Just back from Melbourne and Sydney (Australia, for the geographically challenged!) where I was attending the Australian Tourism Exchange.

Melbourne is easily one of my favourite cities on the planet and the capital of the state of Victoria was abuzz last week.

Travel trade shows aside, all eyes were on the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground where a crowd of 70 000+ turned out on Wednesday night to watch the Socceroos beat Japan 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier.

Both teams have already booked their tickets to South Africa for next year's football extravaganza, but the crowd still roared its approval when Tim Cahill brought Australia back from behind, and then put them in the lead.

Melbourne is easily the sporting capital of Australia, but off the pitch the city is also an absolute delight. A free tourist tram and bus service shuttles visitors between the sights, the locals are as friendly and welcoming as can be and the city is a gourmet paradise.

The Queen Victoria Market is my idea of heaven; an entire city block filled with the freshest fish, meat, cheese, breads, wine, coffee... I could go on! Melbourne is also home to some of the country's finest restaurants, but you can eat well for less than A$20 (about R120) if you shop around.

My favourite find was a great Chinese restaurant in Little Bourke Street (the city's Chinatown) which had a delicious yum cha lunch as good as any I've eaten in Hong Kong.

So I think you get the idea... it's a great city, and if I didn't live in Cape Town I'd surely live in Melbourne. Next time you're travelling Down Under make sure you leave the trendy Sydneysiders for at least a week and explore what Melbourne and surrounds has to offer.

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