The Great Ocean Road

Our walking and wildlife spotting continued in abundance when we left Sorrento and set out to drive the Great Ocean road, Victoria's famous southwestern coastal route which extends 285km west and was built with the idea of constructing a scenic road of world repute, equalling California's Pacific Coast highway. Our first stop along the road was Otway national park and we stayed in the only caravan park in the area which was called Bimbi park. When we arrived we were greeted by a Koala crossing our path with a baby attached to its back - a baby Koala that is. We had read that this was a place to 'sleep under the Koalas' and this was absolutely the truth, the trees above us were full of them, eating, sleeping and making the most unlikely noise you'd imagine from something so cute - imagine a donkey with a sore throat laughing and you've got something quite similar. Our Eric loved them too and we got back one day to find him playing with a couple just by our pitch.

Not far from Bimbi park was Melba Gully, a place known as "the jewel of the Otways". Jewel is an apt name because the Gully comes alive after dark with its large population of glow worms, something we had to see. We decided to walk the route before it got dark so that we could get our bearings for later. Mid way round we were minding our own business looking at a waterfall, or flower or some other thing you look at in a national park, when we heard someone charging towards us. We turned around to see a kangaroo heading directly for us at full speed - possibly the most frightening experience I've ever had. I jumped up on to a small bench beside us (as if that was going to help) and Matt stood still (through fear I say, to show no fear he says) and the Kangaroo hopped right up to him, face-to-face, turned on his heels and then charged off again. Our legs were like jelly but we thought it was hilarious and were just about recovered when we heard the noise again and turned to see the (not so) little bastard coming at us for a second time. This time Matt was up on the bench as quickly as I was and once again it hopped right up, had a look and then turned and cleared off.

By now it was getting very dark and we hadn't done a full circuit of the park so, with a maverick Roo on the loose Matt and I kept very close to each other and went glow worm hunting. It was well worth it as they were spectacular and lit up the sides of the paths as we walked through and fortunately we didn't come across Skippy's sinister sibling again either. I tried to take a photo of the glow worms so you could appreciate just how magnificent they were too.

Next stop on our route was Port Campbell, our base for seeing the Twelve Apostles - gigantic limestone pillars that rise out of the ocean. The scenery around this area was stunning both during the day and at sunset when we went back to get more photos and to see more little penguins who come up onto the beach once it starts getting dark. Whilst these are by far the most iconic rock formations in the area we explored many others through the various clifftop walks around.

After here we made our way to the Grampians National Park (thanks for the tip Kat) to partake in more of our favourite new hobby, bush walking. We spent a couple of days exploring the area and taking walks to the most noted features, namely The Pinnacle, the Balconies and Mackenzie Falls. Again the scenery and views were breathtaking and it definitely ranks as one of our favourite walks we've done so far. We also drove Eric down a very long dirt track to see some Aboriginal rock art (at Matt's request) and the fact that he nearly fell apart getting us there was well worth it, as I'm sure you can see by the one photo we got!



The caravan park we stayed in was brilliant, very basic but again full of wildlife, kangaroos bouncing by and emus running around. We spent hours one night just sat around our fire watching them all around us, eating our packet noodles and we couldn't have been happier.

One night, whilst sat outside Eric gazing up at the stars, we noticed a strange red light, moving very erratically in the sky, going in all manner of directions and we couldn't fathom what it was. We joked that it must have been a UFO and thought nothing more of it until we walked past the local notice board the next day.

Oh yes, we are now in contact with the Victorian Ufology Society and as their latest UFO spotters we have lodged our sighting and filled out forms detailing our paranormal experience, all very silly but funny nevertheless.

Next stop Melbourne, but if you haven't heard from us again soon be sure to contact James Molesworth for we may have been abducted by an extra terrestrial called Bruce.

