We woke around 5am to prepare for our 9.50am flight to Sydney. I didn't trust that the transfer to the airport had actually been booked by the Hotel reception, and on double checking with the reception desk half an hour before we had to leave, I really wasn't at all surprised to learn that it hadn't been booked. Thankfully, as we had prepared for something to go wrong, the transfer arrived and we still had plenty of time to make it to the airport. We were pretty much the first in line to check in our luggage with Quantas Airlines.

We were so excited that we'd made it to the airline, on time, and with everything paid for, we were definitely heading off to Sydney- what could possibly go wrong! Of course, there was still time, even at the very last moment for something to go wrong. At the check in desk, they informed us that we would not be able to get through immigration without a print out of our Australian E-Visas. I had this, but Matt didn't. Before leaving for travelling, Matt contacted the Australian Embassy to ask whether he needed a print out of this but was told absolutely not as it was an E-Visa, that was the point. So, if Australia didn't require this, why would India? We went into panic mode, neither of us could access wifi to search our emails or contact the Australian Immigration to easily resolve the situation. 45 mins in, we found an English speaking contact number for immigration, however shortly after celebrating, we realised it would be 3am in the U.K., So of course the phone lines were all closed for another 6 hours. We contacted my sister Jodie who is living in Australia to see if she could contact the Australian Immigration, but she also struggled. Yet again I couldn't believe what was happening, we were just so close... I could see the Departures lounge! After over an hour of stressful internet searches using 3G on workers phones, Matt managed to find a visa tracker where he could prove he had a visa granted. He ran off with one of the check-in assistants to quickly find a printer as time was running out. 10 minutes later, he came back with the colour back in his face, smiling. He had it! The bloody print out! I then proceeded to shout at him and hoped he had learnt a big lesson from this ordeal! Always carry print out confirmation of everything when your travelling, don't rely solely on technology- I'm turning into my mum! Even after all that stress and tears, we got to Immigration and they never even checked the visa print outs after all!!!

The flight from Mumbai to Sydney felt like heaven. I know that sounds dramatic but it really did. The food on Quantas Flights was very good in addition to a very extensive film collection. The air hostess's on both flights were Australian, and all were very friendly and helpful! We first flew to Singapore, for a short change over time of an hour and 15mins, enough time to get my first Christmas Starbucks of the year! I'm obsessed with peppermint hot chocolate which they only do at Christmas. I bolted that down and we got back onto the plane for the second leg of our journey!

After managing to blag 5 white chocolate and raspberry cakes from the very smiley air hostess, in addition to Matt moving to a spare seat so that we both had two sets to sleep across, I had a good 2 hours kip. I can rarely sleep on planes but I must have gone out like a light as I missed breakfast... which never happens!

We finally arrived in Sydney to glorious sunshine and friendly smiles! Getting through immigration was a breeze and we managed to get a taxi straight away. I had already arranged £60 of Australian Dollars before leaving home so we had enough cash for the first day. We were meeting Jo at an Air BnB in the Eastern Suburb of Coogee she and my Mum and Dad had organised as a treat for us. I was so excited to see her!

Seeing Jo was the BEST feeling. After our struggles in India, seeing my sis was very comforting. We spent the next few hours chatting away and catching up before Jodie had to head off for work. Matt and I then emptied our entire bags and made piles for washing! It's unbelievable how excited washing clothes can make me after a month of not being able to properly! We fancied some very standard English grub that was quick to make- before we knew it we were tucking into cheesy beans on toast, absolute heaven! We then decided to catch up on some sleep until jo returned for Dinner that evening.

Clean hair, clean bodies and clean clothes... I will never take this for granted again! I FaceTimed Louise and Emily at home, I was so excited to see their little faces and have a much needed catch up. We made our way out into Coogee town centre and headed to the 'Pavilion' for a cocktail. The 'Pav' as it's known was such an awesome quirky rooftop bar that overlooked the whole of Coogee beach, and the cocktails were amazing... but of course pricey! Jo had organised a lovely meal at an Italian/Brazilian restaurant too. I thought this was a weird combination so I was intrigued but it was incredible! It was Italian food brought out in a 'Viva Brazil' style. They brought out a massive bowl of salad for us, and then just kept bringing different pizzas and pastas and we would just pick whatever we wanted- all you could eat... IDEAL! Mum and dad had given Jo some money to treat us to a few nice meals out and cocktails as Australia is notorious for being very expensive and they wanted us to have a nice time together... they're good eggs!

What an amazing first day in Coogee! I was looking forward to everything Jo had planned too. She had booked off annual leave for the next three days so I could wait for what we had in store. I would sleep well tonight!