Current Mood: Tired

I’m not overly looking forward to Fiji, I don’t really know why, maybe because we have been living in a lap of luxury in the camper this past month, eating whenever we wanted, going wherever we pleased knowing that we have a place to eat, sleep and be merry even in the worst of conditions.

But we crunched, grinded and creaked the beloved campervan back (via a charity shop to dump the clothes that we would no longer need) to www.wildernessmotorhomes.co.nz and made our way to check in.  The flight was easy enough, we were all sitting together and no one was pushing us in the back which was an altogether more pleasant experience than previous attempts.

After landing in Nadi we were met by a Fijian rep who greeted us with a garland and a huge smile, the hostel was a 10 minute drive away, I wasn’t looking forward to this night as we were in an 8 bed dorm…  Luckily we were the only ones there – result!  I caught 40 winks while the girls read, then went downstairs for a meal which was lovely (and cheap, hurrah!).

We asked the crazy waiter to book us a taxi and we head off into town, unbeknownst to us there was a fiesta on and we couldn’t get anywhere near anything of value, be it a pub, bar, shop, restaurant, so we caught another taxi straight back to the hostel…  The room is stifling hot so sleeping was a nightmare, but I managed to get a little bit of sleep – next stop Robinson Crusoe Island!

Current Mood: Mischievous & Surprised

Next stop Rotorua, home of the stinky egg like thermal pools and pits of boiling mud.  We could tell we were approaching it as it smelt like Sarah hadn’t stopped farting for about 2 miles, the smell was over whelming and we didn’t know whether we were going to be able to hold out.  We’d had a lot of practice at smells, but nothing was as bad as this – not even Lucys pink sandals which was saying something ;).

We checked into our Top 10 Caravan park and set ourselves up for a few days, then it was time to check out what Rotorua had to offer.  Firstly Maui night, then some Thermal Spa and finally a bit of adrenaline – yep that was about right for us. The girl at reception was really helpful and give us some idea on which Maui night we wanted to go and see, so with that all booked and paid for we went and had a look around Rotorua, the first night was all ours to chill out and relax on so we setup camp and went for a wander into town.  Bit deserted that time of night – 8pm – se we head over to one of the pubs – now this was a cracking find.  We went in and ordered ourselves some food, I had Ribs, Lucy had steak, Em had ploughmans and Sarah had a salad.  It was all incredible and I could not get through all the ribs which tells you how many there were.  It was such a cool, chilled out evening where we all kept laughing and talking about what we had done so far.  Didn’t want it to end.

The next morning we all woke refreshed, but thought it needed taking to the next level so after brekkie we head to the Polynesian Spa which is a main attraction of Rotorua, pools heated to a certain temperature via the thermal heat of the earth.  Ranging in heat from 37 to 41 degrees – we made the choice to go straight in the hottest and like when you walk into the sea, the boys had to take care when lowering a part of their anatomy into the water.  Phew…  With them in the water I relaxed, laid back against the side of the pool and just chilled, everything we have been upto was rushing around my head and even though Oz wasn’t my fave place in the world, I did actually miss it – I actually felt quite sad…  So I told Sarah that the pool had healing properties, what does she do – dunk her face in the water – I was happy again.  Bless her heart!  We stayed in this pool for about 10 mins and thought we should get out of this one soon else we’ll look too fresh and people will ask us for id everywhere!

The other pools were just the same, but cooler.  We sat in these and watched a couple of Chinese ladies on their photoshoot, not an official one of course, they just had a compact but they wanted pictures taken of themselves everywhere in pretty much every pose going!  I struggled not to laugh at them – they looked bloody ridiculous!

That night was Maui night and we got changed and ready for the bus to come and pick us up.  It was slightly late but we got there before a lot of people and were sat on a table with a couple old people from Cali, a couple from Oz and 2 German kiddies.  We got ourselves some wine and awaitied the beginning of the show.

Emma and I went to see ’28 Weeks Later’ and the girls went to watch another flick (the name escapes me at the minute).  The movie was great (for me anyway) and we walked back to the Camper to chill for the evening and await our brush with the Maoris…

(to be continued.)

Current Mood: Esctatic

Jumping straight to Taupo, it was time for me to once again face my fear and hurl myself from a ‘really’ high ledge, but this time, with no safety ropes to stop me making a huge mess on the floor, just a piece of rather large cloth and a guy who knows what he is doing (hopefully!).

We were going to book the skydive for another day, but once we heard the weather was coming in the following day and it was going to be cloudy (and Cold) we jumped into the Motorhome and hot foot it to the aircraft hanger at Taupo Tandem Skydiving to get a jump in while the weather was good.  We signed in with a lady who weighed us and wrote our weight on our hands – you’re not allowed to be 100kg’s or over with all your clothes etc on!  Lucky I didn’t do it at the start of the trip. 

Lucy was going to do some horse riding while we were throwing ourselves out of a plane, so jumped in the Motorhome and sped off towards Taupo town centre.  We meanwhile had to sit and endure wave after wave of people going up in the plane.  Some came down elated, while others looked scared to death, I pictured myself as a scared to death… 

2 and a half hours we had to wait, our bellys rumbling and our heads telling us we’re bonkers.  Then we were called and it was time for suiting up, now I was fine until I read the warning on the back of the harness we have to put on, telling me that – this harness is not to be assumed to be safe, in fact think of it the exact opposite and then if you do die your family won’t have a leg to stand on should the worst happen – lovely!

We had to do a number of stupid things for the DVD that they take of you, mainly waving like a mad man, pulling a stupid face and then smiling from ear to ear like you’re not frightened at all!  Then with a quick helo, you meet your tandem master and its into the plane.  Lucy had just missed her horse riding, so had come back to join us at the skydive centre – so she took charge of the photos. 

The plane was absoloutely tiny inside and you could feel every single bump down the runway.  You’re that close to your instructors that you can feel them breathing down your neck (in a non perverse way!).  They were winding us up a treat – similar to the canyon swing, telling us our harnesses weren’t on correctly, that we were too heavy to jump with, that they hadn’t done this many jumps in a day – ever, that some of the holding clasps had broken.  I had heard it at the canyon swing, so although petrified, it wasn’t because of that.  Em was as cool as a cucumber and didn’t look fazed at all, in fact she answered back with a few quips of her own.  Scatt on the otherhand, I could see they were really getting to her, she was silent and looked so scared – I felt sorry for her. 

12,000 feet and we lose two of our passengers – door opens, a bit of go go go and they’re gone.  Once they leave the ledge of the plane you lose sight of them almost instantly, you drop like a stone!  F*CK!

3,000 feet later and we are at our target height – 15,000 feet!  First to the exit was Emma, she gave a quick smile at the camera and she was gone.  Holding her breathe for a good 10 seconds of the freefall.  She loved it though, her instructor was the joker of the bunch so really played it up.  Then it was Scatt’s time to go, they inched to the edge, he pushed her head round for the camera and then they were gone.  At the end of their jump, he said that noone had ever managed to scream from the exit of the plane, to the point they were on the ground before – Scatt was a first!  Made me laugh…  Then it was my turn, up until the point I was sitting on the ledge I was really quite scared, then it all just became good.  We said our goodbyes to the camera and then jumped.  The first couple of seconds I had no idea of my ups from my downs, it was just a big blur, then we levelled out and I had the biggest adrenaline rush of my life.  From that height you can see the East AND the West coast of New Zealand, plus my guy pointed out a load of other cool places – mount doom, Tongariro, Rotorua, loads to see! 

When we landed I wished I could do it again, I said thanks to my instructor and went into watch the DVD of us all.  It was brilliant fun and I hope to get the video on here soon to share it with everyone…  Anyone going travelling, I recommend this place for your skydive fun – amazing location, professional team and a brilliant experience.

Current Mood: Playful

So we leave Christchurch and begin our journey upto the north island.  We skip Hanmer Springs and head straight to Kaikoura where we have an appointment with the Whale Watch boat, the journey there was short but as we were on limited time we nailed it…  The Whale Watch headquarters was really nice and had plasma screens everywhere showing you short clips of the whales you expected to see.  First thing to do was brunch and we tucked into a Panini and a drink, thought about it sensibly when it was locked into our stomachs that it probably wasn’t a good idea, the weather plasma screen showed large sea swells!

The party bus pulled up outside the building and we all jumped aboard, we were being taken to the marina where we would board the boat but first had to sit through some more of the videos etc that had been produced for the whale watch company.  My suspicions of the company being extremely well off was further upped by the fact they had paid National Geographic to come and make a documentary on the canyon, showing what would happen if you took all the water out and what fish live down there.

 The boat was really well equipped and had plasma screens and computers aboard ready for them to show you the names of the whales we saw.  We were straight out to a reported sighting though, engines working overtime to get us there before she dove.  I don’t think I was really ready for how big they actually are, we pulled up alongside her in the boat and she was easily the length of it – around 16 – 18 metres in length and one of the biggest they see around.  My camera clicked like crazy when the tail came up out the water and with one sweep, she was gone – going down to the 1500metre depth that they often feed at!  Scary thought really when you are sitting in a large swell above this abyss…

Lucy and Sarah felt a little sea sick, but managed to stay just above the hurl threshold, someone on the boat didn’t though as the inside stunk all of a sudden and I was quite happy to take my chances standing on the outside of the boat as we flew towards the next sighting (not allowed to get up while the boat is in motion though – how sucky is that).  Everytime I saw these whales though, I was amazed, really gob smacked, thinking that the giant head you can see in the water in front of you is going to dive down under millions of tons of water just to catch a few fish – taking around 45 mins to get down there, have a swim around and get back, they can’t even see down there!  Crazy…

All in all though, I loved it, such an amazing experience and one I would definately suggest to people visiting the South island.  Next stop Picton and the crossing to the North Island.

Current Mood: Esctatic & Tired

We drove all the way to Christchurch and checked into the Top 10 Camp site to top up our electricity, batteries and just to get a decent shower.  Then the following day it was time to go to see some of Emmas relatives – Tony, Annette and Eloise.  Thier house is lovely, a single storey with large spacious rooms and really close to the beach.  After only being there for 6 months it’s quite incredible that they let us in, let alone stay with them!

It was a lovely treat though, sleeping in a real bed in a real home for the first time since the beginning of the trip.  We had lovely showers and really pampered ourselves.  That evening Annette cooked us a slap up meal with steak, potatos and veg – yum yum.  Then it was on with the garms and Tony took us to meet Eloise at the Belgium Bar she works in.  The bar was really nice and the beer was bloody lovely (although quite expensive!), had a few pints of Leffe, Hoegarden and a load of other Belgium Beer (apart from Stella).  Lucy got us drinking shots of Schnapps and Baileys which tastes better than it actually sounds.  Then it was onto a few bars (free to get into here!) some of which was Drum’n'Bass, not my fave type of music I must admit, but hey ho, it was a fun evening.

The next day I woke up tired but without a hangover.  We spent most of the day with Tony – he was showing us around Christchurch and the various sites it has to offer.  For a city it is actually really nice and with a 15 minute drive you can get to some really quiet and picturesque areas.  We went to the summit of the volcano and looked down at the city!

The highlight here for me was the Rugby, Emma and I went to watch the Crusaders take on the Chiefs.  Both teams needed a win, but the Chiefs moreso.  With Dan Carters being rested for the All Blacks we unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see him play, but with the upcoming Brett Stephens on the pitch, there was still a lot of All Black and upcoming talent to watch.  The match was hard fought, but the Chiefs seem to want it more.  Plenty of hard tackles and hits later the cheifs win the game 30/24…  Brilliant…

[zp]rugby[/zp]

Current Mood: Bored & Tired

We decided that we would drive up the west coast of the South Island to take in it’s ‘beauty’.  So we left the glaciers and headed up towards Hokitiki, where there is apparently some really nice sights – it’s know for its supply of Jade which is one of New Zealands exclusive stones (apparently).  Trouble is that the weather was terrible, peeing down with rain and making everything seem really dull and drab.  In fact, the only reason we stopped here was to grab some supplies from the ‘New World’ Supermarket.

We decided to move on and see what else the west coast has to offer, this turned out to be not alot in the weather we had been granted.  We had low cloud meaning that any drive up into the mountains was slow and cumbersome, navigating some of the bendy roads was hard work and the views were non-existent.  So we just cracked on…  The Gates of Haast was pretty impressive, with a huge waterfall pushing water over giant boulders.  But that was truly about it.

We were looking forward to Arthurs Pass National Park, for some incredible walks…  Again waking up we were greeted with some terrible weather - walks were off the menu for the time being.  So again, we just cracked on, Em in the Cab the whole time keeping me company.  We stopped briefly at the ‘Chalet’ where we grabbed a lovely hot chocolate before jumping back into the van and moving on.  Eventually, we got to Christchurch, a bit of a dissapointment after not seeing anything of the West Coast, nor the Arthurs Pass Track.

Current Mood: Tired & Cool

So after leaving Wanaka we start the long journey to the glaciers, arriving in the evening and finding a parking spot high up the Fox Glacier road.  Apparently had we parked here in 1780 we would of been inside the glacier, but luckily over the years its retreated. 

Sarah and Lucy were a little scared of the dark, so I had to follow them down to the outside loos about 15 feet into the forest to make sure they were okay, wasn’t expecting them to have a number two with the doors open though – what a lovely treat. 

