Ozzie ozzie Ozzie - Oi oi Oi - Melbourne and the Great Ocean road

Yo blogger,

Hello again been a while since we have written on the blog, as we’ve just been doing so much there hasn't been time. We arrived in OZ on the 15th Jan and since then it has been really cool, but expensive! We arrived from Singapore on another lovely Singapore airlines flight, great food and really entertainment. When we arrived we noticed straight away the price difference between OZ and SE Asia. Its not really a problem just we have to be more careful with our money. When we got here we didn't realised it was going to be really busy in Melbourne, due to the Australian open (tennis for those not in the know). We got dropped off by an airport bus in a trendy area of town called St Kilda's but everywhere was totally booked up, so annoyingly we had to make our way back into the city centre (which in the long run worked out for the better). So we got a tram half way into the city until we realised there was a tram inspector on the tram. We couldn’t buy a ticket because the machine only took coins and we had none, and no one could split a hefty note. So we jumped off and avoided the bother. We missioned it for ages until we finally got in to the centre.
We found a very good hostel, but expensive too!! It had free internet, brekkie and BBQ one night a week so not too bad overall. After sorting our room out we went out for lunch and to check out the city. For lunch we got an absolute bargain at Wagamama's (Japanese resteraunt)we had a voucher for buy one meal get one free, then they also said backpackers get a free bottel of Asahi each, wicked, $45 meal for $15!! Then we went down to the botanical gardens for a nice FREE walk. Both of us noticed how many fitness fanatics there were, so many runners, bikers etc. Also the city was just so clean and so so many cool buildings, really cosmopolitan! We both agreed that it possibly the nicest city we’ve been to, not just on this trip either.
The next day we went out of the hostel to buy a tent as we realised that we could save money by camping where possible, instead of hostels. Along with a tent we bought a cheap sleeping bag and a backpacker air mattress. In the morning we found out that Andy Murray (GB top seed for those who don't know who he is) was playing that evening and it would have been nice to watch him. But, it was so hot (41C) that the games on the outside courts were called off through the day. he was supposed to be playing in the evening and there were loads of games before him that weren't being played so we thought he wouldn't play that day and we would miss him. But as it goes, we went down to check out what was going on anyway. We got there and asked if he would be playing, the merchandise stall told us he was playing right now, but the ticket office was closed. Then these ozzies who had left said we could have there tickets for free as they were leaving, get in there!! We went to the gate with the ticket and it denied us saying 2nd entrance not allowed, so I quickly said "oh we just went out to check out the merchandise" and he let us in. So we rushed to watch the game, got some really great seats too! It wasn’t the best game I've seen but, he thrashed him 6-0, 6-0 , 6-1. There was a really funny ozzie kid who kept shouting how good Andy Murray was, so funny. At the end of the match, the kid got Murray to give out autographs and I got one on the back of our FREE ticket. So not a bad turn out for the evening at all. After the match we watched a few other matches including Gonzales (really amazing Chilean player) vs an angry Russian, very angry!!
For the activities the next day we hired out a car to drive down the 'Great Ocean Road', a must see in OZ. The car they gave us was a pretty new Hyundai Accent, aagh not too bad hey! The drive itself was just amazing. Even if I didn’t look at any of the sites or views, the driving was brilliant. Really cool roads, loads of turns and winding around mountains, coastal/beach, rainforest, prairie, plateaux views. In fact every view possible nearly down one road which can be driven in one day there and back. We took a really nice walk around a rainforest, but didn't see any ozzie animals (shame), but still really nice. The rest of the day we spent checking out coastal effects/landscapes, including the 12 apostles. Wasn't that great actually and saw some better sites on the way even though this is the most renound. To save more money, we decided before we rented the car that we would sleep in the car overnight. Big mistake! Well comfort wise... the boot was so small I couldn't fit my legs in there properly, then once in position I couldn’t move anywhere (I like to move around during sleep, killer!!). Oh well days accommodation saved hey. So classy of us we slept in a Maccy D's carpark as it said it was illegal to stay in your car in loads of areas (trying to squeeze the money outta ya, just a little more). We awoke feeling real fresh (ha, yeah) took the car back and check out some more free sites in Melbourne then got on the coach to go to the next destination of our ozzie travel adventure. The lakes entrance...

PS - be sure to look back at previous blogs as you may not have read them, due to us adding them as late entries. Too busy with other stuff and expensive internet. So be sure to read and keep updated with the world tour. Nearly half way through the trip. EEEEK!!