Arriving off the ferry from Tasmania we weren't to know that the week we stayed in Melbourne would be the darkest in Victorian history. Over the next days the record temperatures climbed well over 40 degrees and terrible bush fires swept across the state at a devastating pace, wiping out entire townships. At present the fires have claimed nearly 200 lives but with hundreds still missing the number could be as high as 300. Thousands have been left homeless. Watching the images on the TV, in the newspapers and online is harrowing. Listening to the stories of loss is heart breaking. And hearing the tales of heroics and unity heartening.

We stayed in Balaclava at my good friend Jono's flat, who I played cricket with back in England. To get there from the ferry we caught a tram and then jumped in a cab. Luckily I had spent a couple of weeks in Melbourne back in 2003 and knew how to get there as the driver, who was from India, had no clue. He had never even heard of Balaclava even though it is a pretty big suburb, turns out it was his first week and had just experienced a fare that had done a runner without paying. He was getting a right roasting from central control on his radio for letting it happen. We had another experience a few days later where we jumped in a taxi at a rank in front of a cinema for the 5 minutes from the flat and he didn't know where he was, where any of the main roads were, or even where St Kilda was....er mate, you are in St Kilda. At home if taxi drivers didn't know where they were going they would be lynched.

On the afternoon of our first day we headed to watch Australia vs New Zealand in a One Day International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or the MCG, or "The G" to the locals - more shortening or words and names, that short memory and enunciation thing again, poor Aussies. The stadium is truly fantastic and one of my favorite arenas around the world. But I have never quite seen an atmosphere like the one we saw and not in a good way, and it was only a quarter full. It was exceedingly boisterous, there were at least 20 proper punch-ups during the match as the fans sank numerous beers in the baking sun and taunted one another and each other. A lot of the altercations seemed to be Aussie in-fighting. I have never seen that many at any football match at home ever, and I went to a lot of games in the late 80s and early 90s, let alone at a cricket game. In fact I have never even seen anyone even come close to a fight at a cricket match, sure people occasionally get thrown out for being rowdy but this was an embarrassment. To cap it off we had two streakers that weren't even streakers, they just ran across the pitch in t-shirts and boxers. Boys, if you are gonna do it, do it right! It just isn't cricket.

Anyway all wasn't bad, the Australian's lost again, that is six losses in seven one dayers. Having whooped everyone for so long (except for us in 2005 where we beat them bad, what a series,, although two years later they took revenge, a 6-0 drubbing, fair play) it is nice to see them now field a more than average team. I felt a bit bad really, a second it passed.

The day after was when we experienced the hottest day ever in Melbourne, 46.4 degrees and over 48 degrees just outside the city. What is it about temperature records, they are just following us everywhere. It was so hot that all the cricket matches were canceled in the area, too dangerous. The wind was so warm that the expression "it is like a sauna" was written specifically for this day. It was like sitting too close to a fire. The atmosphere was so strange, it was like the world was going to end, like something was going to explode. So we grabbed a few beers and headed to one of his Jono's mates house who had a pool. As the afternoon drew on the sky tinged with brown from the bush fires that were raging near to the city, little did any of us know at that time just how serious it was. By about 5pm the pressure in the air built up so much that clouds began to form and a short, refreshing shower belted down.

The next day a cold spell ushered in, just 25 degrees in the city, the wind had picked up which pushed the bush fires around. We went to the St Kilda Festival for the day. Tens of thousands of people, 6 or 7 live music stages, loads of fairground type rides, freestyle football, BMX demonstrations, beach volleyball, craft stalls and the likes, something for everyone. It was great to walk around and take it all in. We listened to a few bands, watched the volleyball and the crazy BMXing. It was a real mix of people too, from beach boys to the bohemians, from Goths to gals in their best. Still at this point no-one was aware of the extent and devastation taking place just an hour from the city.

It started to become apparent on the Monday. We spent some time walking around the city and some of the suburbs over the next few days meeting up with more friends of ours who live in the city for drinks and dinners. The mood had become understandably sombre and it was all everyone was talking about. But watching how this beautiful nation united in these days filled me with pride and we donated to the bush fire appeal via bucket collections at the train station and supermarkets. Within days numerous events and fund raisers have been organised and over $50million dollars has been raised already. It is great to see how quickly people pull together with such positive actions in times of tragedy. We might banter a lot with the Aussies but we love them really and they should be really proud how they have reacted in these dark days.

In our wanderings during the week we ventured across to the newly developed dockland area. This is one soulless place. An empty shopping mall sits at its centre, which despite having hundreds of shops must have only had about 20 customers total between them all. Bourke Street, the main high street in the CBD was packed, but in the docklands there was no-one and this is no exaggeration. From the people we spoke to it seems very few locals have even visited the mall. The highlight of the new development is the $40 million Melbourne Southern Star observation wheel, modeled on the London Eye, but it has been closed due to buckling in the heat just a month after opening. Crazy.

It was also fantastic to be in town when Jono decided to drop on one knee and ask his girlfriend Matty to marry him. Unbeknownst to us at the time he arranged a special couple of days with her (rightly away from us) and she agreed, when I next saw him he looked like the cat that got the cream. And so he should, they are great together. They were also perfect hosts for Julie and I, along with Jono's older brother Ben who stayed in the flat with us studying for a psychology exam yet still found time to enetertain us.

We are now heading to Adelaide to visit another friend of ours and for some wine tasting out in the Barossa Valley.