From Brisbane we continued on our journey south, making short stops in Byron Bay, Woolgoolga, & Tea Gradens before we hit Sydney. A highlight was a visit to the Walkabout Wildlife Park, a 30th birthday pressie from my friend Charlotte. We breakfasted with kangaroos, learned about Aboriginal culture and had a 12ft Python wrapped around our necks - great photo opportunity!

We decided to spend a few days in Sydney, saying final goodbyes and enjoying a last meal at our favourite restaurants. It was good to be back but after 3 days we were ready to move on and experience more of Oz. Back in the car we made our way towards Melbourne, stopping off at small towns along the way...flitting visits that don't really warrant a mention!

It was then on to the famous Great Ocean Road. The coastal road of southern Australia, built after the 2nd world war by war veterans, this provides an entertaining drive...barren lighthouses, quaint fishing villages and the stunning Twelve Apostles, this is picture-perfect scenery. The only annoyances we found were the incessant flies and the number of Japanese tour groups, they really know how to irritate other tourists!

It happened that we would spend Valentine's Day on the Great Ocean Road, and so planned ahead to spend some time in a small coastal town called Port Fairy. This is where James proposed to me and I said "yes"...here's the story...

I noticed James was being really attentive but also quite irritable (especially when the Japanese were underfoot at every beauty spot!) but this isn't too abnormal so I thought nothing of it. Once we arrived in Port Fairy James suggested we take a walk to a small island next to the main town. This sounded like a lovely idea and on first appearance the island was beautiful, however a closer inspection revealed an unhealthy number of dead birds, and I was looking at them to understand why...much to the annoyance of James. About ½ way into the walk, the thunder rolled in and the heavens opened. We were in T-shirt and shorts so had to run the rest of the journey back to the cabin...a good 30 minutes away. Once back and dry, we tucked into a bottle of red, relaxed in the lovely wooden cabin by the river and laughed at the un-romantic walk we'd just completed. This is when James popped the question! It all made sense, his irritable attitude was explained when he told me he'd been wanting to ask me all day, but obviously didn't find 'the' romantic spot! I thought it was perfect, he'd planned it wonderfully and the ring is beautiful, I couldn't ask for anything more.

So, there we have it, we're now engaged. A wonderful addition to the trip and a memorable proposal.

After leaving the Great Ocean Road, we headed inland up to Ballarat to visit the gold mines, then on to the Grampians national park for some hiking and fitness. Both whistle stop trips before hitting Melbourne.

Melbourne is such a vibrant, culturally rich city and carries a European feel, very different from the glitz and glam of Sydney. We instantly fell in love with the Parisian style side streets, the abundance of cool bars and restaurants, the suburbs and the city architecture. Staying with James' friend from uni and her boyfriend, Emma and Mick, we were treated to the highlights and shown around by the locals - the best way to see a city. It's a shame we only had 1 week to enjoy Melbourne, however it's now a reason to return to Australia, not least to see our friends again but to sample some more of what the country has to offer.