So we have ticked off yet another country - five weeks in Australia have flown by and I will try my best to sum them up in a shorter entry than the previous one - but I am not promising anything!!

So I left you in Christchurch and our next destination was Sydney, flying from one family home to another - this time stopping with Nick and Nicole - my godmother Maggie's son and wife. But before I explain our time here, I of course need to update you with the food we ate on the plane. We flew with Emirates and what an experience this was, I think we last flew with Emirates on our Sri Lankan family holiday but I was too young to appreciate the food on offer then, but I certainly make up for that now. In a three hour flight we successfully achieved a four course meal. Chicken pasta salad to start, roast chicken for main, carrot cake for dessert (which Faye ate) followed by cheese and biscutis and after dinner tea and coffee (which I sacked off of course) and chocolates - divine!! We were met at the airport by Nick, picked up a funny drunken Nicole, and made our way to their lovely apartment in the northern beaches area of Sydney.

We spent day one exploring the sights of Sydney and being the typical tourists taking a million pictures of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house from every angle possible. Also seeing Darling Harbour and the Queen Victoria Building and the main shopping streets. Day two consisted of a leisurely start followed by catching the bus to Palm Beach - famous for being the set of Home and Away. Day three we said our goodbyes to Nick and Nicole. They had treated us like queens (yet again), with a hairdryer, own private computer with an unlimited supply of internet in our double bedroom, fajitas (which we had been craving the whole of NZ), a BBQ with the most amazing potato salad I have ever tasted with all the usual ingredients plus egg and bacon (Alison you must try this at home!!), an array of different cocktails made by Nick, heard all about their recent wedding and honeymoon, hot showers, TV, a sea view from the balcony . It was sure to say that entering backpacker world after six nights off was going to be tough!!

It was a massive come down, from the amazing hospitality we had experienced, to enter a hostel again, this one being possibly the worst hostel of the trip to date, it wins hands down. We avoided the 32 person dorm for a four bed but this didn't make the experience any better at all! The next day we visited the Blue Mountains and this day was a huge success, we soon found ourselves in the company of around 12 people all over the age of 50! We were treated like grand children and were provided with sweets and advice for the duration of the day! Our first stop was Featherdale Wildlife park where we saw animals including Koalas, kangaroos, wallabees, penguins, emus, crocodiles and lots more! Me and Faye found ourselves running around each area collecting the stamps for our booklets!! We very much adopted the role of children on this trip! We then were taught how to throw a boomerang, lets just say we weren't naturals at this! We then stopped at a country club for lunch - chips, salad, cauliflower cheese, chicken and fish followed by cakes, cream and homemade apple pie! That alone was worth the $149!! I don't know why I feel the need to update you with all the food that I am eating but it has become a huge part of my life at present!! We then stopped at a lookout point to see the stunning views of the blue mountains, before heading to Scenic World, where we caught a cable car down between the mountains and took the steepest railway in the world back up, literally vertical (Jonny Whittall you would have hated it!!). We then stopped off at a little town and then briefly saw Sydney Olympic Park before catching a ferry back to Sydney Harbour. We then killed time before our first experience of an overnight Greyhound bus to Coffs Harbour.

We arrived at a hideous hour of the morning, the only plus side to this was I witnessed the most beautiful sun rise - we had thought that this would have been the first and last time seeing the sun rise but Australian people like to get you up at the crack of dawn we have found out so it is a time we have very much gotten used to. We hired bikes here and saw Muttonbird Island, the beach. Coffs Harbour and Jetty, and the Botanic Gardens.

Next destination - Byron Bay. Soon after we arrived we were amazed to see two girls we had met in NZ, Sam and Hannah so spent the next ten days travelling with them. We organised our lives and booked all our upcoming trips including Frasers and WhitSundays then chilled on the beach before going to Cheeky Monkeys (a bar) for our free dinner, which you get every night. We went out with the girls in the evening, bumped in to some guys from NZ, so it really did feel like we were back on the Kiwi bus! The next day, I celebrated Tom Payne's birthday with a horrific hangover lying on the beach in the heat wanting to die. The biggest decision I had that day was whether a banana was a good idea on a hangover - the answer to this was definitely no - massive error!! It was this day where I was also introduced to the smallest banana I have ever seen (spent the day talking about bananas it would seem). To put in to perspective how small this banana was just imagine your big toe and there you go - amused me for hours as you can imagine!

We had a more productive day the next and me and Faye went Dolphin kayaking - this was an experience in itself - well for Faye especially. Claire Whittall I thought you got sea sick bad on the still crossings over to France but dear Faye Stewart takes it to a whole new level - being sea sick on a kayak!!! The highlight of this sea kayak trip, apart from witnessing Faye being sick and the amazing dolphins we saw jumping and surfing the waves metres in front of us, along with the sea turtles we saw, was the fact we then got towed back to shore with a huge yellow rope from the instructors kayak (they could have at least made it blue to blend in with the sea, but no everyone was aware of the fact we were the retards of the group as we got closer and closer to the beach!!), Faye was busy chucking up and of course I couldn't handle paddling the waves on my own, therefore we didn't really have a choice! At this point I was thinking bring on the WhitSundays!! We definitely needed to get to a chemist asap to purchase some sea sickness tablets! Dad if only you had been prepared and sent me away with joyrides - they always worked wonders!!