Mountains, Mechanics and Mammals

After spending two months exploring two states we left Sydney to hit our third - Victoria. Although we have travelled extensively in Eric, we have tended to stick to coastal roads, so we decided to head inland for a change and enjoy a different kind of scenery. We ended up doing a three day drive that took us through the snowy mountains of New South Wales and into the Alps of Victoria. It's definitely been one of the most enjoyable times of our trip - driving for around six hours a day, winding round mountains with amazing vistas and through national parks under a rainforest canopy.

Finally our journey ended in a town called Sale, this unassuming place was to be the setting for Eric's biggest challenge to date, it was time to take him for his Roadworthy Certificate (RWC). This RWC is needed by law in order to sell Eric, it proves to buyers that he is in good mechanical order. When we bought him we didn't get an RWC for reasons that would take too long to explain and also make us sound a bit stoopid. So we were very worried that he wouldn't pass as Victoria is one of the toughest states for testing cars and Eric has a tendency to squeak a lot. It could end up costing us a small fortune to get him in a fit state to pass. So like two big gay dads that take their adopted Chinese child to their first school sports day, we dropped Eric off at the mechanics. We were both a bag of nerves and there was only one thing we could do to take our minds off the situation - play Bingo!

After 30 games, I kid you not, it had done little to ease the tension, even when the bingo caller accidentally burped down the microphone, it brought us little light relief. Finally the phone rang, Ed took the call, a little smile came to his face, our Eric had passed with flying colours. We were so proud.

So with a roadworthy van we travelled South to Wilson's Promontory - Victoria's favourite national park and the Southern most tip of mainland Australia. We spent two days at the Prom and it was absolutely spectacular. I know we keep writing about these amazing places but this one was very special. Due to the campsite being the only inhabited area within a 40 mile radius, the sky at night was incredible, it was literally alive as stars flashed and shot by. Also, due to it being the most southerly point, we finally saw our first sunset, as we lay on Whisky beach with a plastic beaker of chilled Sauvignon Blanc in hand. Okay, I realise we are making some people sick with these paradise stories, so here comes a bit of negative for you. It turned out that when we got to the Prom it was the schoolies season, when 18 year olds fresh out of there exams escape for the weekend to get absolutely bollocksed. After seeing the amazing sunset we got back to camp and were greeted with the joyous sight of a young lad projectile vomiting all over the showers. These schoolies just have no stamina.

After the prom we decided to continue our nature theme and went to Philip Island. Here lies Victoria's most popular natural tourist attraction - The Penguin Parade. It is the home of the little penguin, the smallest of the penguins which are only found in Southern Australian waters. Once the sun sets, around 500 penguins come out of the water, waddle across the beach and seek out their burrows in the surrounding area. Paying a little bit extra, me and Ed went 'penguin plus' for a ringside seat and it was worth every cent. You could literally reach out and touch them - to make the experience even more magical an electrical storm raged out across the ocean as they passed by. Unfortunately you weren't allowed to take photos as the flash frightens them, so here are some photos from the website.

Okay so penguins were ticked off the list, what could we possibly do next? No not more bingo, we decided to swim with dolphins and seals instead. Driving round the coast to a town called Sorrento, we set off at 8:30am with our guide Judy, a fabulous woman in her 60's and a tireless dolphin campaigner. It was a great day. Seals swam around us as Judy put us at our ease with comments like "Look at the teeth on that Bull seal, and people think it's safe to get in the water with them!" Then at the end of the day we finally found the dolphins. Into the water we rushed as Judy explained that singing through our snorkels would attract them. So me and Ed did our best version of 'Video Killed the Radio Star' as they approached us, then swam under us and then fooked off. Okay they didn't play with us but they thought our karaoke was shit and that really made us chuckle.

So on we go now to the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians before we make our way to Melbourne.

Before I end this post though, me and Ed have received some amazing news recently. Finally, after 9 months of waiting, Ed's cousin Kerry has given birth to a beautiful baby boy called Harry and I've become an uncle to Madison, my sisters first child. Congratulations, we're over the moon for both of you and can't wait to meet them! Here's some photos so we can show them off.