Due to the break up of school for their Easter holidays, an opportunity arose to see a little more of this giant country. I was fortunate enough to make some great friends on the Contiki Tour of New Zealand, and a sort of "reunion" was planned for the Easter weekend in Melbourne. This was the main influence of my decision to go down to Victoria, and since I was down in that part of the country I felt obliged to do a little more backpacking. My original plan was to spend a few days in Melbourne with my Contiki mates, then get a flight to Tasmania and see what Australia's most southerly and isolated state had to offer. This plan fell thorough mainly due to practicality: it would involve long ferry rides over the world-renowned Bass Straight (Cass's aren't good sailors), expensive flights and sheer brutal cold weather. All of which, surprisingly, I wasn't up for. This didn't prove to be a problem though, as one of the greatest things about backpacking alone is the flexibility it brings. You have all your belongings on your back, and there is no one to disagree or influence your decisions. Thus I just spent a few days in Melbourne and waited for a bit of inspiration. Whilst seeking this inspiration I stayed with my good friend Howard who lives in an outer suburb of Melbourne called Fern Tree Gully. The first night was spent in Hard Rock Café meeting up with old friends from New Zealand. They even had some blink (R.I.P.) memorabilia to make me fell at home. It was on this night that Rolley and myself thought it would be a fun idea to drive back to Adelaide (his home town), then back to Sydney in a camper van. The next morning, upon sobriety, we realized that it was a pretty stupid idea... or was it? The driving from Adelaide to Sydney seemed a bit far-fetched, but the drive to Adelaide was more than tempting. It is a very popular route with tourists as it incorporates the Great Ocean Road, which is one of the highlights of Australia, and something that I had planned to do before I leave. So we decided to go for it. There was only one problem though: we needed a camper van. This proved an extremely hard task as it was Easter Long Weekend, which meant thousands of like minded people where hiring camper vans to embark along the Great Ocean Road whilst they had a bit of time of work. By chance we where able to find a car we could hire. This would have to do, as the only possible way to get a camper van would have been to break the bank. It was all set, and we would be setting off after a few more days in Melbourne. This time was spent in places such as Brunswick Street, which really showed of Melbourne's awesome arty and music scene. It was filled with little cafes, small clothes shops and live music venues. It was also the International Comedy Festival in Melbourne at that time, which attracted top class acts from around the country and abroad. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to see any comedy due to the timing of my visit: a public holiday. All was not lost though, as I feel that I get to know a city best when I just ramble around it with no maps etc. This was made easy due to Melbourne's fantastic transport system. They have trams all over the city, and a relatively cheap day pass can get you around the city centre and it's suburbs. More time was spent sampling the local nightlife with Howard, including one spectacular pub witch had a vast array of bees for selection, including old favorites such as Boddingtons and Tetley's on tap. Howard was also kind enough to take us on the infamous Puffing Billy rail ride that ran from a town called Belgrave. I admit, at first I was skeptical, but it was actually really fun. It is an old school steam train, and you sit in these almost open-air carriages with your feet dangling out the side. I recommend it to anyone looking for a little day trip outside of Melbourne. So it was time to collect our car, and get on the road. We would head to Geelong, which is about an hour or two from Melbourne, and the gateway to the Great Ocean Road. As one might guess, most of the time is spent getting out of the city and dodging toll roads, but I must take my hat off to Rolley who navigated us out of there with the greatest of ease! But before we got to Geelong, we stopped to go Go-Karting. I still can't actually drive yet, so Rolley would be doing all the driving. Thus I just needed to show him how awesome I driver I actually am. I overlapped him a few times. It just shows that you don't need a fancy license to be a good driver. Geelong is interesting, but nothing out of the ordinary. I suppose it is just known as the Gateway to the Great Ocean Road and that's about it! We stocked up with a few supplies (such as beer and lollies), and we eventually made it to the Great Ocean Road. The first stop was