Noosa

this next stop had come highly recommended by a couple of people, so we made it a week long stop just to get the most out of it, definatly a worth while decision! We left Caloundra in the rain and arrived in Noosa two hours north in the rain!! we found a camp site close to the town which was right on the river, it was an ideal setting to realx and spend some time meeting people and having fun. We caught some amazing sunsets just outside our tent over the river which the wild life helpped make allt he more spectacular, we had stingrays, crabs, fish and huge pelicans all about 5paces from our tent! We met a couple from Ireland who would you believe were waiting for post in Noosa and when we left still were, we really should check if it arrived! we spent the first couple of days as usual relaxing and taking in the town, Noosa was in two parts, running along the beach was a row of very modern apartments with new bars and designer shops, a real pleasure to walk around with a nice friendly atmosphere! these apartments and bars ended at the headland with Noosa National Park. the second part of the town was inland 5mins and hand lots more little shops and bars and was all nice and modern and friendly. After a few days in the town and getting to Know the Irish couple Di and Hugh one day we decided to check out the national park. We took a walk along the beach and followed the path up to the headland which as it rose gave us great views back along Noosa Beach. The path swept round the headland and the state of the land changed dramatically, all of a sudden we had huge rocks with crashing waves and deserted bays scattered with huge rocks, it was really spectaular. we stopped for our lunch in a place called Dolphin Cove, unfortunatly we didnt spot any but the views out to sea were unforgetable! from here we walked through more rainforest and past more stunning bays to our end point called Hells Gates. These were two steep black rocks which dropped down into the sea and opened up as if like gates where the sea crashed and foamed in, the noise and view was awesome. After a while admiring the view we headed back to town past a path guarding lizard and a sleeping Koala, what a great day! As well as a bit of time on the Beach in Noosa we caught up with sam and sam, the couple we met in Surfers paradise and arranged a trip to Fraser Island with them. So now there were 3 couples and we were joined by a Kiwi couple which made 8 of us! So on our last day we all thought we should do something fun, so we hired a small river boat with a barabeque and we all spent the day fishing and swimming at various points on the beautiful river, it wound through rainforest and past posh houses with marinas and we cooked up a feast on our barbeque. As well as that we managed to catch a fish unfortuantly it snapped off the line before we could get it onto the boat! it was a great way to spend our last day in such a lovely town and with some great people we had met, if it wasnt for the excitement of our trip to Fraser Island we probably wouldnt have left the next day!

Caloundra

another short stop here! main reason being our trip to Steve Irwins Zoo!!! On the way in on our two hour coach journey we passed some spectacular views of the Glass house Mountains, apparently when the sun shimmers on the top of them making them look like glass! We settled just north of the town in a great campsite right on Dicky Beach which had a great shipwreck in the middle and is the only beach in the world to be named afer its shipwreck. We spent the first couple of days just relaxing on the beach and seeing the local area, the beach was a lovely little beach which again had awesome surf, we really should be used to the great surf by now but it still amazes us! and the town was a little town which is centred around a little bay where the waters were still and the sand banks rose out of the water to form mini islands which made it all very picturesque. After the weekend of relaxing we took the day trip on monday to Steve Irwins Zoo. We got picked up by the coutesy coach at 10am and were at the zoo by half past. Even before you get in the entrance you were met by aniumals of all kinds which hinted to us we were in for an amazing day. We were greeted at the door by a camel and a Koala and just inside the door a talking parrot! we grabbed our map and set about seeing all the attractions. We passed over a small bridge which was surrounded either side by some pretty giant Alligators and just the other side of the bridge were 3 elephants just wandering around! It was their feeding time and instead of being done in their enclosure they walked them across the zoo for the visitors to feed them! After we had sen the end of this we went and took our seats in the Crocoseum for Steves Show. Brilliant it was, really entertaining and informative on how to lok after the wildlife and not get eaten by a croc or snake! It lasted an hour in total and started with a couple of keepers bringing out a basket of snakes which the held, fed and even swam with! Next was the birds of prey, normally not huge bird fans these managed to impress us swooping just above our heads and finding their food around the stadium. Best of all was of course saved for last, the huge angry crocodiles they swam out and straight out of the water towards the keepers who practically hand fed the anaimals before they were back in the water waiting to jump out at a platform where food was being dangled, it was pure magic! once the show was over we had a quick lunch stop (unfortunatly no Kangeroo burgers!) and carried on around the zoo, it was completely hands on, we got to walk the wombats, feed the Kangeroos, hold the koalas and snakes! other animals we bumped into along the way were otters playing tag, camels, tigers who were lying around with their keepers and alot of snakes! by 4pm when we had to get our coach back we had , had the best time, loads of fun and loads to look back on! we had dinner that night and contemplated packing our stuff up for our departure the next day!

