Well we caught a bus to our prebooked Hotel that thankfully dropped us off to the door, and very nice it was to. The room had a wonderful view of the Opera House and Sydney bridge which was fantastic!! we dumped our bags and went straight out to investigate our surroundings - well not what I was expecting, we were in the heart of the Red Light district -Kings Cross area and as soon as we stepped out of the Hotel Toby got accosted by half naked females and men asking him if he wanted to see one of the many live sex shows in one of the sex theatres that were next to the sex and fetish shops......mmmm lots of sex stuff around these parts.

There were also alot of drunk and drugged up people wondering around or just spaced out lying on the floor, something we hadn't seen since leaving England so it was a bit of a shock, it seems this area have a huge drug problem. We went out for dinner at a restaurant that was open 7 days a week 24hrs a day! had live music all night - something unheard of in England and we had the most wonderful steak ever.

Woke up late and missed the inclusive b'fast which was a bummer, when we did finally set out for the day we walked through a botanical garden that was full of huge fruit bats hanging from the trees!! there were a huge variety of birds everywhere and the noise of them was wonderful . We then walked to Sydney Opera House and Sydney Bridge for a good old gawp then walked around the shops to by some clothes which was great fun for me but Toby started getting quite grumpy until I persuaded him to buy some clothes for himself - good ploy on my part as it got him out of my hair but also put a smile on his face when he purchased a new pair of jeans. Thankgod, his other trousers were falling off him and were black with grime.

We went out in the evening both wearing our new attire and looking gorgeous and went to a dark and dingy bar for some cheap drinks.

I went to Toni & Guys hairdressers today for a proper haircut and the young lady that cut was from England so we ended up having a good old goss. I really couldn't afford having my hair done in such an expensive hairdressers but my hair was in such a state again and was told that it had been cut all wonky. I had loads lopped off to straighten in out and was very pleased with the outcome so after that it was off down the shops again to look around. Toby was over the moon as he found a shop that sold Mario Kart so that cheered him up for the rest of the day!!

We then tootled off to Sydney Aquarium, Yep! something unheard of for me and my fear of fish but seeing as I had started eating fish (well a couple of prawns) I thought this would be a grand idea. The bloody things were huge!! just normal looking fish like your common goldfish was the size of a whale in the place......

They had a tanks you could walk through that contained sharks and massive stingray the size of a double bed - I actually found it fascinating and not scary, wow a breakthrough!!!!!!

Phoned up a couple of my friends and mum and dad today, unfortunately my dad wasn't in so I left a message, he had been made redundant by his smelly arse no good company! so thought he might be feeling fed-up bless him. Then when I spoke to mum she told me her husband ( Del ) had been told he was terminally ill, I was really shocked and I didn't know what to say? I wanted to go home there and then to give her a big hug and see Del but knew mum wouldn't want that.

We later went to Bondi beach for an afternoon of sand and sunshine and a chance for Toby to spy on half naked ladies through my binoculars........

Had a wonderful lunch near the sea and then made our way back for our last night in Sydney - more alcohol...

Woke up early and had a lovely cooked b'fast before catching a bus straight to the Airport where we checked in 2 hrs before our flight, so we played Mario Karts on the Gameboy - it's fab! The flight only took an 1hr and 7mins then we were in Melbourne, we then caught another bus to the Hotel which once again was in the red light district!! only this was called Kings Street and not Kings Cross - I'm starting to worry about Toby's intentions.

Woopee went shopping much to Toby's disgust, I must stop doing this as I won't fit anything in my backpack but the clothes are fab in Oz and they just keep calling me - whats a girl to do? I think I might be broke very soon at this rate so have to control my urges..........So anyway I bought some more tops and a pair of jeans (god if only I could find some shoes....)

Toby found a newspaper that told us of some live bands playing that evening so we got on the tram and found ourselves in a seedy pub drinking wine from a tumbler waiting to hear 3 bands perform. And they were all a complete bag of shite, even the bloke sat next to me was embarrassed saying that Australian bands aren't usually so bad and that I should reserve my judgement. Toby thought the 3rd band who were from Scotland were quite good but then he has got some strange CD's in his collection.

