Before I start rambling on incessantly let me first thank Fiona, who offered me not one but two airbeds to stay on after the first one deflated every night! So we begin with Australia Day, which I know almost nothing about. It's a day to celebrate Australia. Beyond that I'm not sure. Anyway, there were things happening all over the place: classic cars aplenty, two dollar sausage sizzles (basically hotdogs), an air show and a big concert and fireworks at Federati...

Today I finally got to Melbourne! Again! I also had free accommodation sorted, which made me feel very pleased. So we started by going to another memorial and lookout point for the town, followed by a trip to find a giant merino sheep with a shop inside it. As you'd expect. Our final stopover was Glenross, the town of Ned Kelly's last stand. This guy was a bushranger and mentalist with a suit of iron armour and a knack for killing policemen. He also had some ma...

Ok, so I have a confession to make. This blog and the next few blog entries are being written almost a month after they actually happened. What can I say? I've been having too much fun to interrupt it by writing about how much fun I was having. So, with that out of the way, I'm going to cast my mind back to the misty depths of the great ocean road... Amy and I kicked off our Great Ocean Road adventure by visiting Lorne for a breakfast with a view. A pretty good ...

I woke a bit late on Christmas Day and got a bit of free hostel breakfast in before it closed. Also got free tram and train travel all day for Christmas, despite buying a ticket. I then met my surrogate family for Christmas: the Rowes. And what a lovely bunch they all are too! I gave them my present: a pair of paintings from China, and I even got one back! Some freddo chocolates, a book on Australian culture (including a recipe for lamingtons) and my very own st...

After two nights of staying in Melbourne, I know nothing of my lower bunk sharer other than he sounds like a Dyson at night. I have never before felt such exasperation towards an unknown man. I am once again employing the trick of stuffing my earphones in and drowning out the incessant snoring with quite loud soothing music. Happy bloody Christmas... So I arrived in Melbourne surprisingly late in the afternoon having been on Perth time in the morning. Christmas ...