Brisbane City

When we were pulling into the city in our coach after another short journey up the coast it was immediatly obvious to us that compared to the last two cities we have been to in Aus this one is small by comparision! Unfortunatly we could camp as the nearest site was 30mins drive out of the city, so it was back to 3 nights in a hostel! We found one which gave us a great deal which included in our price a free pub meal each, four free drinks at the pub each as well as 12 hours of free internet each! which it turns out came in handy as we were both unwell in Brisbane so stayed in a little more than we had planned! So with such a short time in the city we set about straight away in using up our free vouchers, our first evening we enjoyed a pub meal and a drink before an early night in a busy dorm! The next day was a brilliant day, we took a couple of buses out the The Gabba cricket ground and both watched our first ever cricket match between England and New Zealand, and despite our doubts England came through and won!! it was a great occasion, the atmosphere got better as the day went on and the drinking sessions got longer and it was just a great experience, even better was watching Laura happily support the English, even wearing her very own Barmy Army hat! However Laura was really unwell by the end of the day so we quickly got back to the hostel and pumped her full of drugs and went for an early night. Already onto our last full day we made an early start and headed into the city to explore. Luckily for us it was a mainly business orientated city so apart from a number of spectacular buildings and old monuments and squares there was not a great deal to see. After lunch we walked down by the huge winding river which made its way around and through the city and decided to cross over, this was a great idea. On the other side we were in an even more modern area than the first and we walked through a riverside park which had oriental buildings as well as a man made beach. Unfortunatly we did not have our swimming stuff or we would have been straight in! In one of the grassy areas of the park is where i left Laura for a bit of a snooze, and i headed back across the river for a quick look around the Botanical Gardens which were sat right on the bend of the river which as well as great views of the park and city in the back ground, gave me great views of the Harbour and Harour bridge and some Volcanic Cliffs which formed thousands of years ago. Eventually i got back and managed to wake Laura up and we headed back to the hostel to try and plough through our internet hours and pack ready to head north again.. already!!

Surfers Paradise!!

With all the hype surrounding our latest destination we really couldnt wait to arrive. We made the short coach journey north and quickly found ourselves a campsite which was situated thirty seconds walk from the most amazing surf beach we had ever come across, the golden sands stretched for as far as you could see and the waves were breaking in spectacular fashion. As if the setting wasnt enough we had great facilities to use including a swimming pool! To make it an even more perfect place to be staying as we were just up the beach from the main centre of Surfers we had a great view of the skyline which rose as we looked down the beach. Being the first time up the coast we had used the tent we were thankfully releieved it took us no time to put it up without one mistake! after spending the afternoon exploring inland we went down for a swim at the beach, it was incredible, we could not wait for the few days on this beach! During our stay we spent a large amount of time on the beach but also from our campsite it was a 30minute walk along the beach to the town, this lovley walk almost encouraged us to go down there several days in a row because we were able to take our time admiring the location as well as the jellyfish being washed up on the way down there. In the town we went out for a couple of drinks one night and the place seemed so friendly and buzzing with live. During the hot days we took the streets with all their shops and local stores as a break from the sun before quickly heading back for more swimming and sunbathing. As well as walking down to the centre of Surfers we also walked along the beach in the oppposite direction one afternoon which took us through some regenerated bush area and some untouched beach which was just as amazing as the rest, Also it took us slightly inland and we were able to expolre the expensive, posh Marina which was lovely to see, all the posh boats and crystal clear, still waters. But once again it was quickly back from this walk to get on the beach! Even though we were excited to keep moving up the coast, when it came to our last day at Surfers Paradise we were slightly dissapointed to be leaving such an amazing place behind