Torquay, which is basically a big surfing town. It is full of surf shops; and even more surf shops. So it was here we decided to get ourselves some lunch and to buy myself a hat as my hair was out of control and I couldn't look at it anymore. It whilst buying this hat that we found out that the Bells Beach Surf Pro competition (Kelly Slater etc) was being held at the nearby Bells Beach. Bells Beach is one of the most famous surf beaches in the world, and the Bells Beach Pro is the oldest pro surf competition in the world. Naturally we went to see what was going on down there, but it cost $30 to get in. This is a lot to pay, especially as they weren't even surfing that day due to poor conditions. So we where back on the road again, but only until we stumbled across the Split Point Lighthouse. Not only is it a beautiful lighthouse set amongst a beautiful location, but it is also a famous lighthouse. It has been in a few movies, including Mad Max. But what sold it for me was that it was where the kids show I used to watch (back in the day...) called Around The Twist was filmed. Take a look at the pictures and see if it brings back any memories! The rest of the day was spent driving along the road until we reached Apollo Bay where we decided to rest our heavy eyes. The drive there was absolutely spectacular, and it was easy to see why The Great Ocean Road is one of the most famous coastal drives in the world. The hostel we chose to grace with our attendance was the Surfside Hostel. This was a really awesome hostel, recommended by the Lonely Planet book, and run by a chatty old lady! A good night's sleep was in order, and I slept for a good 12 hours! One of the greatest things about Hostels is that it's full of interesting like-minded people. Due to my mega long sleep I didn't get a chance to speak to that many people, but I know Rolley's company was enjoyed by an English bloke who was/is driving his motorbike around Australia. He was winging about how far apart the towns are in Australia, and that he had ran out of petrol over 10 times...idiot! It is those sort of stories that make you realize how compact and small the UK actually is. There is always a town, or even city, which is at the most few hours drive away at any point. You can drive for hours, and even days in Australia and not pass through a single town. I heard a statistic that 80% of Australian's live in 2% of Australia. It's a big bloomin country! So it was day two of the Great Ocean Road, and the plan for the day was to just drive! We knew our first stop would be the Twelve Apostles. This is one of Australia's most famous landmarks, and the highlight of the Great Ocean Road. The Twelve Apostles are basically twelve stacks spectacularly set amongst the savage Bass Straight. There aren't actually twelve of these stacks anymore, as they keep on falling down. I find it ironic that the forces of nature that created this spectacular landmark are now destroying it. It is for this reason that I believe the Apostles to be such a treasured landmark, as it is actually more like a visiting exhibition: it wont be there forever. Similar to the Twelve Apostles is London Bridge. Ironically, again, London Bridge fell down, leaving some confused tourists stuck on an island surrounded by rough seas. Luckily they where air lifted of the savage island and saved. After London Bridge, there is very little more to the Ocean Road, so we headed inland towards Mount Gambia, which is over the state boarder in South Australia. Rolley informed me that the town was based at the foot of a dormant volcano, and in the crater of this volcano laid a great water mass called the Blue Lake. This may not seem like anything special, but water and Australia aren't very compatible. Thus a fresh water land mass is quite rare over here! Prior to arrival in Mount Gambia, the Lonely Planet was once again our accommodation guide, and we chose to sleep in a prison. No joke, there is a prison there shut down in 1995 which has since been turned into a hostel. Once we arrived on death row we realized that the renovation form jail to hostel consisted of a new paint job and a few new beds. You sleep in the cells complete with massive doors with food slots and peep holes. They even still have a lone toilet just in the corner of the room with no shelter or protection from gazing eyes! The old chapel was now the common room, and they even still had all the barbwire around the walls. It was actually quite chilling going to bed at night after heaving a huge clunky door shut. You have to open it a few times after you've shut it to convince yourself that you aren't locked in! Dinner that night was an awesome steak in the local Irish pub. I was on cloud nine for a while as the pubs clock was half an hour slow, so I was deceiving these Aussies