G'Day Possom

Hi all, We're now in Melbourne after some pretty hefty driving the last couple of days, we have already clocked up a 1000 kilometres in the camper.

We spent a day in Sydney, although I have to be honest and say that we didn't really do much, it was a really overcast, humid and sultry day and we were still both tired from the previous days travel and events. We had a wander round, visited the Paddy Market, Opera House etc took lots of snaps (see Flckr) and then jumped on the bus back to the camp site for some more R&R. We fly out of Sydney though to Singapore in December so we hope to feel more energised on our next visit there, where we will spend a couple more nights to really do the place justice.

After leaving Sydney we decided to head to the Blue Mountains, we were both dreading the drive out of Sydney for obvious reasons, but we observed the map before heading out and made sure we had a clear idea of what roads we needed and when. We never took one wrong turn and drove out like a couple of locals, strewth!

It's about 100k to the Blue Mountains so it only took us a couple of hours to get there, we stopped off at Echo Point on the way and took in the stunning views that stretch for miles, we also saw the Three Sisters Rock. The reason they are called the Blue Mountains is because there is a constant blue haze in the air from the millions of Eucalyptus plants in the area. We then drove to the nearest town, Katoomba and chilled out for the afternoon. Well I say chilled out, we were plagued with flies, so after 30 minutes of fly chasing we decided to lock ourselves in the van out of harms way. The flies are an absolute nightmare, they last for around 6 months of the year and there is no escaping them. The rolled up newspapers we had are almost in tatters where we have bludgeoned them to death, it's actually quite rewarding knowing that you have just spread one of them the entire length of the camper van (even though it is quite small!)

On the way to Katoomba an extremely large insect came hurtling towards us while we were driving, it was like the planes going into the twin towers, I think it was a kamikaze beetle. Anyway it hit the windscreen and almost rocked the van over, it was so BIG. It split in two and what I can only describe as yellow custard started to spill out of it, all over the windscreen. Matt put the wipers on but all this did was spread the custard like substance across the windscreen. It is still there now despite Matt's best efforts to remove it. God only knows what it was, I kid you not when I tell you it was the size of a small bird, anyway it's dead now.

After Katoomba we decided to start heading towards Melbourne which is a long long drive to do in a day, which is why we didn't. We stopped off after 6 hours of driving in a place called Wagga Wagga which is a half way point. We also chose Wag as they have a great Indian restaurant there, and yes we went in and had a lovely curry after sinking a few of the local ales. After Wagga we carried on our journey and did another 5 hour drive yesterday and got to Melbourne mid afternoon, and without getting lost. We were both really pleased with ourselves, there was no shouting and screaming, but it was really stressful as we came in the main highway, and all the lanes turn off and merge etc, there were cars and lorries all around us, but we held our own and made it unscathed.

The campsite is 9k outside of the city so we got on the bus this morning and left the van "at home" I have actually done some of the driving whilst we've been in Oz, it's a breeze on the country roads as there are not a real lot of cars once you get out of the city, if you get out of the city!! Credit to Matt though he has done the stressful driving.

Yesterday once we had got the van powered up, been to the supermarket for some supplies and had a shower we got chatting to our Ozzie neighbours (no not Madge and Harold) Snow and Judy. They live just outside of Melbourne, when I say just, its about 1.5 hrs drive, but Oz is just so bloody big that a 1.5 hr drive really is nothing. Anyway we got chatting, Snow cracked open a few cold ones and the night went from there. We had a BBQ with them, drank copious amounts of wine and beer and fell into bed about midnight. When I say fell I mean literally!! It is quite a task trying to put the bed together when you are under the influence, there's probably a law against it somewhere. We both woke up this morning with a really thick head. We're feeling much better now though after a hearty breakfast and some fresh air. Snow and Judy are a really nice couple, about the same age as our folks, it's really interesting chatting to the locals about their way of life, their politics and their take on current affairs and the world in general.

We are staying in Melbourne until Sunday after that we will head down to The Great Ocean Road and start making our way across to Adelaide to see Matt's cousin Andy and his girlfriend Lisa, so were looking forward to that.

The weather is a bit dull today although the sun is trying to get through, it rained yesterday too, which was met with relief by the locals as rain is very scarce here. It is blatantly obvious too when you are driving through the country side and all the trees and the grass is scorched and everything is really dry, it is easy to see how bush fires spread so rapidly.

We have seen loads of Kangaroo's since we arrived here, which I didn't expect at all, the only thing is they're all dead ones at the side of the road. Apparently there is a book available to buy in Oz called Roadkill, in it are lots of different recipes for animals that you scrape up off the road and BBQ, Nice!!