[William wants to play with the camera too]

[William and Jennifer]

This is our last day with Ros. We pick up the car at 10am, as planned, then return home to see Jennifer, Iain's second cousin, and her 16 month son William. Jennifer lives half an hour away and has driven over to see us; she last saw Iain when he was about 10. William is extremely cute, and toddles around with enthusiasm.

We leave around midday. We have four days to drive 1100km (roughly 600 miles). Unfortunately we're not organised as to where we're going, so we're driving ad hoc. The car is great to drive, it's a Toyota Corolla, and an automatic, which helps. Australia driving on the left is a huge bonus.

[We set out on the Great Ocean Road]

[It's Grrrrreat!]

It's a fairly easy run around Melbourne, takes two hours to get to the bit of coast we want. In one of the most beautiful areas in the world, we eat lunch in a McDonalds car park, overlooking the motorway. We got too hungry and tired to continue without food. The road we want (the Great Ocean Road) is well signposted - thousands of tourists come this way, and we are soon on the coast. The change in scenery is spectacular - from urban to a dramatic cliff top view. The cliffs are a brilliant yellow sandstone, sheer and eroded, producing fantastic rock formations. This and the view is what we've come to see. We stop at Point Addis, for one of the most amazing views I've ever seen, over the brilliant blue ocean.

[Boardwalk to the edge]

[Roos feed on the Anglesea Golf Course.]

Unfortunately by the time we get to Anglesea, to see the kangaroos who've invaded the golf course, it's starting to rain. This gradually worsens until we're driving through torrential water and grey mist. The views are reduced to grey murk, but somehow still breathtaking. This road alone is worth flying for 24 hours. The road is twisty, steep, and cliff-edged, leading to Iain closing his eyes while I drive (he pretended he didn't).

Since the weather is bad, we stop a little early, at a nice town called Lorne. The YHA is Swiss-style log cabins on a hilly bank, which is gorgeous, but still wet! The road up is possibly the steepest I've seen - sure it was close to 45deg.

We sleep, read, and go out for an early dinner at 6pm. A restaurant called Mark's was recommended in the guidebook, and the food is great. Iain has now eaten the following in four days: beef, lamb, chicken, squid, kangaroo and duck. I've eaten salad, cheese, bread and pasta. Same old!