Great Ocean Road-tripping

My alarm is bleeping at 5am and I've barely slept in the anticipation. But I spring out of bed as I'm off to the airport to pick up my family. I've made my sign (thanks to our friend Damo's supplies - a school teacher is always prepared), stuffed a $2 Christmas hat in my bag and I'm on my way to see Mum, Dad, Beth and Clo after four, long months.

It would be another two, long hours at the arrivals gate, clutching my A3 sign and wearing my Santa hat, much to the amusement of other passengers stepping through the sliding doors, until my lovely family stepped out!

There's something so special about sharing some of our world travels with family; a shared memory is far more powerful and everlasting. And what memories we made over the next three weeks, not to mention the luxury that my wonderful dad had booked for us. Goodbye hostels, campervans and boring pasta meals!

We showed them the Melbourne sights and for Beth's birthday enjoyed the chilled out bohemia of St. Kilda's market and cafe scene followed by the chilled interior of the ice bar. Christmas was coming, and Melbourne was dazzling with electric displays enough to melt the heart of even the biggest bah humbug. St. Paul's cathedral (I have to say, there are not many original structures in Australia; British imitation was the preoccupation in the early years) was the backdrop for a festive projection that left us transfixed.

And then it was on to the reason the Airey family had crossed vast oceans and continents to come to Australia: to visit Airey's Inlet of course. For those of you who grew up watching great 90s shows like The Queen's Nose and The Demon Headmaster, you'll recognise the Airey's inlet lighthouse (there's not much else there, to be frank) that housed the Strange family of Round The Twist fame. We had the obligatory photos, bought out the village shop's paraphernalia and headed on our way to Apollo Bay.

"Stop!" I slammed on the breaks, hit the reverse and waved my hands wildly in the air to signal to my dad to pull over. This is dangerous on the winding, narrow Great Ocean Road, but I had spotted something worth the minor whiplash. Up in a gum tree snuggled a furry ball of marsupial: our first koala.

We would see many more in the coming days, lazily sat up in the heights of a tree, munching on eucaplt leaves. Then there was the echidna, the parrots that landed on us, wallabies, roos, penguins, pelicans, stingray, dolphins, a lost seal...Australia is teeming with wildlife and we were on a lucky streak.

Wildlife aside, the Great Ocean Road is perhaps one of the most stunning drives in the world. It winds past verdant, rolling hills, lush, sub-tropical forests, dramatic cliffs, endless, pristine beaches and the vast, foaming turquoise ocean.

The world-famous coastal highway was built after the First World War as a make-work scheme for veterans. It took fourteen years to construct, measures 187 miles and it barrels around rocky headlands, clings to the edges of sheer and crumbling cliffs and it's got more hairpins than a beauty pageant.

With blue skies overhead, we cruised the coast, stopping off at the endless, picture-perfect sights. We discovered that 'London Bridge' did in fact come falling down: the so-called series of arches was connected to the mainland until 1990, when tons of debris plunged into the surf below, stranding a startled couple on the surviving stack of land. Rumour has it that the couple, who had to be rescued by helicopter, were married, but not to each other. That'll teach them!

This was all a build up to the infamous 12 Apostles. These dramatic, limestone stacks, which at one time formed part of the mainland, stand proud and alone in the deep blue ocean. The contrast between the limestone orange, the cloud-dappled blue sky and crashing waves of the sea was breathtaking. We spotted seals in the surf from the view point and watched the changing afternoon light cascade over these statues of the sea.

After a couple of days on the Great Ocean Road, we made our way to Phillip Island, stopping off on route to pick up a Christmas tree to get us all in the festive mood. Christmas carols in the sunshine with the sea breeze in our hair was a completely new experience, but one that we were all warming to.

Phillip Island is famous for its 'penguin parade', where every night thousands of little blue penguins (that's actually what they're called - they're only about 30cms high and the world's smallest!) swim to the beach in groups, make a few failed belly flops onto the sand, before finally waddling up the shore to their nests. In the dusky light all you can see is these drunken looking white bellies swaying left and right. As we moved to the other side of the viewing platform, we were able to get a closer look as some of them preened themselves, others had a bit of a fight and most headed to their nests.

En route along the coast to our next destination, we struck it lucky once again with our wildlife and encountered a group of greedy pelicans gulping down fish, four or five huge stingrays swimming to the shore, red star fish sheltering in rock pools and then a young, lonely seal at Anderson's Inlet, who had gone astray from his group and was resting and confused on the rocks. Poor thing.

And if that wasn't enough for one day, we then enjoyed some late afternoon sunshine at Wilson's Promontory, one of the few patches of wilderness left in Victoria. The Aboriginal people travelled across this countryside to reach Tasmania before the rising water submerged the land bridge and created the island and not much has changed since. We enjoyed paradise on Squeaky Beach, where the white sand squeaks beneath your feet, before rolling into Port Albert for the night.