Day 1

After a bit of a slow start, we decided that today would start with how all major travelling trips should start, with a trip to the very Australian shop Ikea!Taking the tram out (bunking the train as the machine didn't work!), we arrived at the familiar blue and yellow building, which having walked round, is extremely similar to the Croydon layout one with the exception of size.We were there to get a few bits to make the camper, which we pick up on Monday, feel a little more like home, since we are in this one for 2 months and then the one in New Zealand for 1 month.So we bought some candles, cheese slice, linen, couple of mugs, coffee plunger and of course, some wine glasses.We topped the trip off with a visit to the restaurant for some meatballs (Martin) and then a princess cake with teacoffee.Excellent.

After a successful shop, we headed back into the centre to drop the shopping off and then headed into the city for a wander.We got to Federation Square and it seemed that this was the place to go for a beer (well, may be that is all of Melbourne) and since it was a Friday and work had finished, we decided to join them.After we bought, we decided it would only be for one since it cost just under 20AUD for a beer and wine.Martin is finding that beer is very expensive and less so, especially in the normal shops, so may have to be a wine drinker for the next couple.As we stood outside enjoying our drinks, overlooking the river, there seemed to be loads of people walking past with England and Australia flags, shirts etc.We thought that we'd just follow them, as they were wandering along the river, which would be a nice walk anyway.As we went, we decided just to go to the stadium for a look and may be see how much the tickets were.When we arrived we decided that since we were in Australia, in Melbourne and the Twenty20 was one between England and Australia, that if tickets were available, we would watch it, even though neither of us had any interest in cricket.So we queued up in one line, then went round the stadium to another, then to another etc etc.This went on for a while and then we just found one with no queue but a little more at 50AUD, so in we went.For the next 3 hours, we sat having a beer, watching the cricket (with Martin explaining what little he knows about the rules to Marie!!!).

The end of the cricket was pretty nail biting and with the last ball, England needed to hit a 6 to win.Unfortunately this didn't happen, so all the Australians around us were very happy (especially since they lost the ashes!!).We both really enjoyed the evening of cricket.

Day2

We overslept but still managed to get to the Neighbours tour on time. Come on, you have to do the Neighbours tour when you are in Australia!! Our tour guide was Irish and he was quite funny bringing up a lot of the old storylines which was great as neither of us have seen neighbours for a few years. Our first stop was the school and then Ramsey Street. It was so weird to see all of the houses and then finding out that they never go inside them and that normal people live there. The people on the street are compensated for having to keep their houses and garden tidy. The guode recon they get 30,000 AUD per year. It's quite a lot for only filming once per week. We continued our tour to the studios and the outdoor sets. Again, it was amazing how they make a small set look like a whole town. Our last stop on the tour was to meet Janelle, one of the old Neighbours actors. After the tour we went up to Victoria Market and got some food for our picnic later in the evening. We got back to the hotel after one and prepared our picnic. Melon, mint and feta salad, mmmm yummy!!!Around six we headed towards the Botanic Gardens where we were going to watch a movie and eat our picnic. There were loads of people there when we arrived, which wasn't a surprise as the weather was so nice. We watched a film called the town and it was ok. It was more the open air and the stars above that made the evening.

Day 3

Woke up today and started with telephone calls home, to mum, dad, mamma & papa and FredrickSofiaSiri.Then Steve decided to join the skyping club and we got a call around midnight UK time, with him and Georgie having a G&T and us having a tea!!!!Was really good to catch up with everyone, especially since it has been a little while since we did.

After all the calls, it was around lunchtime and the weather was glorious, so we decided to head out to the suburb of St Kilda, which was around 20 minutes by tram.The town is on the coast and they had little stalls along the promenade, so we had a look round but there was nothing that really took our fancy, so we went for what this town is famous for - their cake shops!!!We sat outside this lovely little one, having a coffeetea and a tower of chocolate cakemouse and strawberry (though only one person got the strawberry - any guesses which one!!!!!).After feeding our faces we headed back into Melbourne and collected our tennis tickets for day 5 of the Aussie open, which we're both really looking forward to and then it was back to the hotel, to wash everything before the campervan.

In the evening, we headed out to a suburb named Fitzroy.Turned out to be a pretty trendy place.Marie was in awe of all the little vintage clothes shops - shame they were closed !!!!We walked around and then headed to the Vegie bar, which turned out to be really big restaurant and was nearly packed out.Seemed like we'd found a popular place.Food was really good, though as we're finding in Aus, the prices aren't that cheap but the portions are huge, you could think you were in America.

Then it was home to pack.

