Our last blog entry was from the Barossa Valley where we spent three blissful days checking out Bakeries, Cheese Makers, Wineries and eat a lot of Mettwurst and Biersticks... which can be measured in about +5lbs in body weight... but was it good!

From there we drove along the frigid coast of Eastern South Australia - thank goodness Thomas' van has a heater and he also provided us with a spare sleeping bag - we had a couple of really cold nights. On to the Great Ocean Road where we were finally reunited with the tour buses and crowds (we don't want to imagine what high season must look like!). Driving along we had stormy weather the first day and bright blue sky on the second day. The scenery was spectacular, we did lots of stop n'go (we probably set a new record for in/out of the van) but also got some much needed walking in.

Melbourne had to be avoided - for several reasons. Excellent planning from our part would have gotten us into town the weekend of the Grand Finale (the Aussie Rules, some sort of football/rugby... which seems extremely violent and w/o rules to the ignorant (us)). We decided against going into town because the caravan parks had a $20 surcharge per day, which would have meant $62 for a camp spot for a night (times two vans... no thank you). Luckily - as we found out later - we also missed the fan parade with 7'000 in attendance in downtown Melbourne and we will miss Saturdays game with 100'000 spectators....

Instead we opted to head for the next Wine & Cheese valley, the Yarra Valley. Things are looking good with lots of cute cafes, artisan bakeries and cheese makers, vineyards in abundance - what more can one ask for? Even the weather improved drastically and we have blue skies with up to +28C!

We'll hang around this area until Monday evening when we'll catch the ferry to Tasmania for a 2.5 weeks trip around the island. Next post will be from "down there".

Love, Baebs & Jason