We didnt need the alarm clock to wake us at 7am this morning, we woke up to the sound of Jasmines voice, her and Susan were in the powder room outside our dorm blow drying their hair. I don't think Jasmine realised how loud she was shouting lol. I only woke up once last night from Clintons snoring, I don't mind it though, it's quite a cute snore, unlike the monster that slept above Chris's bed back in Darwin! 

We checked out and were on the road by 8pm. Our first stop for today was at the Otway Tree Top Walk in a rain forest. It was cold when we arrived and looked as though it was about to rain. Me and Chris grabbed our waterproof jackets this time but I stupidly forgot to wear my trainers. After five minutes it began to rain, my feet were frozen and my toes went purple! I hadn't seen my feet go that colour since I left England! Eventually the pain went away but that was only because they were numb. 

We had one hour and fifteen minutes to walk through the rain forest and cross the suspended walk way. Everyone rush ahead of us to get back sooner but we took our time and messed about. We came across a sign pointing us in the direction of a dinosaur walk so we followed it, Chris loved it! There were giant dinosaur models hidden in the bushes and suspended in the trees. A sign warned us of giant snakes up in the trees, we walked with our heads looking up until suddenly we saw a huge fake one placed on a tree trunk. It still looked scary even though we both knew it wasn't real. 

Then we came to the hanging bridges. The bridges were all linked to each other, we climbed higher and higher until we were level with the canopy. We were standing thirty meters above the ground floor, the height of Myrtle Beech and Blackwood trees. It was still raining lightly and the bars on the bridges felt like ice! Chris jumped about trying to make the bridges swing while I was on them, they were too strong though thank god. 

After mucking about a bit more we suddenly realised the time and had to rush back. We didn't realise how far we had walked, we were soon feeling hot from walking fast. It was a lovely walk and it was only when we stopped playing around that we realised how beautiful the surroundings were, the forest floor was so green! Tiny rays of light shone through the tree tops and made the wet plants glisten. The air smelled earthy and fresh and although I couldn't see any, I could hear so many birds. Chris was ahead of me and had to keep reminding me to hurry up.

When we found the others they were all sitting around a table inside, sipping on hot tea and coffee trying to warm up. We joined them with a hot choccy each until it was time to go again. Our next stop was at Apollo Bay for a yummy fish and chip lunch. We ordered flake fish because we hadn't tried it before, it was very nice! We carried on driving along the Great Ocean Road towards Melbourne. PJ said it was the beginning of the migrating season so told us to look out for the first whales to arrive and any seals too. Unfortunately we didn't see any but the views were breathtaking. After being in the outback for so long it was nice to be back by the sea, even if we were freezing our bits off! We were pretty high up on the cliffs so we got amazing views of the waves crashing against the beach both ways we looked. The beach stretched for as far as we could see and just then we all noticed a rainbow far out at sea. 

Our last stop on tour was at Kennett River where we got to feed birds and look out for Koalas. As soon as we looked up in the first tree we saw a sleeping Koala. The koala was easy to spot, it looked like a big ball of fluff sitting in the tree. We hoped it would wake up but it didn't so we moved on. We spotted another one in the next tree, it was also sleeping! PJ said we would be lucky to see one awake and moving about, apparently they sleep for about eighteen hours a day! We spotted four sleeping koalas in total. 

A little further down the path PJ suddenly pulled out a pot of bird seed from his jacket. He gave us each a handful and immediately parrots flew in from every direction. There were loads of them and they weren't affraid of us one bit! They landed on our hands, our shoulders, our arms and our heads! One even landed on our camera while Chris tried to take a photo! It was very funny and even more so when one pooped on Amelie. 

It wasn't long before the bird seed was all gone. We carried on walking back towards the bus when suddenly we noticed a couple hanging around some bushes near a shop. They were watching something in the bush, I was curious so went for a closer look then realised they were looking at big koala munching! I called the others and they came running over. It was brilliant, we were within arms reach of the fuzzy creature and it wasn't fazed by us at all. It just carried on pulling branches over and ripping eucalyptus leaves off, we got some great photos. Chris wanted to know what would happen if he touched the koala but fortunately for him a staff member from the shop was there to warn him that the koala was a wild animal and would react by defending itself, the koala would bite chunks and scratch the hell out of him if he did! The guy also told us that all koalas are born with chlamydia! Hmm nice.

We were pleased we finally got to see a koala that was actually awake and moving about, all we had to do now was find a tame one to hold somewhere. We have heard there are a few places up the East Coast we can go to but some are really expensive and you only get to hold the koala for ten seconds! If we don't find somewhere cheap then we won't bother. 

Back on the road again we stopped for our last group photo under the Great Ocean Road sign. Everyone was up for it even though it was cold and raining. We think we have been lucky to have had a really fun group throughout our journey down from Darwin.

Our last stop on our tour was at Bells Beach, a famous spot for surf competitions. We hoped to see a few surfers but there weren't any out. Maybe because it was so bloody freezing outside, I can't imagine how cold the sea must have been. The climate had changed drastically from 30 degrees in Darwin to 7 degrees on the Great Ocean Road!

It was 5:30pm by the time we got to Melbourne. It was a sad moment because we had to say goodbye to everyone and go our separate ways. Most of the others were continuing their tour from Melbourne and finishing in Sydney but we planned to fly out of Melbourne and into Sydney straight away. We exchanged emails and numbers then walked over to the station where we caught a bus to Avlon airport. It felt really strange being by ourselves again, it must have felt very weird for Susan who was also flying to Sydney straight away, she was on her own and had to go to the other airport in Melbourne. 

When we arrived we checked straight in and because we were early we got the fire exit seats. We booked the travel lodge hotel for Sydney while we waited for our gate to open. We booked three nights for £46 per night, it seemed expensive at first but it was actually a very good deal. We paid the same price as we would of had to pay for a dorm and got a private room including our own ensuit, tv and kitchenette!

Our flight was delayed by 15 minutes. Of course it was Jetstar so we already expected it and landed in Sydney at 10pm. The que for the taxi was really long, it took an hour and the taxi cost $40 one way! When we checked in we went straight to bed, we were both shattered.

Charlotte & Chris