It was nice to be back in Melbourne, catch up with our friends Richard and Ginie from the Royal Mail hotel. We went to the Bar at Vue Du Monde which sits on the top floor of a skyscraper overlooking the beautiful lit up city of Melbourne. After that we headed to Bistro Vue for a really good meal, nice wine but even better company.

The day after I went to get my Tattoo, 5 hours in the chair and it was quite painful by the end. Running over time wise we ran late for dinner with Rach and Barry and had to get a take away and sit in the cinema eating Vietnamese food, it was delicious but hard to eat with chopsticks in the dark. Went to see the movie Chef, was a really funny, feel good movie. I loved it and would defiantly recommend it.. no bias here.

The day after Beckie got her tattoo done, we arranged our accommodation for our trip up to Sydney and cooked dinner for Barry, Beckie and I. Then it was goodbye Melbourne again and on to our 4 day road trip to Sydney.

VIC - NSW - ACT, on a long road trip this time. 3 States in 3 days. The first day of our drive we headed out of Melbourne on the Princes Highway East to Lakes Entrance, a quant seaside town in rural Victoria, it came as a nice end to the day as the drive was long and boring. Didn't have too much time to go exploring as it was getting dark by the time we arrived, by what we did see was nice, we took a walk over the lake and on to ninety mile beach and it was stunningly beautiful, it was a nice way to unwind after 5 hours in the car.

The next morning we were back on the road early heading further down the Princes Highway ending up just over the border of New South Wales at Eden. The drive this time was a lot more interesting, a long day in the car again, but it didn't seem as bad due to the nice views and the winding roads though the forests and coast roads. We arrived with a bit more time up our sleeve to do some exploring which we were very glad of, it's a little fishing town sat in a bay, mussel, oyster and cockles being sold everywhere. We headed down to the Quay to see the fishing boats and then up to the cliffs. We were standing on the rocks by the sea when a large pod of Dolphins came swimming past us and off around the bay. It was amazing to see that, as well as the Pelicans, and a Whistling Kite hovering just above us looking for its dinner, at one point it flew at a seagull, it's a shame we didn't quite get a good shot of that, it was quite a sight.

After that we took a walk through a pine wood, and stumbled upon enough mushrooms to feed a small town. We picked some and headed off. We headed back to our little cabin for the evening, beans on toast and watched the Footy, all in all a really good day.

So that was Eden, shame we couldn't have stayed longer here, but we had another days drive ahead of us, and boy was it a good one. Today was by far the most beautiful drive I have driven in Australia so far, better than the Great Ocean Road. Started by the coast and then into the hills, over lakes and rivers, then back down to the coast by Batemans bay, where we stopped for Lunch and a walk on the beach. After that the road turned west and we climbed into the mountains, so high, and so beautiful. We were so high up we were driving with and above the clouds, it was breath-taking. After the climb the land then flattened out, and we arrived in Quenbayen just outside of Canberra. We decided to chill out for the evening, ordered a Pizza, had a few beers and watched the footy.

The next morning we were up early to Skype with Beckies dad, then we headed into Canberra, drove up a hill to a lookout point so you could see the whole city. Then we saw the war memorial, and headed to the National Gallery of Australia, it was good, not as good as the Gallery in Melbourne and also they wouldn't let you take photos of anything which I found a little strange.

In fact I think we both found Canberra all in all a bit strange, the whole city looks like you are driving around a really big park, there was hardly any restaurants or cafes or shops anywhere, just Museums, Government buildings and Corporate buildings. Unless there is a small corner of Canberra we missed, I felt it had zero culture. It was a pretty looking place, very clean, but not worth spending too much time in.