Missing you already

We're now in Singapore and it's ace!!

Yesterday we packed our gear away after 6 easy weeks in Oz, ready for some more hardcore travel through Asia. We took the van back to the depot, which was almost as stressful as when we picked it up. Despite my bragging at how good we were getting at driving around the cities, nothing can prepare you for the roads in Sydney, it's a nightmare to drive round/through. We agreed that I would drive and Matt would be chief navigator (damage limitation!) that way if we did get lost (or should I say when!) it wasn't my fault, I was simply following instructions ;o) Anyway we did get lost, a few times. We eventually stopped at a petrol station and asked a taxi driver where the address was, as always when you're lost we were practically right by it.

We got our full deposit back too which was good news, as obviously coming to the end of our trip we need all the financial resource available to us. We jumped in a cab back to the airport and apart from a slight delay (1.5 hrs) due to an electric storm in Sydney we had another good flight on a Boeing 747! We saw the new Airbus at Sydney airport, it is HUGE. We took a few pics so will post them on Flickr soon.

As you will have probably gathered I'm not too sorry to have left Oz. I don't know why I didn't take to the place, I can't really put it down to any one thing, all I know is that it feels great to be in Singapore where nothing is familiar (apart from Mcdonalds) and nobody has yet told us where to go(!) and what to see.

Our last few days in Oz were spent at the campsite where we started off, Lane Cove and it really is a lovely park with lots of trees and greenery, it's almost like camping in a wood. The other night I was on my way to phone my dad to wish him a happy birthday. The phone box is a few minutes walk from the camp site, but it is pitch black down the footpath and there are LOTS of insects, beetles, flies, moths you name it, and they all come out at night. So me being the arachnophobiac that I am, you can imagine what an ordeal it is for me venturing out in these conditions. I went fully armed with a tin of fly spray much to the annoyance of Matt whose patience is quickly running out with my obsession of creepy crawlies. Anyway there is no real reason for me telling you all this, other than to say when we got to the phone box (unscathed) we realised that we had forgotten the phone card (I say we!!) so we had to go all the way back to the van, at which point Matt decided that he wouldn't come back with me so I had to brave it alone. Yeah thanks for that!! When I got back to the phone box, trembling, there was somebody in it, so it was another wasted journey. I wafted and swatted my way back to the van (God only knows what I looked like to passers by) and decided to text my dad instead. Much easier and insect free ;o) We did see a MASSIVE spider though on our first attempt, and I'm not exaggerating it was the same size as a small tarantula, obviously being in Asia now for the next 7 weeks means that I'm not out of the woods yet either!!!!!

We arrived at Singapore at about 1.30am this morning, totally cream crackered and probably half cut, thanks to the complimentary beer and spirits on the flight. We exhausted their supply of red wine and had to go onto the white in the end, we only drank to help us relax though ;o) We got a taxi to our hotel which took about 15 minutes, we had a bit of banter along the way with the taxi driver, who now wants to work for Comet as they pay well enough to allow us to go travelling and they even allow you to have 10 months off work and keep your job open for you.

The hotel we're staying at is on the outskirts of the main city so we are just making our way in now, on foot at the moment, and then we are gong to get the tube for the rest of the journey. It is 5* luxury to be back in a hotel, with our own bathroom, a T.V and A/C, I felt a million dollars this morning getting ready surrounded by such comfort and luxury. As much as we loved camping in NZ and Oz, it has been a bit much after 13 weeks. We are in Singapore for 3 nights altogether so we will get to Malaysia on Monday, all being well. We will head to Malaka for a couple of nights and then to the capital Kuala Lumper. I can't begin to tell you how exciting and challenging it feels again to be back in the thick of travelling. I think that is what we have missed since leaving South America.

So look forward to a lot more happy blogging and a lot less moaning from me. I am loving it already and we've not even seen anything yet!!

