Hey Again from Brisbane

Hey Everyone!

Well we're still in Brisbane and there's not really much to do! It's insanely hot and our hostel is the first one we've been in without a pool, and since there's no beaches in Brisbane we're practically dying! Well, unless you call the man-made lagoon a beach!

We got up late yesterday afternoon, after going out to the Down Under Bar the night before ('backpackers' bar, yet full of orientals and like being stuck in a can of sardines - not recommended), and went to the Streets Beach on Brisbane's South Bank, which is basically an open air swimming pool in the style of a beach, with sand on the floor and everything, and it was pretty packed with it being Saturday and very hot. We had a game of piggy in the middle (and I was naturally in the middle within the first two minutes) and then sat in the shade and just chilled. I've become so lazy here I don't think I'll be able to adjust going back to work in April!

In the evening Claire's Mum's Friend's Friend Lynne came to pick us up and take us to her house for tea. She was really cool and her family were really friendly - we felt right at home straight away. After tea we went out to a party with her son Steven (who was beautiful) and his mate Kieran (who was even more beautiful), which was pretty cool, no one could get over our Englishness. We left to go into town about 12:30, to escape some sleazy Aussie coming on to me, but once we got there we couldn't decide where to go, so we just went back to the hostel. We showed the guys the squeaky beds (who would not believe how squeaky the beds are in this place!) and played the usual drinking game again: 'Never ever have I', where you go round in a circle saying things you have never done, and whoever has done that has to drink. After some sparkling revelations it became apparent that we were a lot better at holding our wine than the guys, so unfortunately they had to go at about 4am (we were still wide awake - honest!), which was a shame cos they were well cool.

Today we were woken up about 10am by a very rude receptionist blaring out on the intercom about checking out, tours, what to do tonight. I swear he didn't do it Saturday morning so why now! I nearly marched downstairs and told him that since we were still recovering from the night before we weren't really interested in tonight's activities so shut up dude. But we're on the top floor so I didn't really have the energy. It didn't really matter anyway as we still didn't get up til gone midday. Ha ha. After making some breakfast/dinner we strolled down to the Eagle Street Sunday Market (the others stayed in and watched Hannibal cos it's too hot out - wusses!) and it was ok, didn't see anything worth buying but saw some really nice rings (the type you wear on your wedding finger just to turn heads!), and some really ringful bags, like with shoe heels on them! Urgh! Later on we're gonna look at the Botanic Gardens and then just go back and probably chill in the TV lounge as there's no pool! Grr!

We're also off to Mooloolaba tomorrow, which supposed to be a quiet beach town a bit smaller than Byron, and it's also where we do our skydiving! I can't wait for it I'm so excited. Oh yeh, also, we booked our Fraser Island and Whitsundays tours yesterday which came to $534 (over 200 quid). I nearly cried. But it's on the credit card so I'm trying not to think about it, and it should be well worth it as they are meant to be the two most beautiful islands in Australia. We hope.

Speak to you all soon!

ps. I have a new blog which Paul has set up, it's a dictionary of some terms that we use that not a lot of other people do (mainly because we made them up). So if you're confused or want a laugh go to www.egglementary.blogspot.com (it's not for the faint hearted!)

Brisbane: 'The River City'

Yo Mofos.

So what do I think of Surfer's? Well to be honest I didn't think it was that bad. What bugged me was that it rained everyday we were there so we never got the chance to experience the major highlight - the beach! And since we're not really in Australia for the theme/water parks, Surfer's attractions didn't really appeal. Everything is orientated around spending money and is very commercial and... well, American, for want of a better description! The whole layout of the city is based on Miami, and beside your countless shopping malls and arcades you also have the delights of Blockbuster Video, Domino's Pizza, McDonalds, Hungry Jacks (known as Burger King in the UK) and Starbucks. I can understand why Australians would go there on holiday, because as David said, "Everything is for the tourists", but for a backpacker there's not much to offer on a rainy day. Except for Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

We got the bus to Currumbin on Thursday morning, after checking out of the hostel and getting up unnaturally early after a hefty night out with the hostel. It took about 30 mins to get to the Wildlife Sanctuary, and although it was $25 to get in (tenner) it was well worth it. It was much bigger than I anticipated and as soon as we walked in we saw exactly what we had come to see - koalas! They were bigger than I imagined but very cute, curled up in balls in the most uncomfortable looking positions, wedged in between tree branches. Apparently this position minimises heat loss on rainy days. On sunny days they sprawl out. Here's more interesting facts about koalas to impress your friends:

• 'Koala' is aboriginal for 'no water', because they hardly drink at all.
• They spent 80% of their lives sleeping, 19% eating, and 1% moving.
• This is because they only eat eucalyptus leaves, which release a minimum amount of calories.
• They can't even digest eucalyptus leaves, their only food source, a bacterium does it for them which their mothers feed to them in the form of faeces when they are born.
• This bacterium is a derirative of chlamydia, so they all have chlamydia.
• Their pouches are upside down.
• Research shows they actually might be getting dumber by every generation, which defies evolution.

Anyway, so yeah the koalas were really cool. We resisted the urge to have a picture done with them as we're not Japanese. We also saw aboriginal dancers, turtles, snakes, possums, fish, lizards, goannas, crocodiles, wombats, tasmanian devils, dingoes, wallabies, emus, cassowaries, echidnas and - get this - we FED kangaroos! It was so good! I had so much fun and I would recommend it to anyone.

We got back about 5pm, David came to pick us up, and after a humungous lamb dinner and Christmas pudding, ice cream and custard for sweets (and a truly weird film with Tom Hanks) it was an early night as we were so tired from the previous night out!

This morning we got up very early on David's insistance that we set off an hour earlier than necessary, ("Just to make sure") and after a cooked breakfast, a few photos and meeting up with the guys back at the hostel we were on our way to Brisbane. It looked very city-like as we were driving in, but as it was a sunny day it looked pretty impressive. Our hostel said they had us booked at their annexe 3 blocks down the main street, and after carting our rucksacks, hand luggage and food bags all the way down there they were like, "Er... your not booked here." The result meant that even though there was 8 of us (enough to fill a dorm) they've put Me and Claire in a separate room on the floor above, and the others are all in the same room! Gutted! It's ok though cos 2 of the guys were in a whole separate hostel in Surfer's and we still saw them all the time. Oh well.

