Made it to Melbourne

Oskar and I were going to take the coastal road from Sydney to Melbourne which would have been 14 hours and split over a 1 nites stay. But after 2 hours of hauling the trailer that carried the coach boat, worrying about the bad transmission during ascents and not even seeing water views from the road we decided to take the express route. Once on the highway, driving was easy. Unfortunately when it got to 1 in the morning and we were looking for a hotel to crash in there was absolutely no vacancy. We pulled off at one of the few and far between gas stations to ask the gas attendant if he knew of any. His reply was that this was the busiest strip of road in Australia and we had no chance of finding a bed to sleep in. So we drove for a couple more hours then pulled off and slept in the car... yuck. We left Sydney at around 8pm and arrived Melbourne 11am.

Since we arrived a day early we did not have a hotel room booked for that evening. We really lucked out and got a great room at "Cosmopoltan Hotel" in St. Kilda. The service was incredible, staff happy, and our room (for 120 AUS) was the nicest I've stayed in for the price. King size bed with soft sheets, a flat screen tv, modern clean furnishings and a slick bathroom fully stocked with luxury soaps, gels, and shampoos. Wireless internet was 15 bucks a nite, parking was free, and there was a restaurant in the base of the hotel that provided room service. I'd highly recommend anyone visiting Melbourne to book a room at The Cosmopolitan. http://www.cosmopolitanhotel.com.au/
The neighbourhood is St. Kilda, which I absolutely love. Melbourne itself is a great surprise. Arts, Culture, and the quality of food/coffee as if you were in Europe.

So we were lucky enough to sleep 1 nite in The Cosmopolitan. We are now housed in the hotel down the street "Easy Stay" on Aucland street. A big disapoint after our great experience at the Cosmo. Staff at Easy Stay were short and curt. They were strigent on check-in times... We arrived 1/2 an hour early and they wouldn't let a check in. They charged 8 bucks a night for parking. Internet was available if we plugged into the phone line and had a AUS IP address (no) then they charged 75 cents per call/connection that you made. Our room was disapointing with white wash walls, no design attention, and starchy sheets. The bathroom was nice with enviro-friendly pumps for all shaving cream/soap/moisture/shampoo. The street noise was awful and our view was of a white-washed brick wall. Double Yuck, Considering that this hotel was the same price as the Cosmopolitan.