If you have some extra time while visiting Melbourne, definitely take a road trip on the Great Ocean Road. You can either rent your own vehicle or campervan or take a one day guided tour from Melbourne.
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Spectacular scenery and cute little coastal towns are scattered along the road as well as some of the best surfing beaches in the world.
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We visited Torquay (Bells Beach – home of many worldwide surfing competitions), Anglesea, Otway National Park, Port Campbell, Warnnambool and the actual cliff grazing road itself was amazing.
The highlight of the trip was seeing the Twelve Apostles, immense rock structures that are carved with the wind and waves (only 9 are currently remaining) dotted along the coastline. A “must see” when you are in the area!
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And if you have the time, try and see it during the day, as well as sunset. Although the sunset we experienced was breathtaking, the early day light reveals the natural beauty of the apostles as well.
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wow, those photos are breathtaking!!! Absolutely amazing!! sorry to hear you didn't love oz–we had such a different experience in the 8 weeks we were there. We have friends in Australia who bent over backwards to see we had an exceptional time. They told us where to go, contacted friends in other cities who gladly invited us over (which really helped the ol budget) and threw us parties while we were in Melbourne several times and even took time off from work to road trip a couple of times–it was amazing to hang out with them/their friends and so much fun. We never felt so welcomed. OZ was great except for the high prices which killed our budget (as well as New Zealand–too expensive). I have to say, It was much better going from NZ and Oz to Asia because now everything seems so affordable. Hope you have a blast in NZ and don't smash your budget like we did.