We met up with Daren, Sarah and baby Ellena. More friends from back home who have lived in Wellington for approx. four years. Daren was allowed time off for good behaviour and showed us some of the city's finer drinking establishments. The Te Papa museum is worth a visit. It kept us amused one rainy day! The sun did make an appearance whilst we were in Wellington. We made the most of the favourable conditions with a climb up Mt Victoria and xxx. Our visit was ...

We arrived in Perth to the only rain in the last two months! Thankfully the next day was back to hot and sunny. Western Australia is massive. The UK fits in xxx times. The population however is only 2 million with nearly everyone living in Perth. If you ever find yourself out here then a trip to Fremantle Prison is definitely worth a visit. In order to escape the heat we headed south and joined a 'jump on jump off' bus tour. This took us to Busselton, Marg...

We arrived on 30 December, met up with one of my best friends from back home who I haven't seen for five years, got invited to a house party for NYE (with great views of the harbour), bumped into an ex work colleague and met up with another friend from the UK who I haven't seen for over 15 years....!! Oh yeah. The Bridge, Opera House (smaller than I expected) and the beaches weren't bad either.

More tours this time to the Barossa Valley for a bit of wine tasting. This is where they make Jacob's Creek. Once we'd sobbered up we headed off to Kangaroo Island for a three day organised trip. I also tried kangaroo for the first time. Highly recommended! My good luck continued as I twisted my knee and ankle sand boarding. It would be months before I could walk properly again. I promised myself any more mishaps and I'd be on the first plane home. Anyw...

A great place to live if you're a sports fan. Cricket (MCG), Tennis (Rod Laver Arena), Aussie Rules Football (Telstra Dome) and F1 GP (Albert Park). Melbourne is the hottest place we've been to so far with temperatures of 41 degrees! It would be rude not to make the most of being in the sporting capital of Australia so we took a tour of the MCG, fitted in a day at the Australian Open Tennis and watched the Men's Final on a giant TV screen in Federation Square ...