Although I am since a few years back living in Melbourne, and have through my work had the opportunity to visit a number of places around the country, I had yet to discover my own state Victoria.

The reason I now was given the opportunity to try out the brand new Grand Cherokee was simply because Chrysler had arranged a campaign for some of Qantas frequent flyers, who they though would be good prospects for buying a new car.

It is well known in Australia that most 4 wheel drives rarely or never are driven outside the suburbs, and that was possibly what they had in mind when they launched the campaign.

My idea was to take the opportunity to actually take the car out for a tour rather than just to the shopping centre and back.

Eagerly me and my girl friend packed the car with fishing gear, golf sets and everything else that could come in use.

Philip Island is one of the 'must do' places when visiting Melbourne. Here you find Koala sanctuaries, giant worm farms (haven't been there myself, but I am sure there are those of you who want nothing rather than seeing 4 metre long worms) and the states most popular motorcycle racecourse.

Sea lions and mini-penguins.

Every night hundreds of them return from the sea to slowly walk their way to their nests.
Like navy seals coming up from the sea, a penguin carefully peeps up from the waves. When he feels safe he runs up a few metres and continues to gaze while a small group of penguins carefully peep up from the water to see how their scout is doing. If everything looks OK they will advance a few metres. This way they will then work their way during a couple of hours from the ocean all the way to their nests. Despite being so careful the penguins don't seem to mind the crowd to spectators there, and you can get very close.

Philip Island is not the only place in Australia where you can see fairy penguins, but there is a major research and visitor station here and there are lights and raised walking tracks that you can move on without disturbing the penguins. Down by the beach there is also a set of stone steps where you can sit and rest while waiting for the penguins to start coming. They always come around dusk, but be prepared to wait an hour or two.

Since the weather here often is chilly and windy I recommend you bring warm clothes and something to sit on (your buttocks can go quite numb while sitting on the cold stone step by the beach for an hour.)

Although now, at the time of our visit, it is cold autumn (17-19 degrees Celsius) the island has got some nice beaches and it is still pretty popular for people with wetsuits to go surfing. If you don't enjoy cold water then fishing seems pretty good out here.

Day 2.

Early next day we continued driving East. This days first stop was in Wilsons Promotory.
This national park is a bit too far from Melbourne to make day tours but is certainly worth a visit if you stay for a night or two.

Especially at dusk you can spot groups of kangaroos hanging around. If you are careful you can even walk in among them.

From the kiosks in the park you can buy bird seeds and hand feed parrots in the area. If the birds haven't been fed by too many it will only take a minute before you have half a dozen birds sitting on your head and climbing up and down your back and arms.
I have done this myself a few times and not once has anyone of them dropped anything on me and only once have I been bitten.

Full speed towards Gippsland

This time we only spent a short while in the park and after an early lunch we hit the road again.
The target was Lakes Entrance and 90 mile beach in Easter Gippsland.

Lakes Entrance is a small town that mainly lives on tourism and fishing, and is a very popular destination for Melbournians.
We arrived there late that same day.

A bit disappointed we had to resort to the only place serving food at this time, McDonalds. The entertainment that night was a couple of cold once at the local pub. Since the time was limited we aimed for an early morning.

When heading back to Lakes Entrance again we however saw a small sign pointing in another direction saying there was a golf course that way.
Another golf course we thought, and took off in the sign's direction.

Next what happened was that the road divided and the turn to the right was called "Golf Links Road". Since there were no other signs it was obvious that this was the turn we should take. It however tured out that Golf Links road only took us back to the golf course we just left.

Playful Ferret

Full of implicit faith that there was a second golf course we turned back and chose the other turn instead.
This road was unsealed and also gave us the chance to rally drive the car a bit. 
And yes, there was a second golf course. Well hidden away and poorly signed but in excellent condition. And there were only a few other players there.

Back at the car after the game we suddenly spotted a ferret running next to the road.

I am still unsure if Ferrets are native to Australia or have escaped from captivity, but they now can be found in the wild.
In any case Ferrets are quite cuddly animals, and this one was certainly not afraid of humans.
This little fellow didn't mind getting fed and cuddled with, but when he, a bit too playfully, started to climb and scratch his way inside my T-shirt it had to come to an end.

A bit scratched on my arms but relieved that I wasn't bloody, I reminded myself that wild animals are best left alone. Even the kindest animal can suddenly be scared, and what to do with a Ferret that bites tight to you nipple I have no idea.

Test drive on the sand

Now we headed for lakes Entrance's most famous attraction, the 90 mile beach. The beach, which according to the metric scale is about 150 km long, is a stretch of sand with the sea on one side and a lake that stretches along the other side. 

A few crossings, mainly for pedestrians, have been built but the beach is also joined to the mainland at one end. 

The sand on the beach is very soft and you can't drive fast unless you drive near the water where the sand is moist and compact.
Bearing in mind the reaction from the rental company when I returned a car that had been driven on Fraser Island and frequently splashed with salt water, we decided to stay away from the water. A short tour was quite enough for this test.

Salmon fishing at night

At dusk we rounded of the day with some fishing.

The spot we first selected turned out to be part of a seal family's turf, and the fish had been scared away, but because it was getting dark we decided to stay anyway. This was pretty lucky still cause we managed to catch 4 small Australian Salmons. (Not related to the Atlantic Salmon at all.)

The last day we slept in quite late.

But before commencing our trip back home we paid a visit to the local wharf and fish market. Here we stocked up our esky with prawns and oysters for half the price of what it costs back in Melbourne.

Back home again I gave the car a good 5 minute cleaning in order to return it back to the dealer.

I don't think I have to describe the sales managers look on his face when he discovered that the car had been driven for more than 800 kilometres.

He didn't seem any happier either when I rejected his offer to go inside his offer and discuss the purchase of a car.

If you plan to drive between Sydney and Melbourne you basically have two roads to choose between, Hume Highway and Princess Highway.

The Southern New South Wales coast is dotted with nice small towns, beaches and national parks worth visits.

Lakes Entrance is also one of the nicer spots in Victoria to make a stop in.

Best time to visit this part of the country is November to March when it is summer, just avoid peek holidays when the place is over crowded.