After a stupid o'clock flight from Perth, I was feeling pretty shagged to say the least and what was made worse I wouldn't be able to get to my dorm room till the afternoon, luckily I was ready for this. My hostel was in St Kilda, a beach resort south of Melbourne. It was easy getting there by getting a special bus to central Melbourne and then a tram to St Kilda. It was easy work considering it was 7am on a Saturday morning meaning not many were up and about then.

St Kilda is a lively and highly cosmopolitan place and was ideal to stay for a few days with the mane street (Ackland Street) full of café's and shops and a long bustling beach just a couple of minutes walk away. St Kilda's icon is the adventure park called Lunar Park which is much the same as its sister on the Sydney Harbour next to the bridge and is characterized by its entrance as a large clown face. I have spent years working in an adventure park and I'd be damned if I visit one here so I didn't go in.

My mate Steve wasn't due to arrive till about 10pm so I just chilled in the hostel trying to regain some energy so I could last the day. Base Backpackers hostel is by far the best hostel I have stayed in and really enjoyed my time especially with such cool room mates and a couple of hotties!

Next day me and Steve did some shopping to tied ourselves over for the few days and basically just chilled round St Kilda and had a good nose. Not a huge amount was achieved that day as both of us were knackered from the day before.

Day after that we went into Melbourne to look around and be tourists. Melbourne is a wonderful city full of things to see and do and a place I will return to later to have a proper look. First stop was the Rialto Tower, a sky scraper right in the heart of the city 53 floors high. Here we had stunning views of the city and surrounding area and definitely a place to take your camera.

After taking in the Melbourne panorama I fell in love with a pretty little thing who served me a lovely mocha in a coffee shop. Think I might go back for another coffee there when I return. Once I was done there we had a walk round the city having lunch in a little brewery and walked to Federation square to watch some of the Aussie open on a big screen there. Melbourne is a joyful city and has a warm feel to it. I think Steve now loves the place.

After a couple of days in Melbourne, it was time to head to Adelaide and I thought that what better way to get there than hiring a car and drive along the Great Ocean Road. This route is brilliant! The scenery was stunning and has a various environments that give you an impression of all the different country landscapes in Australia with a rugged coastline, thick and lush forest and rolling, farmed prairies. Not only that but it's a lot of fun to drive with rolling and sharp corners to take along with great, long straights that you can open up on. Luckily my car was up to the challenge as Avis gave me a 3.5ltr, V6 Holden Commodore.

The drive took 2 days with a stop off at the Coastal resort of Warrnambool which is close to the South Australia (SA) border. On day 2 of the drive we stopped at the southern town of Mount Gambier in SA to re-supply and also go to Mt Gambier itself which is famous for its rather strange natural phenomenon. Mt Gambier is an old volcano this is flooded and in the summer the water is a brilliant sky blue and in winter turns grey. Weird!

After the stop it was time to hot foot it back to the ranch in Middleton and stay with my cousin once again. On the way we stopped off in Southend which is ever so slightly smaller than its English equivalent. Only about 300 people live there! After that I bombed the highway at a gentle 174kmh getting back home at 6pm. God the car was good!!!