Melbourne and The Great Ocean Road 19th - 25th September In Melbourne we were staying with Phil's Mum's cousin! These distant relations are very confusing, but very handy all the same! We spent our first day in Melbourne planning out our 3 day self drive tour of The Great Ocean Road and the Mornington Peninsula, but we still managed to squeeze in a few of the sites! First up we strolled around the funky Federation Square, where they hold big outdoor festivals such as the build up to the Aussie Rules football final, which was on the week we were in town, but unfortunately we left before the game. We also strolled around the beautiful botanical gardens, before we went back to the centre where we ascended the Rialto Tower to see the city at sunset. We collected our hire car early the next morning and headed south west on the highway and down The Great Ocean Road, staying overnight in Port Campbell. Over the 2 days we managed to see a good chunk of the main attractions. The highlight was seeing the Twelve Apostles at sunset and then watching the penguins waddle in at dusk. There was also an awesome rainforest tree top walk which took you up 50m high on a wobbly walkway, a couple of nice seaside towns, some waterfalls and endless lookouts and photo opportunities along the journey. We had considered doing a bus tour of the area, but half the experience was to get out there, drive and discover the area for yourself. Whilst we had a car we also visited the Mornington Peninsula, about a 90 minute drive south out of the city, where there was more rugged coastline and some more upmarket seaside towns. Our favourite spot was cape shank, where a winding boardwalk gradually brought you down a cliff to the beach where we looked around the rock pools and got mesmerised by the pounding waves! After returning the car, we got around the city again with its exemplary transport network that put every other city to shame! We went around the Victoria Markets, which were vast but bit repetitive. We also visited some of the outer suburbs such as Fitzroy and St Kilda, where the main passtime is food! Also of note was The Docklands area full of crazy sculptures and modern art style buildings, but half of it was still a building site and has been for 4 years apparently! It will be Melbourne's version of Darling Harbour in Sydney, if it's ever finished.