I made a post a few weeks ago about my trip from Adelaide to Sydney and y'all were so helpful. I have incorporated most of your suggestions in my itinerary. Tropo said that if I wasn't interested in Melbourne, to bypass it by taking the Queenscliffe Ferry to Mornington Peninsula. I do want to go to Melbourne, but as I was looking at the map it looks as though Geelong to Melbourne is a dull stretch. If this is true (and please let me know if it isn't), and our hotel is in South Yarra, would it make sense and be more interesting to take the ferry and drive up the Mornington Peninsula to South Yarra? We have decided to skip Wilsons Promontory (due to the brushfires). From Melbourne we plan to go east as far as the Dandenongs then north to Warburton, the Acheron way, Marysville, Alexandra and on to Beechworth. If we don't take the ferry on our way to Melbourne, we won't have time to see the Mornington Peninsula. What do you think? One other quick question, we are driving from Penola, SA to the
Grampians. We will spend the night in
Dunkeld with the idea of driving down to the GOR. Would we miss any of the GOR if we go from Dunkeld to Port Fairy? I had planned to start the GOR in Portland, but from what I am reading on this post, there is not much of interest on the Portland - Port Fairy section.

The drive from Geelong to Melbourne is indeed boring, so taking the ferry from Queenscliff over to Sorrento is certainly a good idea. Just be aware of how much extra time you will be adding to your journey on that day. It will only take an hour to get from Geelong to Melbourne via the freeway but if you take the ferry over and stop at a couple of wineries etc. on the way up to South Yarra you are looking at may be four or five hours to get to Melbourne. You will then be able to go on with the rest of your journey as planned.

You are going through some nice little towns. Between Alexandra and Beechworth travel through the King Valley which is lovely (cutting across to the Hume highway is quicker but boring). From Alexandra you head towards Mansfield and then take the C521 until you get close to the Great
Alpine Road (B500). One you are on the Great Alpine Road follow the signs to Beechworth. If the weather is fine a stop at Power's Lookout on the C521 is worth it. This area is also well known for its local produce. Check out the cheeses, jams, berries and wineries.

Starting the GOR from Port Fairy instead of Port Campbell will be fine.

My message posted before I completely finished. I meant to add that in Dunkeld the Royal Mail Hotel owned by Alan Myers had a very good reputation for its food and in Beechworth, if you are interested in jewellry or some non-tacky souvenirs to take home, take a look at Beechworth Gold, a jewellry shop in the main street.

tomatogal, I was going to reply to your posting again, but I see Shandy has given you excellent advice. I agree totally with Shandy's advice.

Before you actually get onto the ferry at Queencliff, drive to nearby Point Lonsdale and go to the Rip View carpark for an excellent look at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay and at Portsea and Sorrento on the opposite shore. By the way, Queenscliff is one of the oldest settlements in Victoria, which will be clear to you when you drive down the main street to the ferry: many buildings date from the 19th century, which is old by Australian standards.

Thanks again, guys. You are such a great help. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.