Byron Bay

After our short stop in Port Macquarie it was another 7 hours on the coach to our next stop of Byron Bay. We had just a short time here, another 3 nights, and it was definatly seen as one of our most worthwhile stops. We got picked up early evening time by our hostel, which was very kind of them considering it was Australia Day night when we arrived and the rest of the country was out getting drunk. We got back and settled in to our hostel getting to now a couple of others staying there. During the night we had an amazing storm with torrential rain, but by the morning it had cleared to leave gorgous day so we planned to borrow some bikes form the hostel and head up to Australias most easterly point Cape Byron, However 20mins down the road the bikes were not in great working order and were prety uncomfortable to say the least! so we locked them up in the town and decided to explore the town and spend the day on Byron Bay beach, which swept round the bay pretty specatularly and we had no problems having a day on the golden sands in in the gorgous blue sea. The day after we made no mistake, we walked into town this time and after the morning on the beach and some lunch we walked around the bay and up through the coastal rainforest to Cape Byron Lighthouse which gave us some amazing views along the coast and out to sea, we were apparently unlucky not to spot any dolphins but it was still definatly worth it for the views. We walked down through Cape Byron Reserve which we were hoping took us down onto another beach but other than taking us deep into the coastal rainforest we ended up back where we started. As it was our last night we thought it only fair to go into town after dinner for a couple of drinks, we picked a beach side bar with live music which was packed and was great fun! We realised that our short time was up already and we were a bit gutted not to have longer but definatly looking forward to our next port of call!

Port Macqurie

Well folks, we are back on the move and back on our long coach journeys, our route between Sydney and Brisbane is 17.5 hours long so we decided to break it up with a number of stops along the way, first of which was at a small beach town of Port Macqurie. It is famous for have a collection of 9 different beaches, despite this we didnt spend any time on the beach! We were staying in back packers accomdation within a holiday park and right outside our door was the swimming pool, so instead we made use of that. On our first afternoon there we just relaxed after our journey around the pool and the weather was very muggy! When we woke up the next day we had the same sort of weather so we packed up our bag and decided to walk around some of the headland to see the different beaches which were really spectacular with waves crashing into the rocks. Halfway round it decided, for the first time in months to chuck it down in a huge two hour long shower! by the time we reached our destination we were soaked through! Our destination was the local Koala Hospital where we got to walk around all the Koalas that had been rescued from various places and read their stories, and a bonus for us (not so much the Koala) was that there was an operation in progress which we were able to watch. After a good hour there we headed back when the rain had eased up and walked back through the town and treated our selves to some really good pancakes! On our second full day at the holiday park, the rain had cleared and we were back to what we new best, the hot swealtering sun. Just through town was a huge Nature reserve and creek area, as we were yet to do any proper bush walking we though this would be a perfect chance. It was amzing to see the quick change from built up areas to peacefull, calm wildlife with vast amounts of water and crazy specicies of wildlife. Whilst we walked round the creek we came across different sizes of lizards, Kookaburras, Bugs of all shapes and sizes and some crabs and fish. We spent a few hours exploring and then quickly headed back for some sun bathing around the pool, it had been a whole day since we had seen the sun! Our check out day happened to fall on Australia day which is just a celebration of the country so while there were all sorts of festivities going on in the town we were packing up and having one last swim before we wandered into town to catch our bus up the coast. For our first stop it was a really really good choice everybody was helpful and friendly.

Sydney

Sydney is one of the best cities in the world that either of us have been to. It really was spectacular. We had seen the bridge and the Opera House in pictures and on T.V and we didn't think we would find it as breath taking as we did. Both are truely magnificent and really impressive, we couldn't take our eyes off the view across the harbour directly opposite the bridge and Opera House. The Opera House is very grand and is so amazing. It captures and represents Sydney in so many ways being modern, grand, unique and defined. So as you may all guess we were very taken by the city and loved savouring the atmosphere on aimless walks by the harbour. We were very lucky to have been taken in by Kayleigh and Todd, Barry knows Kayleigh from home, and they put us up (or should I phrase that put up with us!) for the weeks were in Sydney and we had such a great time and very much enjoyed their company. After many days exploring the city, we turned our attentions to the many beaches in and around Syndey-including Bondi beach which definately lived up to it's reputation of best beach! Many of you may already know we spent a day at Palm beach AKA Summer Bay! It was such a nice place and we had lunch at Alf Stewarts Surf Club-we have snaps to prove it!! The sea is incredible with such powerful waves that Barry spends hours in getting smashed around and if I can make it out passed knee deep without being floored then the waves are emense to swim in! Of course we spent a day at Olympic Park which was brilliant too. We managed to blag our way onto an explicit stadium tour for half price and it was so good. We got to see all the VIP areas, changing rooms and warm up rooms, how the stadium seats move and change the size and shape of the pitch and also the water structure that Kathy Freeman lit with the torch on the opening night of the 2000 Olympic games. We have seriously loved our time in Sydney and can't wait to go back to enjoy a few more days in such an awesome city!

