that's big but I've never heard of it, is it a small city say like Norwich or Coventry? No! It is about the same size as say Histon or Sawston with a population of 10,616 (now 10,617 - Leesa +Leon and Sarah). It was very hot and we got to the house and called Leesa's brother who had the house key. He showed us round all the things that were relevant. It felt a little strange using someone else's house as our own but Leesa is probably feeling the same too.
After sorting things out we called Leesa's work mate, Jenni, who had kindly booked us a restaurant that night for my birthday. We took a taxi in as the house is a bit too far out to walk to the centre (people reckon on 30-40 mins, and I am determined to try this). I had a steak and my first taste of Aussie beer. We then went back home as we were feeling jet lagged.
The next day we looked around Echuca and it is a pretty place with a 19th century feel to it (my clothes fitted in perfectly!) because of the paddle boat steamers. That evening we were invited to a barbie, to celebrate New Year's Eve, by Jenni and Rob (her hubby). We had a good evening and everyone there was really kind to us and very generous. Midnight came and so did the rain (a little bit anyway) and everyone was really happy because it hadn't rained properly for ages. Everyone talks about the weather because of the record drought they are having here. Jenni and friends made us feel really welcome and it wasn't just because they felt sorry for us because of the Ashes! (To be continued)