Had a bit of a look around Brisbane this afternoon, mainly down Queen Street Mall, and found the tackiest, most cheesiest souvenir shop in the world, ever. It's called 'Australia, The Gift', and they have a voiceover saying "... because Australia is a gift to the rest of the world". Me and Claire were in fits. They had all sorts of crap, including koala pasta shapes, which I felt very tempted to buy for the novelty value. In the end we were very boring and just bought keyrings (mine a koala - my new favourite animal, and Claire's a platypus cos they're way cool) and some postcards. I promise I will buy some novelty crap for you guys back home at some point!

I'll post again before we leave Brisbane and let you know what's happening. Take care!

Seeing More of Surfer's

Hello Again!

So what did we do yesterday. Well were pretty tired after Monday night but we'd arranged to meet David outside the hostel at midday (we'd managed to get hold of him Monday evening) so we had to drag ourselves out of bed! When they arrived Linda looked exactly as I imagined - short, blonde with glasses - but David was a lot taller and built than I thought he'd be. They drove us around Surfer's showing us Pacific Fair (yet another humungous shopping mall), the canals - which we learned are shark infested - and eventually Upton Street, where Nanny and Grandad lived when they were here and where my Mum was born. I was a bit disappointed if I'm honest cos it was in three sections; two short residential streets and one long road with retail outlets on it. So I didn't have the first clue where their house would've been, cos all the house numbers have changed too. Oh well. I can't imagine what Mum is gonna think when she comes and how different it's gonna look. Then we went back to their house and had some dinner, and then David took us to Sanctuary Cove, a Haven-style holiday resort with a little shopping village and stuff on the river which is also open to the public. We also went to Sovereign Island, where all the millionaires live. It was amazing - the houses were huge and no two were identical, so they were clearly the results of the owners hiring architects and having their own customised house built.

We had a barbeque tea at David and Linda's, and met their son Jason and his wife and son, Mandy and Brandon. Mandy recommended a wildlife park in Currumbin as we're not really up for all the theme parks and water parks that Surfer's boasts due to our tight budgets. Apparently you can feed kangaroos and stuff at this park so think we may go tomorrow. Then over dinner we had a lot of fun telling her what is gonna happen in Coronation Street and Eastenders as they're about two years behind here (Richard Hillman has just died and Jamie hasn't died yet!). Their son Brandon was so cute, he's only 5 but is in school already - they start at 6 here. We had so much to eat I felt like I was gonna explode! David and Linda are really generous they can't do enough for you. Every 5 mins they're asking if you want something to eat or drink or whether they can get this or that for you. After tea we watched British Telly - What Not to Wear, Rose and Maloney, Bargain Hunt (I can't believe I've come to Australia to watch Bargain Hunt!), then came back for an early night.

Today I think we might go down to the beach - we've been here nearly 3 days and still not even seen it even though it's about a minute down the road! But the weather is still rubbish - it's been cloudy and rainy a bit since we got here. There's another bar crawl on tonight too. Hee hee.

I'll try and post again before we leave Surfer's, but we're staying at David and Linda's tomorrow night and they don't have net access, so the next time I post may be from Brisbane, we'll see. Take care everyone!

Sufferer's Parasite? Personally I think that's rather harsh!

Hey All!

Our last night in Byron was so good, we drank loads of wine and took some photos before we left to go out (poor Jake had about 20 cameras to take the same photo for everyone!), and then we went down to the beach hotel again, where they had another really good live act on. They were a 5 piece comprising of a funky-house dj, a female vocalist who contributed the odd "ooh" and "aah" and "yeh", 2 guys on bongo drums and a front man who alternated between a sax and a flute. They were amazing and we had a right good dance, and of course stopped on the way back for a kebab (3rd night in a row!). It was really hard saying goodbye to Jodie, Emily, Jemma and Shelby who were staying in Byron for a bit longer, cos we've all been together since leaving Sydney and made really good friends. Jodie, Emily and Jemma all live in the northwest so that's quite good that they're close, but chances are we'll probably never see Shelby again as she's from British Columbia.

Anyway, it was really hard leaving Byron on Monday morning, I had so much fun there and just loved the atmosphere, I would recommend any Australia-goer to go there and give it a week at least. Our driver from Byron to Surfer's was quite an ass really, he talked for almost all of the 2hr journey, mostly nonsensical waffle, but he totally slated Surfer's - he kept referring to it as 'Sufferer's Parasite' and talking about how rubbish and tourist ridden it was and how you might as well just go to Miami or LA. Fair enough if it's not got much culture or character, but we reckoned he just wanted to keep us on his bus. We arrived at the Surfer's Paradise Transit Centre about 8:45am (Queensland is an hour behind NSW as they don't believe in Daylight Saving Time) and got a courtesy bus to our hostel. It's a lot smaller than I imagined, and because it's got a bar you can't bring in your own alcohol (which is rubbish). We also ran into Tony in the reception (a guy who was with us from Sydney to Byron but left Byron early to go to Brisbane, and now he's on his way back down), so that was really cool. Anyway, we rang David and Linda once we were sorted, but there was no answer so we decided to go and have a mooch into the centre.

Our hostel is about a 15-20mins walk from the centre, the same as our hostel in Byron to the beach, but because there's nothing but restaurants, motels and apartment buildings along the way it's a rather boring trek and feels like it takes forever. Surfer's Paradise is the type of place that is always being knocked down and rebuilt, and although it's on the coast it's lined with high-rise buildings and skyscrapers; it's nowhere near as chilled out and mellow as Byron, it actually reminds me a lot of what San Diego looked like. Anyway, once we (finally) got into the centre I was shocked to see a HMV - would you believe it! We went for some dinner at Subway (oh, the shame!) and then went for a Boost (remember, the smoothies that they had in Sydney?). We got chatting to the cute guy behind the counter, who was clearly on his first week as his supervisor was standing over his shoulder and frowning upon his excess of zeal with us in particular. Eventually she pointed out the long queue of customers behind us and we had to part ways. We had a mooch around the shopping centre (which there is an abundance of here, you don't have to go far without running into yet another Trafford Centre-style shopping mall) and got some supplies from Woolworths, before coming back and chilling out outside the bar all afternoon.

After making some tea we sat outside the bar some more (there's not much to do when your hostel is like 5000 miles from the centre!) and met some people Tony had made friends with, a guy called Mike from Canada (everyone here is from Canada) and a really cool guy called Graham who was born in South Africa, has lived in Belgium and Zimbabwe but now dwells in Edinburgh. Claire quickly got to work chatting him up by talking to him about the political situations in S.Africa and Zimbabwe, of which I know little so I kept quiet until I could think of the odd intelligent thing to say!