Up close and personal

We're now back in Sydney after a very relaxing few days at Batemans Bay and more recently Kiama. For our avid fans who remember the nightmare day we had when we arrived in Oz, well you would be impressed if you had seen us get to Sydney today. We drove straight to the camp site, we never even broke a sweat.

We stayed 4 nights in Batemans, we had a really nice spot by the beach and the weather picked up too, we got chatting to an Ozzie (Bill) who insisted on showing us the interior of his newly acquired caravan. We oooohd and aaaahd a bit before getting back to our van. He was a nice old bloke, just a bit lonely, so much so that he asked us to go to Surfers Beach with him, hmmm. Matt made some excuse though and we managed to let him down lightly.

KIama is a great little sea side place too where we spent three nights. We popped into the local while we were having a wander round the town, to receive the welcome news that it was Happy Hour!! So we indulged in 6 pints of Tooheys (not each) and left an hour later with a slight swagger. She knew we were hard core Brits when we ordered proper "pints" instead of the poncey schooners that the Ozzies drink ;o)

We went back to the pub on Friday night as there was a live band playing, we made enquiries at the bar about them and were told that not a lot was known about them as they hadn't played there before. Anyway we went down there Friday night and got among the locals, it was a typical working class pub, loads of big hairy fellas in the work gear spending all the house keeping money on ale. There were also a few groupies gathering around the front, bleached blonde permed hair, skin tight black leggings and cerise pink stilettos (that was just the fellas). Their trotters left a lot to be desired. So as you can imagine we blended in quite nicely ;o)

It turned out to be a good night, the band were really good although they played a lot of Ozzie stuff that we're not too familiar with, they also did some Police, Snow Patrol etc. I could tell Matt was chomping at the bit to get up and have a go on the guy's Les Paul. We were a bit worse for wear when we left there and had a bit of a hike back to the camp site. I don't know how we started but we were throwing our flip flops down the street and brawling like a couple of yobs. It was an expensive brawl though because Matt's flip flops snapped!! He has now started wearing a pair of mine, and has taken on a feminine air all of a sudden ;o)

Last night we were having a BBQ for tea, so we got all the stuff prepared and went across to the communal area. As I mentioned previously we don't make much eye contact with people now for fear of a full on Ozzie lecture, so we probably look quite sheepish. Anyway we got some fodder on the hot plate and we heard "you wont cook them on there" (No it wasn't Matt's old flip flops we were cooking) we turned round and it was a big Cockney/Ozzie (Cozzie??) our worst nightmare. We gave a pleasant little snort as we usually do and carried on. He then said "go and use the other BBQ in the kitchen" we insisted that we were fine with the one we were using, to which he just grunted (how could we have minds of our own!) He then started asking where we were from, we went through the rigmarole of Worcester/Yorkshire. He told us he's from England "Oh yeah, what part?" Wait for it.... Essex! surprise surprise. Anyway I can't be bothered to bore you with the details but he did say "what would anybody want to live there for" (England) He is one of the patriotic Ozzie wannabe's that we just don't like. Once our food was cooked he asked us to join him and his wife at the dining table, I told him I'd left a pan on and we made a hasty exit back to the van and slagged him off.

Only 5 more days now before Singapore, our RTW tickets are nearly finished :-(

Sun, Sea and Sand

We only stayed one night in Eden, the weather wasn't great and the camp site was deserted so we decided to get some mileage covered instead. We headed along the coastal road and stopped at a very small town called Tathra, again there was very little to do there but we were right on the coast and about 100 yards to the beach. The sun managed to break through too after 3 days of showers so we were more than happy.

On our second day there we decided to drive to The Mimosa Rocks National Park which was about 5k from where we were staying. We took the camper van "off road" onto a little winding dirt track, which we shouldn't have done really as our insurance only covers us for sealed roads, but you know what Backpackers are like. We weren't really sure what to expect as we had only seen the name place on the map, after a while we started to see lots of tents pitched in the trees and caravans and then people milling about, and we realised we had stumbled upon a little metropolis of campers. It isn't a camp site as such and is really only for the hard core of outdoor people, in that the only facilities that are available are two outdoor toilets, so you have to be fully self sufficient. But that is not a problem for Ozzies 'cos they are into their camping BIG time.

