Melbourne/Philip Island

Spent three nights in Melbourne. Went into the main centre by train and then used the City Circuit Tram which is free to use and stops at all the interesting spots within the city area. You can hope on and off as you want to see things. Had a good look around the Victoria Markets (did notice the price of fruit and produce was more expensive than the supermarkets) also found the Docklands Development looking really good. Had a look through Meyers etc in the centre of the city - they had all there Xmas displays set up in the windows - heaps of pigs doing different things e.g. baking etc.
Visited Fitzroy shops which has a real Italian influence, and had a nice meal and some good wine at one of the many restaurants and cafes. Mike had a little conversation with the police when he turned right out of the wrong lane - they informed him very nicely that he would cause a collision if he carried on doing that and advised him not to repeat the error - just as well we didn't have the caravan on the back of the car.

Left Melbourne and drove to Phillip Island - what a fantastic spot. Plenty of really nice beaches that appeared very safe for swimming with a lot of children using them. We booked into a motor camp at Cowes and had a good walk around the township - no major business identities there like KFC, MacDonalds etc so plenty of great local businesses with all the great nic naks that seem to get lost in the malls. The weather was extremely hot so put the camping ground swimming pool to good use. Went for a drive around the island and there sure is some very pretty spots. Has a pier at the beach with ferries etc.
Visited the Phillip Island Grand Prix Track where the Super V8's are held. They were on the day we arrived but we got in mid afternoon and with it being so hot it wasn't appealing to go and stand in it. Visited the new chocolate factory which has a really neat display of a huge chocolate statue, chocolate village with working trains etc (we didn't go in to look at the displays as there was a entrant fee).

Left Phillip Island and headed inland to Traralgon to visit friends that we hadn't seen for yonks!!