Skipping Thailand and into Australia

First and foremost I need to apologise for the lack of blogs posted since leaving Thailand. Australia simply doesn't have the range of Internet places and it's fairly pricey too.

Anyhoo, we left Bangkok the day before the riots broke out which was extremely lucky as we know of a few people who had their flights delayed or couldn't get to the airport on time as the roads were blocked. Such a sad state of affairs for a beautiful country.

So we flew out to Sydney arriving on Easter Saturday, which meant little at the time but after a while it became apparent that every hostel and camper van had been fully booked. We spent 5 hours at the airport trying to come up with a solution which included a trip to McDonald's for the first time in months. This was our first realisation of how expensive Oz was going to be as two meals cost $18!

Eventually we got a bus into a suburb named Kings Cross which didn't have any trains but was instead filled drunks. The area is apparently renowned for its party and drinking culture, though it was still tame compared to London's hectic spots. The only hostel with space left in our price bracket was named Kanga and seemed to house French people only, or more specifically Parisians. It turned out that there were many nationality's staying there, for instance I managed to play 5-a-side football with an Israeli, Belgian, Mexican, Frenchman, German, Moroccan, Spaniard and an Irishman..... which turned out to be a very tight game, ending up with the Latin based team winning 10-9.

Whilst in Sydney we did the usual sight seeing, starting with the Botanic Gardens and ending with the Opera House, though the day was cut short by an almighty down pour. The day after we booked a campervan and ventured off to see what the rest of New South Wales has to offer. Our van (which we have named Ralfie) is a Hightop model with fridge - cooker - sink - eating area / sleeping area / and storage space for our luggage it does 0-60kpm in two hours and can be as flimsy as a sheet of A4 paper. But we love it. Our first night was spent in a coastal town called Coledale which has little to offer but stunning beaches and a quiet life - hard times eh. We have been going for 14 days now and have spent our time divided between the following:

Coledale - Saw some dolphins and was wonderfully hot. We stayed at the coolest campsite so far, right on the beach and Sara had her first swim in Australian waters.

Jervis Bay -Saw some Fairy Penguins and was wonderfully hot, with beaches of white sands and crystal clear freezing waters.

Canberra - Very surreal Capital city with lots to do if you enjoy politics and Museums.

Mallacoota - Favourite place to stay and the most Southern Eastern point of Australia. Saw some pelicans too and spent quite some time trying to take Ralfie out of our campsite as it was all muddy and on a steep hill!

Lakes Entrance - Very touristy spot with loads of different junk shops along its high street.

Phillips Island - Great place to stay with amazing views but very little happening at night. The sunset here was amazing and we also went to Maru national park and we handfed some adorable Kangaroos (although Sara was considerably scared), saw some Koalas and played a round of pirate crazy golf!

Melbourne - My favourite place in all of Oz thus far. Watched a 3-D movie (Monsters Vs Aliens) and ate some of the best steaks one can imagine. Also hit the casino and lost some money... but we got to see the city at night which is just stunning.

Geelong - The weather turned for the worst here, giving up gale force winds which were bitterly cold. Though Ralfie toughed it out and it turned out to be a warmish night in the cabin.

Torquay - Nothing like its English name sake as this is the capital of surf. Sara is due for a lesson but at the moment it's still too cold to even think about the water let along go in.

Sorry about the short and concise blog but now we are back on track I can fill you in with more detail next time. We're at the beginning of the Great Ocean Road drive and it's promising to be very beautiful few days.

On a different note, we have also decided to change our plans and not go to New Zealand for the last 2 months of our trip. We just can't bear spending 2 more months in the cold and need to go back to warmer places. So we are heading off back to South East Asia and doing instead Singapure, Malaysia, Vietnam and Philippines!

Hope all is well with you and please be better than us at keeping in touch as we do love to hear from everyone!

Love,

Tom & Sara