by getting happy hour prices for an extra while. How cunning I though, but little did I know there is actually a half hour time difference between Victoria and South Australia. I never knew time zones could change by just half an hour! Upon release, it was agreed upon that we would take the long haul to Adelaide, which was approximately 430Km away. This drive made me realize how straight Australian roads can be. You could drive for a few hours and not even make a turn once. To make things worse you drive through nothing. Absolutely nothing! The nothingness is made even more so due to the past couple of days driving along spectacular winding and weaving coastline. A highlight of this long featureless drive was that we drove along the Coorong, which is a long and shallow lagoon more than 100 km in length that is separated from the Southern Ocean by a narrow sand dune peninsula. But soon hills started to appear as we got ever closer to Adelaide. Adelaide is nationally famous for its' wine industry, and is surrounded by hills and vineyards. Rolley actually lives in the hills above Adelaide. It was here I was more than warmly welcomed by his family and allowed to stay a few nights. Although these hills are only about 15 minutes drive from Adelaide city centre, it feels like a thousand miles away. Adelaide itself just feels like a big country town with a few big buildings scattered around the place. It is also a very safe place to live; until Rolley is in town. He accidentally skipped a red light, and luckily for us there was a police van right behind us. To make matters worse, there was nowhere safe for us to pullover, so Rolley kept on driving. The police thought he was doing a runner, so they activated some emergency protocall etc and stepped up the chase. When we found a safe place to stop (which was actually about a hundred or so meters or so form where Rolley committed his crime), the coppers skidded in front of us blocking our exit taking a full on approach. They where quite hostile at first but once they realized he couldn't stop they calmed down. I wish I had got a photo. Luckily for us we weren't in Kenya, so they didn't go all Kirk on us and drag us out of the car with shotguns! Since Adelaide is renown for its' wine, we decided to undertake some cultural wine tasting after a brief trip to the Botanical Gardens and The National Wine Centre. I can't say I am a connoisseur of wine, but my knowledge of the area has been vastly broadened by this expeience. Adelaide is also home to Coopers Brewery, which is one of my favorite beers in Australia. Unfortunately my dream of visiting the brewery was instantly vaporized though, as they weren't open for tours on a weekend. I got a picture though. My time in Adelaide was up, and I was back on another cheap flight back to Melbourne. Luckily I had got back in touch with a friend from the Thailand water project that I participated in back in 2003, Ella. She was kind enough to give me a bed to sleep in for the night, thus saving me some cash etc. I also had another day to spend in Melbourne, and we planned to go on a Ramsey Street (Neighbours) tour, but unfortunately they didn't have any space left for that day. The new plan was that we took a tram to St Kilda, which is quite a famous spot in Melbourne, manly due to their football team. This reminds me how massive AFL (Aussie Rules Football) is in Victoria. They are mad about it. It is religion! In New South Wales it is either Rugby League or Rugby Union, and AFL isn't very common (although a Sydney AFL team one the national league last year). Thus in Victoria, any code of Rugby is pretty much unheard of. The next day it was back of to Sydney, and thus the end of my trip and a very long sleep! What surprised me most about this trip was how huge and contrasting Australia is. It felt as though New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia weren't just different states, but different countries or even continents. Whilst wine tasting in Adelaide, it felt like a world apart from the Great Ocean Road we had drove along just the day before. It was in comprehendible that I was dodging hailstones at the Twelve Apostles when just a few days earlier I was bumming around the beach in the very same country up in Sydney. Even what sport is the most popular, as I mentioned earlier, defined each state. It's like playing a game of football (soccer) in the UK, then playing a game of football (American Football) in The USA. In terms of Australia, football in NSW is Rugby league; football in Vic and SA is Aussie Rules, and football in Queensland is Rugby Union, yet they are all the same country. I hope you have enjoyed reading this; any questions etc just pop them up on the message board or email me. Cheers! p.s. Total distance travelled in car was 1220Km