Leaving Melbourne behind me with plans to return, I got onto another bus for the trip to Adelaide.

Day one:
Leaving Melbourne at the ungodly hour of 8am (backpacking aint all lie-ins and no work you know!) we hit the Great Ocean Road just as it was finally warming up. The scenery was stunning, and the road itself was amazing. When the ANZAC soldiers returned from WW2, there was no work. Deciding to build this road gave the men jobs, and even with all that man-power it still took years to complete as it was mainly cut through the rock by hand. This sign was the official start to the road that I would be on for the next 2 days. This first view of the ocean came from a vantage point just above Bells Beach (where parts of the film Point Break is set).

The 12 Apostles are unique rock formations of sturdy rock inside sandstone. Over time the sandstone gets washed away, leaving these rocks standing alone in the sea. Some even have holes within the rock island, creating archways and grottos.

Another note of interest in the 12 apostels is this bay. A sailor was shipwrecked here on his maiden trip. Of the entire crew, only him and a young lady passenger survived. They spent the night in this cave. The papers at the time protrayed them as a tragic couple, but in real life, they never saw each other again and the sailer eventually drowned in his 5th shipwreck. Seems to me like he was a jinx :o)

You may have noticed the rainbows and storm clouds from the pictures? It started to chuck it down not long after these pictures were taken - doh!

Day two:
London Bridge has fallen down. This rock used to be joined onto the mainland, but about 19 years ago suddenly part of it collapsed into the sea. Luckily no-one was hurt, but an unfortunate couple were stranded for hours before being rescued. A local news helicopter captured the proceedings on film and Australia watched the drama unfolding live on TV. Once the rescue was complete, the couple ran to their car and made a quick exit. Australia was shocked as they failed to thank their rescuers. Turns out they were a cheating couple just caught out together. Apparently both couples divorced as a result.

The Grampians arrived after a few more hours driving. This sunken volcano visited on the way used to be a landfill site. During the 1960s it was decided that a place of such natural beauty should be restored to its former glory. This was achieved creatively by basing the recreation on a painting of the area from the 1800s.

The weather on the way to mount sturgeon was dire, the fog was so bad that I have no pics of the mountains, but I still climbed it, and the view cleared up to get this picture from the top.

Day three:
Still humming "climb every mountian" day three saw me making like a (wet) mountain goat and scaling great hights in the Gramipans to get these pictures half way up and this one from the top.

On the walk to the Jaws of Death I saw this wallaby hiding from the rain :oP Also nearly walked over an Emu on the same day.

The final major stop was at Mackenzie Falls. A stunning waterfall reached by going down over 200 steps. Great for going down, but not so easy on the way back up. The View was worth it though.

After climbing 2 mountains, I was glad to get back on the bus and onto the boring part of the journey - over 500kms of straight road and no scenery. It gave me a chance to recover :oD
Then, we crossed from Victoria into South Australia at Bordertown, where we stopped for fuel. Not only does Bordertown sell Paddlepops in Banana flavour (my new favourite thing) but they also have albino kangaroos strange, huh? The sun set, it began raining again and I finally arrived into Adelaide just in time for dinner and a few beers before bedtime.