Day 4

Camper day.We got all our bags together, including the Ikea to make a home bag and headed out to the metro.They seemed to forget to mention that pick up location of Melbourne was actually a 1h15m tube ride away from the centre!!But we got there and the bloke who ran the shop seemed like a good bloke.We arrived about 11 and there were a couple with a kid sorting out their rental already.Turned out that the woman was an absolute pain in the @ss. We felt sorry for the guy whom she was married to. Anyway, we did the checks and then off we went to get some food. It was weird to go in and do a shop as it had been months ago. There was plenty of veggie stuff too so that was great. Because of the floods we had chosen to go to Phillip Island and then onto the Great Ocean road from there. We arrived on the Island just before the tourist office was about to close for the evening. We were told that there were no free campsites on the island and the only way we could camp would be to go into a campsite. We booked our Penguin tickets for the evening and then went to call some campsites. We found one not too far from Cowe and on the way to where you go and see the Penguin parade. We had dinner and then headed off to Sunny Beach for the Penguins. We saw about 100 Penguins coming in from the sea to their nests. They were so cute and an amazing thing to see.

Day 5

The first night in the camper went well although we didn't sleep that well. I think we were just not used to all the noises etc. We packed up and headed towards the ferry that would take us from Sorrento to Queenscliff. We had been advised that this route would be much quicker and would take us straight to the Great Ocean road. When we arrived at the ferry port we had an hour spare so we made lunch in the car park. We are already starting to see the benefits of having a campervan. The ferry only took 40 minutes but we managed to get the computer charged up on the way. We arrived at Queenscliff and headed down through Wallington, towards Torquay!!! It is quite amusing that all the names are the same as in England. We got to a little town where we stopped to get some information on what to see and do. The lady was very friendly and gave us a map showing all the free campsites in the area. She also pointed out a couple of places to go and see along the Great ocean road. We had heard that the local golf course was a good place to see Kangaroos so we headed there. There were quite a few of them laying on the grass chilling out, so we took some photos and then headed off towards the campsite. At first, the road was tarmac and smooth but then we turned a corner and it turned into gravel. We continued along this road, which seemed to take forever until we finally found the sign. Marie was convinced no one would be here and that we would be in the forest by ourselves. But we turned up and there were a couple of others there. So we set up camp and started cooking dinner. The toilet facilities weren't great but at least it was free, which is something you don't see often in Oz.

Day 6 - Great Ocean Road/ Johanna Beach

The road back out to the main road seemed much shorter this morning, although Martin insisted this was due to the fact he drove much faster… Our first stop was Teddy's lookout and it did have some stunning views over the Ocean. We continued along to the Sheoaks Falls and did the short walk to see the falls. They were very beautiful and much taller than the ones we had seen previously on our trip. We stopped for lunch by the Kenneth River and then went to see the Koala bears that were sleeping in the trees beside the road. Very cute and Marie wanted to take one with her. So after another wildlife tick we continued past Apollo Bay to Johanna beach where we decided to camp for the night. There were two roads leading to the beach and we picked the second one which was ok to start with but then became very bumpy and rough the further down we got. When we finally arrived at the beach there were loads of people there. It was a nice day so we decided to go for a walk along the beach. As soon as we got out of the camper we were attacked by the flies. They were so annoying and no way to get away from them. When we reached the beach they seemed to cool off a bit due to the wind. After we came back from the walk we tried to figure out a way of getting the flies to b***** off so we took our mosquito bed net and hung it up over us. We must have looked like wierdos but it did work. As it got cooler the flies seemed to go off and we could enjoy a nice dinner out.

Day 7 - 12 Apostles/Top Tree Walk/Sundowner Campsite

So today was going to be the last day of our Great Ocean Road adventure and what better way to end it than a final drive down towards port Campbell and the 12 apostles.The drive down was, as is with all the Great Ocean Road, magnificent and is definitely a cruising time.We arrived at the apostles centre and took a stroll in what was turning out to be a scorcher of a day.From the main visitor pathway you can't see all the apostles but you can see the majority and they are amazing to see.These natural columns are in a place which will for us, be remembered as the most scenic place along the Great Ocean Road.

After our visit, it was time to head back towards Melbourne for our tennis day tomorrow.We made a few calls and found a place named Rockbank that was around 30kms outside Melbourne and was about 12 the price of the ones closer to the city, so we booked in for 3 nights.We went all out as well and got a powered site, so now we had a plug socket and a microwave that came to life (it was so great that we never used the microwave!!!!!).The place had really clean facilities and even a swimming pool - well it was more a puddle at 7 metres long.