We woke up in the morning to clear skies and made our way to the information centre.  We decided that we wanted to walk on the Franz Josef and not the Fox Glacier so made our stay at the Fox glacier all about the walking.  We parked up and trekked over the hills to the Terminal face of the ice.  It really is massive and the creaking that you can hear coming from the ice is spooky.  Taking pictures of it doesn’t show you how humungous it actually is, apparently a 1metre x 1metre block weighs approximately 1 tonne and here in front of us we have a mountains worth.

[zp]fox-glacier[/zp]

After a brisk hour and a half walk we still had the afternoon to burn to head off to a place called Lake Matheson, also known as Reflection Lake.  The walk was about 2hours in length and to begin with I didn’t think much of it, walking through forest for about 30-45 mins which really wasn’t all that interesting – then you get to a lookout and wow!  It isn’t called Reflection Lake for nothing, you can literally turn your pictures upside down and you have an image that is perfectly mirrored!  Beautiful and well worth the walk…  We finished the day with a Hot Choc and Spicy Wedges at the Lake Matheson Cafe before heading over to the Franz Josef Glacier.

Early morning and we had already booked ourselves a half day hike on the glacier, the weather was blue and we had all eaten our porridge (I get force fed by the girls, they hold my nose and everything!).  We went and signed in, recieving our Cramp-Ons (Spiky Ice Things), Leather Boots and New Zealand Wool Socks, then it was into the mini-bus for our ride to the Glacier.  Didn’t realise, but we had to walk 45 mins just to get to the face but it was quite scenic walking through the undergrowth.  Then it was on with the spiky Cramp Ons, which had us in stitches as Sarah put them on the wrong feet, even though we had all been shown how to put them on (The one with the big ‘L’ goes on your left foot and the one with the big ‘R’ goes on the right!), trust Sarah to mix that up!

[zp]franz-josef[/zp]

The walk was done up carved steps in the ice, every guide that goes up has to maintain them bringing out thier pick axes and swinging away.  Even walking behind the guide you can see the steps slowly crumbling and melting away!  Scary really as it’s our only way back down.  The walk was surreal and it felt like we were on another planet.  The ice reaching high into the sky around us.  When we reached the highest point we could get to on the half day hike you look around and all around you are these random shapes, little ice windows and a stunning blue tone to bits of the ice caused by refraction.  Simply out of this world.  The walk back down was actually harder as the steps were virtually non existent, as we were walking away we heard a massive creak, then a crack and we saw a huge chunk of ice fall into an ice tunnel, no one is allowed near it so all of us were safe, but to see it fall and hear the bang was crazy, sounded like a helicopter had crashed!!!  Didn’t think I was going to enjoy the hike as much as I did, but even Lucy thought it was one of the best day excursions we have done!  Wahoooo….

Current Mood: Happy & Tired

Seems like we got to Wanaka at the right time as the Festival of Colour was going on.  The stilt walkers, street entertainers and the dreaded living statue were all around to greet us and give us a bit of a show.  The stilt walkers dealt with the little children (probably because they are too high off the ground for the kids to grab for them!) while the New Zealand Army marching band were around for the adults.

With the van all parked and locked up the first thing for us to do was seek out a hot chocolate, I had only been driving for a couple of hours but was already plumb tuckered and in need of refreshment.  We found a quaint cafe and sat down to warm the cockles, next moment we hear the beat of a drum and the New Zealand Army band is busy marching down the street, keeping traffic at a standstill with the parade of spectators eagerly following them down the road.  Not to be the one to miss out I ran over and started snapping away with the ol’ camera.  They were a really good band as well and played some quality tracks! 

[zp]wanaka[/zp]

After polishing off the hot choc and the girls some grub we wandered down the street, using a flash restaurants facilities so as to not fill up the van and then heading down the road to the dreaded ‘Living Statue’ (if you have seen Hot Fuzz, then you’ll know what I mean).  He just stood around looking still while the local kids had great fun prodding him with sticks and crawling inbetween his feet, not sure how he managed to stay calm, if I were him I’d of ended up twatting one of the little buggers round the head with the cane I was holding, but he held his composure well (suppose you would have to if your career was just standing still!). 

All filled up and ready to go we jumped back in the Motorhome and headed off (at first in completely the wrong direction) to our next destination, the Fox Glacier. 

Current Mood: Tired

… nothing actually!  But this is the place where everyone goes when they come to New Zealand, apparently it is the most viewed place by tourists.  We drove there after stopping off at Te Anau where we had the fun of going on a 2.5 hour walk.  So slightly knackered already we set off for Milford Sounds in the dark!

The drive there was a bit worrying as the motorhome doesn’t take corners well at the best of times and here we are, going up mountains with no barriers at the side in the pouring rain and no prior warning of a corner approaching apart from the line dead in front of the truck veering off to one side.  The girls were a little freaked out by the Homer Tunnell which is just a hole from one side of the mountain through to the other, water pours through holes in the roof and runs the length of the tunnell, it’s eerie and a bit weird.  Still we made it in one piece which is a bonus.

We parked overnight in a carpark which when we woke, saw big signs saying – no camping.  Oh well, no one had flagged us up on it, but we did have “KNOBS” written in the dirt of our rear windscreen and a nice large picture just incase we didn’t know what one was.  Bit of toilet paper and that was soon off!

We caught our cruise from the dock and sailed out onto the Fiord.  Bloody freezing the moment we started to move we all cursed the fact we didn’t bring an arctic jacket.  Still we toughed it out and stood out on deck as we sailed through the amazing peaks, Mitre peak is lovely and although we couldn’t see the top, we could appreciate how large it is.  We saw a number of baby New Zealand fur seals and also got to sail underneath a waterfall which was friggin excellent (although froze us all!).  Scatt had seen enough after the first mountain and was in getting herself a cuppa quite quickly.

Back on shore we sorted ourselves out with some brekkie before heading back up the scary track towards Queenstown, it was a long drive back both Em and Lucy next to me, keeping me company (and awake) with various games.  Scatt in the back, catching flys!

Looking forward to another night in Queenstown… 

Current Mood: Esctatic

I’m standing on a ledge looking down, trying desperately hard to get the two guys who are next to me voices out of my head…  They are telling me that my “harness isn’t on correctly” and that my “connection carabiner doesn’t look too good, but what the heck go anyway!” or that my “Harness is worn and will be replaced after my jump!”.  All the time adding more scares to your jump…

The blokes up here ‘helping’ you, are like bloody executioners at the gallows, they stand there and gloat about how they are safe but we (being me!) are going to crash and burn…  Why oh why did I pay these guys to help me jump off a ledge towards a canyon floor a few hundred feet below!

It was really great seeing the river running wild below me, but looking down was a mistake that turned my legs to jelly.

I’m wrapped in terror, so I can only pretend to laugh at the two blokes humor.  I watched the first guy take a screaming backwards jump into a 60 metre freefall and then a 200 metre arc (that still feels like you are falling) through the canyon.

It’s basically a bungy jump with the added thrill of a big swing at the bottom to add a big “Wheee!” to relieve the “Aieee!” experienced in the freefall, no quick snap back, no dislodged retinas, just a huge adrenaline rush that puts the bodies natural levels through the roof. 

“Just step up and stand with your toes on the edge and jump back” the bloke says again.

Totally confident that the cable holding me will keep me from splatting upon impact with the rocks below, I wanted to come out here on this ledge, look into the camera with a stern and somewhat bored face, turn and just jump off.  I didn’t want to conquer my fear, I wanted to take the piss out of it!

But all my life, they tell you not to jump off high places, so I’m stuck here like my feet have been nailed into the floor and I can’t pull them up no matter what I do!

“The longer you wait, the harder it’s going to get.”  Somehow, this time the message gets through and I know he’s right.  I take a giant jump back!  AARRGGHHHHHHHHHHH

The fall was unbelievably cool and I gently go into the arc,  the scenary around me is now coming back from warp speed and at last I can take it all it…  I say a few obscenities and then I’m back to the platform!  Another go, er, yes please!

This time I do an Elvis Cutaway and I’m suspended on my back once again above the canyon, looking back over my shoulder I can see the cliff and part of the canyon floor.  Whoosh, there it is again, but this time a lot, lot closer!  I love this feeling but will I do a third, erm, no thanks, I’m all adrenalined out for the day!  Cheers to the guys for an awesome time, and yes, you really did shit me up!!!

Current Mood: Esctatic & Cool

There is so much to say about what we have done in Queenstown, but for now I’ll leave you with a video of Em Paragliding, both she and Lucy did it and we were all really chuffed… And I’ve added a link to what I am doing tomorrow! Feel free to leave comments of good luck!!!

Here’s the link Oh, my god!!!

Current Mood: Happy

…so that’s just what I’ll do! So we arrive in Mt. Cook at night and park in some random hotel car park, eager to put our heads down for the night. We had dodged many rabbits on the way in and the concentration took it’s toll. Parked up, on a slight slope as that was all there was left, bit weird to sleep at an angle but we were all asleep within 45 mins!

The following morning and we awake to the Mountain ranges towering over the top of us, in the distance in Mt.Cook, the highest mountain within New Zealand and something that once again made us all go ‘WOW’… Today, we planned on doing a walk but spent most of the day just chilling out, on the internet and eating brekkie. Come the afternoon and we all decide that we should go for a walk, so after visiting the Tourist Information and purchasing a walk map ($1), using their loos (saves us from filling ours) and looking over all their books we decide on the ‘Hooker Valley’ walk.

We drive down to the start and all don our walking gear. We have found out that you don’t need to wear thermals during the day, after having to strip ours off during the walk in Lake Tekapo, so wearing regular garms we start off. The trouble with us though is that we all love taking our photos so you can imagine how far we get before stopping to take a quick snap! A 2 hour walk takes us about 4 hours in total so I was expecting to come home in darkness. The walk was actually really good fun and each 15 mins you reach a new highlight – it starts with a walk over a swing bridge with a fast flowing river underneath, then to a vista of an ice filled lake, then another swing bridge under a sheer cliff face and then a final unspoilt view of Mt.Cook! Only trouble then is that you have the whole walk to do again, this time in reverse!

When we got back we cooked ourselves some grub, parked the van back at the Hotel and through duvets onto our bed at the back, then we jumped in and put on ‘Casino Royale’. Brilliant end to a brilliant day.

The next day we were moving to Queenstown so once again everything was cleared, Lucy and Em joined me in the cab and we set off. First corner we take – BANG! The drawer of cutlery falls out, Scatt hadn’t closed it properly after grabbing the controllers for the TV, 4 broken glasses, 2 broken mugs all cleared up later and we were off… Queenstown, here we come!!!

Current Mood: Esctatic

So here we are on the next leg of our trip, New Zealand…  We had a pleasant flight after arriving at 5:20am into Sydney Airport, beating all the queues and getting bulk head seats.  Better than Emergency Exit as you haven’t got to go through all the escape procedure blurb with the Cabin Crew.  When we got to New Zealand we met a guy called John who showed us to our Motorhome.

The motorhome is wicked and we have had great fun in it already, cruisin the long straights and the picturesque highways.  The girls have got the bed in the front of the MH above the cab while Em and I have the Queen size bed at the back of the motorhome, far far away from Scatt’s snoring.

Our first day here we met up with Rogers (Em’s Dads) Cousin Tony in Christchurch and although he was going to show us around the sights, he ended up tramping around all the shops in Christchurch with us to get Thermals and other warm garms.  Bless him!!  So all knitted up we jumped back in our Motorhome and headed towards Lake Tekapo.  By the time we arrived it was pitch black, so finding a spot to plonk the van was more difficult than I had first expected.  Still we found a spot near the ‘Church of the Good Shepard’ and set ourselves up for the night.  We had Beef Stroganof for tea cooked to perfection by myself and Lucy, for our evenings entertainment we had ‘Casino Royale’ to put on, so watched the Girls of Bond featurette and then hit the sack.

At 8am in the morning I woke and looked out the window by my bed, the view really did take my breathe away.  Although I was knackered I chucked on my Polyprop thermal top and grabbed my camera.  Standing to the side of the Church the view over Lake Tekapo was amazing, the water was turquiose and reflected the surrounding mountains perfectly.  I sat, chilled and took photos with the vista in front of me before heading back to bed until the girls woke at 11am.

[zp]lake-tekapo[/zp]

The day was filled with one giant walk, we started at Lake Tekapo and headed up to the summit of Mt. John.  Lucy found the uphill section a little tiring, but with some solid perserverance and determination made it to the top and we all looked down on the world around us, one word – beautiful!

We sat at the summit at the observatory cafe and enjoyed a coffee/orange juice while enjoying the views and chatting between ourselves.  The journey down and back was far easier and we got back to the motorhome just as the sun was dipping out of site.

While Lucy and Sarah used the internet, Em and I emptied the toilet box :(.  Bloody hell is it the most disgusting job in the world.  It’s quite advanced, but even so, I was gaggin’!!!  With that job out the way we were free to once again poop and pee in relative ease – and I most definately will as it is Scatt and Lucys turn to empty it next time ;).

That night we drove to Mt.Cook.  Lucy keeping me company in the cab while Em and Scatt chat in the back.  A pleasant journey with a lot of rabbit dodging and we got to Mt.Cook where we parked the camper van for the night! 

Current Mood: Cool & Tired

We’ve spent the last 5 days in beaten up Toyota Landcruisers which we’ve had to push up hills, being stopped by the Cops, driving without lights in pitch black, in a 15 Bed room with 6 other people who all drink, stay up late and snore heavily, the food has been okay at the best of times, the plates and cutlery were all greasy and dirty, the traveler helpers were stoopid, did I mention pushing landcruisers up hills!!! Yet after all that I have one hell of a good time… 2 words – SURF CAMP!

