An early start this morning, and we both felt shattered after our late night to bed (12:30am)...a quick shower and breakfast before we all jumped on the bus and drove to our morning sunrise spot. As the sun came up over the Grampians, it truly was a spectacular sight!
Next stop was Wonderland carpark (and no we didn't meet Alice, or the Mad Hatter), instead we hiked the 4.4km round trip up to the summit of the Pinnacle. Again, a strenuous walk with a mixture of bushland, smooth rounded rock faces that we had to pick our way over and deep gorges. It was all worth it though as the view from the summit, which afforded a great chance to see the small town of Halls Gap from a height was beautiful.
Once down at the bus we had time for a couple of slices of fruit cake which the tour guide Jason had provided before driving onwards to the Great Ocean Road. 
We hit the start of the Great Ocean Road in the early afternoon after a quick stop at the site of an old volcano, now called Tower Hill (as it was a hill with a tower on it). As we drove down into the crater it was our first chance to see koalas in the wild. Now we have to explain, these have to be the dumbest animals we have met - they don't do much, apart from sleep, eat gum tree leaves and sleep. Apparently, they conserve so much energy to do these 2 things that their brain has shrunk to a smaller size than their brain cavity! Apart from that though they are so CUTE!!We made a quick stop in a town called Warrnambool for lunch, before heading for the coast and meeting the ocean. Our journey along the coast took us to a succession of Japanese style photo stops at the major sights. First stop was the Bay of Islands (again fairly self explanatory as to what that was), then Bay of Martyrs (no history on what this was named after), The Grotto, London Bridge and The Arch.
On our drive to Gibson Steps and the 12 Apostles we suddenly stopped as Jason our guide had seen an echidna at the side of the road - which he picked up and gave us all a look closer at this quiet and reclusive animal. It was a funny looking chap; small and prickly, with a very long nose and a small pouch that it carried it's young in.
After a pleasant walk down on to the beach at Gibson Steps we went to the 12 Apostles (where there are only 7 Apostles as several have disapeared into the sea with erosion) and watched a beautiful sunset.
Our place of rest for the night was in a town called Port Campbell, at the local Backpackers; after helping to do a BBQ (which was a real meat feast) we sat outside chatting before heading to bed for the night.
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