Then the hostel organised a bar crawl to compensate for us not being allowed to have our own alcohol, so we went along, naturally! We first went to an Irish Bar, I think it was called O'Malleys but I wouldn't swear by that. I bought 2 cheapy vodka drinks, got a free shot and blagged a second free shot. Then I managed to chat to Graham, and it eventually became clear that he liked me more than Claire. Oops! She didn't look impressed.

Then we moved on to a bar/nightclub called Shooters, where we got two free drinks vouchers, but because Helen had made friends with the organiser girl she managed to blag a whole drinks voucher book, which she kindly shared with all of us! It was a really good night. On the way back I finally resisted the urge to get a kebab, even though everyone else was gettin one! It was so hard! And once we were back at the hostel and I'd had a motherly lecture from Claire, Me and Graham stayed outside til about 6am chatting. I just realised today that I was up for 24 hrs on Monday. No wonder I was so tired yesterday! Anyway he moved on to Byron on Tuesday afternoon so I'll probably never see him again now. Such is life! (Those were Ned Kelly's last words you know. Bit of culture there for you.)

Anyway, I'll put yesterday's events into a next blog cos this is getting way too long. Plus you'll probably want to hear about Surfer's Paradise and not my drunken adventures!

Nimbin - Australia's Hippie and Hemp Capital!

Hey all you Poms!

We did go to Cheeky Monkeys for tea on Friday night, I had the fish and chips for $7 but it was no where near as good as in Sydney. It was lots of fun they had prizewinning games on like 'Ball in the Hole' and 'Heads or Tails'. Anyway Me, Claire, Cat and Jessie went back to the hostel as we had a lot of wine back there and not much money, and we played this drinking game where each card of a suit of cards means a different drinking consequence, and eventually some random people who were sat on the table with us joined in and it all got a bit crazy when I ended up having 4 cups of rose wine in about 30 mins! We went back to Cheeky Monkeys afterwards as it turns from a restaurant into a bar after 10:30pm and they let you dance on the tables and stuff. It was very good. We only went to bed about 12:30 but I was completely hammered. I woke up about 5am and couldn't understand why my CD player was sat next to me and my headphones were wrapped around my neck. Not good.

On Saturday we booked our trip to Nimbin, hired a bodyboard and trekked down to the beach. We went in the sea to test out the bodyboard after our surfing lesson on Thursday, but apparently the day before it had been really windy and washed a load of bluebottles (jellyfish) ashore, now it was just a load of seaweed. I know it sounds really girly but I was only in the sea for about 2 mins cos I couldn't stand the seaweed wrapping itself around my legs and toes and stuff! Ugh! Claire said there were no decent waves anyway. After dinner it just got so hot that Me, Claire Cat and Dave retreated to the shade of the trees to play some cards. Dave threw a massive toddler-style strop when we wouldn't play Black Jack to his rules (which he was blatantly adding as we went along!) but other than that it was an easy, lazy afternoon. We (all the girls) had a massive debate/alcohol-fuelled arguement with the lads after tea about whether or not and why people cheat on their girl/boyfriends while they're away, which was really insensitive on their part as one of the girls has left her guy at home, so we went to the Beach Hotel to chill out and calm down. Unfortunately it was a short night on my part as I couldn't find my room key so I went back early with Claire to see if I'd put it down in the room. I had done. Doh!

Today we've been to Nimbin, and it was pretty cool. We boarded the 'Happy Coach' at about 10am and stopped at Bangalow first as there was a market on. It was a very similar sort of market to one that I've been to in Es Cana, Ibiza (so Lou, Amy and Mum will know), with stalls selling fruits, jams, honey, home-made body products, clothes, jewellery, books, and all sorts of bric-a-brac. We bought nothing other than a smoothie as it was so darn hot! The next stop was a brief one at Lismore (or Lesmore if you prefer, as it boasts the highest lesbian population in Australia, apparently) and we were shown a sign on a telegraph pole marking where the flood level was in 1974, and it was at least 15ft up the pole. Apparently they have a lot of floods in Lismore, and consequently all the houses are on stilts. We arrived in Nimbin for lunch, and we visited the Hemp Embassy, advocates in promoting changes in the law regarding smoking pot, and various little shops boasting much Hemp memorabilia. It was ok, and we got offers to buy Ganja Cookies on several occasions. As tempting as it was, the Happy Coach was raided 8 days ago so I didn't really fancy risking it! On the way back we drove through the World Heritage Forest, the world's oldest rainforest, and visited Minyon Falls, which was really just a huge waterfall but was still very pretty.

We leave for Surfer's Paradise tomorrow, where my Nanny's cousin David and his wife Linda live, so I'm very much looking forward to meeting them and seeing some old photos of my Mum, when she lived there. The weather has been extremely hot and sticky over the past few days so I think we're due a storm, and I've already started to peel... really badly! I feel like such a leper!

Anyway I'll post again from Surfer's. Hope all is well up there! Take care everyone!

Queen of the Surf! or maybe a Duchess' Dog or something

Hey Peeps!

I'm still having a fantastic time in Byron Bay, the weather is scorching now and I've fallen in love with the beach. I'm thinking I don't really want to leave on Monday now, but if we don't we'll be running short for time. It's well annoying.

We went surfing yesterday with Black Dog Surfing, and they actually have a black dog called Gidget who can surf like a pro. We had to carry the boards down to the beach from the car park and I'd never really given much thought as to how heavy they would be - and they really were! After some stretches on the sand our instructors Evan and Sam (who was British) showed us how to stand on our boards and how to get ourselves up by having us draw boards in the sand. I could do it all pretty well... until I got in the water! The guys pushed us with the waves and chose them for us so the only thing we had to do was try to stand up, but it all just totally left my brain and I didn't even attempt to stand up on my first go! I was completely useless. Seriously, the worst surfer in the world ever would've been laughing at me. Then after an hour of being called Aguilera by Sam, not managing to stand up and always falling off (and Claire doing extremely well, which took another whack at my already wounded ego!) we went for a break, and sat on the beach feeling very hot and bothered in our wetsuits and ate oranges. Then we went back in for another 30 mins or so, and on my first go I managed to stand up. For about a whole 30 seconds! I was so chuffed! I was like "Yeeeessss!! Come on!" Then after that I only managed it about 3 more times. And on my last go my toes got tangled in the ankle rope. Well gutted. Anyway it was a lot of fun and it would be a crime to come to Australia and not at least try to learn to surf. So it was worth it!

