When we arrived in Melbourne Phil's Aunty Roma and Cousin Sam picked us up from the airport and we drove the 45 mins back to their apartment in Ellwood via the West Gate Bridge and harbour area. That afternoon we took a walk to the beach, along the pier and back along a street with lots of cake and coffee shops, stopping of course to sample the cakes!

On Day 2 Phil's cousin Katherine arrived home from Canada with her brother Dustin. We rode the tram into the city centre and did a circular tour. We couldn't see much as the free tram was packed but it was fun to ride it anyway. When we got off we walked though some of the markets and stopped to watch some rock being made in a shop window. We bought some and it was delicious! Afterward we stopped in a square for a drink and then made our way home by train.

On Day 3 we began the drive up to the Great Ocean Road. It took a few hours to get to the coast and shortly after we did we stopped for lunch at a very busy bakery in Lorne. After another few hours winding round clifftop roads and then through some bush we arrived at the Twelve Apostles where we got out and had a look and took some photos. After seeing these we continued to Port Campbell and found our unit. It was two floors, with two bedrooms and all very clean and modern, very lovely! Phil and I walked down the road to buy fish and chips on the main street which was just 5 minutes from where we were staying. On the following day we went back to the apostles and found some steps nearby that went down to the beach. The sea was really clear and the landscape was just beautiful with tall straight cliffs and the stacks of rock out at sea. We went home and chilled out for a bit before Roma and Sam went to the beach and Phil and I went for a look around the shops and an ice-cream. That evening we had dinner at the beach bar where Phil tried some Kangaroo which he said was ok but a bit tasteless. We wanted to watch the sunset after dinner but it was cloudy and we couldn't see the sun at all. We also wanted to see the Little Penguins who were supposed to arrive just before dusk on the beach from their fishing trips to go to bed in their nests. We got to the spot a little early and could see lots of little penguin footprints on the sand below. After waiting for an hour we thought they might not come and had almost given up when we spotted one floating in the water close to shore. After him came another two and they stood together under a rock. By this time it was almost completely dark so we struggled to see a large group of them land further up the beach through the binoculars. They made their way in a line up to the rocks and we decided to head back to the car before it was pitch black. The following day we got back in the car to make our way back to Melbourne. We stopped half way at a place called Red Rock where we walked to the summit to see spectacular views across the country and lakes as well as the crater of a volcano or two!

On Saturday we went to Phil's cousin Dustin's house where he lives with his partner Mel and her son Alex who is two. It took a while for Dustin to get the fire going but eventually we had a lovely BBQ entertained by Alex who was very smart for his age as he was really good with words.

On Sunday Aunty Roma drove us to an historic mining town called Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. She spent the day with her friend who lived nearby. We took a tour down the mine which was interesting to see the tools they used and conditions they worked in looking for gold. We had lunch in the old fashioned bakery and then dressed up in period costume to have our photo taken. We panned for gold and watched a demonstration on purifying gold. The town was really interesting and we loved looking around at all the old fashioned shops etc. We also had a look at the gold museum across the road which had an exhibition of old chocolate boxes. That evening when we got home we watched the Rabbit Proof Fence with Katherine as we had wanted to learn something about Aborigional history while in Australia and she reccommended it.