Whilst realising my writing will pale into insignificance compared to the eloquence of a certain Frattonian called Neary I felt it necessary we updated you on our goings on. We settled quickly into our flat on Orchid Avenue which is very nice, spacious and can even fit all Sedge's bathroom utensils in it! However when we left England there was three of us and the gang has gained a member in a certain David Leaver Esq. For those of u that have not had the pleasure he is best termed as "dangerous", his drunken attempts to get us to let him into our flat one night has had the staff scowling at us for the past week, for which we warmly thank him.

During our first week the boys embarked on some slightly separate journeys; Joe's dwindling wallet left him forced to accept a job in telesales where he is roundly abused by Australian pensioners every day and returns home despondent to find the other two in the midst of their own journeys. For Bavin it is an almost holy quest-can he complete Tekken 5 with every character within two weeks? This authors bet is yes...yes he can. His running commentary is a delight for anyone within earshot, it's like having Barry Davies on tour with you.

So you may ask what of the bronzed adonis that is Stephen Sedgley? Well being the pro-active person he is he has taken it upon himself to complete two quests. The first of which is predictable, in two nights sleep during the end of our first week Sedge had 25 hours sleep. Yes thats correct, he spent more time asleep in that 48 hours than awake. However his primary quest was discovered on St Patricks day when getting bored with the current bar we were drinking Guinness in he decided to boldly venture to Hungry Jacks, which is the Oz equivalent of Burger King. Upon striding menacingly into the arena this gladiator of fast food drew his wallet from his hilt and purchased 12 packets of fries. Staggering out of the shop under the weight of the fries (and Guinness) he stumbled heroically onto the street to begin giving the fries to anyone he wanted to talk to. Now you would have thought he would have been largely ignored but like vultures ot a carcass this man became the celebrity of the street, an idol to the masses. With his twelve packs distributed he returned to normality to slur that he had "never talked to shoooo many people in hissssh life". A particular highlight for onlookers was when an Aussie asked him "what's in them mate?" to which Red Sedge replied "Potatoes, you idiot".

In other news Joe has got his debut tomorrow for the local rugby team, there is a vast fear that his preparation has not exactly been textbook for this game and large bets have been staked on him not exactly lasting the whole 80 minutes! Bavin is still searching for a guitar, tho he has found some underpants at last after going from Melbourne to Surfers with just 3 pairs due to losing some in Melbourne and Australia apparently having an underwear shortage as well as the well publicised razor shortage.

We are now very settled into Surfers and enjoying life thoroughly, tho not always energetically. The beds are very comfy after all compared to three months in dorms!

Hoping you all enjoy our pics/videos and blogs and we shall keep them coming at a rate of knots. For all you joint readers of the Don/Neary combination and the Bavin/Tompkins/Sedge trio then be prepared in a couple of weeks for a special combined feature presentation as the two palest men in Australia rock up to the Gold Coast for fun and frolics . Joe in particular is eagerly anticipating this moment as it will place him third of five in the tanning stakes. A new PB.

Watch this space...