Yesterday afternoon we were truly exhausted, so the rest of the day was spent lazing by the pool and reading Michael Palin (he's been neglected since the plane), and in the evening we all (of us off the bus) decided we were gonna go on a bender as a guy called Tony was leaving to go to Brisbane the next morning. We all met outside on the benches in the hostel courtyard at about 8:30 (after Me and Claire had trapsed all the way to the off license to get a 5 pound box of rose) and we finally made a move to the Beach Hotel Bar at about 10:30 as the wardens wanted to close up. The Beach Hotel is a really classy looking bar just on the beach. I'd only had 3 cups of our wine and 1 cup of Tony's red but I was totally plastered, so by the time we reached the Beach Hotel I didn't need any more - especially not that tequila slammer that I mistook for a flavoured vodka shot. Urgh. Anyway, we had a right good dance to the band that was on, Elation (www.elation.com.au), who were really good. The music was like nothing I've heard before, it was like a mixture of house and rock. It was well ace. Then we moved on to Cheeky Monkeys which is right opposite our hostel and where a couple of the girls have got jobs, but it was really cramped and crowded so we came straight out again and went for a kebab, as Martin speaks so highly of them! If I can give anyone any advice for going out round Byron, don't have chilli sauce on your kebab. Unless you don't value your mouth. After our kebab we met up with the guys who stayed at the Beach Hotel Bar and we sat on the beach (this was now about 2:15am). I think I texted Mum then. I don't really remember.

Today has been a real lazy day again, we've just been chilling out by the pool but it's gotten so hot we decided to come in the net cafe to cool off! The plan tonight is to go to Cheeky Monkeys for tea with the guys, as they apparently have a $5 (2 quid) menu! I hope it's BYO though cos we've got 3 litres of rose sat in the fridge!

I really am loving Byron too much and I don't want to leave! I hope Surfers isn't too hardcore cos I'm liking the laid-backness of Byron and we've heard Surfers is a bit more touristy. The upside of it all is that all the guys we've made friends with off the coach are all leaving on Monday like we are and are staying in the same hostel when we get to Surfers. We've already arranged a day out at Wet and Wild. It's gonna be so cool!

I'll post again at the end of the week and tell you all about Nimbin. That should be interesting!

Ta ta for now campers!

Byron Bay just keeps getting better!

Hey Y'All! The weather is so much better today, and now I'm really starting to like it here!

Yesterday we went for a mooch around the shops down the main street after we posted on our blogs. There's a real laid-back, hippie culture to Byron, so there's loads of shops selling things like crafts, trinkets, incense and floaty clothes, and we even found a shop selling a range of bodycare products with 'marijuana essence'! You also tend to see an abundance of tanned, oldish, skinny guys with long dreads, no shoes or shirts and an aroma of patchouli oil about them stalking down the main street, as well as buskers of the same appearance with pipes and didgeridoos. We walked all the way down to the beach and to Captain Cook's Lookout - a tall rock set in front of the cliff face which you can walk up - and watched the surfers for a while. I'm thinking I may go down with Claire on Thursday and give it a go too! We're going on a 3 hr surfing lesson with Black Dog Surfing and it's only costing us 20 quid so it should at least be a laugh if nothing else! In the evening there was a barbeque on that we couldn't really afford (we're so poor!) so since everyone was going to that and not really going out round Byron we decided to stay in Claire's appartment with some pasta, a bottle of wine, chocolate and The Shawshank Redemption on rental. It was nice to have a cosy night in for a change. Plus I didn't really want to go back to my appartment early and disturb the couple I'm sharing with!

Today we swapped rooms again after breakfast and we're finally in a dorm together now - yey! After settling in we set out walking to Cape Byron Lighthouse. It was a longer walk than we anticipated, and although it was cloudy we still managed to get burnt! We really should've packed some lunch, but what we did instead was have a lovely ice cream once we got to the lighthouse to keep us going! There was some stunning views though, and there's just something about being high up by the sea that no feeling can match. It was fantastic. We also saw our first snake(along the path) and some dolphins (in the water - obviously!). We walked back the opposite way to which we had come, so we walked around the peninsula to Captain Cook's Lookout, passing Australia's Most Easternly Mainland Point, where you can see the first sunrise in Australia, if you're feeling inclined to drag yourself out of bed for 4:45am! We walked back along the beach, and the surf looked so good we decided that after we'd had some lunch we would go back down to the beach and play in the sea! We did, and it was so much fun, though the rips are really strong and you get knocked over by waves (or they knock me over, at least) even at only knee depth!

The plan for tonight isn't too hectic; we're gonna go back, eat, shower, do some washing, and if some of the guys from the coach are going out we may tag along, or we might go to the cinema if it's not too expensive, I'm not sure yet. I'm really starting to love it here though; I can see why so many people come here just for a couple of days and end up staying a week. It's just so laid back and the beach is gorgeous, especially now it's a bit sunnier! It's a shame really cos even though we're moving quite quickly up the East Coast, there's loads of places we want to stop at between Brisbane and Cairns so there's not really much lee-way to stay here longer. We're booking our Cairns to Darwin flight tomorrow, hopefully for the 23rd February (Louisa's feared 20th! Ha Ha!) which leaves us exactly 5 weeks to travel the East Coast. It seems a long time but when you think we've already been here a week and a half it's not really!

For the rest of this week we haven't really planned much; there's not a lot to do here by way of sightseeing so we'll probably spend most of our time chilling out. We're going for our surfing lesson tomorrow (where they "guarantee to have you standing up" by the end - not sure whether it'll be in the water or not!). We're also hoping to take a day trip to Nimbin on Sunday, as then is when they have a market on. Nimbin is apparently the Amsterdam of Australia, where up until recently you would be offered drugs every two minutes as you walk the main street, and where virtually everybody is stoned, but currently the police are cracking down and it's not really advisable to be making any purchases whilst your on the trip. Not that I was planning on doing. No, seriously! I just want to go for the sheer amusement. Claire's the one who wants to get wasted! ;o)

I'm gonna go now and nurse my sunburn. At least I've got a bit of colour now! I just wish I didn't have obvious white strap marks where my top AND my rucksack have been!

I'll let you know how the surfing goes (or doesn't go, as the case will probably be!) in due course. Hope everyone is well and all is good up there. Let me know what you're up to!

It's all about the rain in Byron Bay...

Afternoon All! Now I can actually write from the right time! I just had so much to tell you about the last few days I could never have put it all in one post. But I'll just carry on where I left off.