Went back to the same street as the night before as it looked really interesting, full of groovy looking restaurants and retro clothes shops but after an hour of looking around we both got bored and decided to go to the cinema. We went and saw 13 ghost - my god I think my fluffy slippers were more scary than that!! big pants.

Later on we went to a local (rough) pub for a lager and watched the usual drunken going's on that you get at a Xmas party - boss in suit dribbling over the young secretaries kind of thing. After that we went for a long walk over the other side of the river to have a look around the huge 'Crown' complex that contained the usual Squillion shops and restaurants with a casino and large fountains. Dinner that evening was a some snacks from 7 eleven.

Both waking up late since getting to Oz so we are not setting out till lunch time and today we decided to spend the afternoon at the local beach for some sun. Problem was when we got there the sun had gone and it was quite chilly so after we had eaten a lovely (expensive) meal, I wanted to go back to put something warm on.

I caught the tram back and got changed then went for a wonder amongst all the shops again - just in case something caught my eye!!

We both have come to the conclusion we are a bit bored and need to do some more exciting things if not more physical that just eating and shopping. So as soon as Xmas is over we are getting back into the swing of things like we had been before Goa and doing some more treks etc. We would really like to get a camper van and just find our way a round rather then go to the big cities, that way we can see the real Australia and do some wacky things - maybe we should go skydiving next!!! mum's gonna start freaking......

Went out to listen to some live bands again and i was really impressed with all 3 of them. We got chatting to an Ozy guy who was really friendly and sat with us untill the end of the evening listening to the fab music - rockin roll!!

Checked our emails to see what's happening with the outside world, and had an email from my mum telling me that Del (stepfather) is in good spirits and will be operated on very soon which is good news. Also had an email from Del saying he was well and mum's looking after him which was nice.

We then did a million mile walk around a Botanical garden and a trip to the top of the Rialto building for a birds eye look of the city - wow really cool.

Went out for Chinese food in the evening even though Toby said he couldn't eat Chinese food again, but managed to eat a whole duck - funny that.

Woke up early and had a walk around the City then got to the Airport about 3ish for our flight to Perth at last to meet Beau and Clare !! the flight was very boring and we couldn't see the TV screens to watch the film so I was moaning about why they would have screens if you couldn't see them? We landed at about 6.00 in the evening and then didn't know how to get to Fremantle as the shuttle bus wasn't running so we went and asked the nearest bus driver who said he would take us and would only cost a fifth of the price. He was originally from Liverpool and hadn't gone back to England in 30 years but still had a slight accent mixed in with the Aussie and could talk the hind legs off a donkey. . We were dropped at the train station where we then caught a train to Perth, a train to Fremantle - then a taxi to the Hotel. When we eventually walked into the Hotel Lobby Beau came running up to us and tapped me on the shoulder - It was soo lovely to see him again and we gave each other a big hug and kiss, he looked really brown and healthy. We then checked in and the receptionist gave us a huge bundle of Christmas cards and told us we had quite a few packages and would we like them delivered to our room!! the 3 of us went off to find our suite and when we entered we found a bottle of Champaign on ice with 2 glasses waiting for us with a note from Beau and Claire saying how pleased they were to see us. How lovely was that!! we were both in the middle of thanking him when there was a knock on the door and the porter had a huge trolley packed with parcels for us from family and friends and a message wishing us a Happy Christmas from the family....couldn't believe the amount of parcels we had, they stood as high as me......

It was all so much that both Toby and I got quite emotional what with the Champaign and the presents from people. The 3 of us hung around the hotel waiting for Claire to finish her shift at the Hospital in Perth where she then caught a train into Freemantle. We had a few drinks and caught up with all the gossip and then walked down to the station to meet Claire off the train,.Unfortunately Beau got lost and we were late so Claire was walking down the street when we found her! I started shouting and running but she didn't have her glasses on and couldn't see us until we were right on top of each other... but we had huge hugs and kisses and was very emotional we then went back to the hotel to crack open the bottle of Champaign - hoorah. So glad to finally catch up with them both.