So we parked up next to what looked like a football team of male campers, there was camping gear and fishing rods strewn everywhere, it was obvious that they had been there a while and enjoyed themselves judging by the amount of stuff they were surrounded with. It was almost like an expo for camping and fishing. We caked ourselves in sun cream and headed off to find the Mimosa Rocks. Well unbeknown to us the rocks are on the beach and we found them by chance really as we ambled for about a mile along the most stunning piece of coast line. The sea was the colour of something you would expect to find in a cocktail glass and the sand was like gold dust, it was lovely. It was also a great spot for surfers (apparently(?)) although we did only see the one.

The rock formations were great too, I think Matt is uploading the pics now, lots of jagged edges and different colours, which against the green sea and golden sand back drop was amazing. By the time we got back to the van about an hour and half later the campers we had parked next to had gone, as if by magic, they had left without a trace, unbelievable. I don't even think a decent forensic team would have found any trace of their having been there.

After that we headed back to the camp ground for some R&R, it's hard work all this ambling about and lazing around on beaches ;o) and spent a lazy afternoon in the sun.

The next morning we got up and I headed to the toilets (we hate not having our own like we did in the "posh camper") as soon as I walked through the door I saw it, as my sixth sense kicked in. It was a cricket or stick insect on the door frame of the toilet, the only thing was it was the size of my hand!! I let out a gasp and a few expletives and didn't know what to do, obviously first thing in the morning I was desperate to use the loo but I was gripped with a fear that this "thing" would vault over the toilet door and land on me (as if) Anyway I braved it and went in, I left the door ajar ready for a speedy getaway, should we find ourselves occupying the same cubicle. I have never pee'd so fast, I never even washed my hands I just shot out of there and back to the van to tell Matt. By this time the insect was twice as big as my hand, ( needed a bit of sympathy ;o)) I sent him back to have a look for himself, but as always when you see something big etc,it had gone! Needless to say I never went back for a shower!!

So we had breakfast and headed along the coastal road (towards Sydney) and are now staying at a place called Batemans Bay, it's a lovely little seaside town with lots of fish and chip shops and fresh fish from the locals who go out on their boats. We've got some Ozzie cod for the BBQ tonight so we're looking forward to that.

Oh one last thing, JH never won the election, he was defeated by the labour leader Kevin Rudd, every radio station we tune into now is about politics.

Strewth!

Hi All, we're now back in the state of New South Wales at a place called Eden, just on the coast. It's pi$$ing down and is now our 2nd day of rain, we are even back to full clothing, i.e jeans and t-shirts!!

We left Mount Gambier all Ozzied out, but since then we have mellowed a bit, I think the blog helped us vent our spleen and we both feel much better for it. That said we do still walk around with a permanent scowl just to put people off talking to us, it's helping although it doesn't deter everybody.

After Mt Gambier we drove to a place called Ballarat, which is just outside of Melbourne and is a famous old gold mining town, there are some quite old buildings by Ozzie standards, dating back to the 1800's, one of them was an old weighing house were the miners used to take their gold to be measured, they also had a rather palatial cinema there so we indulged ourselves and went to see Elizabeth (with the Ozzie actress Cate Blanchett) The film wasn't much cop to be fair, but the cinema itself was like I would imagine the rooms at Buckingham Palace to look like. It was really grand and ornate and really luxurious. At AU$28 though I suppose that's what you would expect?!

