This convenience store in Collins Street was my saving grace and office escape in the corporate…read moreworld prior to working for myself as a freelance writer. One used to feel a little like a kid walking into a candy store at the time, and there would be some days where they would have items for purchase for only $1 to celebrate a particular time of day, and most recently their birthday. Cherry Ripe here I come. The staff always seem to be so glad to see you, it isn't stock standard chain based convenience store service. You would feel kind of special. The Freddo frogs (although simple) was a big deal at the time, like my office survival kit: especially during the last three months of my corporate career. They would always have specials for buying four Freddo frogs of different varieties at any given moment, and this convenience store would run the occasional competition where a pre-paid Visa card was up for grabs to entice you into buying more chocolate which stocked up my survival kit when one needed it stocked up the most. The ambience was inviting, especially the owl and inside (although a bit of tight space at times) allured that welcoming feeling for the tired office worker.

There's something about little family run businesses that give them a superior edge over all other…read moreoptions. The Grange Mini Mart, which I always called the Milk Bar until I asked for a business card, is no exception to this. The service here is impeccable and always friendly. The store itself is warm and inviting from the moment the bell tinkles above the door to signal your arrival. There is a great range of products on offer including: fruit, chocolate, lollies, ice-creams, magazines, confectionary, milk, cake, cigarettes, bus tickets, phone credit and my personal favourite - Willy Wonka Nerds. If you are a regular customer here you won't get called by name but you will get special privileges. The amount of times I race down there to find that I'm ten cents short or my eftpos card declines have piled up in a corner where I store all my embarrassing moments. Fortunately, the owner of this Mini Mart is super nice when this happens. She pulls out a notepad and takes down your name and phone number before writing down how much you owe. Let her know when you will be down next and she'll pop in a date of expected payment too. Be nice and try to pay her quickly. The shop is always clean and well stocked and best of all - it is open until 9pm every night of the week.

The local Milk Bar, good for last minute items or if you cannot be bothered with the extra 500m to…read moreWoolies. I've been in here a few times and just really shocked by the pricing in here. My housemate had fallen ill and needed some Soda Water, so instead of venturing a few more minutes down the road to Woolworths, i stopped in here and my god i left just as soon as i entered. I looked in the fridge and saw that a 2L Soda Water was around $4. This is something that the local Woolies stocks for 80c - $1. I understand that this small independent business is something of a dying sort but i'm not comfortable paying twice or three times as much for something i can get a few hundred meters down the road.

The name of this place suggests that this small family-run store, which has been here for over 30…read moreyears or more, is an in fact a convenience store. Phooey! I totally disagree with that and therefore refer to it as a milkbar, because that's exactly what it is. After all, milkbars are a dying rapidly and only a few now remain, like this one, and I'll be damned if I start referring to it as a convenience store. I don't know how many times I'd be on my way to work and completely forget to bring some change for the ticket machine on the tram. And, like a mirage in the desert, this little milkbar would come to my aid. It also looks after me on all those days when nothing can take away your troubles like an impulse buy of ice cream or chocolate on the way home. The prices can be a little higher than other places but for the people situated around this milkbar, and forgetful little me, the convince it provides more than outweighs the extra few dollars. Plus I quite enjoy the friendless and familiarity you get from regularly coming to a small place like this which you'd never get from a supermarket no matter times you go there or how much you spend. I applaud these guys for keeping the legacy of suburban milkbars alive.

CONVENIENCE +++. This place is so convenient, open til 10 most nights............a little of the…read moreexpensive side. great staff!!! You can get nearly anything here.............they have a great liquor store too.

This convenience store deserves note for the range of international products. There are lots of…read morelittle gems, particularly from the UK, to be found. Staff are always friendly and there's a well-stocked liquor section as well, where more or less anything can be found. Open until 10pm every night. Prices are a little extra, as you'd expect from this kind of place.

We turned off The Great Ocean Road to a crowd just outside the cafe. It turned out that there are…read moredozens of beautiful birds that will come up to you if you feed it seeds (which you can buy inside the cafe). We didn't buy any seeds and had enough fun just watching other people playing with the birds. I had read that Grey River Road is a good place for wild koala sightings so we got back into our car and headed up the road. The car behind us was in a rush and we decided to let it pass. That car drove up the hill so fast that it ran over one of the beautiful birds that had been sitting on someone's shoulder just a few minutes before. All of the bystanders and us were in shock! The car didn't stop at all and kept driving up the road. After recovering the traumatic death of the bird, we pulled over to the side of the road and watched a coupe of koalas climb trees. They are such natural climbers!

A great cafe with a surprisingly affordable, diverse selection of hot dishes and sweets given its…read morelocation and small size. Everything from beef rendang to chicken . The lattes we got were really good to, we had them at the outside seating with a tasty vanilla slice. A great stop if you're doing the Great Ocean Road because you can buy bird seed from them (as well as a variety of other dry goods) and feed the many birds (cockatoos, parrots and more) in the immediate area right out of your hand. There are also several resident koalas high in the eucalyptus trees on the adjacent dirt road.