We boarded the bus in Lennox Head and the other 6 were already aboard – we had a great group that consisted of 2 Belgiums – Pino and Manu, 2 Americans – Mike and Ben, 1 Canadian – Ashley and a crazy Icelandic chick called Caitlyn. We’re then introduced to our instructor, a dude called Moondog aka Michael Lavens and he became the girls eye candy on the trip being an ex-model (coming forth in Series 3 of ‘Search for a Supermodel’ in Australia). Everyone got chatting straight away and the bus journey passed in the blink of an eye.

Our driver, Steve-O began to prepare us lunch while we hit the beach for our first lesson from Moondog. Obviously our first lesson was standing up and we were in the water within 15 minutes – all of us managed to stand up pretty much straight away, but only in the white water. Ben and Mike went out back as they are already surfers looking to touch up on their skills.

We shot back to the bus and had a bite to eat followed by Moony’s customary siesta – a one hour period of sleep to let the food go down in between surf sessions, his philosophy being ‘chillin’. The only period of time he knew was an hour and a half, so when asked how long the journey to the next beach/camp/shop is he would always reply an hour and a half (usually between 5 – 45 mins in real person time!).

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The next lesson Moondog taught us about rips – how to use them to our advantage, The Back – where we need to catch waves, The Impact Zone – where we really don’t want to be and The White Water – the left overs from the waves. We just chilled in the water learning to pop to our feet, how to paddle properly and generally just playing in the white water. Really good fun and we all drove to our accommodation for the night (Wey Wey Lodge) totally and utterly ‘stoked’. I got to share the ‘girls room’ while the blokes all festered in each others farts ;).

The following day we caught the big blue bus to the next beach, which was ideal for beginners like most of us. The waves were only around 3 foot, didn’t close out too soon and the swell was gradual, the whole day I spent trying to catch waves from the back with Pino and Manu – but spending most of the time under the water and being washed around the beach, still a bit of perseverance and I caught my first wave from the back – a super cool feeling. My arms were killing me and by the end of the day when Moondog came out to surf with us I could hardly lift them – time for me to go in and watch Moondog rip it up on a foam Mal, he made it look so easy and even through in a few tricks like ‘Shove Its’ and a few aerials (on a Longboard :)).

We made our way to the Surf Camp accommodation with Jackass 2 playing on the bus DVD player, stopping only to pick up pizza and a few beers for the evening. Our accommodation slept 15, but with only 9 of us it gave everyone a bit more room. A good thing considering the volume at which Mike snored! The evening passed with us in the food hall chatting, having a laugh with a few beers.

The following day we said goodbye to Steveo our bus driver as he had to go back to pick up another group. We didn’t know at the time that he also took with him his culinary skills, he was a good cook and the food we got with him was edible and really tasty. We all jumped in the Toyota Landcruiser and like sardines headed towards the next beach, the TL was making some really funny noises and the oil light came on so Moondog pulled in at the garage and bought some to put in. We made it to the beach and had a wicked day of chilling and a bit of surfing, more lessons and another siesta.

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When we boarded the TL again, the engine took a while to start but eventually kicked into life. Trouble being we didn’t have Caitlyn, so drove to the shower block to pick her up! The vehicle didn’t have a handbrake so when we stopped the car to let her in the back Moondog put it in gear and turned off the ignition. Bad friggin’ move! With Caitlyn now loaded into the back he tried the key, nothing, again, nothing… Shit!

Everyone piled out the car and we tried to give it a push start, Lucy was in the hot seat, but after we had pushed for what seemed like miles it turned out that she didn’t know how to jump it :(. So I jumped in (thank god!) and the boys pushed me down a hill, it coughed, spluttered, the wheels locked on the loose gravel and that was it! No luck… Shit!

There were a couple of helpful Oz guys who brought over their jump leads, but with the corrosion under the bonnet they couldn’t get a decent connection on the terminal. No luck, so we had to resort once again to jumping the thing. Boys to the back and we had to push it right to the top of this hill… Shit!

The guy in the hotseat (one of the Oz helper guys!) got a real good push, waited until he had picked up a lot of speed and tried again. Nothing but locked up wheels! Resigned to the fact that we were either sleeping out under the stars with the native creatures and mosquitos or walking back to Surf camp – an hour and a half by car away (according to Moondog!) we dropped our heads and prepared for the worse. Some other Oz dude in one of the big engined utes came past and offered his assistance, he connected the cable to the front of the Land Cruiser and the other to the back of his truck. Moondog jumped in the drivers seat and without warning the guy in the ute set off at some serious pace, fast enough for the door at the back of the Landcruiser to fly open! :P

About 5 mins later moondog is driving down the road unassisted, the only trouble now being that the lights and electrics are playing up. So loaded back into the truck Moondog drove at snails pace back to the camp, using the car behinds lights to find his way. The only real trouble being when we have to drive down the surf camp track – about 5 normal driving minutes – with no light at all. Pino to the rescue using the flashlight built into his mobile phone we make our way down the track to the safety of our camp and chalet.

That night we celebrated our safe return and Moondogs superb driving with a few beers as you can see from the pictures everyone had good fun.

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The following day we had a little lay in due to the beers that were consumed the night before. Then Moondog came to get us and let us know that he had changed Landcruisers for us, it was still battered to bits, but it start which is always a bonus. We head out for another days surfing, only to be stopped by two coppers on the way because the registration (tax) disc of the car was outta date. What do we do wrong to deserve all this!!!

The day was spent mostly chilling on the beach, chatting, sumo wrestling and listening to Moondogs tales of Surf Camp, modeling and his life in general. We even drew him a catwalk to walk down, he obliged by showing us his impression of a velociraptor, very funny. Siesta stretched on for a while longer and we had lunch down on the beach with a makeshift table (Longboard!).

That evening we partied and partied and partied. Winning our game of ‘Flip Cup’ with ease (like a more sophisticated boat race)!!! It was a hard going, but excellent trip that I would recommend to anyone. As you can tell by the length of this blog and the amount of pictures… A good time was had by all!

Current Mood: Happy & Tired

Darwin, the Northen Territory’s capital – home to some 63,000 people and they even have a couple of high-rise buildings. Yep, we’re back in civilisation, after venturing around towns with 120 people in them for a while it was quite nice to see roads with cars on, people dressed for office work and supermarkets bigger than your local corner shop!

Feeling right as rain we managed to do a bit of exploring, seeing the sights of Darwin and working out where a decent bar was. A month or so of no social interaction, we needed to go out for a couple of drinks one night with the guys we’ve met. What a result, down our stretch of road are a few really nice bars – outside, under terrace with lovely seating and a nice atmosphere! We spent a good couple of nights here chilling out with another stubbie and decent company…

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Our highlight of Darwin is the Litchfield tour though, it was absoloutely amazing. We were picked up at 7am by our tour-guide and taken straight to the Adelaide River where we got to handle a blah blah something Python, he was really cute looking and felt like a rubber toy – I won’t look at snakes being all slimy and horrible again, I actually heard myself telling Em that this snake was cute! I’ve been away from my dog too long! ;)

We boarded a double decker river boat and got to the top deck and a decent spot. Here we got to see crocs jumping from the water using their tails, trying to get to some meat that was being hung over the side by a giant rod. The little ones 3-4 metres in length could propel themselves right out the water, the big boys struggled to get their top halves out but were equally impressive. I would not fancy my chances in the river with these things!

Moving on we got to see some giant Termite Mounds which stretched about 5 metres into the air, then Wangi Falls – where we couldn’t swim because of the crocs in the water. Really nice waterfall though due to the torrential rain and the wet season…

We did get to swim in Florence Falls though where the water is apparently so clean you can drink it straight out the pool. Such a nice treat relaxing in this pool!!! But we moved onto Buley Falls where we relaxed in a series of cascading pools, I’ll put the photos up soon as that’s the only way I can really describe it.

On the way home we went to the Aboriginal Art Gallery where we got to handle a Blue Tongued Lizard and a baby python. Then have a go on the old Didgereedoo, brilliant…

Now we’re flying back to Brisbane where we will pick up our Surf Camp all the way down to Sydney. Wahooo…

Current Mood: Sickly & Tired

So we’ve got to Broome, Lucy with an ear infection and me with some sort of bug which really wasn’t a good start! Also, coming into Broome at the tail end of a cyclone meant that the rain was torrential and made the days really humid. We checked into the Kimberley Klub and got to our room, not a bad size but it looked like a map of the world on the ceiling from all the mould that had formed.

I slept the whole of the first day, not in very good form. The girls went and explored around us, coming back to report that ‘Hot Fuzz’ was on in the local cinema and that there were two small shopping centres near us. About 6pm I managed to get up and even get my ass to the cinema, didn’t feel too great, but the thought of seeing Simon Pegg and Nick Frost lifted my spirits – it really is a bloody good movie and made me laugh loads, not good when I had to get up to go and be sick, but I don’t think I missed a major part of the plot ;).

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We returned back to the room and I jumped straight back into bed, Em sat with me while Lucy went out and saw some of the others we met in Exmouth. With my high temperature I was dreaming quite a lot and then when I woke up didn’t know where I was, even having mild hallucinations which scared me a little – like a good little nurse though, Em looked after me and the next morning I felt a lot better.

We jumped in the Hyundai Tucson and headed to Cable Beach, it was not the nicest weather but if you go to Broome then you’d be stupid not to see it! It really is a spectacular beach and I reckon if the weather had been nice, our whole time in Broome would be here! Still, it wasn’t, so we buggered off back to the shopping mall where we stopped to pick up some medicine from the Pharmacy. Yum yum…

Our hostel is quite central and they don’t check anyone who comes in and goes out, quite good for us as Marco and Lea came and joined us for a couple of evenings – enjoying a nice ‘Cold’ stubbie before going to watch ‘Old Hogs’ at the cinema. Then returning back to have a few more stubbies. Rich, Vic, Simon, Sarah, Mel and John were also at the hostel so we joined them in the pool where we just chilled out and relaxed.

Not that much to do in Broome during the weather we had, but good fun was had and it became a very relaxing place to plonk our bums for the 5 days. It also had the best internet place, I managed to get in an hours gaming during one particularly wet day! What a geek!!!

Wow, we’re missing all the birthdays being over here during this period of the year – but we just want to wish Sarah Harvey a very Happy 28th Birthday. We miss you mate and can’t wait to celebrate (belatedly) when we get back! Enjoy your day and we’ll hopefully speak to you soon… HAPPY BURPDAY :D

Current Mood: Tired & Sickly

Up early and loaded into the trusty Hyundai Tucson we got ready to drive to Karratha, our first nights stop. But before we actually left Exmouth we visited the supermarket to pick up some supplies! I wait in the car to keep the a/c on while the girls went in, all of a sudden Em comes running out telling me to lock the car and go with her. As any man knows, you don’t argue with a woman when she’s like that so I obliged. All of a sudden I see a lady holding a Joey (Baby Kangaroo) in her arms like a baby, his name is ‘Midnight’ as that is the time he was rescued from his dead mums pouch. She had been hit by a car! We all took it in turns to hold him, getting our pictures taken and finding out about what happens to him now – shame he’ll end up as a burger… Only joking, he’ll be released back into the outback when he is 1 year old if he seems able to fend for himself.

After we left the supermarket we said goodbye to Scatt as she was flying back to Perth and then onto Brisbane to see her boyfriend Dougal. Then it was on the road – our first stop was due to be Karratha, which was about 3-4 hours away. We kept ourselves amused playing the ‘Name Game’, ’80s Tunes’, ’80s Cartoons’ and a load of other random rubbish. When we arrived at Karratha we had a quick stop at the Supermarket to get some water, it was still early so the decision was to continue to Port Hedland – about another 3/4 hours up the road. Easing our bellies with a Fillet from Maccy D’s we continued on, more games and more larking about later we arrived at Port Hedland, it was dark (about 8:30pm) and we were going to try and find somewhere to sleep for the night. Our trouble was that there was NO space at all!

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Back on the road again thanks to a late opening petrol station we carried on driving, hoping to get as near to Broome as possible. That night we kipped in the car having driven for around 16 hours! We woke in the morning and sat waiting by the petrol pump for the store to open… Once again caught out by the time difference, we were waiting for about an hour as the clocks had gone back! Wonderful…

Refuelled and back on the road we carried on driving, but after we had driven about 10 mins I had to pull over – I had stomach cramps, headache and a high temperature. Em took over and I tried to get some sleep! I woke up about 90kms from Broome and felt really ill, I kept my gob shut and my head down for about 70kms but then had to get Em to pull over where I was very sick :(. I felt terrible and luckily Em and Luce got us to the YHA and checked us in while I went to Lay down! We were in Broome and I couldn’t move very well, liquid coming out of both ends.

The girls explored, while I just lay there feeling sorry for myself :(

Current Mood: Esctatic & Tired

Thank goodness for a short drive, only an hour and a half from Coral Bay to Exmouth so we were there bright and early at 10am – checked into the hostel side of the Potshot hotel and into our room by 10:30, first thing to do – Sleep! The room is nice and compact and we have a huge a/c unit, so when we woke up we realised that setting it at COLD setting wasn’t too great an idea – you’ve seen the scene in Dumb and Dumber where Harry and Lloyd go all the way to the ski resort on the scooter, well that’s how we felt!

