OK; sticking to driving around Melbourne then. An afternoon at Sherbrook Forest, now almost part of the eastern suburbs and a short walk from Ferntree Gully railway station. Lyrebirds if you're lucky but a nice patch of accessible tall Eucalyptus regnans forest.

East along the Maroondah Highway to Marysville takes you up the Black Spur and through some beautiful sylvan forest that is also dominated by Eucalyptus regnans; half a day unless you dawdle and enjoy yourselves.

Southeast, through South Gippsland (John Warner comes from down there somewhere and my family comes from near Korumburra) to Wilson's Promontory, the southernmost tip of mainland Oz. National Park, a patchwork of every vegetation type in Victoria except proper alpine or desert. Great walks and most things in bloom; I'm biased, as that's where I did most of the fieldwork for my thesis on lithoseres.

You're already seeing Maldon (I was at the very first FF there as a performer; say hello to Ian Huxtable and Helen McGeochan, as well as Doddsy) so you'll see some of the Central Victorian Goldfields). From there down the Midlands Highway to Geelong if you want to get to the Shipwreck Coast, although a diversion to Steiglitz (halfway between Meredith and Maude) would show you some of the Brisbane Ranges Historic Park, as they now call it. The Great Ocean Road (all built by Returned Diggers from WWI, mostly by hand and financed by private subscription) is a scenic wonder; if heading westwards you'll be on the outside (oceanside) of all the curves, which is great if heartstopping. Back through the Grampians (check out Mt Arapiles), and then either the Otways or over the basalt of the Western District.

Have fun. These days I'm 17 hours' drive north of all that, halfway between Sydney and Brisbane.

Cheers, Rowan