Yesterday morning a few of us got up early to go horseriding. There was only about half the coach doing it, but Bogan had hyped it up so much and it was only about 12 quid for 2.5 hrs so it was bound to be worth it. Anyway it started raining really hard as we were munching breakfast, and after some deliberation it started to die down so luckily we still got to go out. We had to sign a waver to say that if we injured ourselves or died or something it wasn't their fault, so that really didn't fill me with confidence! And then I was put on a really big horse and I was higher than everyone else, so I didn't feel much better! Once we set out though it was good, we followed the river and crossed it in places and did some trotting. I'd totally forgotten how to do it though, so I got some help from a leader who showed me how to canter too. It was lots of fun, the only problem being that my shoes kept slipping in the stirrups and it was really painful and uncomfortable while I was trotting. We stopped by the river and got the chance to strip to our bikinis and ride the horses bareback in the water. I hate to think how dirty and full of horse poo the water was but I didn't really care it was so much fun! It was well worth it.

We came back to the pub, showered profusely and hopped back on the bus by 11:30am to start making our way to Byron Bay. We stopped in Inverell for dinner, and after attempting to hunt down the elusive Subway we resided to a quiet cafe for a toastie and milkshake. We got back on the bus and since we had a long journey (about 485km altogether) Bogan put on his skydiving and bungee videos for us. I'm feeling very inspired into doing a skydive now. If Claire and Martin can do it I don't see why I can't! Apparently the cheapest place is in Mooloolaba at about 80 quid so may look into it there. We also watched Finding Nemo and Shrek 2, and had a fuel stop in Grafton so the journey felt quite short.

We arrived in Byron Bay at about 7:30pm and it was chucking it down. The town looked really dingy and dark in the rain. After a quick tour we got dropped off at our hostel that Bogan had arranged, the Holiday Village Backpackers. After waiting 45 mins in the queue to check in we were told they only had the TV lounge left, which didn't close until 10:30pm and with nowhere for us to change or secure our bags until then. I was absolutely livid, and really wished I'd sorted my own accommodation out as they were really taking the mick, especially since they were still charging us $22 a night for it (a 3.00 pound discount). The only upside was that they could get us in a dorm (but separately) the next night, then together on Wednesday. We had to put our bags in Helen's room (a nice girl from Taunton) as the TV lounge was full of people and got changed to go out in there too.

We went out in the evening as Bogan had sorted an night out to Cocomangas for food and cavhorting (a bar / restaurant / nightclub) and after a few of us had some food we moved on to the Rails Bar to see where everyone was. There was some of the coach crew there but no sign of Bogan all night, so we had no one to moan to about the state of the accommodation! I phoned Mum and moaned to her, then we went back to the hostel about midnight to catch some kip.

Anyway, the whole thing doesn't seem so bad today, we've been put in appartments tonight but separately, and I'm sharing with a couple. I hate that cos it's like I'm gonna be intruding now and you just know I'm gonna walk in on them or something! But the staff say they'll get us together in a dorm tomorrow so hopefully it should be ok. A lesson has definitely been learned - I'll be booking our accommodation for Surfer's Paradise as soon as I finish this post!

We hope to stay in Byron until Monday, and the plan is to just mooch around the shops, chill out and not burn! on the beach and walk up to the lighthouse at some point. I'll post sometime later this week and let you know what's been going down!

Thanks for listening!

Leaving Sydney for the Country - Warrumbungle National Park and Bingara

Hey All! Again, I'm sorry folks but I'm actually writing this in Byron on Tuesday 18th, but if I wrote about the last 4 days in one post your eyes would become unfocused! So I'm going to write about the last 2 days as if it was Sunday. Got that? Good.

Saturday morning was an ungodly early start again, we had a coach to catch at 7am so we said our goodbyes and thankyous to a sleepy and not-quite-with-it Stuart and Craig and set off for the Warrumbungles. The bus was about three times as full as it was yesterday and our driver today was called Darren (or Bogan). He had some choice phrases, such as 'Ok Trendsetters...' and 'It's just all too easy!', which was quite funny. We stopped quite frequently on the way, partly for Bogan's fag breaks and partly cos we had a long stint - 560km to cover in one day. The first stop was at Bilpin, which was a road in the middle of some trees with 2 fruit outlets on opposite sides of the road to each other. That was it. I kid you not! Luckily, one of them sold sandwiches, cakes and toasties so we had second breakfast in silence as we'd not yet plucked up the courage to speak to any of the crew on the coach! We stopped a second time in Mudgee for dinner, and since we'd chatted to a girl called Gemma from Cheshire and she was travelling on her own she joined us in the 'Coffee 'n' Cream Cafe' where I had a giant chocolate milkshake and a 'works' hot dog - with bacon, onion, cheese and bbq sauce on it! The heat was immense - pushing 45C and since the town was in the middle of nowhere there was no breeze at all. The next stop was at Poet's Corner Winery and Vineyards for some wine-tasting and a tour of the cellars. We unfortunately didn't get a tour of the vineyards as it was so hot, but I came out feeling slightly tiddly so I was happy!

We finally got to the Warrumbungles around 5pm. We were staying in a bush camp which had proper rooms and everything, but there was a spider in the corner of our room so that was slightly unnerving! After a roast dinner for tea we hung around and chatted to the coach crew for a while, and then a woman called Mel came to give us a slide-show talk about astronomy. She was slightly mouthy as she had a 8 wk old baby and was a bit sleep-deprived, but the stuff she talked about was really interesting - the different planets and galaxies and stars and nebulas and what not. Then she took us outside for a star-gaze, and she pulled out this well-cool light sabre like device. It was a really strong green laser which sent out a ray which was miles long, and she used it to point to the stars and tell us what they were. We saw Orion (upside down to the northern hemisphere), Saturn and loads of other little constellations. For the whole package - the roast dinner, the room, breakfast and the star show we paid about $36 (about 15 quid) so it was pretty good value. After chatting some more we went to bed early as we were so tired.

In the morning we had breakfast (cereal and toast, all carbs - not good) and set out to the Warrumbungle National Park to do another bush walk up to the Breadknife. This is another protruding rock made of ancient lava; the volcanic mountain that was around it had eroded off leaving this rock. The walk was only about 2hrs and not too strenuous, and we saw our first emus and kangaroos! And the roos were in full bounce! I can go home happy now. We planned to see the Observatory but everyone was so hungry after our useless carbohydrate breakfast! that we all decided to skip it and go for lunch in Narrabri.

