So too start off as I mentioned previously I picked up my little car (which I might add was an automatic - perfect for traffic and lazy people) that I just loved driving. I have never driven an automatic before so it was a new experience and I can so see why people would go down the automatic route (very popular in Oz I believe). I managed to get back to my heavenly apartment to pick up my stuff and out of Melbourne with little to no issue at all - there was a spot of traffic coming out of Melbourne but being in a stop go automatic this posed no problem at all and it only delayed my journey by no more than 30 minutes.
The trip to the Grampians was pretty uneventual although the weather was not the best but then I am almost getting used to the rain as I have had a fair amount of it unfortunately but that is just the way the cookie crumbles huh??? I got to stay at a really nice YHA hostel in the Grampians - they had a lovely lounge with a gorgeous gas fire (it was pretty chilly I have to say) and just an overall nice hostel and of course the fact that I got the mini dorm to myself just helped it along.
On day 2, I had a chilled start to my day leaving at 10am and heading South to the other side of the Grampians stopping off to check out a little waterful that has no body of water beneath it (it all goes underdground) which I found a little interesting and then I headed up (10km drive 2 km steep walk) to the top of Mount William which gave me a freezing cold (it had snowed the previous night I am told) gorgeous view of the Grampians. I have been moaned at for not including myself in any of my pics so I have taken one which I shall put up here in the not too distant future of me freezing my toosh off :-)
Once done with the Grampians I headed all the way down to begin my Great Ocean Road trip. I passed a couple of pretty awesome sights on the way to my hostel but as it was misty and rainy I gave up after a couple and decided to try and go back the next day.
On day 3, the weather was a tad better so although overcast, cold and windy, there was no rain which meant I could go back to all the spots (about 15km's worth of them) which makes up the start of this truly magnificent piece of road somewhere between Adelaide and Melbourne. If you have any interest in geology and erosion and all that kinda stuff it is truly fascinating to see all these off shore rock formations that were of course once upon a time all part of the mainland. The most popular of course is the 12 Apostles (only 8 still standing actually) which are rocky out crops sticking out of the Southern Ocean. I am just finding the geography etc of this country so interesting. Wind and sea erosion keeps chaging these structures so that in the case of the 12 Apostles 4 have been eroded away completely and the London Bridge has actually lost its bridge part of the formation etc. Fabulous. I headed back up to Melbourne (I was originally going to cross the bay on the ferry - to save time and money - but the hire car was not insured so I thought better not ot take the chance) & promptly got lost on my way through as I was of the understanding that I was following one road but at one point that actually veered off & I must have not been paying attention so I landed up going West rather than South West. Lucky for me I had a map book and my wits about me so all was good and I found myself again.
For the next 2 & a 1/2 days I headed around & up the coast to Sydney where I stopped at Marimbullah & Batemans Bay, drove through a huge, stunning forest, drove on a road/bridge jutting out over the sea, saw the stunning entrance to the Lakes in Victoria, saw a bunch of Kangaroos pretty close up that were just not bothered by humans as well as some beautiful beaches.
All in all it was an awesome trip and if I could hire a car for the next 2 years and drive around the world I would be in heaven.