Next stop was Surfers Paradise and well there really isn't much to say about this place except it was pretty cool to see sky scrapers on the beach and us girls had a cracking game of bowling but that sums it up really!

Then we moved on to Brisbane. We hadn't heard amazing stories about Brisbane from fellow travelers, however, we loved it. It had everything you need in a city - lovely botanic gardens, a man made beach/lagoon, a vast array of shops, museums, markets, a river etc! We spent our day sunning ourselves at the lagoon, a very relaxing place - however, of course it was the Easter holidays so with children around the relaxing part went out of the window!! Oh and we pretended we were cultural by visiting the museum (free of charge of course!). We managed to fill ourselves up for lunch on the free testers at the food market - consisting of beef jerkey, popcorn, chocolate brownie, fudge, lots and lots of fruit especially strawberries which I have been deprived of out here (please start stocking up now Dad and Alison!), muslie, yoghurt, nuts etc!

The four of us met up with Jade and Lucy who we had met earlier up the coast and went out that evening.

The highlight of Brisbane though, and of Australia (as well as staying with Nick and Nicole), was catching up with Christine, Patrick, Adam, Kate, Baby Adele Rose, Chelsea, Nicholas and Georgia - my Great Auntie Marys's daughter and family. I had met Christine and Adam when me and Adam were both around 2 so my memory is of course distorted. It was so lovely to see them all and meet everyone and see part of Mum's side of the family, we will definitely be staying in touch and you know you are all very welcome at Billington Gardens any time!! Christine thought I was the spitting image of Mum - so at least she lives on in me as Jonny and Claire look more like Dad. I had play time with baby Adele (Adam and Kate's daughter), who is as old as our travelling history - around three months now! They all made me and Faye feel very welcome and provided us with a lovely BBQ dinner, we are doing very well with food at the moment!! It was a last minute arrangement as I only rang up the night before, short but very sweet but hey I suppose that's what family does for each other!

It was then from the hustle and bustle of Brisbane to the bush of Noosa, luckily Sam and Hannah were still with us to experience this with us. We were met at Noosa bus station and taken to Gagaju Bush Camp, we finally arrived after our dear friend Alan had completed all his weekly chores on the way. We arrived, interesting to say the least, on entry it looked like a gypsy camp but when we arrived at our camp we were very relieved - was actually quite nice and way more civilized than expected. It had phone signal and its own pool table, gym, kitchen, fridge, freezers, showers, internet and TV room. We wandered around the forest on a tour led by the camps dog Blade. The next two days consisted of a lot of canoeing to beaches, holiday villages, creeks and pubs and sleeping in tents. It was then Easter Sunday, the day we left Sam and Hannah, emotional day for two reasons - saying goodbye and that there was a distinct lack of Easter Eggs in our lives - I should have gone to bed that evening induced in a chocolate coma but this was not the case - I am hoping there will be one waiting at Billington Gardens on my return - Dad pay attention!

We then went to Rainbow beach, we arrived at our hostel and they had planned a bush walk to a lovely sand blow that also included the opportunity to sandboard - but you will all be pleased to hear that me and Faye avoided this like the plague!!

It was then Hervey Bay and it was time for our Fraser Island trip. We woke the next morning at 5am for our safety briefing and then jumped in the 4 by 4's and headed to the ferry terminal. We were very lucky with our group on Fraser Island - the majority of the 25 of us were British so we very much dominated. The tour type we chose for Frasers was a tag along tour where one guide car is followed by three other cars. In our 4 by 4 were four other English girls, Alex, Zoe, V and Sarah. We all had the chance to drive so me and Faye both drove for the huge amount of time of ten minutes each over the three days!!! But at least we can say we have driven on Fraser Island - and it was my first 4 by 4 and diesel experience! Tom Payne you would have been proud! We spent the three days visiting Lake Mackezie, Lake Wabby and Lake Boomanjin - all very different yet beautiful lakes! We visited Eli Creek, Indian Head, the Champagne Pools, a few resorts, Central Station and the Maheno Shipwreck and we successfully didn't get eaten by any Dingo's you will be pleased to hear!!

Me and Faye bought our private cook Sophie along with us on the trip - a lovely German girl who adopted the mother figure and cooked us two delightful meals, we most definitely out ate everyone on the trip and will be returning home obese just to prepare you all! We had steaks, sausages, chicken drumsticks, jacket potatoes and corn on the cobs over the two nights - amazing!! It was here we first encountered our first experience of Goon - to inform you this is literally a 4 litre box of horrifically cheap wine which is a craze out here! On our last day of the trip we ate out twice - naughty! We had wedges for lunch and then an Indian takeaway for dinner - everyone else was doing this so it would have been rude not to! If you haven't already picked up on the fact that a backpackers world revolves around one thing - food. It is the main topic of conversation out here - Louise Eyles you would be in heaven!! If only we had the money to eat out every night - bring on Asia where this is going to be possible!!

