So now onto the trip between Sydney and Melbourne! Well we had decided to hire a car for this section as the Oz Bus had ended in Sydney. It was going to work out seriously cheap compared to any other options so we went for it, and better still this meant Lynn was going to come with us to Melbourne which was great! We picked up our Hyundai Getz on Wednesday morning and drove over to our hostel (after a bit of scary traffic) to pick up our lives in our rucksacks, Lynn and the guys. It was a big squeeze! Amber drove to Bondi Beach and it took ages to get there. Amber did well considering we were all shouting which way to go! Bondi was a tiny bit of a disappointment to be honest... it looks more like an English sea side resort (obviously no where near as tacky) but it could have been somewhere like Broadstairs, it all looked very English. We got some lunch (me and Amber had THE most amazing salad- ahhh so good!) and we got onto the beach. I had a paddle, then we saw 2 lifeguards jump in the water with a surfboard each and we saw they were aiming for 2 children being taken out by a rip who looked to be in trouble. It was a truly impressive sight, the lifeguards were so quick, and they got each child on a surfboard and paddled back in. So quick, and so clued up on what they were looking for - we hadn't even seen the children let alone realise they were in trouble. That was a comforting thing to witness - the lifeguards are seriously good here - but they do need to be! With this, it was sadly time to say goodbye to Kyle and Liam, and a breakup of Team Extreme! It was a momentous occasion, very sad, we all hugged, then group hugged, and promised to stay in touch and arrange our visits as soon as we are back and have some money again! So us girls went off back to our car, what was going to be our home for the next few days, and the boys tried a bit of body surfing on the waves. We made our way to a shopping centre and did a spot of shopping - a car cd needed to be bought for the road trip! With provisions bought too, we packed up the car (after temporarily losing it in the most confusing car park system ever) and got out. We took...TWO hours to find our way out of Sydney! Lynn was on her laptop on google maps, I was trying to work it out with a paper map, Amber was driving. After a frustrating hour, we found ourselves right back at the beach! We just prayed the boys didn't see us as that would have been highly embarassing and they are the type to rip it out of us! Relieved, we got onto the road out of Sydney finally, and got out onto the open road. It took about 3 and a half hours and we arrived in Canberra. Well, what can I say about Canberra??! It is the capital of Australia, but only 315,000 people live there compared to about 5 million in Sydney! We stayed in a hotel (not a hostel!!) and loved the fact we were trusted enough not to have to pay a key deposit! We got out to grab some food and boy it was cold! We found a food area which was a bit like an industrial estate with some fairy lights draped across the streets, and food takeaways everywhere with cars parked right up outside. A very strange concept! We got a pizza hut takeaway which was much needed, and watched some aussie tv - they have So you think you can dance? too! We got to bed, ready for an early start the next day - we had 650km to cover! We got up at 7am, tried to have breakfast at 8am as we were told it was included in the room price but then the manager was so rude, it was not in fact free! Lynn described her as 'an offensive toad-face cow' which we instantly liked and now she will forever be referred to as that! Lynn got driving and we got lost trying to get out of Canberra! It wasn't as bad as getting out of Sydney though. We got to the road we wanted and got driving! Well...to get anywhere in Oz you have to just keep driving! It was a full day of driving, several achy leg stops, several 'tired...I need to swap' stops, several food stops and about 7 repeats of the CD later and we arrived in Melbourne. Lynn got us to the hostel (after several attempts) as she had been staying in Melbourne before the Oz bus and we got to a brilliant hostel where we could park the car for free and it was cheap too! Free tea, coffee, pasta and rice! nice rooms too. We got into the room and crashed, we were so tired! Amber went to bed and me and Lynn stayed up a bit longer, went to the film room, tried to watch the film but ended up chatting and we looked through all our photos of the East coast...so many memories! We had named the car KyLi (after the guys) so we were still technically travelling with them! We were all missing them a lot! The next day we had planned to drive the Great Ocean Road. We left at 9am (after taking advantage of the free breakfast) and got out of Melbourne (which takes about an hour). Then it took about another hour to get onto the actual road, and we had been told the Twelve Apostles (stacks of rock in the sea which are the big attraction on the road) were about 2 and a half hour drive away. We thought this meant from Melbourne but 2 and a half hours of driving later and we were only half way there! Amber drove to the 12 apostles, I sat in the back and promptly fell asleep! I think it was a mix of being so warm in the sun, and just general tiredness from the whole east coast which was catching up with me. We got to the apostles and...WOW! Absolutely breath-taking. They were beautiful and we had perfect sunshine for photos - one of our friends said he drove the road in the rain which we imagined must have really spoilt the day. After loads of photos, we got driving back the way we came! I was driving now and the windy roads were brilliant! They were great fun to drive and we stopped in a place called Apollo Bay for a very late lunch (4pm to be exact!). We eventually got back to Melbourne very tired, sort of feeling like we had not had a very constructive day, but still after being in the car for 10 hours we had seen one of the major scenic attractions of Australia, so that wasn't bad going in a day! We cooked free pasta for tea and then got ready for the next day - me and Amber were off to visit a girl