Happy New year from Sydney

So we made it to our Greyhound bus on the Friday and we "relaxed" for 12 hours on the bus from Melbourne to Sydney, we travelled over night so we didnt loose any days for seeing the sights. We got into Sydney at half past 7 Saturday morning and the friends we are staing with very kindly picked us up from the coach! we got back to their flat which is only 15mins outside of the city and collapsed for the day just relaxing and getting to know Todd. We took a short walk and explored the local shops and the beach which is all very nice, before we crashed early for the night!
New years eve and we were very excited!! after a nice long sleep we got up for lunch and made our plans for the evening, we tried to meet up with Craig and his sister for the night but hundreds of thousands of people in the harbour made that impossible! we got a very busy bus down to the Quay side at half past four and went straight into a section called the East Quayside. we walked round with thousands of people trying to find the best view of things and it turned out we were right next to the Sydney Opera House and right opposite the Harbour bridge, we had by luck the perfect spot which made us even more excited! so we got a spot among loads of other people and sat for the next seven hours waiting.....and waiting....and waiting!! when it got to 9pm they had a smaller fireworks display for the familys that had to get home before midnight, and they alone were spectacular! so that made us even more excited for midnight. By this time the pavements were filled with people, sitting and standing,Offical numbers are over a million people!!!! when it got to just before midnight everyone was on their feet with cameras at the ready and a huge count down started on the bridge and then at midnight came 15mins of unbelievable, amzing, never to be beaten fireworks! it was so good to experience it and be there, something we will never forget! so after this there were over a million people tyring to find taxi's and buses to get home, luckily we made it to our bus and got home just after one, still excited from what we had just seen! Happy New year everyone!

Happy Christmas

well folks we had a great xmas! the few days before xmas we just relaxed really helped wrap presents, did a bit of xmas shopping etc! then the big day came!! it was a nice English day really, rain and hail but still hot! it was great as welll because of Artemis getting up early it gave us an excuse to be like kids again and get up nice and early for presents!! we spent the morning exchanging gifts which were all really nice from everyone!then just before lunch time we went to the first family stop off which was Fotis's god mother and god father where we had a few homemade cakes and a drink, and they had a nice catch up! after an hour or so there we departed for our xmas day feast which was at Fotis's aunts house we arrived there to a feast which could have fed a small country, we didnt have a small country so we ate it all! It was amazing there were 28 people sat around one huge table and they all made us feel so welcome,. it was a great experience and a great day! we stayed there until 10pm, we had a really good time, load sof fun! Boxing day was completely different to what we were both used to we totaly relaxed and recovered from all the food we had eaten and just did nothing! the fe days after xmas we spent in and around Frankston and the house packing up our stuff and cleaning our room. Sooner than expected it was Friday and we had to leave for Sydney, as much as we were excited we didnt want to leave either, and Artemis realy didnt want us to leave, she was hysterical!!

Getting Ready for Xmas!

Only a week to go until our hotest ever Christmas! its so bizzare it doesnt feel like xmas at all apart from the decrorations and the preszzies, its just too hot! we have had another busy week this week, we had a great day at the aquarium on monday as we told you last blog, feeding time was great to watch, mad that they just dive right in with the giant sharks! Tuesday we visited a few more tourist sites, The Old Jail in Melbourne where they hung prisoners back in the day and where they also held and hung Ned Kelly "hero to the people" aparently.... typical having a convict as a hero! very good film about him if your not sure who he is! also on the Tuesday we went to a small park which had a house that had been shipped over from England and was the house that Captain James Cook lived in, founder of the south coast of Australia, also in the park was a famous carved tree, full on animals and other creatures relating to an old childrens book. On wednesday we got half way to an open range zoo until the train broke down... some things dont change anywhere in the world! so we ended up back in the city further down the river than we ever had been at a new area which was home to "Galactic Circus" which had every game you could want to play, so we had a great time there, as well as a quick trip to the town hall. Thursday we thought we would take it easy on the beach but the weather did not let us, it was cloudy and on the verge of being a little chilly, well under 20degrees anyway! so instead we just wandered around the town and went for some lunch! Friday we stayed in with Fotis and helped him out around the house before going off to do a bit of xmas and birthday shopping with him and rushed ack for the afternoon and evening with the birthday girl Auntie Jo! this weekend was a busy one as well we went to a greek party on saturday which was just like a bit of a warm up for xmas and the amount of food was unbelievable i really cant wait for xmas now, its going to be brilliant! on sunday we met up with some of the family and went out for the day for Jo's birthday had a lovely lunch and met some really friendly people that we will be seeing for xmas!

xxx