Narrabri was Australia's Cotton Capital back in the day, but now it's just a main road with a few shops on really. We couldn't resist having a Subway for lunch after seeing the sign, and since I've never had one in Britain it doesn't really count as not sampling native cuisine! It was, needless to say, delicious, and I was so impressed and still hungry that I had two. Yum. On the way to Bingara we stopped in the Glacial Rock Area to have a swim in the river. It was absolutely gorgeous and still, in between two rapids, and it was really nice to cool off in the heat. We took some photos of the type you see in the backpacker brochures of people swimming in rivers so I feel well cool now! We also saw a turtle (which we at first mistook for a sea-snake - pandemonium ensued) and spent a good hour or so chilling out.

We arrived in Bingara around 5pm, and we were staying in the 'Imperial Hotel' (which was, in all honesty, a pub) and our dorm was MASSIVE! All the single girls were staying in it but we could've easily fit the whole bus in twice over. Bingara was another small town in the middle of nowhere with only a main street, but it was apparently the place to come if you wanted to mine some gold or diamonds in the 19th century. We paid around $70 for board, food and a 2.5hr horse ride in the morning. It's hard to self-cater when we're only there one night and there's nothing by way of a kitchen, so sometimes you just have to go with the flow. After a BBQ dinner and a few games of cards we ventured into the bar (where, funnily enough, the locals had flocked after seeing the big green Oz Bus - 'Girls!'). I had a schooner (between a half and a pint) of Tooheys - like Fosters - and drank that all night. It probably wasn't the best idea since we were up early the next day for horse riding! Had a few games of pool with the guys, chatted with Bogan about what sort of stuff we can do up the East Coast (I'm contemplating a sky-dive in Mooloolaba, not sure yet) and turned in about 1am as the poor barmaids wanted to go home!

We're off to Byron Bay tomorrow! Can't wait for that as we've heard so many good things about the place, and although it's gonna be busy Bogan has sorted our accommodation for us so it should be 'All Too Easy!'

Cheerio for now!

Biking and Bushwalking in The Blue Mountains

Hello Everyone! I'm actually writing this in Byron on Tuesday 18th, but I'll write as if it's still Friday and all my thoughts and stuff from then, and keep the magic going!

I got homesick for the first time last night. I'd just been speaking to Mum in the phone and then me and Craig were listening to a CD in the headphones. When 'God Only Knows' by the Beach Boys came on I just started crying cos we all watched Love Actually on Christmas Day at home and that's the song that plays out at the end. I felt like such a geek!

Anyway, today we got up really early to make the 7:30am Oz Bus to the Blue Mountains. This mountain range is named so because the vegetation is 70% eucalyptus trees, which give off a blue vapour which creates a blue haze over the mountains. We actually blagged this trip; we had a voucher from a gap book in the library at school back home, which we took to STA and they put on both of our passes (although it was only for one person!). So we got the trip totally free for the both of us! Anyway, there was only us and about 10 other people, and instead of the smelly, beer-gutted old guy I was expecting for a driver we got a immensely gorgeous 20-odd yr old guy called Pete (or PJ), who was really friendly and chatted to us the whole journey. We stopped at a small town called Glenbrook for lunch on the way, which was a really quaint little village off the highway. Apparently it used to be called 'Watertank' as it was where the trains would stop and refuel on their way up the mountain back in the 19th century. They're simple people, these Aussies.

When we got to the start of the mountain bike ride we were kitted out with bikes and helmets by a young guy called Ryan (who was also very beautiful) and we set off to see some of the mountains. We were out for about 2.5 hrs and saw some spectacular views of the 'Australian Grand Canyon'. I took so many photos I had to change film halfway through! I also got to chat with the folks on the coach; we heard our first unfamiliar northern accent from a guy from Manchester who had never been to Australia before but was mid-immigration and was just looking for somewhere he'd like to stay, a Canadian guy called Cam and a woman called Jenny who had been in Phuket at the time of the tsunami, but had booked her accommodation late so had got somewhere far back from the coast. I don't think there's any skin left on her teeth. It was a very hot day - pushing +40C - and by the last 20 mins of the ride I was very breathless and woozy. Ryan stayed with me but I felt like such a wimp being at the back of the group, and having to push the bike up a 2% incline cos I couldn't hack it! We later found out that they've only been running this trip for 12 weeks and had 4 hospital trips already, including a British guy who lost his scrotum on the handlebar after skidding down a steep decline. Ouch.

We stopped off in Blackheath for lunch, and after a large glass of cold coke and our melted packed lunch I felt much better. Blackheath was a town similar to Glenbrook, and was a halfway-house for travellers over the mountains back in the 19th century. Both towns provoked an image of what I'd imagine small towns in America to look like, with their shelters over shop windows and saloon-type pubs. We then stopped at Govett's Leap which is a lookout at which a bushranger called Govett was supposed to have fallen to his death after trying to escape the law. The whole story is a complete fabrication of course, a way of getting tourism into Blackheath. The Leap had some fantastic views though, you could see all the way down the valley of the Blue Mountains.

Then we went for a bushwalk near Scenic World, down the mountain to where an old coal and shale mine lies. We walked down all 1029 steps of the mountain, passing the Three Sisters (three giant stalactites protruding from the edge of the mountain). Aboriginal legend has it that these rocks are actually three Aboriginal girls, who were turned to stone by their father (who is apparently now a sort of bird after he turned his wand on himself) as they were being chased by a bigfoot type of creature. Hmm. We also saw Australia's largest free-falling waterfall, cliffs, gorges and plenty of over-hanging rocks, one of which we all stood underneath and shouted 'Doh!' to create an echo on the other side of the mountain. It was pretty cool. We took the 'Scenic Railway' back up the mountain, which looked like a rollercoaster and took you up backwards at a 45-55 degree angle. That was amazing as you could see the landscape unfolding below you.

On the way back we stopped in Katoomba to switch drivers, and some of the people on the coach decided to get off and stay a night. I wish we could've done, the town was lovely, there was plenty of activities to be done like canyoning and abseiling, and the YHA looked really nice, but we have a bus booked out of Sydney for tomorrow.

The plan for tonight is just to go out to Darling Harbour for a couple of drinks, as it's getting quite stormy, we're very tired after all our exertions today and we have to be up at 5:30am tomorrow. I'll let you know how its going in the Warrumbungles and Bingara as soon as I get chance.

TTFN!

Beach Bum's gone very RED!

G'Day Folks!