We stayed in Ballarat for a couple of days, the weather was glorious so we spent the next day being idle, we're getting really good at it. After Ballarat we headed past Melbourne and down to a place called Waratah Bay, as we were heading onto the Wilsons Promontry(?) National Park the next day. There wasn't a great deal to do there and it was a maftingly (is that a word?) hot day, which meant there were 1000's of flies, nightmare! We did have direct access to the beach there though which stretched for miles, with hardly anybody about. In the evening we went down to watch the sunset and there was a couple of guys fishing. One of the fellas had a seagull taffled up in his fishing wire, so Matt being the good Samaritan that he is went and gave him a hand and managed to free the seagull who had become quite distressed.

So the next day we headed to the National Park, it was probably our hottest day in Oz so far, 30c+ there wasn't a cloud in the sky and Matt was insisting we do a 3k hike to see Squeaky Beach (it squeaks when you walk on it) I wasn't happy to say the least and I was like a sulking child getting my things ready, tying my shoe laces etc (my parents will be familiar with the scenario!) We had had the A/C on in the van on the way down so didn't have any real concept of just how hot it was, it almost stole the air from our lungs when we jumped out the van. So caked in SPF15 with 3 bottles of water we headed off for Squeaky Beach, with me squeaking about how unhappy I was about it. We were covered in flies the whole time, there was hardly any shade at all and the whole hike was a real effort. I have to say though when we climbed the hill and eventually saw the beach and the sea it was definitely worth while. The only thing was we couldn't sit down on the beach long enough to truly appreciate it due to the lack of shade and the flies. We dipped our toes in and made our way back to the comfort of our A/C van, luxury! (Pics of Squeaky Beach not on the blog yet)

After Squeaky Beach we hit the road again and headed to a small town called Lakes Entrance, again there was nothing much to do here it was more a stopping off and resting place, we stayed for 2 days before getting to Eden this lunch time.

I know I have mentioned the flies previously but believe me when I say they are now even worse, even the locals are complaining about them and have said they have never been this bad before. We have given up on the fly swatter and have invested in some heavy duty fly spray. Swatting them usually results in instant death, where as fly spray is a long slow and painful death for them, and when you have been plagued by them like we have then it seems like a small victory seeing them wriggle around helplessly, awaiting their doooooom!!!
God only knows where the saying comes from "I wouldn't hurt a fly" well I bloody would and will be hurting a lot more before I depart in 2 weeks.

As we left Ballarat we had to drive into Melbourne to get to Wilsons Prom, we were about 70k (approx 45 miles) outside of the city and we could see their impressive sky line. It kind of puts NYC to shame.

So the rain is due for another day I think before we can carry on enjoying the typical Ozzie blue skies and sunshine. I know we complain about the rain but Oz really do need some, the land is really parched and in some places there is no greenery at all it is so dry. They also suffer extreme water restrictions when there is a drought and prices of fresh produce like fruit and veg shoot up in the super markets as a result. It has a big impact on the wine business too as the vineyards suffer. We do what we can though and are buying up as much as we can, you've got to do your bit haven't you!!!

It's the General Election over here this weekend and voting is compulsory (not for tourists luckily) so we have been listening to the radio and all the fighting talk from Johnny Howard and the opposition leader Kevin Rudd. It looks like JH is probably going to get back in, one thing the Ozzies do love to bitch about is their government and immigration.

Any road that's about it for now, we leave Oz 2 weeks tomorrow for Singapore, we then have 7 weeks left of our trip to see Asia. As Muse sang "Our time is running out"

Aussie Aussie Aussie!!

Well hello there, it's been a while. Michelle is also posting too, so some of you probably won't bother reading this as it won't be as exciting as Michelle's! Well we're in a place called Mount Gambier which is famous for some crystal blue volcanic lakes apparently; we haven't seen them yet, but we've just been told by "the local friendly campsite neighbour" , more on this subject later. We were hoping to hire some bikes tomorrow and ride around them, but unfortunately can't find a bike-hire shop so looks like we'll be doing it on foot.

