So let’s start with Melbourne.
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. It is a leading financial centre in Australia, as well as the Asia-Pacific region, and has been ranked the world's most livable city since 2011.
Little did we know what was really in store for us and how little we would actually get to see of Melbourne. We had arrived at Perth airport to return our hire car after seeing our old friends Harry and Lucy and were anticipating our next leg of the great Australian adventure. This is where it all started going south. Samuel, thankfully upon exiting the car, projectile vomited all over the car park. Car sickness, we assumed and brushed him down. Unfortunately not, the poor little fella couldn’t stop throwing up during the whole flight.
We arrived at our homeswap home and were greeted by the owner Serena who was staying just around the corner with her parents before jetting off to Bali. She gave us a quick tour, wished us well and said goodbye as Samuel was throwing up in the toilet, quite an entrance!
A lovely gesture from her and way above the call of duty, considering we arrived at 1.30am!!!!
After a quick call to a medical hotline that had been left for us in the house instructions, we were off to the nearest A&E as advised.
The staff at Weribee Hospital were excellent. We were seen to as soon as possible and were advised that the gastro bug was a particularly strong and contagious one and to fear the worst for the rest of the family catching it. All we could do was keep giving them as much liquid and hydration fluids (which they hated) as possible. The doctor gave each kid a 1 hour window in which to drink 300 ml of liquid each without throwing up, or they were to be admitted to a different hospital with a paediatric ward. So the challenge was set, Mum and Dad pulled on all of their negotiating powers to get liquid in kids that didn’t want to drink anything at all.
It was then that Kaitlyn threw uo into the nearest bin.
‘Welcome to gastro land’ said the nurse and instructed Clair back out into reception to triage Kaitlyn so they could treat her too,
It was 3.45 am by the time we finally got home, we managed to get the liquid in the kids, but it was an uphill battle as the stomach bug was relentless and rejected everything within minutes.
This bug lasted pretty much all week and kept us locked up at home as we couldn’t be out of reach of a toilet for more than 10 minutes and the kids were really weak.
On our last day we were desperate to see the city. We ventured into Federation Square, St Paul’s Cathedral and Cook’s House, took the tram around the CBD and saw the Christmas window display at the Myer department store. It was a whirlwind tour and we barely scratched the surface of what we wanted to do.
One day we will be back in this amazing city to really do it justice, but this time around, it just wasn’t to be.
Thankfully everyone has made a full recovery and we are back to firing on all cylinders.
Originally located in Yorkshire, England, and built by the parents of Captain James Cook, the cottage was brought to Melbourne by Sir Russell Grimwade in 1934. Astonishingly, each brick was individually numbered, packed into barrels and then shipped to Australia.
As it was built in 1755, Cooks' Cottage is the 'oldest building' in Australia and a popular Melbourne tourist attraction.
How embarrassing!
In Federation Square.