Most of the first day was spent catching up on the website, sorting through the millions of photos I have taken and then burning a DJ’s worth of CD’s and DVD’s… When we got back to the hostel we flopped back on the bed and watched some TV, something we have missed from the UK – Lost, Prison Break, Bones, 24 and Crossing Jordan (Em also delved into the realms of Neighbours and Home and Away). Then ‘Knock, Knock’ on the door and we open it to find Lucy standing there, they’re in the room next to us! Freaky…

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The following day Em and I head to the Northern point of Exmouth to see some of the beaches and various sites that there is to offer. The first stop Bendigo Beach where the water is flat, calm, see through and there is a Jetty without a barrier – perfect for some high flying action. We only stay here for 15 mins as there is a wealth of beaches to see…

The next stop on our Whistle stop tour of this part of Oz is the SS Mildura, a Cattle ship that collided with rocks on the 10th March 1907. Every person lived but all 481 cows and bullocks on board were left to drown :(.

While we were here we saw what we initially thought was a lizard, then out of the shrubbery shot a little mouse, we thought we were suffering with a bit of the ol’ Fisherman Syndrome (everything is bigger than in your mind than in reality), but the next minute a long thin brown snake shot out the shrubbery in hot pursuit. It was like Tom and Jerry on the beach, the Mouse would gain a bit of space then the snake would catch up and grab hold of the mouse – who would retaliate with a kick to the head and a bite of its own back until the snake let go, chase resumed and away they went again. I’ll tell you what snakes can seriously move quickly!! After about 30 seconds and about 4 rounds of Mouse vs Snake, the mouse did the unthinkable and ran towards the surf (Crazy fool!), the waves were only 30-50cm’s high but to a mouse that’s like a tidal wave! Even the snake thought he was crazy as he stopped dead in his tracks, coiled up and craned his head to see what was happening.

The mouse was engulfed in a wave and we thought how brave the poor sod had been. Resigned to the fact that the mouse was to join the cows in their watery grave we started taking pictures of the snake again – then as if by miracle a little up the beach we saw a little thing get washed ashore in the next big wave, Mighty mouse! Wet, bedraggled, tired, limping, yet alive, he hopped back up the beach to safety – the snake still looking out to sea… Victory for the mouse – wahoooooo…..

Time for Em and I to run as the Snake slithered back up the beach and past us, thoroughly pissed off I’d imagine!

Quite buzzed from our close encounter with nature we visited every beach down the coast hoping to see something else as cool. Nothing quite the same cropped up, but there were a mixture of washed up Jellyfish, some round, some square, some a mass of tentacles and others just a big mashed up, bird pecked mess! Em collected up some shells while she was beach combing and we both looked for the hatchling turtles that were said to be around.

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The following day was Lucys Birthday (and Clare Coopers back home!), I had sneaked out after she had gone to bed the previous night and stuck a ‘Happy Birthday’ banner up on her door with a couple of balloons, then Em and I went into the Kitchen and bench area in the morning to decorate it for her arrival which Scatt was looking after. With it all prepared we sat and waited, Rich, Vic, Sarah and Simon joined us and we waited some more – next moment, Scatt pops her head around the side of the wall “Oh shit!”, she shouts, realising that they were late – off she runs again to get dressed and more importantly, get Lucy.

“Surprise!”… Luce was a little overwhelmed and quite chuffed which was cool, I began cooking pancakes for everyone but with them taking some time I employed the culinary skills of Rich who joined me at the pans to dish out a mixture of perfect crepes, fluffy pancakes and the odd lump of slosh! We spent the day at Bendigo beach with Marco and Leaz joining us – most of the time here spent throwing ourselves off the jetty! That evening we all got dressed up and went to the hotel restaurant for a lovely meal and then to the disco where a few MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice moves were bust before we called it a night! A cool time has been had in Exmouth!!!

Current Mood: Playful

Just a quick blog to wish Clare Cooper and Lucy Evans both very Happy Birthdays.  Lucy is being spoilt rotten out here in Oz, I hope you guys back home are spoiling Clare!

Current Mood: Cool & Tired

Both Em and I had really wanted to dive the Navy pier in Exmouth, in fact that was one of the only reasons we had come here – trouble was, the pier has been shut down! The reason is not really known, so we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would probably have to resign ourselves to a lesser dive. Em booked us two reef dives and we waited outside the office at 7.30am for them to open up and to get our equipment.

We climbed aboard the bus and were advised that there were only 8 people diving today, bonus considering they usually have 20 dives! When we got to the harbour we saw the boat and it looked massive, climbing aboard we saw how big it really was – you could easily fit 40 people without anyone complaining, a fully equipped kitchen, bath/shower room, large carpeted deck with seating and places for all your equipment, lounge area and the Captains cockpit which contained more computer consoles and screens than my old office.

The skipper came out and advised everyone the rules of the ship and the diving – “Don’t flush the toilet at the dive site, we want you to all log your dives, not dive your logs!” was a typical line and I missed most of the others because of laughing. We got kitted up and ready for our first dive ‘Blizzard Ridge’, the reason it was called this was the current and when you jump in you are being pulled straight away, we were finning hard to stay in the same place so descend down to the ocean floor to escape. The current on the sea bed was virtually non-existent and the life was amazing – loads of big fish like Potato Cods, Lagoon Rays, Bat Fish etc, but zillions of the little ones like nudibranch, anemone fish etc that really made the dive. Everywhere you looked there were fish, making for one of the most interesting dives I have ever had.

The next dive was at a place called ‘Labyrinth’, which was because the reef down on the floor created like a maze which you could swim around and get lost in (coming up a bit if you wanted to see where you were again!). Around every little corner were different fish and then when we turned one corner, we saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Sea Turtle just sitting on the coral itching his belly. He wasn’t interested in us in the slightest and we hovered near him taking photos and watching him chomp rock for ages. He wasn’t even afraid to be touched and his shell and skin felt really soft? Strange!

Leaving him to his own devices we went a little further around the maze, coming face to face with two white tip reef sharks, neither of which were fazed by us and came right up close – really nice as usually they bomb off as soon as they see you.

On the surface everyone was on a high and chat about what they saw all the way home, it also now becoming common for people to have underwater cameras so we were all looking at what each other took. Great day, great dives…

Current Mood: Happy & Tired

After our slightly disappointing stay in Denham we moved onto Coral Bay, we weren’t holding out much hope as our stay in the more populated Denham was a bit boring – so we prepared ourselves for the worst.  We needn’t have though, the cabin we had booked was nice with a separate bedroom area and lounge/kitchen with a table – wahooo, modern amenities hey, how we miss them!

After checking in, we had a brief exploration.  5 mins later we had visited the whole of Coral Bay and had decided on the best spot.  We went to the office and after handing over a total of $5 we walked away with snorkeling equipment for the day, we walked for 5 mins around the southern peninsula of the bay and swam over the boating lane, into the deeper part of water.  The fish life was great and we spent over an hour swimming around taking snap shots and getting a tan on our backs.  Knackered and needing a bit of shade we hit the beach and had a little nap.  This is the life…

We ran into the girls in the evening, they had been there a few days longer than us and in the tradition of Scatt had spent everyday on the beach topping up their tans.  We said we’d meet them the day after and hit the sack – tired and happy.

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The next morning we met up with Marco and Leaz, the guys we had met at the Sea-Lions tour back in Green Head.  They are a nice couple and good company.  While Em, Lucy and Sarah had a sunbathe, Marco, Leaz and I swam up to the Shark nursery where the Black Tip Reef Sharks leave their pups to get bigger before they go out into the blue.  We only managed to see a few though, one of them a mum as it was a lot bigger than the pups!  With our Sun cream struggling to keep the sun from burning our backs we head back to base.

Marco and Leaz joined us for Sunset and finished up by cooking us the best Spag Carbonarra I think I have ever eaten.  We laughed and chatted into the night, the drive to Exmouth is only an hour and half so we didn’t have to worry.

Current Mood: Bored

So after our trip around Kalbarri and all of our various adventures we had there, we have spent the last few days just chilling around the pool and reading our books. Denham is a nice place, but really small and has one supermarket where they sell everything for living, an internet place in the Telecentre that costs a small fortune for you to even log on and a surf shop that sells t-shirts/shirts that look like they have been made by someone with one arm.

We have been making the most out of the room and the pool, the room itself is quite large but we have a slight problem with mould on the ceiling – not a problem if you don’t look up ;). We have a kitchen inside with all the necessary equipment to cook up a storm – Em’s Mushroom Sauce on chicken breat with Veg… Yum yum… God, I really am scraping the bottom of the barrel on things to put down for Denham. Next I’ll be telling you about the choice of pants I put on each morning or something!

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So after 3 fun-filled and extraordinary days in Denham, we checked out and headed towards Coral Bay – stopping briefly at Monkey Mia to see the Dolphins. Em got picked by some German Girl who must of been helping out there to go and feed the dolphin, she only just put the fish in the water when the girl was already saying “Okay, you can go back now”, some Dolphin encounter that was…

Onto bigger and better things now – Coral Bay with a population of 120 people – uh oh…

Current Mood: Cool & Tired

So we reach Kalbarri and check into the nicest room we have stayed in so far. It’s like something out of a caribbean resort hotel, with a massive amount of room, lovely bathroom, big double bed with a spare just in case one of us kicks the other one out, kitchen area, TV, bedside lamps and the greatest invention ever – air conditioning. We feel a bit pampered so decide to spend the first day just chilling in the room with a bit of ‘Heroes’, ‘LOST’, ‘Bones’, and ‘Brothers and Sisters’ (Em also watched ‘Home and Away’ and ‘Neighbours’, but they don’t count).

The next day we went to ‘Natures Window’ a rock formation that is supposed to look like a window over ‘Mirchison River’, but didn’t resemble one at all apart from you can see through the gap. It was our attempt at keeping fit, with the walk there and back being 1km, we were going to do the full 8km circuit, but with the temp being around 50 degrees because of the heat given off by the rocks, we decided to call it a day and wander back – I would definitely not like to leave this world from heat and lack of water.

Getting back to town we went straight to the cafe where I went online to mail the folks and while on the internet, I got an email from Div telling us about their Snowboarding holiday – I must admit to being hugely jealous, the only thing I think I would enjoy more than this trip is to do a season on snow…

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That evening we booked Abseiling for the following day, we had tried already but the first day we tried it was already full. So 7am in the morning we were up and out the front of our hostel when the big Abseiling bus pulled up and Robbie and Carl got out to say hello. It was just us on the trip which was a surprise as they had been fully booked for the last couple of days. We went to the wall in Mirchson River Gorge and Carl gave us a demonstration of how to get down backwards, Em said she would go first, so after being strapped in and donning the gardening gloves she edged out over the side of the wall. It was only a 30 metre drop, but it had a few overhangs and stuff, so I was a little nervous. Em made it look easy, hopping backwards and jumping out like something out of Mission Impossible. When she got to the bottom Carl unclipped her and sent her back up the wall ready for her next go. I was strapped in and went back over the edge, I was fine until I looked down and then got a bit nervous – but, the moment you start jumping back you forget about everything and see how quick you can get down.

The next stage was to go down forwards, which sounds nerve racking (and it is – at first) but get over the falling forwards over the edge and its all good fun, you literally let the rope slip through the harness and then run like crazy. Em went first and had me in stitches, she couldn’t hold her legs out behind her so ended up coming down hanging from the rope, she got a few foot holds, but otherwise you will have to see the pictures and video. My go and I actually managed to do it, what a rush as you hurtle towards the floor – take a look at these pics and videos if you want to see what I mean.

That night, we sipped some wine and had the best fish’n'chips we have so far encountered in oz. Yum yum yum!! We were joined for the meal by Mambo, a local Staff who was friendly with the backpackers, but that night, it seemed it was just us! Miss my dog…
The day we left we did a bit of Pelican Feeding and then it was time to move onto Denham

Current Mood: Playful

Well, not actually lion lions – but Sea Lions. We arrived to meet Rodney our Skipper not knowing how many people are on his trip, we are introduced to everyone and we climb aboard. It’s about an hours sail out to ‘Fishermans Island’ which is only a small island off the coast, home to a couple of hundred sea-lions. Cruising up to the island it looked to be a little bit of a wasted trip, the sea-lions were all fast a kip on the beach.

Nevertheless we all put on our Mask, Fins and Snorkels and jumped in. Surfacing from the hop off the boat we were all confronted by a playful juvenile whom took us a little out from the boat and to all his mates.

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They are sooooo playful and copy whatever you do, if you do a forward roll, they do one too. If you stand on your head, they too stand on their head (all in the water of course). The only trouble comes when the big bulls come out to round up the pups and take them back in. It’s like my Dad with me, he need just give me ‘the look’ and I know that I’m in the wrong – these Bulls do the same thing. So we had to wait again, but not for long – we were joined by three teenagers (in Sea-Lion terms) and they had a little play with us, look at the photos and you’ll also see that they had a play with each other.

We met a young couple on the trip – Marco and Leaz from Switzerland whom we have stayed in contact with since. They are a really nice pair and are driving the whole way around Australia in a little camper, got everything you need, but I bet it gets hot in there.

After a successful snorkel and a bit of fun we jumped back in the car for the rest of the journey to Kalbarri.

Current Mood: Tired

The drive to Cervantes was short and sweet so we didn’t arrive late, even though we had been on the bikes for a lot of the afternoon. Our hostel was lovely and we had a double en-suite room where the bathroom was roughly the size of our normal bedrooms! So a bit of a lucky break there.

We had a chat with one of the owners who told us what time sunset was for the pinnacles and where we had to go. Really nice people and when we found out that the Sea-Lion Snorkelling trip wasn’t going from Jurien Bay, they suggested one from Green Head which we eagerly booked.