Found out that Vicky is 6 months pregnant today!! she and her husband are one of the couple we are spending Xmas with. Fantastic news

We both slept like logs and arose to another hot glorious day and to have a good look around the hotel etc. Our room was fab and had a brilliant mini bar and fridge full of goodies (even headache tablets) chocolate and food and yummy scrummy stuff all at a very ridiculous price so it was a case of look but don't touch!! Our room opened up onto a balcony on the ground floor right next to the pool which was really pretty but the best thing was the spa in our bathroom!! had a plenty of those in our short stay.

Beau and Claire went out shopping for the day to get presents and food etc for our BBQ on Xmas day whilst we mooched around by the pool soaking in some rays (with our factor 30 on!). Emma and Steve were arriving that evening and Claire and Beau went off to meet them at the airport whilst Toby and I booked a film on the TV in our room - we watched Shrek and both found it absolutely hilarious helped along by the alcohol we were consuming as well. We then went down to reception both feeling quite pickled at about 11.30pm thinking that all 4 of them would be walking in the Hotel by now but only found Emma and Steve stood by the reception desk. They hadn't seen the other two so waited an hour and then caught a taxi - OOPS. I then had phone call come through to me from Claire saying they had got lost!! We all had a good laugh about it later when we gathered in our room for a drink - we were even told to keep the noise down by the duty manager which was bloody fab!

Happy Christmas!!

The sun is shining and we were really excited about opening our pressies but fist we all bundled down to have some b'fast and were all aghast at having to pay $34 each so spent the next hour eating as much as we could and then stuffing tons of fruit in our pockets for later in the day. We then all went back to our room to open all our pressies which was really nice even though Beau kept telling us to hurry up and open them cause he was jealous he didn't have any and stating it wasn't fair! poor old Beau...... After we had opened all our boxes and taken some photo's we took ourselves off to meet Vicky and and Jon who were friends that had lived in Oz for nearly a year already. Off we all went down to the beach for a few hours which felt very peculiar - not like Xmas day at all. We then went back to Vicky's and Jon's house for a BBQ and some drinkies with some other friends that came round to join in - few hours later we all lit sparklers and then went home to sleep off the alcohol.

I phoned up mum and wished her a happy Xmas but she sounded awful - seems she's got pharyngitus and didn't feel very well , poor mum she was also worried about Del as he had gone down for his operation at midday and was still in theatre at 9.00pm - and my brother had been rushed into Hostpital as they thought he was having a heart problem - turned out to be a bad stomach bug - not such a good Xmas for them . I also phoned my dad and wished him and his lot a very happy Xmas.

Toby woke early and went in the bathroom to shave his beard at last! he did it in stages and kept running into the bedroom to show me what he looked like as you will see from the photo's he looked either gay or like one of the 3 musketeers!

We went and checked out the local Backpacker to see if we could all stay in the there for the next evening but were told to go and try another local one that was a lot bigger. We also had a look on the bulletin board for a camper van and found a few that we were interested in so took down the numbers to call them later. I was really looking forward to the evening as we were all going down to the outside cinema to watch Casablanca - fanbloodytastic so we went down the park for a walk around then bought some tickets and got ourselves seated on the floor with our complimentary beer and waited for Vicky and Jon and the rest of there friends. Everyone started coming in and settling down with there baskets of food and blankets with wine etc. it was really very nice and we soon had our blanket and food laid on the floor ( with swarms of fly's ) in the end there were about 16 if us all with bean bags, duvets and pillows surrounded with other people enjoying themselves. They had a Jazz band playing first who were really very good and then when it was dark everyone got themselves comfortable and watched the film. I have never been to an outside movie before and it was absolutely brilliant can't wait to go to another one. We went home by taxi that evening, girls in one car and boys in the other and couldn't believe that the boys got back to the hotel 20mins before us and they were charg

