G'day folks! How is going?!?

Well we made it, unfortunately the sun didn't and we havnt spent any time at the beach yet but we've still been having a great time!

We landed early monday morning(2 weeks ago), it was a short flight but for Karen who managed to catch a nasty cold that very morning it was horrendous! Anyhoos we had arranged to pick up our camper van that day so we made our way towards the city, got our van and set off for the Great Ocean Rd!

We spent our first evening in Torquay before spending the next 2 days cruising along the Great Ocean Rd, we had dreamt of blue skies and beautiful sunsets, we got howling wind and heavy rain but the scenery was still beautiful. We were even lucky enough to see wild koalas on only our second day in the country!!very cute!

We were having fun in the van but had forgotten about the lack of washing facilities so after 3 days without a shower we stopped in Apollo Bay for a FREEZING shower on the beach, in the rain!!! We almost didnt make it to the showers though as we managed to leave the lights on in the van and woke up to a dead battery, luckily we bribed a lovely jordie couple with a cup of tea to jump start us!

At the end of the Great Ocean Rd we turned in land and headed towards the Grampians National Park. We spent that afternoon doing a few shortish walks/hikes out to some spectacular lookouts including the Pinnacles which overlooks the local town of Halls Gap and the surrounding area.

The next day we went rock climbing with a very chilled out local called Earl. It was, in parts, a terrifying experience that almost reduced us to tears. We started with 3 20meter absails followed by 2 climbs. The first was about 15m up, looked doable from the ground but in fact was pretty damn tough. The second was about 18m and it was a challenge just getting of the rock let alone climbing the thing! But we both did really well and on reflection really enjoyed it!

Of course it was only right that such a massive work out should be followed with a beer so off to the pub we went. Whilst chilling on the deck a kanga and her roo hopped by to join us, again very cute! We later headed back to the van for dinner and found ourselves surrounded by 20 kangeroos, after about an hour and a hundred photos the novelty wore off!

Saturday morning we drove onto Stawell and met up with an old friend of Jess'. After our first hot shower in a week we spent the afternoon wine tasting as there are many wineries in the local area (thankfully Dave kindly chauffered us so we could both drink), we gave our approval to all the wines and got a bottle to go with dinner that night! We were also treated to an aussie BBQ which was awesome as it didn't involve 2 minute noodles! We went to the pub that evening, we were expecting it to be busy but on arrival all 6 customers turned and looked at us as we clearly weren't locals! WE then went onto the only club in town which was more of a youth club disco!

The following day we went back to Halls Gap to visit the cultural centre, very interesting, then onto Ballarat where we spent the night in the Botanical Gardens. Next day we visited Soverign Hill, a living museum from the 1850s when gold was first discoved in the area. We went underground for a tour of the mines and panned for gold but no luck so we consoled ourselves with a massive cake!!! After that we drove back through Melbourne and down the peninsula, stopping off to surprise another of Jess' friends who fed us and gave us free beers!We spent that night in a random little village called Loch.

Our last full day in the van we finally had a bit of sunshine so we enjoyed a spectacular drive back along the Bass Coast stopping for a walk at a beautiful golden beach. WE then ventured onto Phillip Island so we could see the fairy penguins running up the beach to bed!yet again...very cute. Sadly we were not allowed to take photos of the penguins but no fear we did take pictures of us wearing animal hats in the shop, we possibly had more fun in there than the kids!

Back in Melbourne we stayed at not the best hostel in the city for 2 nights, it was that bad we had to nap on the park bench the next day! Luckily we are styaing with a friend now in St Kilda which is just south of the city and very cute...its a real house and we love it! Thank you Margaux and Matt!

Whilst in the city we visited the old Melbourne Gaol, where Ned Kelly was hanged! And the Queen Vic Markets as well as going up the Rialto tower for a view over the city and then into Federation Square. Today we mooched around on Acland St where we could have spent a small fortune on new clothes but didnt.

We have booked the next 2 weeks of our trip so here is a rough idea of where we will be:
We fly to Cairns monday morning, on tuesday we are doing a 2 day trip upto Cape Tribulation to see the crocodiles!Thursday we will do the Kuranda skyrail. Friday we take the bus to Magnetic Island where hopefully we will be able to spend saturday laying on the beach! Sunday we get to Airlie beach and Monday we take a day trip around the Whitsundays followed by an overnight bus to Rainbow beach. Wednesday we get in our 4 wheel drive and go across to Fraser Island returning on Friday. Saturday morning we bus down to Noosa, on the Sunshine coast...and thats it so far!

So thats all for now, we hope you're all well and we also hope that in our next blog we can brag about how hot and sunny it is!!!

Lots of love
Jess and Karen xxx