There isn’t much to do at Cervantes, so we chilled for a while having a shower to remove the sand that had become embedded in us from the motorbikes, then head to the Stromalites which are one of the oldest living organisms in the world – dating back tens of millions of years ago. You can imagine how active you would be being that old and they look like big lumps of rock in the shore line. You can’t play chase the ball, or practice your sit, lay down, roll over with them anyway.

[zp]cervantes[/zp]

For something a little more interesting we drove to the Pinnacles desert arriving an hour or so before sunset. We drove round twice so we could find a nice spot to watch the sun leave us for the day and then set up the cameras. We met a swiss dude there who had the same idea as us so got talking. We must of been there for about an hour after the sun had gone down – it’s an eerie place in the day time, a moonscape of rocks and shrubs. At night it’s a pretty haunting place to be and I could imagine a few horror movies being set there. The pictures have come out okay – but nothing special! I’ll put them up when I get to a decent internet cafe…

A pleasant evenings sleep and then a short drive to Green Head!

Current Mood: Cool & Esctatic

After a chilled and relaxed break in Perth, Em and I head to Lancelin which is about an hour and a half north. Em really wanted to go to Rottnest so after driving all the way upto Lancelin, we drove back to Perth the day after to go check out what Rottnest Island has to offer. In our eyes, not really a great deal – yes the beaches are quite impressive, but we have seen a lot better on our journeys – the island itself is just sand and grass, nothing else really there to give you the wow factor. But still, we spent a nice chilled and relaxed day sunbathing at Little Parakeet Bay which is at the North of the Island. I even got a little bit of snorkeling done.

So we drove back to Lancelin to explore the following day. The town itself is mainly windsurfing as they have a steady wind all year round, making the conditions a lot easier for the Windsurfers to predict. We were planning on having a lesson, but the wind really picked up and even some of the intermediate Windsurfers were coming back into the bay, the advanced ones though loved it and we were really impressed with the speed and power that these guys commanded on their boards!

Our hostel was really nice and we had a lovely room with veranda, we had a little nap and wrote our diaries, Em on the patio and me on a hammock really comfortable, but it’s not great for writing in.

[zp]lancelin[/zp]

The following day we were due to go to Cervantes Backpackers, but thought that we wouldn’t go too early as the only thing to do there is the Pinnacles. So instead we head towards Lancelin Off-Road Motorcycle Hire where we had ourselves a little fun – Em hired a 250cc Yamaha Quad and I got a 250cc Yamaha Motorcross bike, a quick introduction to the controls, basically how to kickstart it we were off on the dunes. These machines are seriously good fun and took me back to my childhood (motorbiking around a field with my pap’s!). We were all over the place and the way that these machines through up the sand made you feel like you were going a million miles per hour! After about half an hour I had a quick pop on Em’s Quad, it was quite a nimble little thing and was easy to throw into nifty powerslides and donuts. I showed Em how to do them and she jumped on – a few minutes later and she was holding the slides for ages and really carving up the sand with her donuts. I left her to it and went to the top of the dune, sitting up there watching her it looked so cool and I got a few pictures of her before I saw her catch one of the ruts she had made and roll the quad.

It didn’t look very fast as she had scrubbed off the speed, but I got there quicker than I thought I could – but she was already up, onto the quad again and still blasting around in the power-slides, just this time, away from the tracks she had already laid down! Impressive stuff… One of the guys who runs it came over to me to tell me I had a cool woman?! And then challenged me to a race down to the dune and back again – so I obliged, he beat me (because he could ride it better) but I wasn’t too far away and where as he tail whipped the bike on the dune, I turned slowly so I didn’t fly off. HE was quite impressed though (so was I actually) and he taught me how to tail whip the bike on the dune so that our next race would be closer. Trouble was, our time ran out :(. Next time maybe!

So we left the extreme Lancelin and headed to the slightly quieter Cervantes!

Current Mood: Tired

Well we got to Perth, safe and sound and in relatively good time.  We left at 4am in the morning and arrived at Wave Rock at 8:45am, just as the sun was poking its head over the ridge – 45 mins later and we were on the road again, arriving into Perth at 1pm.  Tired but unscathed!!!

[zp]hyden[/zp]

What was important to do in Perth, well the website, emails and photos of course.  So Em and I have sat here tonight and done it all – phew!  So below the post congratulating Dale, Liz and James you’ll find the blog for the last fortnight continuing onto the second page.  Nice to hear from you all, send us some pics so we can see what it is like back home!

Current Mood: Happy

Just thought I’d take the chance (while I’m actually at a computer!) to wish Mr James Stringer a very happy 30th Birthday!  Hope you make it a good one and we’ll be thinking of you over here! :D

Also – Congratulations to Mr Dale Millar and Mrs Liz Millar on their marriage last Saturday.  We wish you all the love and happiness for your futures!  :D

Current Mood: Cool & Happy

So we drive for 3 and a half hours and straight to our hostel, god we’re good!  The first thing we notice is how many beaches there are within reach of our hostel – loads!  Which is a good thing as we are here for the beaches…

As we arrived fairly late in the day we decide to just grab ourselves something to eat and familiarise ourselves with the surrounding, the board at the hostel tells us of loads of things to do but we only see beach, beach, Beach!  Off we go and within 5 minutes we are down on the beach next to Esperance Jetty where there is a crowd gathering by the fishermen so we too thought we would rubberneck.  Turns out that everyday the jetty is frequented with Sea Lions who are eager to get the scraps of fish that are being thrown over the side, there are 3 big ones and a ‘toddler’, they duck and dive over each other all competing for the guts and bones from the days catch.  After about 10 mins they disperse and later on we find them on the beach sparko, all knackered from having to swim to the jetty – cute, but the couch potatos of the Sea Lion world ;)

[zp]esperance[/zp]

Next day we head to Lucky Bay which is officially the whitest beach in Australia, it is bloody white and the sand is soooo fine.  We have a little stay here and then decide to move onto the 2nd whitest which is Hellfire Bay – again really spectacular and we come to the conclusion that each beach through Esperance is going to be gorgeous so spend the day trying a beach and moving on, trying a beach and moving on.  When we get to Twilight Bay we set up camp and stay for the rest of the afternoon, the water is clear, the sand is soft and the scenary is spectacular.

The next day we do the same thing but this time skipping the first set of beaches and ending up on Twilight.  Gonna miss this beach!

Long drive tomorrow, all the way back to Perth (via Wave Rock), so its into bed early – alarm set for 3.30am! :(

Current Mood: Tired & Happy

Pleasantly refreshed after our little stop at Kerry and Jeffs hostel we moved along to our next base of operations, Albany.  Driving in we were relieved to see that there were a few more people here than Walpole, the town actually had a town with shops in and everything!  First stop was obviously the hostel and we checked in no problems, Peter the owner did a now customary introduction to the town drawing with bright pink marker all over a map he gave us.  With enough information and places to visit for a year in Albany we put our stuff in the rooms and made a start.

Sounds really dull but our first stop was Albany Wind farm, a feat of mechanical brilliance that we actually quite enjoyed looking at.  They are massive, like super humongous fans…  I thought it would make an excellent fairground ride – you strap one child to the tips of each fan and then let it rotate, we went on a particularly windy day (click here!) and I reckon even the most inexorable child would of hurled on the day we went!

Next stop was the ‘Natural Bridge’ and the ‘Gap’, two more rock formations for us to gawp at.  Quite impressive, especially the Gap which sucks in and throws sea water high into the air, coating my camera lens with a layer of salt and leaving your face feeling nice, dry and flakey ;).  We didn’t stay here too long, especially with the wind like it was.

Next stop the Whaling Museum, imaginatively titled – “Whale World” which I thought was a kind of theme park.  Nope, it was an old Whaling Station where they used to pull the dead whales up onto shore and process them.  We learnt how they used to cut them up, burn them down and make oil out of all the blubber – something that those of you who know me will know, I really like to know about ;).  Still it was quite interesting and they are now all about saving the whales and making people aware of their beauty.  They are such graceful creatures and I so hope that I get to dive with one (not too big mind!) this holiday!

[zp]albany[/zp]

With diving in mind Em and I went and booked up at a dive shop that we were recommended when we were in Freemantle (by a photographer guy called Glen Cowan).  So booked up for 2 days of diving we went to a bay called Little Beach where we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening chilling out on the sand.

The next day we were up early, down to Supa IGA and onto the Jetty for 8am in the morning.  Here we met our Dive Guide Pete, our Skipper Carl and the rest of the divers for the day.  First thing we had to do was change into our wetsuits, now I normally dive in a rash vest and board shorts and am not really used to having to stick a suit on - now I find out that we need to wear a 7mm wetsuit and a full suit vest and hood, its like wearing a duvet!  But this is because the next stop south would be the Antarctic and the water is a little on the nippy side when you go down to 30 metres :)

Jumping in the water on the first day of diving it really took both Em and I by surprise, it was equivalent to sitting in a cold bath and both of us looked at each other to say - are you sure you want to do this.  We cut the crap and went under.  The visibility was good and all we were actually down to find was a fish called the ‘Leafy Sea Dragon’ that disguised itself like a piece of kelp – Em went through her air quite quick and I got buddied with a guy who loved looking in every nook and cranny.  We didn’t find one though and resigned ourselves to the fact that we may see something super interesting on the next dive…. :D

We did, the next dive we were prepared for the water, but not for what would accompany us throughout the dive.  A lovely large female fur seal, who thought that we were under the water for her own amusement – she stayed with us throughout the whole dive, taunting us with her ability under the water and playing with us.  She ventured to within only a couple of feet of each of us, checking us out and studying us, it really did make us smile and the dive was amazing.  We surfaced, both like big kids.  Em had conserved her air better and we had really enjoyed our ‘play time’.  That evening we went to Little Beach with a Eagle Boys Pizza where we chilled and took everything in, another early rise in the morning because of the wreck dive!

[zp]diving[/zp]

Again we were up early and went to the Jetty where we met up with Pete (guide), Carl (Skipper), Mick (Photographer) and Ron (Photographer) from yesterday and a few newbies to the boat, all of whom were good fun to talk to and a good crowd to dive with.  The trip to the HMAS Perth took only about 15 mins and we were in the water really early, the mast breaks the surface of the water so we all swam over to it, ready to make the descent.  The wreck was really eerie and loomed into view as we went down – its like Pete’s second home as he dives it so often and he knows his way around every single room and cabin that there is.  He showed us some really cool things like the captains room, cabins, bathrooms (complete with mirrors!) and the computer rooms.  Em and I both loved it and were so relaxed – for those of you in the know, both Em and I went down with 210Bar in our tanks, we dove to 29.4 metres, our dive time was 47 mins and I came up with 95 Bar left while Em came up with 60 Bar – Pete had got hold of some of the fins that he uses (the most expensive in the shop) and they are supposed to reduce your air consumption by 30-40 percent!  They definately work!!!

Click on each of these for some dive movies of us (big files!) Em and Seal, Playful Seal, Em Waving.

Dives done for this part of the trip we return to our hostel and get changed, ready for the cinema.  Rocky Balboa is out and we really wanted to see it (Rocky is a legend and I love the movies!), so we head off.  It’s a bloody good movie and although he is showing his age now (part of the film actually!) he is still a beefcake and would kick Vin Diesals Ass!

Long drive tomorrow – Esperance!  Time for bed, night…  :D

We said good bye to Augusta and travelled up the South West shoulder of Oz to a little town called Walpole, little in the way that the population is only 400 people and even a lot of them are just holiday home owners!

Checking in we met one of the owners of the hostel – Jeff who showed us around and introduced us to Walpole on a map.  Not a great deal to do in the actual town and as we arrived after 6pm, everywhere was shut apart from the Comfort Inn so we ended up grabbing Dinner there – bloody nice it was too.

The next morning we were up early to go exploring, Walpole is the town to stay in if you want to see some big trees – first stop of the day was the Giant Tingle Tree, measuring 27 metres in girth you can fit a small car within the hollow trunk.  Em and I got caught up in a little bit of rain here so made ourselves at home within the trunk.  When the rain passed and the sun popped his head out again we jumped insde the Tingle for a few pictures.  Stupid ones, but fun nonetheless.

[zp]walpole[/zp]

Next stop was the ‘Valley of the Giants’, named as such because you are walking through a forest of Tingle trees all reaching 40-50 metres into the sky.  We had a stroll around the aerial platform that takes you up to 40metres with the tips of the Tingles and gives you a nice view out over the valley.  You can only really walk one way and the platforms sway gently in the wind so it gives you a weird feeling.  Once we had completed this we had a stroll around the ‘Valley of the Ancients’, which – as the intelligent of you will realise, is a walk around some ancient trees, some of the trees are hollow and you can have your picture taken inside them which is pretty cool, but we’d already done that at the Giant Tingle so moved on pretty quickly.

That evening we met up with Kerry (the other Owner, Jeffs’ Partner) who showed us how to play Rummy…  So there we were, till gone midnight when we were supposed to be moving on in the morning, listening to Kerry tell us stories of her life as a hostel owner, some hilarious, some frightning, but the rummy was fun and the skip-bo was also a good game (which we’ve since picked up!).  Next Stop Albany…

Current Mood: Playful & Tired

Before we even reached Walpole we stopped at the Bicentennial Tree just before Pemberton so that Emma and I could have a try at climbing one of the four firespotting trees.  In days gone by, blokes would scramble up these wearing studded boots and a rope to try and pinpoint where a bushfire has started, now the trees have become a tourist attraction, the local councils placing giant steel pins around the trunk in an upward spiral to the pinnacle at 67 metres.  Brave hearted souls (like me ;)) have the oppurtunity to climb up them – now in England they would be instantly shut down for health and safety, there is no safety net, no cushioned floor, if you slip from the top you will come a cropper and that scared the crap out of me!  We put our shoes on and started to climb….  It’s high, but feels higher!  After we got to the first lookout platform, we both bricked ourselves.  We stopped here and had a look around, instantly in awe at the scenary, but both scared witless – we climbed down… 

After a while I thought I had plucked up enough courage to make the top and tried again…  This time I made it 3 quarters of the way up, bricked it and came back down again!

