3rd April 2012

We thoroughly enjoyed the Blue Mountains after arriving back to Sydney from the Cook Islands. Once we'd recovered from our jet lag we did a bit of walking and exploring - the mountains are fab when you could see them! We were lucky with the weather as the mist and haze spoils the views from time to time. It cleared a little for us because we were patient! It was chilly compared to the Cook Islands and WA so we were happy to have Skippy - our new Campervan! We rode a cable car across the waterfall, saw the 3 sisters (Helen, Anna & Karen - tee hee!) and travelled down a very steep train journey to reach the bottom of the valley - luckily it was only short as it was quite scary - I'm a wuss I know!

We're very excited about having a fridge as we can store milk, butter and yoghurts - all vital in our cheap eating plan! Dave loves his jam on toast in the morning and I love my cereal. I've even become a fan of porridge after we bought a bag of porridge oats for about 80p - bargain!

After the Blue Mountains we made our way to Hunter Valley meandering through the peaks to do some wine, chocolate and cheese tasting! We even tasted a few balsamic vinegars and olive oils - yum, yum! Dave was skipper this time so it was my turn to get a bit squiffy!

Following our tastings we visited Port Macquarie and Crescent Head where we watched some surfers and dipped our toes in the eastern waters! Port Macquarie is the capital of body boarding while Crescent Head is the surf long board capital. We also stopped at Forster for a spot of lunch (a yoghurt and a plum) after taking 'The Lakes Way' coastal road through Booti Booti National Park and admired the Myall Lakes.

We hung out at Byron Bay for a few days and did a lot of people watching! It was busy, busy, busy! Cape Byron was pretty impressive after climbing the hill to the lighthouse. We even saw a turtle and some dolphins in the sea from our look out on the most easterly point of the Australian mainland.

We are now in Brisbane after travelling swiftly through Surfers Paradise - a shock to see something so chav in Australia! We did however make a friend called Bill - an old man who lived there from Newcastle - thought it was fab, bless him! Miles of high rise hotels and young people clubbing - not our scene but can see why it is a popular place to visit.

We spent the day in Brisbane today - a lovely laid back city with a man-made beach and beautiful gardens. We wandered around and soaked up the atmosphere with a drink in Southbank in a chilled out bar - lush!

Moving on to Australia zoo in the next couple of days and we hope that the Easter Bunny finds us on the weekend!! Dave saw a mahussive $500 egg the other day - imagine spending that much on chocolate! Crazy!

Anyway...Happy Easter everyone.....teachers enjoy the holidays....we'll be in touch soon....Lots of love...xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx