I set my alarm to get up early. I had thought about my options quite a bit during the night and decided the thing to do was to get a car. The bus was cheaper but the bus did not run every day. In fact the next bus towards Sydney did not leave until tomorrow. I had heard tales of busses sometimes being full which could mean I would be stuck in someplace for several days. Once I arrived at a new town I would have limited choices in accommodations since I would not have transportation anywhere else. Attractions were sometimes quite a distance apart and unlike Asia I would not be able to afford taxis on a regular basis. Taking tours was an expensive additional cost. All this pointed to getting a car especially since I had planned on travelling slightly above a standard backpacker level.

I went downstairs and first called a few hostels up to confirm that there were indeed no more beds available for the weekend. I then tried calling a few of the vehicle for sale notices on the hostel bulletin board. These used vehicles usually were station wagons or campers fully equipped with beds and/or camping equipment. With such a vehicle I would be able to offset the greater transportation costs with lower housing costs. No dice all the vehicles listed had been sold. I then tried one of the car rental companies specializing in station wagons and campers for backpackers. Fully booked until after the weekend and campers ran A$90 a day.

Frustrated and not looking forward to sleeping on the street I called the car rental agency I had visited the other day. I reserved the car for the weekend thinking that at least I would be able to find a bed outside of Melbourne. I was finding the stress of not having a place to stay increasing my dislike of the city. I went back upstairs, packed my bags and checked out.

Outside I walked down the street a bit and checked the prices at some of the other car rental agencies and found out they all started at A$50-60 a day. I then hailed a taxi but discovered upon boarding that the taxi was having mechanical problems and so I had to get out and hail another taxi. This one was able to take me to the Autocar Rental company.

There they had a little red two door Hyundai Accent with just 5,200 kilometres on it ready for me. As I was filing out the paperwork I asked on impulse if I rented the car for a month would they give it to me at A$40 a day with unlimited miles. The man readily agreed. This put my rental cost for the car including everything but gas at A$1,200 for the month without any extra drop-off fee in Cairns. I had gotten quotes as high as A$2,200 a month for an economy car from the name brand car rental agencies so I thought this was a pretty good deal. I figured that renting the car was worth the extra peace of mind against any sort of mechanical problems that might develop.

After we finished the paperwork we went out to inspect the car which was in excellent condition. We checked the oil and other liquids and the guy said that if I was willing to wait a half hour he would give me a new set of front tires. Well that sounded good so leaving my bag at the rental agency I took a walk down the street to a nearby map store where I purchased a driving map of Australia. By the time I got back the car had new tires and I was all set. The people at Autocar Rental were very friendly and gave me a good deal, highly recommended at (03) 9699-1022.

My first stop was the local supermarket to stock up on travel essentials. I bought some peanut butter, jelly, bread, napkins, a gallon of water, some plastic cups and utensils, a variety pack of cereal and a case of Coke. The only thing I couldn't find was a Styrofoam cooler and ice. Supplies and gas full I headed out of town towards the Great Ocean Drive. The Great Ocean Drive ran along the ocean and was supposed to offer up some spectacular views of the ocean and cliffs.

By the time I got going it was past two o'clock and I knew I wasn't going to get far before dark. I figured that I would try to get to the town of Geelong about two hours southwest of Melbourne and try my luck there. As I got on the freeway out of Melbourne I felt a little less stressed. At very least I would be able to pull aside and sleep in the car at night. No more worries about sleeping in the street!

It was a nice easy drive and other than a few swerves did not have much trouble adapting to driving on the other side of the road. The freeway traffic was light and the road was as good as any American freeway. I made a stop at a camping store I passed and purchased a rather expensive A$40 cooler and took a nap as well but made it to Geelong around five thirty.

Geelong was a small seaside town and I immediately liked it better than Melbourne. Now I would like to stress that there was nothing wrong with Melbourne, it is a perfectly nice city. It is just my specific timing and circumstances that led to my dislike of the city. Geelong I liked because it was next to and had a view of the ocean.

On its one main street I stopped at the National Hotel Backpackers. This is a funky hostel above an old pub and noodle bar and I was able to get a dorm bed for A$19. I was only going to stay one night so I didn't even bother to bring my big back upstairs. I was happy to realize that I would no long have to worry about storing my big bag or lugging it around all over town. After checking in I took a walk around the main street. As it was about six everything was closed except I was amused to not one but the two adult stores on the main street.

As it got dark I just had some rather expensive A$9 stir fried noodles in the noodle bar and just caught up on my journal. Later in the night spent some time watching TV in the upstairs lounge with a nice young midget woman from Queensland. OK I can't say she was really a midget or dwarf but she was about 3.5 feet tall and she had a pretty good sense of humor.