Thursday 17th January

I was woken by an anonymous caller this morning at 7am but didn't get to the phone in time. I assumed it was about the van but it turned out to be an agency requesting Carly call them back about a potential job in NZ. Good news!

We are starting another epic road trip today, taking in some beaches, the Blue Mountains National Park & Canberra, the capital city. This plan may change along the way, depends on the weather & what interest we get in the van.

We said goodbye to our amazing hosts, packed our belongings & stocked up for the long weekend ahead. At Aldi of all places!

Our first stop was on 'Ninety Mile Beach', named for obvious reasons. It was only about 200km away so a nice easy day of driving followed by a brief time on the beach (too many flies), then reading in the van, watching films & cooking dinner. It was the first good night's sleep in the van for a while.

Friday 18th January

When I woke up this morning I left Carly asleep & snuck out of the van for a toilet stop & to get started on breakfast. We parked under a tree the night before so I assumed the black stuff on the table & chairs had fallen from it overnight. On the way back from the toilets, my eyes were properly open by now, I noticed that the sky was a dirty shade of orange & the sun was as red as a cherry. It was also raining ash which all added up to a bushfire nearby. I spoke to some Aussie campers next door & they told me where to avoid which was a great help. Ryan also called to warn us but our signal was zero!

We set off immediately, heading along the coast. It was a longer but safer & probably more scenic route anyhow towards New South Wales. The smoke in the air was visible for miles & miles & we eventually came to learn that 56,000 hectares had gone up in flames in that one fire alone with the potential to double in size depending on weather. The radio reports were saying that NSW had 82 fires, most of which were out of control, though not near where we were headed luckily.

We drove for hours, making several stops along the way to refresh. Our final destination for the day was a ski town called Cooma. It's a long way above sea level, 1,100m I think. The drive here was stunning as always & a cheap campsite kept us in good spirit, despite the potential danger of these fires! It rained tonight, hopefully helping the firefighters a little.

Saturday 19th January

Wow, a great sleep for me & an epic lie in. Carly, however, slept a little worse as we role reversed & I took all the blanket for once! We had breakfast & set out towards Australian Capital Territory, home to Canberra.

What is with this place? I worked out this is the 16th & 14th Capital City Carly & I have been to respectively & none of them can even compare. It was a Saturday, there was no traffic, no pedestrians, no nothing. We drove straight to the museum, or as straight as we could, the roads are completely baffling. For a City celebrating its centenary you'd have thought they'd have had the common sense to copy the successful infrastructures of Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth & Sydney but no. The museum was really good & the pie & chips we had in the restaurant was even better.

We then spent 40 minutes trying to get across the river to Capitol Hill, saw no more than 7 people in the city centre the whole time looking for the bridge & wasted a s*** load of fuel!

Eventually we made it across & visited Parliament House. I can't really describe it, it is really cool & a fascinating design but Google Images will tell the story better. It's the only place in the City where it doesn't feel as though you are trapped in the 80's on a giant council estate. We were pleased to hit the Highway shortly after & be on our way.

We drove as far as Victoria & parked in a rest area off the Hume Highway, so did everyone else! All night cars were pulling in, doors slamming, people talking & lights shining through the curtains which added up to zero sleep. In fact I'm writing this blog at 1.30am because I can't sleep! Carly, bless her, is out for the count.

Sunday 20th January

We were awake early, car doors slamming & people shouting & banging around did the trick.

The van got a quick tidy & oil top up before setting off to Berwick. We agreed to stay at Arlene's for a night or two at least so that's great.

The drive went well, arrived to a manically waving Arlene in the early afternoon. She was just heading to the beach with a friend & Leon so we showered & made ourselves at home. Just like old times!

On the evening we had a huge catch up & booked tickets to the tennis for Wednesday which will hopefully be amazing. Can't wait!!!

Modes of Transport so far - 4 planes, 3 Taxis, 11 Tuk Tuks, 6 VIP Bus, 3 shared taxis, 6 minivans, 3 speed boat, 2 slow boats, 5 ferries, 3 pickup trucks, 6 sleeper bus, 1 kayak, 1 moto, 1 Campervan

Countries Visited - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia

Beers Sampled - Chang, Tiger, Leo, BeerLao, Namkhong, Angkor, Anchor, Klang, Green Saigon, Red Saigon, 333, Larue, Caroune, Hanoi, Singha, Acha, VB & Tooheys Extra Dry, Carlton Cold

Miles Travelled - 19,568