sun 22nd- happy birthday dad!!! set off onto the grampians national park, with a few stops along the way for coffee etc. didnt see much cos i was reading and chattin to ppl. the only real walk of the day was up hollow mountain via mini grand canyon. it was a challenging walk inc boulder hopping and s*** like that but it was fun, but again it made it more rewarding when we got to the top. the views were pretty, and gave me and mario plenty of time for harry talk! back on the bus till we got to hollows gap hostel were it was back to the book for the rest of the night, with spg bog interferring in matters but i guess food is quite necessary! finished it finally and was totally knackered, a good book till the last few chapters but i guess they were needed to tie up all the lose ends- but tis a good read. saw some of the grand prix too, the aquaplaning was quite funny!

mon 23rd- the morning was a start to the pinnacles a slightly easier 5km walk to the top of the mountain ranges nearby, and then it was to a aboringinal culture centre to learn their view on the backkground of the grambians and geryweld. a good video and you can see how there culture works, with all the morals and lessons engraved into the features surrounding them. onto to the great ocean road and the ship wreck coast in the afternoon where we saw the 'bay of islands' 'bay of matyrs'-where a lot of indigenious ppl were slaughter by the white man, 'london bridge' and finally sunset at 'the 12 apostles'- which aren't 12 in number. the sunset wasnt the best cos the cloud cover was too great but still got some good pics nonetheless. back to the hostel for bbq and films, and a relatively early nite - not the best group for socialising.

tues 24th- a walk round the Loch Ard gorge where the ships namesake sank in the 1860s, was a good way to blow away the cobwebs, alas greg got soaked when trying to get back from the cave of love! me, mario and jen (the guide) walked round to the cave to 2 only survivors spent a few nights in, the only prob was that the tide was coming in and on the way back i was slightly too slow- meaning soaked converse and then sand covered converse as i walked back to the path! a wander round to the cementry and the island they crashed into (Muttonbird Island) was good but with freezing feet wasn't what i needed! a quick change later and we were on our way to The Otway national park, inc the otway fly which is basically one of 3 tree top walkways in the world- and all in oz! the views were ace i guess cos its not everyday you can walk thru the canopy on a rainforest but it all seemed a bit fake with a steel structure and they could have made it at least blend in, a good experience but not really worth a detour to it. after lunch on the beach at apollo bay, we headed along the surfer coast of the great ocean road, towards bells beach and finally torquay to do some surf shopping, before we reached melbourne. the evening catch wasnt the best cos only a few ppl turned up and i was home by 12 but the group wasnt that sort of group- always next time thou!