Australia part III - The final chapter down under!

Bed count = 48 - 55!

Despite returning to the UK, I am dedicating some well-deserved time to try and bring events up to date…well in Australia at least! As this is the final instalment of the Australian series, make sure you've caught up on the first few before reading on…or else!

Last time out we regretfully bid farewell to a newfound family life on the Sunshine Coast and were on the short flight down to Sydney. Following an extremely generous gesture, Melissa's 2nd cousin (Malcolm) had offered to pick us up from the international airport. He and his partner (Christine) had kindly offered to put us up for a few nights before we celebrated New Year's Eve in the city. After joining Malcolm, our first challenge was to keep our surprise passenger happy for the 1h car ride to Gosford. Malcolm was in charge of looking after his niece (Marley) for the next few days, although she seemed to have a very different idea about the events! After an initial meet and greet, she proceeded to show her disgruntlement by crying for pretty much the whole way home! After a few impromptu stops, we all survived the journey back, although no more familiar with the art of sign language! After meeting Christine and enjoying a home cooked meal, we bedded down for the night after a tiring travelling day. The next day we enjoyed a sunny day with our hosts out at the nearby waterside town of Tarringa, inclusive of a nice serving of fish and chips!

The next day, Malcolm dropped us off at the station and we caught the train into Sydney. After a few transport changes, we arrived in the suburb of Kings Cross and checked into our swish hotel (Diamant). We had pre-booked this hotel at the very beginning of the trip and it turned out to be a good move, as Sydney accommodation is extremely sought after during the New Year's celebrations. After unpacking we jumped on the underground train to check out Circular Quay and also met up with our Whitsunday friends, Suki and James (also in the city for the New Year celebrations). After a quick walk around in the sun we made our way out to the suburb of Rose Bay and checked out some potential vantage points for the big evening. We were fortunate to dine well that evening, after James and Suki whipped up a homemade risotto and we returned back to the hotel slightly fuller than before!

The next day we awoke slightly earlier than normal with nervous anticipation about the day's events ahead. After a nice relaxing breakfast/brunch (at the nearby 'Tiger Bakery'), we set about acquiring some key items for the day! This consisted of a small fold-away stool, an umbrella, a cheap picnic rug and some food rations from the nearby supermarket….the need for all the random items will hopefully become clearer later on! Laden like packhorses, we boarded the train and muscled our way through the crowds at the Circular Quay train station - following some research the day before, we had decided to head into the city and check out a few vantage points early before the bulk of the crowds arrived. This proved to be a fruitful expedition, after a quick reconnaissance down both sides of the harbour yielded a potential perch at 'Campbell's Cove'. Even though the area was filling up fast there seemed to be a good vantage point with views of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Without much thought, I rolled out the picnic rug and we claimed the spot before too much further discussion. The plan was to hold the spot and discuss our next move, although this didn't go entirely to plan! Even though it was just filling up, there was a good friendly atmosphere including a comedy aging Chinese fellow who insisted on photographing us both at every opportunity! After receiving some temporary celebrity status, we decided to 'hold the fort' until James and Suki made their way down. The weather was also with us, although serious sunburn was a potential problem if we were to stick it out for the long haul. With the sun's rays burning down, I quickly erected a small spotty umbrella (as a sun shade) which we had purchased earlier and used the stool as an arm rest…'this would do for now'. As time ticked on, the crowds continued to grow and acting as somewhat of a statue, I gradually lost the feeling in both in my left arm and butt cheek. Little did I know, even at this point that I would be holding the position for some time to come! To cut a long story short, I took up the same position for the next eight hours without major food intermission or a toilet break….it was an extreme episode of survival of the fittest! Two hours later, when word spread that the outside barriers had been closed and that toilet access was now restricted, it suddenly became an episode of survival of the bladders!! Somehow we kept it together and held our position for the long haul. The sky writing plane gave a moments relief, as did the first round of 'family fireworks' at 9pm. The 'teaser' firework every hour also provided a bit of short term hope, until we hit the final stretch. By this time the crowds were truly upon us and our pitch gradually became invaded. However, we held firm and as the final countdown sounded the excitement really started to simmer. Then at midnight the place erupted and we witnessed probably the most elaborate fireworks display I have ever seen. All the waiting around was instantly forgotten and we witnessed an evening from our prime vantage point that we will remember forever. After the great display, we battled with the crowds, made our way back to our hotel and crashed straight to sleep after a very long day at the office!