we knew from Canterbury who we looked after at an after-school club (she was only 9 when we knew her but she was Australian but lived in England for 2 years - now she is living back in Australia!). They live in a place called Violet Town...2 hours back towards Sydney! We set off there about mid-morning after having to check out of our room and we left Lynn in Melbourne - it was very strange not having the little Scot around! Amber drove there, we got to Violet Town and we were told to look out for the post office in the smallest town ever...somehow me and Amber had managed to drive straight past it! We pulled up, called Lily (the girl's name) Dad (called Joe) and he came along 2 minutes later, with a big hug! We followed him to their house and it was such a nice house! A big wooden construction with a tin roof. We got the guided tour and it was a lovely cosy house with a woodburner and a BBQ outside. After a lot of chatting and catching up, we had a delicious BBQ for lunch (they did some prawns which was proper aussie BBQ food!) and sat outside. They had a brilliant jack russell dog called Twisty who was simply mad but I liked him and he didn't jump up so that was ok! They took us out into the Strathbogie tablelands (just a mountainous area near Violet Town) and we stopped at a really scenic billabong where there were huge rocks. Lily was like Lara Croft - absolutely fearless whilst me and Amber stepped a bit more gingerly everywhere! After about an hour, we left and got an ice cream from the local village shop which claimed to sell the 'best coffee in town' in fact it was the only coffee in town! We had to get going once we got back to their house so we quickly took some photos, said our goodbyes and I got driving us home. The open roads are great to drive along and so easy to put your foot down, you can quickly be doing well over 110km/h before you know it...oops! We got back to Melbourne, absolutely shattered after 4 days of driving. We got back to the hostel and the guy on reception said "your good friend has got a message for you...she has left her phone at her cousins so can't get in touch!" so we were panicking trying to find her! Finally we tracked her down and she was with the Irish in their hostel getting ready to go out. We were both so tired but made the effort to go out for a night in Melbourne as it was going to be our last night out altogether! We finally got to their hostel bar after a bit of getting lost round Melbourne. We had some drinks, took some cool photos, then made the last trip altogether to McDonnnaaaaallllllddddddssssss! It was a fun night. The next day, we had arranged to go to the Queen Victoria Markets, the biggest market in Melbourne. We shopped ALOT! Then we went and dropped Lynn off at the train station who was guaranteeing her next 5 weeks accommodation with her cousin in a cribs style house! Perfect! And we all said goodbye :( There is a possibility that Amber and me can meet up with the Irish in New Zealand but they are going in the opposite direction but fingers crossed! But the Irish are not going to see Lynn till next summer when our UK and Ireland Experience is going to happen! Amber and I decided to explore Melbourne and we walked to Federation Square, a really cool meeting area with bars and cafes. We stopped and watched a funny English street entertainer then found a museum all about moving images. The Irish had been here the day before and raved about it so we decided it was worth a try - especially seeing as it was FREE entry! We had a look round, then quickly found the cool interactive things. There was a 36 shot 360 degree camera room where you press a button and then all the cameras take a photo one after the other, the effect is a bit like out of Matrix, it was good! I was enjoying it, did a cartweel, a big jump and other stupid things! You could then watch it back and then email it to yourself...which I did! We also found something where you could make a flick book, so me and Amber pretend-fighted each other and that turned out well too! We walked back the long way home ("as broad as it is long" haha!) and chilled for a bit. We had a simple tea (uncle ben's microwaveable rice is awesome!) then went to bed. The next day was to be our last in Melbourne and in Australia! We got on a tram and made our way to St. Kilda - the beach area of Melbourne. We found our way to the beach, bought a drink and waited for Amber's friend Jo to arrive and also Lynn who we had arranged to meet. We walked down the pier, saw some huge jellyfish in the sea too! St. Kilda was ok, just another beachy area though and it wasn't very warm! We found a great pizza shop and had a nice civilised lunch together, then had an awesome Cold Rock ice cream for dessert (we had been told about this in Cairns but hadn't tried one all through Oz so we thought we should!) then got back on the tram and back to our hostel. Jo said goodbye, then we had to say goodbye to our Lynn! Her cousin picked her up and I immediately burst into tears straight after! I think it was an emotional time, knowing we wouldn't see her for over a year, the end of Australia, moving on, an incredibly early morning to come and just how difficult it is to say goodbye! We have decided this is one of the worst things about travelling, constantly saying bye :( Amber and I got loads done for our blogs, got showered, got packed and turned the light off at 10pm. I couldn't sleep for ages, probably because I knew the alarm was due to go off in 4 hours time! urrrrggggghhhhh. 4 hours later, beep beep beep! what, it is the middle of the night! We got up, checked out and left at 2.30pm, then got a taxi (with a nice taxi man who did us a very cheap deal to drive us straight there rather than us having to get a shuttle bus) and we got to the airport which was completely dead! No one around, a tiny airport too. I phoned home and surprised Mum by phoning at such a convenient time for her but at stupid o'clock for us! We got checked in at 4am, went on the internet to use up some change (and fix our Facebook withdrawal symptoms clearly!) then waited for our plane at 6am. Goodbye Oz! Hello Auckland, New Zealand!