Well hello again, glad to see you are still interested in my little journey :o) Here is an update of my activities...

On the 28th November, Pat and I began our road trip down to Melbourne...YAY! On this day we drove east into the Blue Mountains and a town called Katoomba. There we went to see the 'Three Sisters', three giant rocks gutting on a cliff, and they were very impressive. We also walked the Blue Mountains scenic reserve, which was a nice walk, plus we stumbled upon the old Blue Mountains Mine, another interesting lesson in history! We got to go up the worlds steepest railway too! That night we stayed at the Blue Mountains Backpackers, an old hotel turned hostel, with a real 50's feeling to it, in fact it was kind of creepy as it was silent and empty!

The next day, the 29th, Pat and I walked around the town of Katoomba and visited many antiques shops and book stores. Like the hostel, the town had a real 50's feel to it and we enjoyed the walk.

After searching the town we got back into the car and drove to La Perouse, a small tourist bay next to Botany Bay. There we had nice fish and chips for lunch and walked along the beach. We also visited an old English fort built to discourage a Russian invasion (believe it or not, it's true!). There was also an old watch tower that was once a guard post.

After this we drove onto Wollongong along the Grand Pacific Drive, nice! We didn't arrive in Wollongong until night time so everything was shut! We stayed at a cruddy backpackers and I was glad to leave the next day, although we did meet some cool girls from Canada, Laura and Sarah.

On the 30th we left Wollongong and made our way towards Batemans Bay. On the way we stopped at 'Nan Tein' Buddhist Temple. It was a lovely place and very peaceful, with a huge tower that acted as a memorial shrine, and many temple buildings for prayer and learning. After taking an age, I managed to get to grips with trying my hand at Calligraphy! We were glad that we had decided to visit.

After that we drove all the way to Batemans Bay and arrived around 6pm. We went for a chineese dinner and I was ecstatic to learn that they had deep fried crispy chilli beef! After that we chilled at our hostel.

The next day we found a internet cafe in Batemans Bay and spent two hours copying all photos to CD! After that we made towards Buchan. On the way we stopped at a dam to take a look and it was ok, although not as impressive as our dams back home in Jersey! We chatted to a local for a while and took some photos of the dam and then continues our journey. We drove the rest of the day and around 10pm our fuel light came on informing us that we had very little fuel left! Unfortunately the closest fuel station was 50km away so we headed there... only to find it closed! So back on the road we got and said a few silent prayers that we had enough fuel to last the further 65km to another station! With luck on our side we made it and were relieved to fill the tank up, you gotta love those memorable traveling moments!

Anyway, we continued on to our hostel in Buchan. We arrived around 11:15pm and spent a while watching 'Ultimate Force' (yes they have that kind of s*** on Oz TV too!) and we chatted with the old guy that runs the hostel. This hostel actually had a bath!!! Obviously I was in awe and decided to have a soak, only to find the water was a strange tint of yellow, so no bath for me! Nevermind.

The next morning Pat and I visited the Buchan Caves, Royal Cave to be exact. We went on a two hour guided tour and the cave was amazing! So many different rock formations that dated back 43,000,000 years!!! We got some excellent photos and again were glad that we had chosen to come for a look. After that we drove all the way to Phillip Island! Yup I drove 365km in five and a half hours... not bad! There we went out for dinner and had some beers on the beach whilst watching the sunset, and of course we took some photos of it too!

Today we have arrived in Melbourne! Our plan is to chill out here for the day and relax before our flight to Tasmania tonight! Yup we just keep on trucking!! And so I shall leave you all now so that I can go and get some lunch. Until next time, laters....

John aka Jersey aka Baity singing off.....