We spent last weekend at my cousin's house thanks again Andy and Lisa for a great (and heavy drinking!) weekend. They live in a gorgeous part of the country right on the doorstep of the Barossa Valley, home to Jacobs Creek amongst a multitude of other fine wines. They've recently moved into their new house, the size of which would put most houses in the UK to shame. Not only does it have 4 bedrooms, 2 lounge rooms, study, double garage it also has a fantastic alfresco (patio to you and me) area which we made full use of. In fact we probably spent all our time out there, either drinking, eating BBQ or recovering from drinking and eating BBQ. Friday night was a quiet one in the local pub with what seemed like all the locals all of which we're now on first name terms with. Saturday night was anything but quiet and we had a mammoth BBQ and drinking session with the same locals from the night before plus about 500 others! There was a constant stream of people coming and going, eating and drinking, laughing and shouting and generally having a good time. I made the mistake of mixing my drinks and had a pretty bad hangover, (the first one since drinking with Kirsten in Auckland) and spent most of the next day trying to stay out of the sun and drinking copious amounts of water. I don't know how Michelle did it but she seemed unaffected by it, even though she drank at least 10 bottles of Coopers Pale Ale, and that's just what I saw her drink! Sunday was really hot so once it had cooled down enough for us to start moving around, about 5pm, we took a drive to Mount Crawford forest and then through the Barossa to Jacobs Creek retreat, where Andy and Lisa will be tying the knot next March. One thing I have to mention also is that we saw some live kangaroos, as opposed to dead ones in the side of the road. Now some of you may know they I spent most of 2001 in Australia and in that time only saw one live kangaroo and that was in Tarango Zoo in Sydney.

So that was the weekend that was. Since leaving there we had a very relaxing 3 days in Robe on the South coast below Adelaide, mainly not drinking and definitely not driving.

Onto the subject of Aussies (I've just been reading what Michelle is typing next to me, so apologies if this is old ground). Now before I start this rant I just want to say that the majority of the Aussies that we've met have been extremely friendly, very hospitable and generally great folk (especially Judy and Snow in Melbourne, Wayne and Jan in Robe and of course Andy and Lisa in Williamstown although Andy isn't really an Aussie yet!). However there is always a bad apple(s) in the bunch who seem to go out of their way to annoy us by interrupting whatever we are doing and giving us not only their life story but every single route to anywhere in Australia. It starts off with a "where you from?" quickly followed by "where have you been?". "Sydney to Adelaide" is usually my response and then that triggers off a tirade of "You didn't wanna go that way", "Did you go here?", "Why didn't you go to this place?",etc., etc. This goes on for about 30 minutes and ends with either the Aussie either passing out from over exertion or me just walking off muttering under my breathe something along the lines of "why don't you just mind your own business you friggin know all". Now most of you are probably thinking it's just the Aussie's being friendly, but believe me when you get it day in day out for 3 weeks you start to get a bit fed up. The two worst examples have been a knob from Sydney who we bumped into at Wagga Wagga. He actually got the map out and showing me the best route to go to Darwin from Perth, which we're not even going to whilst breathing cigarette smoke in my face. The second worst offender was about 30 mins ago here in Mount Gambier. This guy didn't even bother asking where I was from but just launched into "have you been to Port Victoria" or something along those lines. I had a mouthful of tuna sandwich at the time so I couldn't respond appropriately with "Why don't you p*ss off you big fat nonce". Anyway, that's how we feeling at the moment, both of us, just a little bit "aussied out". As I said these people are in the minority so sorry if I've offended anyone with this but it's our blog and I'll write what I want thanks.

To end on a positive note though, we are enjoying the aussie BBQ and have probably had about BBQ for the last 5 nights now! The steaks are to die for (although I'm sure Michelle won't agree) as is the seafood.

Well I best be off now as I've just seen a guy in the window of this Internet cafe and I'm sure he's eager to give me some directions.

Good on Ya Mate.

The English Reserve

We are now in a town called Mount Gambia, in South Australia, we arrived this morning and will stay a couple of days.