Well after I left you on Tuesday we went to the cinema as it was 'Cheap Night' (same price as normal days in the UK - the flicks are very expensive over here) and saw 'Ladder 49', and unless your into cheesy American drama of the Sky Moviemax variety I wouldn't badger you to go and see it. Mum you'd love it. We got some Mix-Up M&Ms too, which are regular, peanut and crispy M&Ms all in one packet. I'm telling you the variety of flavours of different things over here is mesmerising - they have Raspberry Fanta and Diet Coke with Lime, and so many different kinds of Cadbury's Dairy Milk it's scary. They also still call Snickers Marathons and have old packaging on their chocolate. Not tried any yet though as it's quite expensive.

Anyway, yesterday (Weds) we got up early and caught the 9:30 ferry to Manly, a beach resort north-east of the Harbour. The area was quite touristy, with the usual tat shops and stuff that you tend to find around Blackpool, Morecambe and Canary Island beach resorts, but the beach was divine. I didn't go in the sea though, as the lifeguards moving the flags every 30 mins didn't really fill me with confidence! I got to work tanning myself about 10:30, and despite regular top-ups of factor 25, by 2:30 I was burnt to a frazzle! I must have missed a few spots. My ass and feet are the worst (let's just say my feet look like they've been whacked with a blunt instrument and it's left a hefty bruise, and I'm wearing a white bikini no matter what clothes I'm wearing) but my chest and belly are coming in a close second. It's not pretty, let alone painless! So after admitting that the beach was too much for our fair skin we trotted down the main street for a 'Boost' - smoothies sold at Starbucks-stylee outlets - as I'd heard so much about them (a guy in the flat can tell you whereabouts any smoothie is on the menu!). I had a 'Strawberry Squeeze' and it was lovely. I think I may be hooked! For tea we met Craig at a pub that has a $5 menu, so I had fish and chips and a coke which came to $8 altogether - about 3 quid so you can't whack it really! Then we went back to the flat and chilled out cos my bum didn't really feel up to going out!

Today we got up quite late and headed out to the Australian Museum (inside! shade! no burning!), via the indoor market. I'd been looking for some flip-flops that would be suitable for going out in, cos I'm not really sure that the dress code for most bars would accommodate trainers or sandals! I found some for $3 (about 1.20) so you can pretty much guarantee they'll only last me about a week! But I couldn't resist the bargain. Once Claire had found some sunglasses we carried on to the museum, passing the ANZAC War Memorial. Inside the building was a dome ceiling, which had a gold star engraved into it for every Australian or New Zealand soldier who died in WW1. I swear there was more than a million up there, so it was very humbling. The museum was thought-provoking too, as they had an exhibition about Australia's Indigenous Peoples (Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders). This is going to sound really thick, but I seriously thought the Indigenous Peoples weren't integrated into modern society and still lived primatively until today. I also didn't know that the 'Aborigine Protection Board' took thousands of Aborigine children away from their families until 1969 in an attempt to 'make them white'. The exhibition actually made me want to cry in parts, especially the display of art that a 'stolen child' Kevin Butler had done to express his childhood experiences. Cruel acts like that make you ashamed to be white.

Anyway, on a higher note, the museum also had a cool display of skeletons (half of which were animals I've never heard of!), minerals, animals, birds and insects. If I wasn't worried about encountering any spiders on this trip before, I am now! Some were huge with hairy legs and stuff. Urgh!

Our Blue Mountains day trip is tomorrow, and after reading Martin's advisory email of what to do when we get there I hope we're not gonna be too restricted with the Oz Exp bus. And if we are I hope we hit the good spots, like the Three Sisters. I suppose it'll be good to get out of the city and see some country! Only problem is we're supposed to be riding bikes when we do our bush walk there, so I hope my bum's better by tomorrow!

Tis all for now!

Sightseeing in Sydney

There is so much to see in Sydney it's untrue!

Yesterday we planned to do all the museums and galleries and what not, but we only actually got round a quarter of what we planned! We set off to Darling Harbour with our packed lunches (how cute are we!) and looked around the Maritime Museum, which was quite interesting but not really my thing. I did learn though that they brought a lot of Europeans over here after WW2 who had lost there homes in the war, which I didn't know before. After that we had lunch then strolled over to the Sydney Aquarium which was about 7 quid to get in (after some vouchers I found in a backpackers magazine - I'm getting used living cheap now!) but it was well worth it. They had some amazing creatures on display; eels, snakes, frogs, lobsters, crocodiles and fish of so many different and bright colours and patterns - I've never seen anything like it. They also had an underwater tunnel with loads of different sized sharks and rays swimming over you (one ray was bigger than a car roof, I kid you not), and some coral displays of the sort you see on the Great Barrier Reef - oh my it was amazing. It's like a whole other planet under the sea really. Then in the afternoon we walked around Circular Quay again to get some good pics of the Opera House and Bridge while the weather was good, and as we set off back we spotted an STA Travel Branch, so we went in, moaned a bit, and they said they would sort out our Coach Ticket problem for us. Then after doing some food shopping we went back to the flat and made some tea, then later we went with Craig to the Opera House bar for drinks. I felt well posh! And it was outside so we got to sit by the water. Then they played a Light Show on the Harbour Bridge, which I may have appreciated more had I not had two glasses of wine!

Today we went down to Circular Quay again, as we'd only seen the Opera House side and not really explored the Bridge side. We visited the Museum of Contemporary Art which had some rather abstract exhibitions on but was interesting all the same. We then walked round to Cadman's Cottage (which is one of Aussie's oldest spots and was where one of the first convict-come-ship managers, John Cadman, lived in the 18th century). We had lunch on a nice piece of grass under the bridge and lazed there for an hour or so (the sun makes you really bone idle) before strolling round to Sydney Observatory which was a beautiful building and was used to work out the correct time in Sydney back in the 18th century, which I'd imagine was a hefty task. On the way back we nipped into STA who had swiftly sorted out the whole hash-up for us, and which we were extremely grateful for! So we've been into Oz Exp and booked our Blue Mountains Day Trip for Friday (leaving 7:30am - urgh) and our leaving Sydney for our first stop - Warrumbungles National Park for Saturday (leaving 7:00am - double urgh). At least it's all sorted now which is such a relief, but now it's like we're actually gonna have to leave Sydney, and I've kinda created a comfort zone here now! so it's a bit daunting, but hey that's what it's all about.

So that's all for now really, let me know what you're all up to and I hope you're all well. I'll try and post again before we leave Sydney.

Bye for now!

G'Day from Down Under! The Globetrotter lands in Sydney...

Hey Everyone!

