Do: New Year's Eve Fireworks

If you really want to brag about your New Year's Eve plans (well done you for getting organised early) – wing yourself over to Melbourne for its annual NYE smash-up. Not only will you escape the dreaded English winter but you'll see a huge firework display, music and live entertainment throughout the city to ring in 2015 – beats paying £50 for entry into your local pub, doesn't it?

Visit qantas.com for the latest fares to Melbourne

See: Street art

Melbourne is the Australian capital of street art, and many of the streets off Flinders Street in the city centre are covered in graffiti and stencil art. The city's got serious art cred: famous street artists like Blighty's Banksy and America's Shepard Fairey have all come to throw their designs onto Melbourne's bricks and mortar. If you only see one street, make it Hosier Lane – the quaint cobbled laneway is covered in bright graffiti.

Drive: The Great Ocean Road

The Ronseal of road trips, the Great Ocean Road features some pretty spectacular slices of ocean (go figure) and dollops of Australia's best wildlife. It hugs the coast between Torquay and Allansford (the official start is about an hour's drive outside Melbourne, although who's counting when all the scenery is spectacular?). The road famously passes the Twelve Apostles limestone formations (pictured), penguins and plenty of koala – six million of them live in the area.