Adelaide and the Great Ocean Road...

I ended up spending the rest of my time in Adelaide walking along the river and visiting the Botanical Gardens - which were a little bit disappointing, before checking out remaining sights on the free city bus. That evening I caught up with friends and went to the local pub to listen to Adelaide's upcoming talent. Ok they weren't that great but for a Monday nights entertainment you really can't complain!

The next day I was up early once again. I should be used to these early morning starts by now, but with very little sleep I was feeling somewhat jaded. Very quickly my new bus group and I were making introductions as we started our journey to the Grampians and Great Ocean Road.

Yet again it was a lovely mix of people, from an Irish girl who had won an all expenses paid gap year trip around the world on Bebo for six months and was having her experiences filmed for the sight, to an English guy who had an obsession with seagulls and a girl who worked in PR for a charity.

The first day there was a fair bit of driving but we stopped off along the way to take photos of the vast amount of wild kangaroos roaming about near the road, as well as emus and other wildlife. By late afternoon we had arrived in the Grampians National Park and had a walk to the bottom of MacKenzie Falls and watched the sunset, before heading back to the hostel for a feast.

For the first time on tour we had a female guide and without being sexist you could really tell the difference. The food was superb and everything was thought through from the magazines and snacks on the bus, to the marshmallows to toast on the fire in the evenings. Her music left a little bit to be desired though and although I love nothing more than a bit of cheese this was just too much, even for me. The other point of difference was unlike the male guides she wasn't looking to get lucky at the end of the tour!

That night most of us headed to bed quite early, only to be woken a few hours later by people in our dorm having the most ridiculous conversation about topics such as 'what would your last meal on earth be and why'. Why indeed, it certainly wasn't necessary and I made my thoughts known the next morning at breakfast. Well you can't be friends with everyone!

Another early start as we spent the morning hiking the Grampians and one of the pinnacles, before visiting the cultural centre for a cup of tea to warm up. We then made our way to the Great Ocean Road stopping off at the Bay of Martyrs, London Bridge and Lord Ard Gorge, learning about the history of each along the way. We finished the evening watching the sunset over the Twelve Apostles - truly amazing. Although there are only nine remaining now!

One thing that I was a bit surprised about was that the Great Ocean Road is not all right on the sea front and parts of it wind through temperate rainforest. On our third day we stopped off at the Otway National Park to admire some of the native trees and ferns of the area. We then carried on along the Great Ocean Road stopping off at Apollo Bay, the lighthouse from the children's classic 'Round the Twist', Anglesea and Bells Beach, where Point Break was based.

I was particularly pleased with myself to spot a mother and baby humpback whale off the coast which we stopped and watched play for a while, before moving on to the koalas which were overhanging the road a few hundred yards in front.

Our last stop of the day was Torquay (home of Rip Curl and Quicksilver) for a bit of outlet shopping before arriving into Melbourne just after 7pm. It was another great tour but by the end of it I was quite pleased to be based in a city for a few days, catching up with old friends and having a well deserved lie-in!