We checked out and left our bags in the hotel for the day whilst the other 4 went to Rottnes Island for a look around and we sorted out accommodation for all of us and buying a camper van. Had a good day, we caught a train to Vicky's house so that we could use her phone to find out about the vans, we went and had a look at one of them called Betty - we fell in love with her and thought she was fab, the only thing was they had a double bed built into the back and took up quite alot of room. We thought we should wait for the other two to view it before we made a decision and arranged to see it again the next morning. Toby sorted out getting us all transport down to Margaret river for the following day as Claire said it was a really nice place to visit. We had also booked us all in a fantastic backpackers place called 'Sundancers' which used to be a massive pub and the old bar was now the reception area - they had a massive open plan kitchen with lots of seperate kitchens within it and they supplied all cooking equipment and utensils for absolutely anything you wanted to cook. They had different fridges and freezers and supplied free food to help yourself, washing facilities, spa, and had huge boxes for you to keep your food in - never seen anything like it before, it had just opened and I think was going to be very popular! I went down to meet the guys at the hotel in the evening and collected our bags and went down to the Hostel. We checked in and then went out to get some dinner in the evening.

Well Beau went and had a look at the van and we all decided to purchase it there and then and paid a really good price. Toby and Steve decided to drive it down to Busselton whilst the rest of us caught the coach down The boys met us at the bus station with a van full of food and wine, they said that the villa we were staying in wasn't as nice as we had hoped.

Lying buggers! we got to the villa and walked in to find the biggest and most luxurious place you could imagine, it was huge and had 3 bedrooms, kitchen, lounge, dining room and garden with BBQ.. Seems they had upgraded us for one night so we unloaded the van and settled down for the evening, I make a huge chilli for everyone which I really enjoyed as it was the first time I had been in the kitchen since leaving home and I was really enjoying pottering around without anyone else around, the rest of them went down to the pool and Jacuzzi. We sat round the table later with some wine and had a lovely dinner then watched some TV and went to bed.

All got up quite early to pack our bags ready to move to another villa then drove to Augusta and Cape Leuwn for a look around - we first went to Jewel Cave for a look around and ended up in histerics as the guide was so laid back he was practicaly on his back - we were like a bunch of 2 year old gigglig in the back row!! we then went to Cape Leuwin where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern and was really very spectacular. Claire and i went down to sit on some rocks near the water after spotting some large crabs that were scuttling around but nearly got drenched by a huge wave! . I then drove the van back to our new villla which was just as nice.

Quote of the day from Beau whilst talking about TV was - The thing with adverts is that they are always advertising things.......

Aussie Pete came round for the evening and we all ate left over chilli and loads of cheese then sat outside and got stoned - that's when i started rambling on about how worried i was with the destruction of the planet and how the sausages weren't going to live for another day..... ended up with everyone going to bed whilst Claire and I ended up in histerics for another hour.

Claire's comment of the day - 'How many Yaks to the pound then?'

Today we went into Margaret River town centre and caught a mini bus to take us on a wine tour that Claire had arranged. We had a fab day apart from the hoards of flies that swarmed us as soon as we got of the bus - bloody awful. The first place we visited, they gave us a lunch of Bush Tucker so we could taste some Kangaroo (which was yummy) and the local flowers and berries and even grub paste!! the rest of the day was spent drinking different wines and then going to a chocolate and cheese factories for lots of testers - mmmmmmmm

By the end of the day us girls were quite drunk and feeling great whilst the blokes were getting fed up with us giggling like a bunch of two year olds.....

We moved into another villa again! as we had decided to stay for an extra evening so Beau hired out a couple of vidio's and we stayed up till the early hours watching them.

Mmmmm - had one of Toby's famous fried b'fasts which was bloody wonderful then caught the coach back to Fremantle whilst Claire and Emma drove the van back. We all went out to a Party to celebrate New Years Eve - problem was that Claire had the address but no directions, so when we got off the train we had no idea how to find the place so it took us an hour or more walking around all these streets trying to find it!! when we did finally arrive we were all knackered but ended up having a fantastic evening. Colin (a friend of Vicky and Jon's) stood up and sang with his friend for the evening which was really cool. We ended up getting drunk whilst Emma went home early as she was tired. Steve was very drunk and on the way home we encountered a garden sprinkler so Claire and I bundled Steve ontop and we all ended up getting very very wet but laughed all the way back to the backpackers place.

AUSTRALIA JAN >