The next day was much less eventful and we had a lazy 'duvet' day (the kind you dream of on a Monday morning!), although finding some time to revisit the Tiger Bakery for lunch again. The following day we checked out of our swish hotel and into another more 'mid budget' alternative in downtown. We had decided that we liked Sydney so much that we would stay a bit longer and that of course is the beauty of having a flexible schedule! After unpacking at our new hotel, we ventured further afield and took the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly beach. On another sunny day, this was a really pleasant trip over and we got some great views of the city and surrounding suburbs from aboard the ferry. Once at Manly we met up with Malcolm's daughter, Lorna and her boyfriend Ben, after making the connection earlier in the week. I'm not sure what relation Lorna is to Melissa (2nd cousin once removed?!) but bizarrely I could make out some similarities! It was great to meet up with these guys and we enjoyed a few drinks in the Manly bars…not a bad way to spend the afternoon! We ended the evening by having dinner at the much acclaimed 'Hugo's' restaurant on the Manly pier. However, what started as a relaxing evening (watching the sunset), unfortunately turned into a night of frustration as we waited over an hour for our table! That said, the food was actually worth the wait and the pizza's there were exceptional.

The next day Melissa was booked in for a hair appointment at an overpriced Aveda salon downtown and I spent the morning running a few errands to pay my way! After a spot of lunch, we made our way over to the Town Hall area and joined a free walking tour for the afternoon. After visiting most major cities along our trip, we had got into these walking tours and not just because they are free! It's a bit hit and miss, but if you get a good one (with an entertaining guide), it's a great way to get familiarised with a big city. This tour was certainly a 'hit' for us this time out, as we got a really good overview from an entertaining guide. The next day we continued the walking theme, by doing our own personal tour of a few more city sights! We slowly meandered through the well-kept and vast Botanical Gardens and made our way to the steps of the Sydney Opera House. After this we enjoyed a well-earned drink harbour-side at the Opera House Café (which is a must if you visit in good weather) and then took one of the ferries out to 'Neutral Bay' to have a look at some of the suburbs. We knew that Sarah and Mark owned an apartment over there, although we lacked any real form of direction and relied on an address find it. This resulted in over an hours walk through the streets of Neutral Bay and North Sydney, pushing both physical and mental limits along the way! However, as we finally caught a bus back into town, we slowly saw the positives of taking some time out to see the true residential side of the city! Every so often, a 'down day' is required to get domestic duties done and the next day would be just that! It actually turned out to be a relatively productive day, as we booked some onward travel to Melbourne, washed our clothes (without shrinking my pants!) and found a hairdresser to sort out my flowing locks!! The hair salon name of 'Wildlife Hair' should have been enough to raise awareness of a potential dog grooming, but the interior suggested otherwise. The woman seemed pretty confident and I was actually relatively pleased with the result. This is more than can be said for the honest opinion of my wife, who insisted that the cut was shorter than a fuse…ah well….I still had a few months to grow it back!! On our final day in Sydney, we ventured out to Bondi Beach, which is nowhere near Bondi Junction in case you ever try to get there! Unfortunately the weather had turned bleak that day and we got a little windswept across the beach front. This didn't deter me much, as whilst my ears felt a little breezy, the wind didn't even come close to ruffling my 'get shorty' hairstyle! To warm up a bit we walked round the coast to the Tamarama and Bronte beaches. This was a nice little walk, although our glowing red faces were more due to wind burn than sunburn that day! As we caught the bus back to our hotel, we both reminisced on what a great time we had had in Sydney and how this was one (if not the) best cities we had visited.