So out of the previous 6 nights, four were spent in a tent, one on a hideous mattress you get at hospitals just in case you pee yourself and one on a night bus stopping every three hours so it was safe to say we arrived Airlie Beach feeling pretty shattered! Only to spend one night in a hostel bed followed by two nights in the horrendously hot and sweaty cabin of our boat, but hey it all adds to the experience of travelling! I will very much appreciate my double bed on my return home, Jonny Whittall you best have moved out of my room by then!!

On arrival to Airlie Beach, after the night bus and sitting in front of the most annoying dutch girl in the world, we met up with Michelle, our friend we met in NZ and spend the day chilling at the lagoon, because you can't swim in the sea due to the stingers. We are bumping into a lot of familiar faces up the East Coast which is a bonus!

So it was from Airlie Beach that we went on our WhitSundays Sailing Trip. And guess what the boat we had chosen was called….Spank Me. Should have lied about the name really !! Sounds horrific I know but I promise it wasn't as bad as it sounds!! Far from it! We had a lovely group of people, this time British people being the minority, and spent the days avoiding the rain, chilling on top of the boat, visiting the beautiful Whitehaven Beach (not so beautiful due to the rain, however, brightened up and we got a few nice snaps - we don't have much luck with the weather!!), over dosing on sea sickness tablets, snorkeling the great barrier reef, seeing some amazing fish, seeing a baby shark, putting my waterproof camera to the test and it was a huge success, although from the pictures it just looks like a photo shoot of me and Faye!!

Obviously I am going to inform you of the food we ate over the duration of the two days - spag bowl on the first evening, followed by continental breakfast, tuna pasta and salad for lunch, roast beef for dinner (a definite highlight of the trip!), and a continental breakfast and vegetarian pasta on the last day! All in all a splendid array of foods - very impressive for such a small kitchen!!

Once we had our feet back on solid ground, we arranged to meet up with everyone from the boat to have Dominos (on a Tuesday of course) and drinks, a lovely end to the trip!

After saying our goodbyes we boarded the bus for Mission Beach, were we chilled out for a few days, saw our first wild kangaroos and wallabees, and finally sat down to read our South East Asia Lonely Planet, thanks Claire Whittall it is better late than never!

We then got our last Greyhound bus of Australia from Mission Beach to Cairns. Cairns was our final destination of Australia and consisted of going on day trips in the day and going out at night. Day trip number one of Cairns was Cape Tribulation and of course we were welcomed by rain, although we did spend time in the rainforest so I guess that made it okay! We invested in ponchos for this trip, best $4 I have spent!! We visited Mossman Gorge, Port Douglas, Cape Trib beach and then went on a crocodile cruise. We saw one mummy crocodile and lots of babies which was cool from very close up (almost too close!!). I have pictures of pretty much everything now - except a snake - I am still waiting to see one! Some would say this is a good thing but it would be a cracking photo opportunity!

Day trip number 2 was our Great Barrier Reef Cruise and Dive - well for me minus the dive part. Whilst filling out the medical form I thought it would be a good idea to inform them of my mild asthma, which I almost immediately regretted as this prevented me from diving! I am too honest and should have definitely lied! However, we have five hours of amazing snorkeling so I only missed out on about fifteen minutes underwater time but left Faye to face the Ocean all alone! We saw so many beautiful fish, which of course I have captured, the highlight being a family of Nemo's!! I am now a pro snorkeler; I have come on triumphs since Kos Tom Payne! Lunch was provided - an amazing bbq yet again! It was today whilst I was soaking up the sun on the boat and failing to change colour, and snorkeling the GBR, my dear twin was attempting and successfully achieving the London Marathon (I even wrote this JW before you had done it - see what faith I had in you!). Well done, I am very proud of you twinny and I know this will have earnt you lots of twin points with Dad - good effort - I have lots of catching up to do on my return!

The next day was spent being hungover and shopping and spending time with our friends before we headed off in the morning. Well this is what had been planned, although dear STA hadn't informed us of a slight cancellation to our flight so we turned up to the airport, along with a few other backpackers, to find that infact we were to spend one more night in Cairns. At first we thought oh what a bummer but then realized we could be in for a real treat and this my friends is exactly what happened. We spent the night in a posh hotel, with double beds each, a pool and a sea view, and free dinner and breakfast! Both me and Faye hadn't experienced room service before so we thought we had better test it out and sat and ate our food from the comfort of our double beds watching tv! Couldn't ask for much more. We definitely ended our Australian adventure in style. Cheers Jetstar!

So, all in all, Australia has been very kind to us, it didn't have the Wow factor that New Zealand had but it definitely had a more relaxing feel to it and has provided us with many amazing memories and new friends - so bring on Asia!!! (I know this is the part you are worried about Dad but we are experienced travelers now - well sort of!).

So I failed to keep my promise and I am sure I have bored you all again but people keep pesting for my next blog so here you go people, enjoy :)

Missing you all, lots of love and hope all is still okay with everyone (don't know how else to end these blog entries!!) xxx