Day 8 - Australian Open Tennis

We had tickets for the hisense arena, which started at 11am, so with our journey in, we were up early and going to get the 8am bus.The campsite was actually located on the M8 freeway and the journey into Melbourne was via a bus for 30 mins and then a tube for 30 mins.Our going journey however meant that we needed to cross the freeway to the other side for the bus.It is a dual carriageway, which was relatively busy but there were gaps in the traffic that allowed for crossing.However when that gap came and we started to go, Martin's big paws seemed to get tangled up and so he tripped over - great, as the cars are only doing 100kph towards you.It was all ok though, he managed to get up before being squashed but had a few scrapes and bruises.

Anyway, we got to Melbourne in good time and waited for the doors to open and went to our seats.It was clear even at that time that the decision to take the shaded seats was going to prove to be a wise decision and it was around 25C and was going to hit 30C by midday.

The first match was going to be Djokovic vs Troicki.With Djokovic being the Winner in 2008, it was a game that promised to be a decent start to the day, especially since Troicki was friends with Djokovic and they had won the Davies cup for Serbia together.So it all started and the first few games were pretty competitive but Troicki didn't seemed to be right and then after the end of the first set, the coach was called and Troicki decided to retire.It was apparently something to do with his stomach.All very disappointing

The next game was Andy Rodd*** (seeded 8) vs a dutch guy named Robin Haase, who is realitively up and coming, having come from around 450 to 60 (something) over the last year.We thought that Rodd*** would comfortable win but Haase came out of the starting blocks a lot quicker than Rodd*** and eased the win in the first set 6-2.Then in the second set it was all going with serve when Haase pulled up after sliding for a ball.The whole crowd groaned at what looked like another retiring player but after a very heavy strapping from the physio, he got back to business.The second set went with the serve and then the in the tie break Rodd*** managed to pull in the win but it helped that haase doubled faulted twice.

The match continued fairly evenly and the crowd was very mixed but Rodd*** definitely seemed to get an understanding of how Haase played and improved on his game after the second set victory and in the end, won the next 2 sets to win the match.

The next match was Sharapova vs another up and coming tennis player named Julia Goerges from Germany.Again, on paper this should have been an easy win for Sharapova but it definitely didn't turn out that way.Goerges managed to break Sharapova's serve and win the first set 6-4 and at this time, seemed to be comfortable and likely to win.The crowd had some fun from the start, imitating Sharapova who grunted her whole way through the game.In about the middle of the second set, Sharapova got herself together and started to play some good tennis and took the second set 6-4.In the third, Goerges seemed lost and it was 4-0 before she knew it.Then came a bit of a comeback but in the end, the damage was done and Sharapova won the last set 6-4 and with that the match.

It was a great day of tennis and in the end we watched around 7 hours.After all that, we popped by the imperial leather stand for some freebies and then went for a cold beer (wine).

Day 9 - Wash day and Chill out

A great day of not much.We spoke to parents and did some washing.The highlight of the day was a trip to Aldi !!!!!

Day 10 - Drive to Lake Entrance

So it was time to move on now.Melbourne had been done and a tick put next to it, so time to hit the coast and head northwards to New South Wales.We spent a number of hours today driving down to Lakes Entrance, which was about 350kms away but we are taking the more scenic route at all times, so the roads aren't as fast and we don't want to drive as fast.

We went to the information centre to get some information about what we should do and why in a way we should stay around and managed to get some very subdued old man, who was of no help.We took a stroll round the town but then headed off to try and find the local free places to park up for the night.After about 4 of them turned out to be either a lost cause, down a gravel track for about 10+ kms and the first 1km was terrible, we left Lakes Entrance and went to a rest area.By that point we'd decided that we should rest up but then continue further north, especially if the weather still wasn't great (as it had been) and get into New South Wales.

Day 11 - Bye Bye Victoria, Hello New South Wales.

We woke to another grey start and it really was a driving day, so we filled up with fuel and hit the road, continuing along the more scenic road (A1), through lots of National Parks and on up to New South Wales and a town named Eden.

We stopped in Eden to get some information.There is something about these people - the women here decided that the best place for us to visit was the whale museum and then a few hours away was a zoo.Whoopy.So we headed up to the local lookout point for a spot of lunch before heading on to a place named Merribula, where we knew there was a place we could stay at for free.We popped into this information centre to see what was going on for Australia Day and found that like most other towns, there was a morning breakfast being held.She also mentioned that they had a boardwalk around part of the lake, so after the day of driving, we stretched our legs for an hour or so.As we walked along, we were lucky to see what people said was a baby stingray but it was a decent size, so obviously from the larger stingray variety.

We drove up to our campsite which was located about 5 km out of town. For once,the road leading up to the site was tarmac and it was a good quiet spot. We made thai curry for dinner and then watched Mad men before turning the lights out…. And man it was dark!!!