The next day we caught the plane on our onward trajectory to Melbourne, but detoured to visit the often forgotten island of 'Tasmania'! With a seemingly endless supply of friends/distant relatives, we had arranged to meet up with another one of Melissa's 2nd cousins, David and his wife Sue. They were stopping at a holiday unit close to Hobart and had very kindly offered to put us up for a few days. We had heard some whispers that things were a bit behind the times in 'Tassie' and when David pulled up in a pick-up truck (or 'Newt'), I was starting to wonder that there may be some truth in the rumour! However, after a quick discussion it quickly became clear that this was a mix up at the car rental office, rather than David having an overnight job change from swimming pool salesman to local farmer! The Wyndham holiday units were nestled conveniently close to the airport and after only 15 minutes we were unloading and settling in for our stay. I have never met these guys before, but after a few beers, a pizza and some candid discussion, it was clear that we were all going to get on for the duration! The next day we awoke early and prepared for a day trip to 'Port Arthur'. The Port Arthur Historic Site is located in the south-east of Tasmania on the Tasman Peninsula. The natural heritage site holds the grounds of one of the oldest state penitentiaries and it holds a troubled past for more than one reason. In April 1996, it was unfortunately the location of the 'Port Arthur Massacre' in which 35 people were killed and 21 wounded, following a madman killing spree (all too common these days). Little is said about this horrific ordeal at the actual site and for good reason, as the terrible events are best left forgotten, with exception of remembrance for the poor souls who passed away that day. Moving on, the actual remains of the prison colony is quite interesting and the local area is of raw natural beauty. After a pleasant time taking in the sights around the grounds and short ferry ride off the bay, we all returned back thoroughly content.

As the alarm sounded the next day, we all readied ourselves for a day trip to 'Bruny Island'. We headed south for an hour in order to catch the car ferry from Kettering. One of our first challenges was to be told that our hire car insurance policy would not cover any breakdown on the island….this sounded like we were headed for some dangerous pastures over the water! Danger or no danger, the ferry ride over was quite pleasant, as we left one island for a rather smaller one! Despite the lack of breakdown cover, David was in confident spirits and decided to tackle the challenging road terrain of the far North to reach 'Dennes Point'. Lots of dirt tracks and winding roads later we arrived at the destination, which proved nothing more than a hamlet, although we were treated to the odd spectacular view along the way. We returned down a different, but equally challenging route on our return leg and this also provided mutual bladder tests along the bumpy terrain! After rejoicing the sight of tarmac, we travelled from the 'North Bruny' to the aptly named 'South Bruny'! The reason for this is that the land is practically two Islands and the only thing keeping it together is a thin spit of land called 'the neck'. After travelling along the road for a while, we stopped at a bird reserve for little penguins (also known as fairy penguins). Despite the windy conditions we climbed the rickety wooden staircase that ascended 100-plus stairs above, managing to miss any sight of the penguins who clearly had prior lunchtime arrangements! However when we reached the top we had a great view either side of the neck, which provided an optical illusion, with one body of water appearing to be lower than the other. After getting our midday workout we returned windswept for our next leg of the journey. Whilst I had an agenda of sightseeing, Melissa had alternative plans for a cheese and wine tour! Continuing with the island's inventive naming convention, we stopped at the 'Bruny Island Cheese Company' to taste the delights of…you guessed it…cheese! However it soon became apparent that we weren't the only people who would enjoy a free cheese tasting that lunchtime. Despite arriving first in line, we were out muscled by a spindly sour puss old lady and her brethren. The avid blog readers amongst you will know that my patience is easily tested by such rudeness, but my tolerance was up 10-fold on Sue that day, who took an instant dislike to the pushy party. Her anger was only amplified when the server became adamant on serving us wafer thin slices of cheese. I have to confess that the portion size was a bit ridiculous, but I did manage to see the funny side of it. Not Sue however, who was spitting feathers at this point and I'm sure she curdled some cream behind the display with the glares she gave the server! After tasting nothing more than thin air for the last twenty minutes, we decided to actually taste the cheese for once by ordering a full platter to share. All in all a very pleasant eating experience and tempers were tapered! After our fill of dairy products we made haste around the remainder of the Island, experiencing local wine tasting and berry ice cream along the way. Other places of note, included the light house near Cloudy Bay and the quaint village near Adventure Bay. With time running out, we made a final dash to catch one of the last ferries back to the main island. The only fly in the ointment was the 'mysterious loss' of the return ferry ticket. It's fair to say that patience was tested in the final moments before boarding, but the fact that we didn't need the arbitrary slip of paper eased our boarding concerns. After a refreshing ferry ride and short drive home, we cooked our 'old faithful' pasta/crouton bake and enjoyed a glass of Bruny Island wine to toast a lovely day out.

