Got up mega early mainly cos i couldn't sleep(yes clare couldnt sleep!) jet lag was still annoying me. Left melbourne at 7:30am and met two others on my tour so there was only 3 of us which was cute. An american guy called Suresh and a dutch girl called Marlene really nice and we chatted all the way to the mountains! Travelled out of Melbourne and went through some small rural towns mainly built up from the gold rush of the 1800s. This was also Ned kelly country and we heard stories of his gold robberies. We arrived in the Grampians for lunch and were spotting emus on the way. The whole area is really black because of the bush fires in January. It seems really sad but the vegetation has adapted and so it can rejuvenate. Went to an aboriginal cultural centre, bought a boomerang (lol) and then looked out across the mountains from a series of lookout points. We also visited McKenzie falls (big waterfall). So as you can imagine I was in geography heaven! hehe. Then in the evening i had to say good bye to my two buddies and met another tour who were travelling from adelaide to melbourne on a 3 day tour, mine was melbourne to melbourne and I was the only one doing that. There are 12 of us including our guide called Firery (strange i know but a really nice guy). Lots of girls and 1 bloke (4 canadians 1 american, 1 dutch, 1 swiss, and 2 japanese all doing similar things to me. Elise (dutch girl) and I are going to do some sightseeing back in melbourne when we get back on tuesday and when i return from sydney as she is on her own too. Tonight we are staying at Halls gap in the mountains in a beautiful eco friendly YHA - so clean so nice! Its great! Open log fires and the kitchens are great. We all cooked up a huge dinner spag bol. Really yum food and I feel like im on guide camp or something similar! The japanese girls took pictures of each course! It was hilarious! So glad i booked this tour!