We arrived in Australia Sept 1991. my parents where already there a few month before we arrived.  we were here from when i was in 3rd grade to 5th.  We lived in different part of Victoria.... lets see Dandenong first, then Narre Warren North on my uncles cactus farm, then Endevour Hills which was only a few mins walk from my primary school.  Victoria is great although always cold and dreary. haha so whenever the sun came out we would always go out hiking or picnicking somewhere because these days are happen not to often.

The Great Ocean Road

After we picked up our rental car at Europcar in Melbourne we drove to Torquay where we entered the Great Ocean Road. This highway (highway 1) is one of the most beautiful routes in the world. In Apollo Bay we stayed for the night. After a good night sleep we drove to the Beauchamp falls in the Otway National Park. I stood on a rock in the water and then it happened. I fell off in the water. 600 euro which was in my hand (the camera) was destroyed by the water. So we had to buy a new one. In Colac we found the same camera and we bought it. Not far from Colac we found a nice lookout at Red Rock. The next day we took off early and drove to the 12 Apostles. On our way up there we saw a koala crossing the street and a walabi. The 12 Apostles is a beautiful rockformation in the southern ocean. The ocean is very wild here. When we drove further we arrived at Loch Ard. Down the whole coastal road you find lookouts. When we arrived at Warnambool we saw a lot of people on the beach. A huge Southern Right Whale was swimming near the coast. Very unusual because normally you'll find them here only from june till september. Further we went to Tower Hill, a reserve in the crater of an old vulcano. Here we saw lots of emoes and koalas. In Portland we made our next stop.

The Grampians

This national park is situated north of Portland. We drove to Halls Gap a small town between the rockformations of the Grampians. Here we checked in to a guesthouse. At the visitorscenter we bought a walkingmap with some good wanderroutes. The town is great, kangaroos and parrots everywhere! By car we went to Boroka lookout in the mountains. From here we had a beautiful view over Halls Gap and Lake Lonsdale. The second stop was at Reed lookout with a beautiful view over the rainforest and the Grampians. After this we also saw the Mac Kenzie falls a nice waterfall. The next day we drove our car to Wonderland carpark from where we started a hike to the Pinnacle. It was a 1 hour walk up there but very worth it. We arrived the lookout through the so called Grand Canyon a rocky climb.

Melbourne

On our way to Melbourne we visited Bunjils Shelter, here you'll find some old Aboriginal rockart. We checked in at a nice hotel. The next day we bought a tram ticket and went to the center of the city. On foot we explored the city. In Swanston street you'll find the nicest restaurants in small allies. We went up in the Rialto Towers and from here we had a wonderful view over the city. We walked through China Town and Brunswick street with its nice restaurants and had a terrific lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. Further to the Shrine of Remembarance and Flinders street station. The next day we had to catch a plane to New Zealand but not after I drove over the formula 1 track at Albert Park. Australia we love you!!

The You Yangs is a really pretty nature reserve, very rugged with amazing views from the top. It's being used as a set for Tom Hanks and Steven Speilberg's latest mini-series and follow-up to Band of Brothers,  The Pacific.

Taken from Wikipedia:

The You Yangs are a series of granite peaks that rise dramatically near Lara, Victoria in the Werribee Lava Plains in Australia, located 22 km north of Geelong and approximately 55 km south-west of Melbourne.

We went to Gippsland on February 16th-18th

On Friday night there was a little welcome party at a house in Leongatha.
We got to see our friends that we had met at the Jan. briefing. We met our weekend host (the family we were staying with) at this little party.

Out host name was Gary and Sue. They have been to Canada. They stayed in London, Ontario!

If I get this order of activities wrong my bad then!

On Saturday we met at the Inverloch environment Centre. They had a good shell museum there! We then headed to eagles nest where there was a Beachbombers Challenge! It was fun. We afterwards headed to a beach/park where we had our lunch! There was a park for the kids to play in! There is this thing like a sea saw except its different! Hard to explain that one! After lunch we headed to Phillip Island where the penguins were ... we didn’t go to the one in the building one we went to the one that had a boardwalk.. There was a penguin under the board walk! We got some pictures of the penguin. There was a good scenery of the rocks with the ocean! After this penguin sight seeing we went to a Koala Conservation Park. The koalas were so cute. We spent about 1 -2 hours there... It was so cute the koalas. After seeing the koalas we went to Ocean View B&B. Where they served us refreshments and afternoon tea. Kids were served Spiders. A spider is like a root beer float we had either coke or orange pop with ice cream in the glass!! After getting our refreshments we went to a beach too cool off...It was change of plans then because it was a really hot day! I did not have my bather so i went in with my clothes on it was fun! We ate dinner at this club i forget what it was called. They then announced the winners for The Beachbombers challenge. Julie-Ann and i did not win. It was still fun.. Then they had a little prize for all the kids up to age 18. They explained something about them that they had done that day. Well it was a tiring day!

On Sunday morning we went another beach where there was surfing lessons for the ITFs of all ages. There was about 30 of us surfing and it was fun! The waves were great. Surfing was about 2 hours long. I could not stand up as I had tried and I wiped out! After surfing we stopped with my friend Julie-Ann’s family and had lunch! Well it was a tiring weekend.