As predicted, a noisy night – the wind was really whipping around the eaves and, as there was precious little insulation in the bedroom, it was getting colder. Thank God for the electric blankets…..

Not the greatest place we\’ve been to. It would have been nice for someone to have checked on us to make sure we were settled in OK, but the reception office was a wall of indifference. The facilities were pretty sparse also, and about the only redeeming feature was the view.

We got some sleep, but not much, and headed on our way down the Great Ocean Road in temperatures of 11 degrees or so with a very strong breeze.

In truth, not much to see at this end of the Great Ocean Road. It\’s very pretty, but not spectacular, and the road is very twisty, requiring much concentration.

Just before a small town called Airey\’s Inlet is the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch. Sounds impressive, doesn\’t it? Here it is:

The place was almost literally swarming with Asians. Most of the signs along the Great Ocean Road are in both English and Mandarin Chinese.

Possibly more interesting was the accompanying signboard:

After fighting our way out of Chinese coachloads, we stopped in Anglesea for a coffee and toasted sandwich before continuing on our way.

It wasn\’t long before we entered the outskirts of Melbourne, with the city skyline very prominent in the distance. The traffic began to thicken up, and it was pretty solid when we got to the city centre.

It took me three long attempts to approach the hotel correctly – it is part of a huge complex called the Crown Precinct. There are at least four posh hotels, over 40 eateries, an absolutely humungous casino, and the usual upmarket retailers, all in glass and chrome. Anyway, we got there and checked in without further ado. I took the hire car to the Avis rental centre and walked back to the hotel.

Melbourne is noisy, brash, sleazy in places – just like many major cities. It is, after all, just under 5 million people, smaller only than Sydney in terms of population. However, it has free trams in the middle, the streets are wide and it is relatively easy to navigate, built as it is on a grid system.

The room itself in the hotel is fine – pretty standard and well equipped – but the view from the room is impressive, both by day and night.

Jean got her hair trimmed, which has been an ongoing issue for weeks, and we went to bed with some vague ideas about what to tomorrow. We\’ll see how that pans out.