Adelaide - Melbourne:

Luckily got a mint relocation vehicle the Britz Elite and made our way to Melbourne. Bit chilly still we had to get the van there in 3 days so we paid for an extra day. Other than that it was $1 a day mint. Loved living in the van. Went along the great ocean road. Great driving scenic stretch that all tourists do and must do. Three appostles, london bridge basically just landslides of the ocean gradually crumbling away. Just stayed in the van at random carparks, near the beach and off some side roads. First night we saw a kangeroo. Your not supposed to drive past sunset as many tourists right off their vehicles by hitting kangers. You see lots of dead ones on the side of the road. There are lots of signs to call for medical animal emergancey if you do hit one. Many vans and trucks have big grills so it doesnt smash the windscreen when you hit one. We met these girls who didnt take out the insurance on the van to get the excess down and they hit a kanger on the 3rd day! Wrote off the van and hat to pay $3,000! We paid the extra per day to get the excess down to $500. We went to the Grampians National Park which is a really nice little place! They do night tours there where you can spot the kangers and koalas etc. Had a gorge meal for $10 each at a cafe called the Black Panther. We did a 3 hour walk to the Pinicle there which was AMAZING. The walk took you over gorges, through tiny ally's of rocks, over bridges, steep terrain, under a waterfall it was great. Oz is pretty flat though no views are in comparison with NZ, its just trees and you can see miles because it is so flat. We handed the van back in Melbourne and had a monsterous walk back into Melbourne city centre with our backpacks. Melbourne again is just another city and we kind of just wanted to get out of it. It was beautiful though. We did the scenic walks and had lunch in the Botanical Gardens, had several coffees and pub lunches. First hostel we stayed in was right above and english pub called the Elephant and ???. Couldnt sleep a wink as the music was so loud the walls in our room were shaking! We rapidly checked out the next morning. (it was called the Ritz Hostel in St Kilda) We then stayed in a budget hostel / hotel called the Miammi Hotel, behind Victoria market. Much better! No cooking facilities though so we had to eat out, but we did have a fridge in the room for cereal in the morning. Mike and I are now in the habbit of stealing sugars, sweetners, salt and pepper sachets from every place we dine at. This funds our morning tea and coffee. (we bought tea bags) So what else can I say about Melbourne? Not much, high rise buildings, good Victoria Market (just like any other big market) Went to the beach & basically just did hours of walking each day round the city. We stayed for 3 days days. We had booked another relocation van from Stand By Cars, but it fell through so we booked the Firefly Coach that took us that night to Sydney. 12 hours through the night. Luckily we had a pillow! It was a great coach though, double decker, toilet, aircon and really smart.

Sydney
We arrived in Sydney in the centre with no home planned for the night at 7am. Keep in mind nothing opens in Oz til at least 9am usually 10.am! We had an ommlette breaky at the trusted takeaways that are always open. Hungry Jacks (Their burger king, they couldnt call it burger king because a little burger place years ago already had the name, BK tried to buy it off him but he refused so they have to call themselves Hungry Jacks how funny!) Okay so again we are in another bloody city! I dont think Sydney is as nice as Melbourne, i think its more seedy and tacky. We did the usual, the Sydney Harbour which was spectacular. We did the Pylon walk instead of the bridge walk as the Bridge walk was hundreds of $'s and Charlotte Vicky's sister said it wasnt worth it. The Pylon walk had a museum in it which was very interesting to me, all about how long it took the build the bridge and every detail. It also had a little film clip of all the old photo's which was good. The views were amazing. We walked round the opera house and Mike wanted to steal a slate from the roof to use as a coaster back home but there were none loose and we didnt dare!~ We walked around the city again, found a place to stay that Charlotte recommended and it was DREADFUL THANKS CHARLOTTE! It was a right dive but $60 a night providing you stay 2 nights was one of the cheapest in Sydney for a double. There was glass and scaffolding all out on the remote balcony, the rooms were big but dirty and dowdy. You did get a tv and a fridge though. At one point I was in the shower and mike was just about the brush his teeth and the water started running black slop! I've never hopped out the shower so fast in my life! Eugh! It was just like a building site thanks Charlotte! Actually after the 2nd night we didnt think it was that bad but i still would advise everyone not to go there. It is called the EMBASSADOR HOTEL. We did ask if we could have our money back after seeing the room for the first time so we could stay somewhere else but they wouldnt let us! We went to Darling Harbour at night which was Beautiful! All lit up and people buzzin around having dinner going for drinks etc. We went to the IMAX there which is the BIGGEST cinema in the world! It was huge and not expensive either i think it was $20 each. We watched a 3D film about whales and sardines in Africa bit random! It was a documentary about the food chain. There was lots to do at darling harbour like museums, animal sanctuary's, aquariams etc. We were looking for a relocation car to Brisbane but couldnt find one so we hired one from Backpacker for 2 weeks. The travellers Auto Barn looked better but they werent open on Sundays and we needed it the next day. $39 a day it is plus all your extra's $200 one way fee, insurance, admin costs etc! It was a total budget one, cheapest with a cooler box instead of a fridge, no grill just a hob. But it did the trick and we love it! We set off for Brisbane and all the nice places on the way the next day all good. I blagged them to throw in 2 chairs as well which was good!