As we left the national park I was cursing to myself, I should of been able to make the top – so we took a detour to Pemberton, where we stopped off at the Gloucester Tree.  Another lookout of the same height that I could try my luck at climbing again.  This time I made it!  Wahooo  :D  Standing at the top with my heart pounding and my hands shaking, chatting to a fellow backpackers, we discovered that the climb up was the easy part – we stood at the top for about 15 minutes chatting about what we had been upto before deciding to climb back down.  “See you at the bottom” I said, “Not too fast I hope!” Was the reply…

Completely chuffed with myself, legs aching like crazy we headed for Albany!

Current Mood: Cool & Esctatic

Into Augusta and one of the nicest hostels we have yet to stay in.  The rooms are like your grandmas house, without the smell ;).  The owners are really friendly and we even have a tv in the room – wahooo…

Augusta is the final town (well, village really) before the most southwest point of Australia, where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean – next stop if you carried on down would be Antarctica.  We dropped our stuff off and went exploring, the first place we found was the local bakery where we sampled one of their famous (in Augusta anyway) paninis – was delicious.  With full bellys and upbeat music flying from the car speakers we set off to see the many wonders that Augusta had to offer.

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We first drove down to the Jetty to see about one of the river cruises, not as posh as it sounds mind you, but we might get to see dolphins.  Next stop on our whirlwind adventure was the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse that stands 63 metres above sea level – this is where you can lookout over both oceans, one either side of the cape.  Doesn’t look any different as it’s just water, but it’s nice to feel you are looking at something totally cool. 

We got here down a long ’Scenic’ Dirt track, where we saw some lovely trees, and more trees and erm, more trees.  In fact, in half an hour of driving we saw two places where you could see something other than trees – the first is Skippys Rock, a small cove where there are some interesting rock formations.  The second of which is the Waterwheel, this is a wooden wheel that was used to pump water up to the lighthouse when it was being built.  Over time limescale has built up around the wheel encrusting it – making it actually look like stone.

We set off to Hamelin bay to explore and watch the sun go down.  When we got there we saw the local attraction, about 8 Giant Stingrays and a few Eagle Rays all in the shallows waiting for the fisherman to feed them.  We ended up here a couple of hours, chatting to a friendly local fisherman who came over to give us some fish heads and guts that we could hand feed the rays with.  Wow!  This blew our minds, the Rays were huge, especially ‘Big Fella’ that the kids had affectionatly named, along with ‘Stumpy’ who had unfortunately lost his tail from a boat propeller :(.  Em couldn’t get enough of these guys and after being a little apprehensive at the beginning because of the size of the tail and barb, was eventually stroking, patting, feeding and near enough swimming with them like they were her new best friends.  We decided that we would come here everyday to see and feed them – they are truly awesome!

[zp]hamelin-bay[/zp]

The next day we had a little stroll in the Bunarup Forest, which is filled with Yirra Trees.  These stretch high into the sky, which is pretty amazing considering the width of their trunks aren’t even that of a large english oak!  While we were here, we decided to do a bit of caving – so after a bit of research into which was the nicest cave to try out, we went for Lake Cave.  A fairly small (compared to Jewel) cave, but with a permenant water supply at the bottom, the lights ensure that the reflections of the stalagtites is pretty amazing.  The tour lasted about 50 mins and we were told all about how the cave formed – we loved every minute of this, bar the 300 steps to get down into the cave!  Oh, and the pitch blackness when our guide turned all the lights out!  Oh err…

To cool down after our climb out the cave we returned to our buds at Hamelin Bay, this time armed with our swimmies and a towel so that we could join them in the water!  The Bay is lovely, calm and the sun was beating down.  A few kids were making the most of it out on their little speedboats, towing their friends on their knee boards – we could just imagine Russ, A and Dunc out there when they were that age flying around.  Again we fed the gentle giants and had a chat to a few more of the locals (and a few non-locals) before heading back to the hostel.

The final day in Augusta and we hit the pub, where they served pints of Guiness (don’t tell Phyll, but Em and I both had a couple of pints!).  We played a few games of pool and sat out on the terrace looking out over the Blackwood River until the food place opened up.  Jimmys Grill was great, you basically pay $17 each to cook yourself your own food – you get a plate with a lump of steak on, a plate to put it on after it is cooked and then you just place it on a giant grill until you think it is ready.  I ended up with a rare steak, that was actually really nice whereas Em’s came out pretty much perfect Medium.  Then you add yourself some chips from the counter and a bit of salad – we were a little cheeky as we took some of the salad (onion and mushrooms) and went back to the grill to cook these – all in all it was pretty yum yum yum…

After dinner we watched Aussie Rules, loads of kicking, jumping, punching, but no real structure or order to the game – I think I’ll stick to rugby thanks.

Before moving onto our next destination we did one final little tour, the Annie Flinders Eco Cruise.  Os was really cool and we met a guy called Bill Ipsen on one of the stops, a 5 generation Aussie and a real bushman, he showed us how to catch Marron (a large Crayfish), how they would round up cattle in the olden days and what their life entailed.  It was bloody interesting and the guy reminded Em of her grandad Vic, we bought a copy of his book and got him to sign it for us before heading back down the Blackwood River.

Next Stop, the Valley of the Giants, the Gloucester Tree and Walpole! 

Current Mood: Mischievous & Tired

Margeret River our first stop from Perth and our base of operations for the next few days.  The drive down was excellent as Eurocar upgraded us to a ‘mini’ 4wd (Hyundai Tucson), so although we didn’t have the boot space of the other car it was far more comfortable.

We set off along the highway, kicking back and relaxing to the MP3 player – our first stop was a few hours at Bunbury, possibly the largest town south of Perth before you hit the water. We had a nosey around and ended up walking along the boardwalk of the mangroves, which is something like the only one this low down in Oz (or similar?! ;)).  Here we found a Big W and got ourselves a set of Poker Chips so that Em can learn a bit of Texas Hold ‘Em.  There are apparently dolphins that frequent these waters, in the mornin, however we arrived in the afternoon so missed them – obviously!

Lovely town, but not somewhere that leads itself to the scenic idea that we are aiming for – so we moved onto Margaret River.. 

[zp]margaret-river[/zp]

Our hostel was nice, but basic, luckily we were in the quieter block and only shared our kitchen with about 8 others – we had to venture over into Chinatown to get a kettle though and it was chaos.  It was quite late when we arrived, so we shot down to the local where I managed to order a pint, yep, you read it right, a PINT of Stella Artois, which slid down my throat like melted chocolate!  The food wasn’t bad either and it reminded us of a summers day in a classic british pub garden.  That night we went to watch the sun come down at Prevelly Beach before moving onto Surfers Point to watch the diehard boys in action.

The following day we drove back to Bussellton, it was somewhere I wanted to go to and Em was more than willing.  This was everything we were after, the water here is as clear as Thailand – if not clearer and was not as freezing as most places around Australia.  Stretching out for 2km into the Ocean is the Bussellton Jetty, the largest wooden Jetty in the Southern Hemisphere!  Really picturesque, especially when combined with the deep blue sky that we were welcomed with.  Em and I decided to walk to the end and visit the underwater observatory (the UWO), this goes 9metres underwater and is surrounded by various corals and fish that you can watch from the giant reverse (dry!) fishtank.  We stayed in Busselton for ages, mucking around in the sea and taking a few snaps, but as the sun began to dip we returned to Margaret River and went back to Surfers Point to watch the sunset, this time as the wind was up – the surfers were joined by some windsurfers. :)  (Nothing on Little Sarah and Steve though ;))

We were up early the next day (10am!) as our pickup was arriving for our wine tour.  Our guide for the day was Kim and he advised that we were the only two on the all day tour until the afternoon session joins us – one German guy!!!  So off we went, with Kim explaining the many processes of making wine, changing its colour, taste and type – while also letting us know that we were going to consume in excess of 2.5 bottles – EACH!

In the morning we visited 3 wineries, 2 of which we loved and 1 of which tasted horrible (apart from the Port).  We were shown the correct way to smell and taste the wine so we appreciated the whole flavour.  We could choose to spit out each wine if we wanted, but we got our moneys worth and swallowed every tasting (approx 60ish!).  For lunch we went to the Voyagers Estate, one of the richest estates in Margeret River – both Emma and I had the Salmon which they accompanied with a Merlot to wash it down, a whole glass this time though. 

The afternoon we met the German Guy and went to my favourite winery of the day Watershed, where Em and I bought a lovely bottle of Chardonnay – apparently the Red Wine drinkers white?  :?  – the Final winery of the day was one called Moss Bros (not related to the suit hire company!) where we got to taste wine straight from a barrel – Hungarian Oak Barrel to be precise.  The day was rounded off with by a visit to the Margaret River chocolate factory, where we at last found some decent Australian Chocs, our palate was then in for a shock when we chomped down a few bits of Australian Cheese – Yuk!  My god Australians cannot do cheese!!!!!!  We didn’t stay at this one long as you can imagine.

One more nights worth of sleep and then we move on, this time – Augusta!

Current Mood: Esctatic & Flirtatious

So we have arrived into Perth having survived our little brush with the outback.  The flight over was lovely and all four of us managed to get into Emergancy Exit Seats – not a hard feat considering the amount of people that were on the flight,  and that we were the first people in the check-in queue – but hey, it still felt nice being able to stretch out.

The Perth hostel is lovely and we’ve got a lovely double room.  Em and I are doing our own thing from now until the 23rd March, making sure that we meet up again for Luce’s birthday (no way we’re missing that!).  This way we all get a little rest bite from each other ready for the full on camper van in New Zealand and its also easier when you want to do something.

Perth was nice as we got to meet up with our friend Bien who was staying for the first few nights down at Cossteloe beach, it was really nice as we explored Freemantle together, a coffee/fish lovers dream (well fish eaters).  It was nice to spend the day with her, listening to how her travels have been going and getting her advise on bits and bobs – she recommended a Surf Camp down the East coast, which we have now booked with Lucy and are travelling down to meet Scatt a bit later in the trip – (Scatt is meeting a friend in Sydney a bit earlier). 

For a treat we got to watch the cinema a few times – seeing ‘Music and Lyrics’ on valentines day after a lovely meal at a nice restaurant (beats beans on bread).  We visited Swan River and had a few nice walks around the various suburbs before exploring the actual city centre and the shops.

[zp]perth[/zp]

Em has now got a nice camera and an underwater case to go with it, so we have promised ourselves a few dives to see what the West Coast has to offer – one of these may be the Rottnest Island wreck dive, but I’ll let you know more about that once we do it (if we do it!).

We’re picking up a car on the 21st March and are then heading down the South Coast, so we’ll see what adventures we have down there.  The girls are doing the same, so it will be really nice to meet up in Exmouth and talk about each others trip.  Looking forward to it…  Sorry about the length of time it has taken to update this, the internet cafes are few and far between, but I’ll try my best.  Feel free to leave comments or drop me a mail to let me know how you all are!

Lucy and Sarah are now having 4 weeks doing their own thing, while Emma and I do the same.  This will mean that when we meet up next time we will all have had a relaxing break – taking in the sights we individually want to see. (we have done really well so far taking everyones interests are quite varied).

So…  Lucy, Emma and I have all signed upto a website called FACEBOOK, to keep in touch and allow us to see the girls (Lucys and Sarahs) photos.  In order to see these photo’s you too must register and add us as friends – if you know Lucy, then you will know her surname and be able to search her out, same as with Emma and I. 

So, do it and share the joy ;;)

Current Mood: Happy & Tired

So we arrived into Alice Springs and despite the warm weather, were surprised with how busy it actually was.  This wasn’t the way out west town any of us were picturing so came as a nice surprise.

The YHA hostel that we booked was comfortable and had a pool in which we could throw ourselves to cool down.  Which we did hastily…

In the morning the ‘Rock Tours’ representative Kate came and picked us up (6am!) and we were taken around the various hostels picking up all manner of nationality – Swedish, Dutch, Danish, German, Irish and of course us English.  The journey to our first stop was a long drive and I had my head back counting Z’s for most of the trip, most of the bus was silent as other like-minded people prepared for what was coming.

[zp]outback[/zp]

First stop was King’s Canyon and when we exit the mini-bus we felt the heat.  My face began to melt, my body began to throw sweat out in a way that the bloke in the Lynx advert would seem like he has only a mild problem, then I find out that we only have to go and do a 7km trek!  The temperature was 42 in the shade and we had to first navigate a sheer slope to the rim of the canyon.  It was a struggle – definately…  Poor ol’ Lucy hates having to walk up hills, yet she grit her teeth and made it to the top – feeling half dead, but had still managed.