Wow I cannot believe we're finally here! The connecting flight from Brisbane was quite short, only an hour, but on descent we flew straight over the harbour, with clear views of the Bridge and the Opera House, and I actually squealed I was so excited. Stu and Craig neglected to meet us at Arrivals as they went to the wrong terminal, but we met them at the Train Station and caught a train to Central Station which is only across the road from their flat. We got there about 12pm on Sunday and after getting showered and changed we all set out to the market to do some much needed mooching. Then we walked all the way through the centre of Sydney to Circular Quay, and there stood the infamous Bridge and Opera House. My it was beautiful. It was just a great feeling to see them in real life cos then it really felt like we had landed! Next we strolled and lazed in the Botanical Gardens, and walked back through Sydney past the Parliament Houses and Museums and Galleries and such, then through Hyde Park. After coming back to the flat (which is cosy, with a total of around 17 occupants, not much space and a LOT of mess) and having some pasta and wine, Claire, Craig and I set out to Darling Harbour around 8:30pm for drinks. It was a lovely first day and I think I may have fallen in love with Aussie already!

Woke up at quarter to 7 this morning (5:45pm 9/1/05 GMT) - we really have not got adjusted yet! Me and Claire set out to the 7/11 to get some bread and cheese for breakfast and dinner, then visited Oz Experience to pick up our coach passes. Then we hit our first "challenge"! STA Travel have neglected to put the name of our Coach Pass on our vouchers, so the company can't exchange them. So now we need to contact STA and get them to send Oz Exp a confirmation fax. Man that's annoying. But the upside is we planned to stay here till the end of the week anyway, I just hope it's not taken up with trying to sort this out now! Ah well, something had to go wrong eventually didn't it!

Well the plan for today is to sightsee and do the usual touristy things. We're gonna start at Darling Harbour with the Maritime Musuem and the Sydney Aquarium, and make our way around the quays to the Observatory, The Rocks (the oldest site where convicts were held), the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Musuem of Sydney, the usual tourist-ridden hotspots! Then we'll probably just mosey around the gardens and things. We plan to go to Manly on the ferry for a day at the beach on Wednesday as the weather is supposed to be sunny and at 33C. Anything we don't do this week we can always do on our way back anyway as we fly out of Sydney on our way home.

Tis all for now, will keep you posted on our progress! Hope everything is ok at home, email me and let me know what you're all up to!

Konichiwa from the Land of the Rising Sun!

Woooaaaah we`re half way there, wooo-aaah! ... You get the picture.

Well the flight from LHR to Osaka-Kansai was quite pleasant. We sampled Japanese "Airline-Style" Cuisine (I`ve no idea what I was eating but it was delicious and interesting all the same - the bright pink asparagus was only slightly worrying), and after 10 hrs of trying, in vain, to get some decent kip and waking up to my mouth and nose feeling like I`d been snorting some toxic chemical (probably due to the cabin air pressure than the unusual fayre!), I don`t think it could`ve run more smoothly! The airline staff were lovely, they couldn`t do enough to help you out, like I woke up about 4am and the lady was there offering complementary coffee, then back 5 mins later with a choice of complementary biscuits, and again another 5 mins later with complementary Evian Water! We may have been in the Laymans area of the plane but it was well good. Can`t imagine what the first class area (in the upstairs of the plane!) would`ve been like!

At this moment in time I am sat at an "e stand" at Osaka-Kansai International Airport, which doesn`t charge for use but there`s a queue forming behind me so I best keep it short (Claire`s not bothered; she`s engaged in chatting with a bloke from Sydney at present). However we do have 2 and a half hours to kill and shopping here leaves a lot to be desired, so we think we may work on our itinerary which we began at Heathrow last night to kill some time. And since then we discovered that after we`d designated a preferred amount of time to all the places we`re visiting, it adds up to an extra fortnight on top of the 3 months we`ve already assigned for this trip, so I imagine we`ll have to sit down at some point and rethink it!

The airport is nice and modern, and I thought I would feel like one big fat green martian amongst all the Japanese people, but there`s quite a few western people here too so it`s not too bad. And anyway all the japanese folk we`ve come into contact with so far have been lovely, so I`m very much looking forward to spending some more time here on our way back.

It`s funny cos it`s beginning to feel just a bit more real now. And it`s not nearly as scary as I thought it would be. It`s just like getting the bus to Bolton. Well maybe not quite.

Well that`s all for now, guess I`ll next post from Sydney! Hope all is well at home with everybody. I do worry about Mum too on her own with all them Lads! Take care of her!

Arigato for listening, and Sayonara!

Greetings From Heathrow!

Hello All!

Well we're a third of the way there, of a fashion! Arrived in Heathrow an hour late and after a bit of a bumpy ride, but in plenty of time, so we've sat and had some tea at an Italian Cafe and are going to go and look around the shops. Our flight to Osaka is so far on schedule, so we should be on our way around 8pm. Still can't believe we're actually on our way now it's crazy, and three months is a long time! Got a bit teary leaving Mum at Manchester, but I'm a big girl I'm sure I'll be fine!

Tis all for now, will speak to you again from the far east!

Christina x

24 Hours to Take-Off!

Hey Folks!

Well it's the day before take off and I think I can safely say I'm absolutely canning it! I'm feeling a bit worse for wear as it is, after my leaving do at Leo's last night (v. good by the way I'd definitely recommend the food, but not the waiters' dodgy accents!) so I can't really process the proximity of the whole thing. It'll probably hit me tonight when I'm lying in bed thinking "Well this is the last comfortable night's sleep I'm gonna have for 3 whole months!" I even bought a calendar yesterday and then thought "What on earth do I really need this for?" Honestly.

Anyway, I'm going into Horwich for dinner with my Nanny today which will be nice, and the gals are coming round tonight for a farewell nosh and drink up (probably not a drink up in my case - urgh). Need to go down to Boots too and pick up my cow keyring and say cheerio to everyone. Wow this is weird. It's just that when I'm back a whole quarter of a year will have passed in Bolton. Woo.

That's all for now, our first flight (from Manchester - Heathrow) is at 2:30pm tomorrow, and we should arrive in Osaka, Japan about 12:25pm on Saturday (GMT), and in Sydney at midnight on Saturday (GMT), 10:50am Sunday local time. So I guess the next time I'll be posting will be from yonder Far East! Unless I can't wait and do an update at Heathrow, which is much more likely to be the case! And as soon as I get a chance in Sydney I'll let you know how it's all going!

Wish Me Luck!