We left Williams Town on Monday morning, it was a great weekend. On Sunday we drove by some of the wineries in the Barossa Valley, we saw the huge Jacobs Creek vineyards, there are acres and acres of them. It was quite late by the time we got out though so wine tasting was out of the question, especially after the late night on Saturday.

After we left Williams Town we decided to head to the coast as the heat in the Adelaide region was unbearable for us, the sun beats down all day with not a cloud in the sky and temperatures of over 30c. All you can do is sit in the shade and try to keep cool (no real hard ship there!)
After some research in the Lonely Planet we headed for a place called Robe and we were glad we did. It is a very small and very quiet town, but the cost line is stunning. Aquamarine waters and white sands with a lovely cool breeze, it was just what we needed after a full on Ozzie weekend. We managed to get the best pitch on the camp site too and access to the beach was maybe 30 metres away, heaven.

We booked in for 3 night's and was even going to do a fourth we were enjoying the peace and quiet so much, but yesterday the peace and tranquility came to an abrupt end when an Ozzie mother and her two young kids invaded the pitch opposite. I'm not totally anti kids, in fact it wasn't even the kids that were the problem it was the grown up. She was one of those loud types, that has to talk the children through everything that she's doing, do you know the sort? She NEVER shut up and was extremely loud, constantly telling the children off, threatening to take them home if they carried on mis behaving, all this was going on while she was also telling them what she was doing. "I'm putting the tent up now, then were going to have some tea, then maybe we can go into town and have an ice cream, if you do that one more time Joshua you will sit in the car, Mummy just needs to get the chairs out, Joshua what did you have to do that for, you have destroyed it (God knows what she was referring to?!). Anyway this went on and on and on, she never paused for breath. We knew then that we wouldn't be staying a 4th night.

I mentioned in my previous blog how friendly the Ozzies are, and believe me they are, but they are friendly bordering on irritating. No matter where we go or who we meet along the way, we are bombarded with information, it kinda goes like this:

Ozzie:where ya from
Us:England"
Ozzie:how long ya got in Oz?
Us:6 weeks
Ozzie:Where ya going?
Us:Not too sure really, no concrete plans

Then it starts and we get a tirade of instructions of where to go, how to get there, where not to go, why did you go there, how do you plan to get here, what do you want to go there for. This goes on and on and on until we eventually lose the will to live. Were quite polite people me and Matt and wouldn't dream of offending people, but the fact is we are two pretty intelligent, independent, well travelled individuals, who have just travelled half way around the world to get to Oz, do you think we are the kind of people who welcome this inane advice day in day out. It is getting to the point now where we keep our sunglasses on for fear of making eye contact with anybody and having to go through the whole damn charade again.

I asked Matt if it was me that had a problem as I have to admit I'm not the most patient of people (ask Stew!) but Matt is as dog tired of it as I am, the only difference being that he is much more laid back than I am, which is probably just as well!

We leave Oz 3 weeks tomorrow for Singapore, we really are looking forward to getting back to some proper travelling and getting hot and sweaty with our back packs again. We are culture vultures at heart and unfortunately Oz does not tick all the boxes for us. It is a lovely country to visit, the climate is superb and their alfresco living is also good, but there is something lacking that I just can't put my finger on.

On the road..

We're now in a place called Williams Town which is about an hours drive from Adelaide, we have been staying with Matt's cousin Andy and his fiance Lisa since we arrived on Friday. It is great to be staying in a "proper house" and sleeping in a comfy bed :o)

On Monday morning after a weekend in Melbourne we left for the Great Ocean Road. We both really enjoyed our time in Melbourne, despite the weather which was quite cool and quite a bit of rain. We spent a lot of time in the City which is lovely, we enjoyed it far better than Sydney. They have a great cafe bar culture there and there is a really good vibe about the place. We decided to blow our entertainment budget while we were there and went to see Priscilla Queen of The Desert at the Regent Theatre, it was worth every penny. The soundtrack to it is all 70's disco music and it really was a great show, there were over 500 hundred costumes used in total. If it ever comes to England I would definitely recommend it (as long as you don't have a problem with gays and cross dresser's?!)