The rest of the walk was a piece of cake compared to the first bit and we were treated to a swim in a natural waterhole halfway round.  Yippeeeee…

Back in the bus, all of us drenched from head to foot we all began chatting.  A guy called Tobi from Germany got everyones spirits up as he larked and joked around in the front.  The stories around the coach had everyone laughing and joining in, singing songs and swapping stories.
We drove for a while taking in sights and talking about the day before reaching our first camp ground – well, not so much a camp ground as a desolate place in the middle of nowhere.  When Kate turned the lights out on the bus however, the sky lit up and the stars were everywhere – looking so close you could almost touch them.  We cooked around torch light (too dry for a campfire, don’t want to be responsible for a huge bushfire!) and had noodles with chicken, vegetables and moth’s.  yum yum…

Next day we were up really early to walk around the Olgas Paul from England and Marc from Holland kept me company and the trek went really quick.  This was another 8km walk and when we got back to the start we noticed that the Rangers had put up a sign saying the walk was shut due to extreme temperatures -thanks for telling us.

[zp]outback[/zp]

After this short trek we went to Uluru to do a short walk called the Male walk, this was really interesting and we leart a lot about the Aboriginal people and ‘Chooc or paa’ (I can;t spell it, but it is the term used for everything, life, law, the land, history, present and past).

Time to see Uluru at Sunset and it lived upto it’s reputation, it was truly beautiful and something I will remember forever.

Camping that night was at a pre-defined campsite and we got to grab a swim and stuff earlier in the evening.  That made do as my bath and shower at the same time.

In the morning we were up at 4.30 to see Sunrise – this too was an awesome experience and sharing it with so many friends made it that extra special.

Next was the Base walk and while Emma walked with Bien and Lucy, Sarah walked with Marc and I walked with Tobi, all of us chatting and passing the time.  A 9km walk later and we are back at the minibus ready to go home…  It was an amazing tour, with some amazing people whom I hope to stay in contact with.  There are too many people to list and talk about here, but if you read this – thanks for making the trip special.  Look after yourselfs – Paul x

Current Mood: Bored & Tired

Running around trying to decide what to take for food on a train journey is quite difficult when you are doing it at the last minute – packing for 15 hours in the same carriage and the same seat.

The taxi picked us up on time, we had to get two taxis because of the sheer amount of stuff that is being lugged around at the moment.  I swear to god that Scatt’s bag is like a mobile home at the moment, she too has bought a trolley for it, but it screams out in pain everytime the bag is loaded onto it, then there is the seperate toiletries bag, the food bag and finally the day rucksack.  So there was no way we were going to get  1 taxi between us.  Emma and I got the first one and await the girls at the Gahn train – a little worried as we had noticed a sign saying max 20kg on the way in!  Uh oh…

Luckily this meant that each ‘individual’ bag had to weigh no more than 20kg, so luckily Scatt didn’t have to throw away any of her belongings this time (phew!).

Checked in we went and listened to the crew saying hello and introducing themselves out on the platform and then climbed onboard.

It was more spacious than I had pictures and a lot more comfortable, the seats swivelling round so that we could share Cheese and Wine with the others.  The rest of the carriage looking on with envious eyes ;).

We sat, we read, we sat, we read, we read some more and we sat…  There would be a moment of stupendous excitement when one of us would go and get a cuppa tea, but apart from that we sat, we read, we chat, we read, we sat…

The evening drew on and the sunsetting was beautiful, I tried to take a few pictures, but the trundling along of the carriage made it a little difficult to do so.  Then came the night and even though the seats were uber comfortable to sit on during the afternoon and early evening, they were a killer to lay on.

[zp]the-ghan[/zp]

Emma couldn’t get comfortable, so I said I would go and read some more of my book in the lounge car so she could have a nap.  So at 11pm I went into the lounge car and read some more of my book (Mr. Murder by Dean Koontz!) and only got up at 2.30am when I thought I would fall asleep where I was!  Em was fast a kip and very reluctant to move, even though she was going to rest her head against my arm – completely destroying my chances of catching flies.

It was pretty surreal just rumbling along in the dark, no cabin lights and only a few on the exterior of the train, made it feel like we were on the surface of the moon as it lit the outback floor and showed up all the pits and scrapes.

As the sun lifted its head over the horizon, I felt like an insomniac jacked up on Redbull – dreary eyes with bags you could take your shopping home in.  The sunrise made up for a lot of it though.

Em surprised me with a Scrambled Egg, Bacon, Sausage and Tomato brekkie which was delicious (oh and a cuppa!) and we chat until we arrived at the station in Alice Springs.  Stepping out of the train was like stepping into a dry oven.  What HAVE we let ourselves in for!!!

Current Mood: Playful

Didn’t hold out much hope for Adelaide, we had been told that is was a little quiet farming city with no real character.  4 nights seemed too long and quite like the littlest hobo, we were looking to move on quickly.

As Emma and I slept in the back, the girls chatted and navigated their way into the city – Lucy behind the wheel.  Em and I woke to see that the farming town wasn’t full of Cows and Bulls, that the population weren’t getting around on horse and cart but the place was actually quite a buzzing and things stayed open all hours of the day.  We pulled up next to a clapped out old Ford Falcon in the YHA Car Park, grabbed our Backpacks and shot into the Hostel to get out of the 39 Degree Heat!

The first thing that we noticed was that the place was actually quite nice and large, loads of computers and a travel shop attached to the side of the building!  Excellent start, let down by a staff member serving us with a face like a slapped arse – he hadn’t just got out of bed the wrong side, he’d fallen out…  Nevermind, you do come across them and the best way to respond is usually with a nice dose of sarcasm to make them feel even better. Walking away feeling good we get to our room and find that it is what we need after such a long drive.  The room is large, tidy and has it’s own bathroom attached.  What a treat.

Exploring the hostel we find little gems of things hidden around in various rooms and cubbie holes.  Imagine our joy when we spot pool tables, arcade machines, a computer jukebox, pictionary, twister, a huge kitchen, a library, 2 reading rooms, 2 tv rooms, well I damn near passed out and came out with my favourite line “I think this is my favourite hostel so far” – apparently I say it at everyone we get to.

We all head out to see what Adelaide has to offer and while Lucy and Scatt head off to get something to eat, Emma and I go and check out the shopping district and Rundle Street Mall.  The centre is quite vast and in the heat we don’t last long, maybe only a couple of hours – I only get chance to go and check out another Camera wholesalers where I find what I am looking for, 2 neutral density filters!  Wahooooooo…

[zp]adelaide[/zp]

Eventually we end up back at the hostel where we meet the girls.  Lucy is a bit of a wiz on the pool table so we enjoy a few games, where I actually get put under a fair amount of pressure!  The kitchen is vast and quite clean so throughout our time in Adelaide we had quite a few nice meals.

The girls loved Adelaide as it they managed to book an appointment to get their hair cut, both Em and Lucy having highlights to cover up their roots (they looked like reverse skunks with the dark stripe down the middle of their heads!).  While they were there I caught ‘Smokin’ Aces’ at the cinema – not the best film ever but I did have the whole cinema to myself as it was midday.

Adelaide turned out to be a city of rest and relaxation for us and definately a decent place to go ad chill.

Current Mood: Happy & Tired

Wassup people…  Massive update of pictures today and with the help of the girls I have gone a bit overkill (167 Photos of the Great Ocean Road – which is rocks ;) ).  Still, it gives you guys and gals something else to look at…  Also uploaded a few videos which I will put into a future blog.  But for the moment, take a look at Luce and Scatt giving it large in the back of our Subaru Outback by clicking here.

Current Mood: Tired

:huh: 6.5 hours it took to drive from the Grampians to Kangaroo Island, but was easy and picturesque to do. The girls kept their headphones in the majority of the way so I just cruised along listening to the ‘Complete Nineties’ CD that I had bought for the car – 5 CD’s of cheese! I think that I can now give you every word to Tasmin Archers ‘Sleeping Satellite’ or the dance version of ‘Summer Rain’ that Scatt took a liking to.

On the drive we went through the rural city of Horsham, my hometown. Bit more spread out than home and we were driving for about 90kms before we reached the next place! Crazy huge, but must of only contained about 20 houses as they were all hooked onto farms and stuff.

As you can probably see from all the pictures, the Grampians was good for everything as long as it was walking. We did a few little walks, the main one being to the base of Mackenzie Falls which we all did but struggled on the return. The falls were pretty amazing and I took soooo many photos that even I got bored choosing which ones to put on the t’internet. So please don’t get too bored of them!

Next stop was Kangaroo Island and just before we reached the port we stopped for petrol. Damn lucky we did as well as we picked up a leaflet saying ‘it is imperative that the ferry is booked a couple of monthes in advance as it can get very busy over peak times.’ And, costs a fortune! So, we phone up on the way – “Can we have a ferry ticket please?”. The answer is not what we wanted to hear, they only had 1 ticket left for the 6pm ferry and a few for the 7pm ferry. Foot to the floor we get there about 5:15 and queue in the Standby lane for the 6pm (the ticket had gone!). 6:30pm and they are still loading… Had our chance gone…….. Nope, the guy comes strolling over and with a quick flick of his hand we’re manouvering onto the ferry – backwards.

Kangaroo Island itself is massive and even though we have 2 nights here, the ferry times that we can get on the return dictate that we only get one full day here. Off we go and sort our food out for the evening and drive to a place called Sunset Wineries to get the sunset – we get told it was at 8:15, so we arrive in plenty of time and the sun is still up high in the air! Hmmm, something not quite right here… When it gets to about 8:40, the sun is low, but vanishes behind a cloud – just our luck! So we head off home to get a good nights kip.

[zp]kangaroo-island[/zp]

In the morning we were up at 8am, getting brekkie and wondering why there is noone else really up and about??? Setting off we found out how big the island is – 155km from one side to the other and 55km top to bottom. Not good when we are on the North-East point and need to get all the way to the South-West point, especially considering the island has 1 main road that snakes from top to bottom all the way along :(. A long drive later and we are at Admirals Arch, a place where the rocks form an Arch – funnily enough! We stay here for ages, not looking at the rocks, but because of the seals. They are so cute! One of the little fellas was trying so hard to get from the top of the rocks to the bottom to get into a rock pool, but couldn’t quite manage it and returned to the top again to lay in a puddle – defeated.

Next stop Remarkable Rocks (they are truly called that!) and we posed for loads of pictures by these ‘remarkable’ rocks, getting loads of snapshots and clambering around like kids. I loved these rocks, could play around on them for ages but we had to make a break for it to get to Seal Bay before it closed (good with naming places aren’t they!).

We arrived at Seal Bay at 4:30pm, when the last tour was supposed to be at 4:15pm – we run in and ask if by chance we haven’t missed the last tour! Nope… And why? Because there is a time difference between the Grampians and South Australia of 30 minutes!!! So all this time, the sunset, the supermarket, the ferry all were running on time, we were just 30mins early every time! Oops… The tour was excellent and I’m not sure if you have seen in my pictures the little seal pup – well he was lovely and made the trip for me.

Day over we head back to Kangaroo Island YHA for a night in before the trip to Adelaide in the morning… Phew!

Current Mood: Cool & Tired

So we’re now up at the Grampians National Park, near a place called Horsham funnily enough, but prior to reaching here we had to travel the length of the Great Ocean Road.  A lovely scenic drive along the twisty turny car advertesque roads that goes from a town called Lorne to a place called Port Fairy.

We decided on staying the first night at Lorne so we could enjoy the whole next day on the road taking in some of the many scenic lookouts and sights.  Trouble is, we got to Lorne and loved it as it offered us a lot of cool things such as nice accommodation, rally nice beaches and some neat activities that we had yet to do. 

Our accommodation was in the Lorne YHA (we seem to be sticking to the YHA’s because of how clean and tidy they are!), it was like a little holiday village and we got our own little cabin which was set out in the wooded area of the site.  Really landscaped and pretty it would be a horticulturalists dream place, with so many different colour flowers right outside the doorstep.

The day was spent out in the town looking at the various shops, stopping at the internet cafe to check emails and then down to the beach where we checked out some of the surfers that were making the most of the non-touristy beach.

My personal favourite was the trampolines that were situated right on the beach front.  We hired three of them so that one of us could take photos while the others were up in the air, and then made the most of them.  I used to trampoline back in the day, but found that I was more like a little kid who had lost control of his arms – they were going everywhere and I had to lift my leg up to keep balance, maybe a little bit more practice is required! :)  The girls loved it as well and it proved a hearty work out, it even called for a portion of Fish’n'Chips afterwards – nowhere near as nice as England though.

[zp]trampolining[/zp]

Moving on from Lorne was a messy affair as firstly we couldn’t get a signal to book the next night, then the weather turned shitty and finally we stuck the car in a parking spot only to get a fine for parking into the traffic rather than with it.  There are NO cars on the roads anyway, what difference does it make!  Oh well, a $64 fine and we’re on our way again.

We gave the 12 Apostles a glimpse that day, but decided to cut our losses and head to the hostel in Port Campbell.  Okay, but nowhere near as nice as the YHA’s we have stayed in.  The day came to an end and we all hit the sack – only to be woken up again at 3am by a chorus of Scatt and a German dude snoring with the volume of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, I even had to climb out of bed, dig out my ear plugs and stuff em in my lobes in order to get to sleep.

Still we were up bright and late to hit the road and visit the millions of rock formations that stand alongside the coastal road.  The first of these being the Twelve Apostles – these were quite amazing, but hard to describe – if I say they are just big rocks jutting up from just off shore it really won’t do it justice, so just click here for a picture.  While we were here we run into the Horsham Girls again, Laurie and the Gang.  They were heading to New Zealand the next day so it was strange to run into them.  Quick chat and we were on our way again.

London Bridge/Arch was next and this too was pretty cool.  We took loads of pictures of the waves crashing into it (wouldn’t like to swim around here!) and then jumped back into the car to make our way to Port Fairy.  Once here we chucked our bags into the room, set up camp, played a few games of pool and then went to sleep….  Knackered!

[zp]great-ocean-road[/zp]

This morning we have driven from Port Fairy and have now arrived in the Grampians, another famous Aussie National Park.  In a moment we are going to drive to MacKenzie falls and have a walk around there, trim a few pounds and keep us in shape.  The weather has turned back to being a nice temperature and our slacks are in the wash ready for our return.  Ahhh, what a lovely day…  Just need the folks, friends and Squidge here now and all would be right with the world!

Current Mood: Tired & Cool

… my baby beside me at the wheel.  Well sometimes anyway!  We’re heading down the Great Ocean Road at the moment in our hired Subaru Outback (Blue, 4WD, Steering Wheel and a big boot!).  Having some really great times on a shoe string budget as we are trying to save as much money as possible before we head over to Perth and the west coast. 

We headed out of Melbourne serenaded by the horns of irate locals, pissed at the tourists swinging u-turns in the middle of busy city streets, trying desperately hard to negotiate the many one-way streets and other hazards (like trams) in order to get ourselves out of the hustle and bustle to the quieter outskirts.  These aussies haven’t really got the whole moterway thing down yet, the highways are like short dual-carriage ways that are badly signposted and held up by a the numerous traffic lighted crossroads!  Grrrr… 

First stop was Philip Island and after a short detour out to the east when we should of been going south (I swear the girls were holding the map the wrong way) we eventually got to the island.  This was so ‘quaint’ I guess, with loads of little houses dotted down tree strewn roads intersected by the odd shop or cafe.  We stayed at the YHA on Phillip Island which was like your grandmas house, with flower power wallpaper, clashing carpet and beige!  Yum…  A couple of nights here was easily enough, but the island did have its quirky charms and tourist spots – the first of these being the ‘World Famous Penguin Parade’ which is a natural attraction where you pay $17 to sit on the beach and watch these cute little tikes make their way up the beach.  Weird to see Penguins on the sand rather than ice, but these aren’t ordinary penguins, no no no…  These are the Philip Island Little Penguins, stanging a measly 30cm tall, they are small in stature but big in heart.

We were there in chick season so every single day one of the parents wanders out into the ocean before dawn to go fishing all day.  They swim about and catch little tiny fish, swallowing them so they can regurgitate them later for their chicks (nice eh!) and then just before dusk they all meet up in their hundrends (a kinda penguin posse if you like) so they are safe from predators in the water just off the coast.  Around 9pm every night (yes, they must have watches!) the first little brave penguin (the Fonze of the group), ventures up onto the sands to check the coast is clear.  Apart from the 3500 people sitting on stands and a stadium it is, so he signals to the other dudes that they can come on shore.  So in groups of between 10 and 20 they all emerge from the ocean (you do get the occasional loner, who you can’t help but will on – go little fella) and wander up past you to their dens…  So after about an hour and 1500 little tiny waddlers making their way over the sands you get up and follow them with the aid of boardwalks up the dunes to their man made dens.  You got to feel sorry for the ones that have been given the dens at the top – it’s miles in human strides!  But they do it – will power!!! 

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So apart from that I had to do a man thing, spending three months solely in the company of women can drive a man to distraction, so I took them to Philip Island Circuit where they do the Moto GP and World Superbikes - you probably won’t find this very interesting though, so I’ll skip it (the circuit is lovely though with flowing bends and spectacular vistas!) and just say the oil in the museum smelt good.

After Philip Island we headed down the Great Ocean Road to a place called Lorne, a really lovely seaside town, for a couple of nights – the highlight here being the boogy boards and the trampoling!  So much fun…

I’ll put more about the Great Ocean Road when we get to either the Grampians or Adelaide.  But so far it has been excellent fun.  Stay in contact and mail me! 

[zp]great-ocean-road[/zp]

Current Mood: Cool

Emma and I have been to see one of the best shows I have seen in ages, not that I frequently attend the theatre, but I needed to emphasize how much I enjoyed this show.

We arrived at the theatre and took our seats in row ‘R’, so not next to the stage, but not too far away to see either.  The lights lowered and the little dude in the seat next to us adjusted to see over the mammoth head that had just sat down in the chair in front of him.  On stage came a few child monks running around and doing somersaults, backflips and then, most impressively flips using just their heads first forwards and then backwards.

Then it was the turn of the adults and in amongst a lot of “Hai Yaa’s” and other Bruce Lee noises they dazzled us with their flexability, will power, concentration and combinations of kick’s and punches that Van Damme could only dream of.  These guys could make mince meat out of anyone!

Some of the things they did had the audience looking away and letting out little yelps of “don’t do that, you’ll die”.  Firstly a guy chopped mangos and melons using a meat cleaver against his stomach, then another one laid back on some swords with a bed of nails on his stomach while another bloke laid on the reverse side bed of nails and then they had a breeze block broken against their stomachs!  The only mark – a few tiny cuts on the bottom guys back where he was on the swords…  Next up was breaking Iron bars on their heads, these were checked first by any audience members that wanted to – freakin’ crazy.  BUT…  When the guy was supported up on 5 spears (one on each leg, each arm and then one against his stomach) and another one did a handstand on two fingers – that was the highlight – and I so really recommend going to see them.

So after a wee bit of disapointment in St.Kilda, what has the city offered us in terms of places to go and people to see?!

Well in all honesty, not really a great deal – comparatively speaking (didn’t spell that right, did I) Sydney is Australias London, with the Opera House like Parliment and Sydney Harbour Bridge like London Bridge etc. You know that there are plenty of sights for the tourist to gawp at, chat about and snap up… Now if I compare Melbourne to anywhere in England it would have to be Merseyside – they are both home to businesses, both are near the coast, both have large shopping malls and both are home to cheesy soaps. But, unlike Brooky, I used to watch and love Neighbours, until they lost the stas like Beth and Brad – then it all went a little silly.

[zp]neighbours[/zp]

But, dig a little deeper and below the surface you will find little gems that make parts of Melbourne really enjoyable. Em and I spent a day of total wandering yesterday, starting off with an hour and a half webcam chat to the folks – really cool to see them again, moving around and larking about, obviously having enjoyed a few glasses of wine between them. My dog (bless ‘im) is looking well, bigger and full of the joys of winter – no matter what the weather is like there – shame there was no mic at the internet place, else I’d of really confused him.

Then it was onto the gym in St.Kilda which I loved, costing $25 for a months membership – that’s 10 quid!!

Walking out of the gym we were greeted by a glorious day of total deep blue sky, so we stopped off at the botanical gardens where we picked up a real cuppa tea, tea leaves and all, tried to read those left in the bottom – which jus told me not to shake the tea strainer in the future.

After a long walk around the gardens where the stereotype of the chinese constantly taking photosproved strangely true! We made our way along the yarra river to the Olympic Park where we met up with a lovely fence barring our entrance to anywhere decent. Next stop Melbourne Open where we enquired about tickets to see Murray vs Nadal – All sold out and a massive queue of punters who were prepared to kill in order to secure a cancellation ticket.

Moving on we trekked into the city to pick up our tickets for “Shaolin Monks – Legends of Kung-Fu” at one of the theatres and headed back to the hostel where I cooked yet another diamond Barbeque! Yum Yum…

Current Mood: Esctatic & Flirtatious

Ello everybody, Paul and I have today stuck a load more pictures up going all the way back to Sydney – including such fun as the Minus 5 Bar, Pauls Birthday and much much more!!  Enjoy…

Why do Australians wear cork hats?  I’ll tell you, because of the fecking flies!!!  You walk out onto the street hear in Melbourne and you end up covered in the things, always wiping your face or flicking your hat around – Lucy has been likened to someone with Tourrettes, letting out small but loud torrents of unrepeatable obsenities (well we all are, but Luce is the loudest :-) ).

So far I haven’t been overly impressed with Melbourne’s St.Kilda, our quick glimpse at the beach was filled with images of condoms, broken glass, fag butts and washing machines??  Weird place!

Still tomorrow we are heading inland to the CBD of Melbourne, already had a couple of days there and really like it – so much to do and see with the diverse range of cafe’s, bars and restaurants being complimented by the shops, street sellers and beggers.

We had our first real night out the other day when we went to ‘Neighbours Night’ at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow Pub.  Where we got to meet Toadie, Paul Robinson and some woman whom I’d never heard of – Janelle Timmons?  Really good night out and even though my preconception was they were going to be a bunch of assholes they actually turned out alright – Toadie was the joker of the bunch and was constantly getting asked why he was so fat…  He even had t-shirts printed up with his reply on them, autographed and ready to make the organisers even more money when people snatched them up.

We all got our pictures taken with them and then returned to drinking our Magners – how nice it was to drink something truly English…  Although it was quite expensive!!  Still I have another kidney, so I won’t miss the other one.

Right, time to go and pack up the backpack ready for the early move.  Wahoo – we’re outta here!  I’ll post more about Melbourne and stick some pictures on when I get somewhere a little better!

Current Mood: Mischievous & Playful

Canberra…  But it really shouldn’t be, this place is duller than a labour party broadcast!  We arrived here fresh from our adventures in Sydney yesterday, but have already booked our ticket out of here for tomorrow.

So, I’ll say a little bit about Sydney – when I arrived there I was a little bit underwhelmed with the place, it was like a hot London in my eyes with nothing really to do!  But…  Stay a few days in this city and you begin to get your bearings, you start to see the things you missed when you walk around lost – its like a giant onion, you peel back each layer you get something fresh and new.

For my birthday, Emma really went all out with arranging the day for me.  It was definately a surprise as I had lost track of which day it actually was, so when I was woken at 8 in the morning by my Mum calling me to be the first to wish me happy birthday I was a little taken aback!  Em didn’t waste anytime when she saw my eyes were awake and while still half asleep I opened cards that she had been carrying with her ever since we left England.

Then it was time for my presents and I got some clip-on Koalas and a Kangaroo skin bookmark from Scatt, Smellies and a pedometer from Lucy and then a shit load of stuff from Emma.  Firstly I got smellies again (they’re telling me something!), then I had a postcard of my favourite image and a programme from an exhibition we went to, then I got a ticket to see ‘Open Season 3D’ at the IMAX in Darling Harbour which reports to be the biggest cinema screen in the world at 6 storeys high.  Well as you can imagine I was well chuffed, but even more so when she gave me a card with a confirmation that we were going to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb the next day! 

The IMAX was incredible and if anyone gets a chance to pay a visit to the screen in London then do it.  It’s way better than the normal screens, especially if the showing is in 3D.  Open Season the film is only so so, but the trailers for the other things made you jump, dodge out the way and make stupid little noises even though your brain knows its still only 2D and your just wearing a massive set of glasses.  The girls decided that they would never ever watch a horror in one of these screens as you would probably soil yourself.

Now onto the Bridge Climb and something we had chatted about the whole time we were in Sydney, but decided against it because of the cost – well, Em paid for me so I didn’t have to worry at all ;).  We trekked over to the office where we signed in and then waited in a little room with 10 other ‘climbers’ – Em and I discussed how fit the people that take you up and over the bridge must be and decided that their physique would be somewhere between Matthew McConaughey and Harrison Ford (in his Indy Jones days!) – were we surprised when ‘Cliff’ walked in, a dude so round that he had to wear a plane seat belt around his middle to tell himself which of him was his upper body and which was his lower body.  Then he opened his mouth, he would of seriously made Julian Clary sound like he was as butch as Arnie – “Well hello there climbers, and welcome to the wonderful Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb!!!” – Emma and I wet ourselves!

After he came over and gave us all a breathe test (checking for Alcohol, not halitosis) he sized us all up and handed us our Jump Suits – nice Grey and Blue numbers with the zip at the back.  Then we met our ’handler’ Tony - who actually was the size we thought they would be.  A quick run through of how the harness will work and a quick scenario where we climbed a pretend ladder and we were out on the bridge.

Walking out onto the catwalk was all well and good, it was when we went out over George street and up the first few ladders when I started to really enjoy it – the sense of scale is immense and a smile was raised quicker than a Lee Evans sketch.  We procedded along many gangways, walkways and ladders until we reached the base of the actual curve in the Bridge.  One of the ladies was getting a little nervous, so after a brief wait for her to catch her nerve we carried on up.  The skyline of Sydney was amazing and we kept stopping on the way up so that we could really appreciate it.  Tony took a few snaps of us and then we were in the middle of the bridge – here we learned that before they had video cameras up here a bunch of kids had climbed the bridge – with a shopping trolley – and left it smack bang in the middle of the arch (fair play I say!). 

So we made our way down and back into the office where we took off the Tom Jones jump suit and made our way to the photo desk, this was a bit of a mistake as they somehow convince you that all 4 photos are amazing and you should buy them all – which we did.  Oops, bank balance!

Anyway, that was my Birthday and the highlight for me of Sydney – thanks for the emails and comments they are all appreciated.  Keep em coming :) 

Current Mood: Esctatic

Just a thank you really to those people that emailed to wish me ‘Happy Birthday’ or send me cards or texts.  So that is – Mum/Dad, Trick, Charlie, Lizzie, Suzanne and Paul, Mandy and Roger, James, Abbie, Barbara, Tina and Louise & Louise!.  They were all a really nice surprise and I can’t believe you all remembered! 

Thanks a lot and I’ll fill you all in with what I’ve done for it soon…  Cheers all!!! :D