So our first stop along the Ocean Road was a small seaside town called Lorne, the camp site was just beside the beach and the sun came out, so we hit the shops stocked up on supplies and had a day in the sun with a BBQ in the evening, bliss! We left there the next day and headed to the next resort Apollo Bay, it was nice here but not as busy and pretty as Lorne, the weather was a bit cloudy again too. After Apollo Bay we set off again taking in the 12 Apostles along the way, these are rock formations in the sea that have been worn away by the salt water. The coast line here is stunning with golden sands and green sea. We took lots of pics which we will post soon. After Apollo Bay we had to start getting some driving done as we had about 500k to do to get to Williams Town. We stayed at a place called Warnembool (I think that's right?) the camp site here was fantastic, it had a large indoor pool and jacuzzi which we made full use of, we were the only people in there! After W we stayed at some place that I can't even remember the name of (it's the drink it's killing off my brain cells!) and then our drive on Friday to here.

We have done a lot of driving since we arrived and not seen a great deal in between stops, Australia is HUGE and until you visit the place it's difficult to comprehend just how big it actually is. Luckily there are very few cars on the road so travel is easy but the distances are so vast, it's really tiring, especially in the temperatures were experiencing at the moment 30c+!!

We leave here tomorrow morning and we were going to head to Broken Hill and take in some of the outback, but we have decided (with some gentle persuasion from the locals) that our time would be better spent seeing more National Parks and beaches than some barren desert with nothing to see except flat red dusty landscape, dead kangaroos and emus in the scorching heat.
So we will head back inland and take in the Grampians, back towards Melbourne where we will take in some of the Melbourne shoreline and work our way back up towards Sydney. Everybody we speak to tells us to visit a different place, it is nigh on impossible to visit all these places. We will have to come back!!

We have had a great weekend with our hosts Lisa and Andy, it is a really small town where they live and everybody knows each other. We have been made to feel so welcome that I almost feel like one of the locals. We have met a few "poms" while we've been here too. Last night we had yet another BBQ, and Lisa and Andy invited round some of their friends. We started about 5pm and got to bed at 3am this morning, it was a heavy one!! I only have to look at the recycling bin for confirmation. A good time was had by all though, including Matt who has gone back to bed as he feels so ill!!

Oz is pretty much as I expected it to be to be honest, just a lot bigger. Everybody is really friendly and loves a drink ;o) It is a very relaxed, chilled out way of life that they live and they are big into the alfresco life style. Obviously it's so hot that you can't stay in for any period of time. There is so much wildlife too, all the birds and animals that we have to go to a zoo to see back at home you can see in the country here. Parakeets are like the sparrow back home, they are everywhere, also red and green parrots everywhere. We have also seen lots of reptile type creatures and lizards when we have been out walking. Luckily no snakes though, although we were briefly introduced to a Red Back Spider by Andy as he cleaned the BBQ yesterday. It was on the underside of the cooking tray, which could have been quite nasty if he hadn't have seen it as a bite from a Red Back can kill you. Nice eh to think that these kind of spiders can turn up in your house at any moment!! My sixth sense is on red alert, looking out for anything big and hairy with more than 2 legs...

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!!

Down Under

We arrived in Oz on Friday morning, it was a 4.5 hour flight from Fiji and the plane was MASSIVE, it was a Boeing 747, the type with an upstairs, and we were sitting upstairs, and unbeknown to us we had been allocated emergency exit seats which meant we had LOADS of leg room, it was a great flight (unlike the toy plane we flew from Chile to NZ on!!!) the food was good to (Air Pacific)

Once we got to the airport and retrieved our back packs we rang the camper van company to come and pick us up from the airport, only to be told that they don't offer a pick up service, so we had to jump in a cab. The camper van we have now is probably half the size of the last one, but much more fun as it really is proper camping now. The weather here is superb and there is no need to use the camper for anything other than sleeping and preparing food, unlike NZ where it was raining and often quite cold.

The camper van depot is in Sydney, so once we had done all the paper work and necessary checks we were given directions to the campsite at Lane Cove which is 14k outside of the City. Well after 12 days of Fiji Time you can imagine that driving through Sydney in Friday rush hour traffic in a camper van is a bit stressful to say the least. We got lost 3 times! We had to drive across the Harbour Bridge through lanes and lanes of traffic and the road signs are so confusing, it really was a nerve wracking experience, and to make matters worse we hit a BIG thunder storm with fork lightening, it wasn't the best of starts!

So after 3 attempts of finding the campsite up and down the toll road at a cost of $5 a time (a toll road that we didn't need to be on at all!!) we managed to find the exit that would take us to the site, and luckily we found it with no further complications. Once we had checked in and got a local map we decided to head out to the supermarket and get some supplies and frozen mixed veg (I'm not sure if anybody knows this but Matt has actually been to Oz before, in fact to the very same camp site that were at now, where he lived for quite a while, which is why he kept insisting on knowing the way, roads looking familiar etc) so we were following directions given to us, when Matt said "I know where we're going now, I remember this road" and as he said this he took the wrong turn and got us back on the toll road!! Anyway to cut it short after a lot of shouting and screaming we managed to find the shops, by which point we were so stressed and tired from getting up early that neither of us could be bothered to shop. We threw a couple of bags of frozen veg in the trolly and headed home.

On the way back to the campsite we realised that we hadn't got any beers or wine, so we did a detour (talk about asking for trouble!) and went to the local "bottle shop" for some much needed alcoholic supplies, we staggered out of there with 6 bottles of beer and 3 bottles of wine. We felt better already ;-)

As we were driving back to the campsite the steering went on the van, Matt was still able to control it but it was extremely difficult and potentially dangerous. He managed to steer it back to the site and I drove it just to confirm that there was something wrong with it. There was no doubt that there was something wrong as it was almost impossible to turn the wheel, God knows how Matt got us back. Matt rang the breakdown company and they agreed to send somebody out to have a look at it, which they did and he advised us to drive it to the nearest garage as the belt that controls the power steering had broken. Matt agreed to this and was advised to call the breakdown depot again the next day to confirm the details, luckily for us when he did they agreed to send somebody out the next day to fix it, which is just as well really as neither of us had a clue where the garage was and the vehicle was not safe to drive anyway. Our stress levels were racing now, it was about 8pm by this time and we hadn't had a drink, anything to eat or managed to get our stuff unpacked. It really had been a nightmare day!

We fell into bed after a few beers and good old beans on toast for our tea, we couldn't work out how to erect the bed so we had to sleep on the benches, both too dog tired to start messing about trying to work out how to put it up. After a good nights sleep we managed to find the boards for the bed, the guy turned up to fix the camper and we spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool, so all in all a much better day than Friday.

We are now in Sydney and plan on doing the whole tourist thing, Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Paddy Markets, China Town. You name it we plan to do it, today. Tomorrow we leave Sydney and as far as I know were heading to the Blue Mountains. We have planned a kind of route for the time that were here. We aren't doing the backpacker trail up the East Coast, I will update you as we go along.

So that's us..

It's lovely been in the sun after so much cold and rain, the Ozzie weather is superb, as was Fiji. The only thing here though is there are thousands upon thousands of flies, and they don't leave you alone, flying round your face and in your ears. We have a couple of rolled up newspapers in the van to swat them with. I think we should get some kind of score card going to see who can swat the most! There are also lots of mozzies and I'm covered in bites from Fiji, even Matt who doesn't normally get bitten has some bites. So they will be getting the rolled up newspaper treatment too. It gives us something to do while we're busy doing nothing ;o)