Again we woke early on the penultimate day of our 'Tassie' adventure and set course northwards to the quaint township of Richmond. This place really reminded me of a Cotswold village with some of the sandstone buildings. After a quick stretch of the legs at the bridge, we continued northwards to check out Outlands, which promised to have some equally impressive sandstone buildings. Promising so much, on first impressions it didn't quite deliver and it resembled nothing more than a ghost town. After a quick look round and some comical purchases from the local gift shop, we decided to grab a spot of lunch with an old 'English Breakfast Tea' as an accompaniment! After some previous research, I was quite keen that we try out the local bakery, which had a sterling reputation for lunch. However, I had neglected to remember that it was Monday and as Tasmania is still stuck in the 80's…half the shops were shut that day…grrr! We had a quick look around and settled for second best, an establishment called 'Pancakes and Crepes'. Little did we know that we would witness one of the funniest events of the whole trip and this would be a 'fruitful' choice in the end! After taking a seat, it quickly became apparent that the owners were in the early days of trading, as the old woman running around seemed 'frantic' to say the very least! Anyhow we ordered a few savoury snacks, sat back and waited for events to unfold! As we lay in wait, an elderly chap ordered up a 'berry stack' to follow his main course. By the menu description, this involved three layers (or stacks) of pancake, filled to the rafters with cream and local berries. When it was presented it certainly lived up to expectations and the elderly customer had only a small folk present to aid his task ahead. Despite our food taking some time, we were kept amused by the frantic server who seemed intent on abusing anyone who dared enter the shop! Then the magic moment occurred, as much to everyone's absolute amazement, the elderly chap had stealthily worked his way through the entire dessert and laid his tiny folk down in defiance! When the server came to clear up, it was clear that she was far more surprised than anyone. So much so, that she let out a megaphone like announcement to the whole restaurant, proclaiming 'congratulations sir, you are the first person ever to fully finish a berry stack'. I think it was a combination of the ridiculously patronising tone she used, combined with the complete expressionless reaction of the elderly man that sent us into hysterics. The elderly chap couldn't have played his dramatic under reaction any better and the slight gurn he added after the announcement only added to the effect. That was it, we all broke into laughter and none more than David and I - I actually started crying and David had to leave the restaurant for fear of accidently passing wind due to his lack of hysteric control. It's one of those 'you had to be there' moments to truly appreciate the comedy, but whenever I have a down day in life and need a 'pick me up' I'll always look back at that moment which will guarantee more than a smile! After all of that, our next stop at the village of Ross was relatively normal, although some of the shops proved somewhat interesting! It's fair to say that parts of Tasmania seem to be in a little bit of a time warp. The village of Ross is a good example of this, although it's kind of nice to go back in time sometimes!

On our final day, we made our way into Hobart and over to the Salamanca area. Unfortunately we missed the legendry market day, but it was quite pleasant to walk around the area. The only negative was the weather, which turned a bit wet and wild towards the end. We did find time to pop back to Richmond for some hearty lunch at 'Anton's' - a more than generous serving of home baked pizza. After this we returned back to collect our bags and made our way to the airport. Alas, we bid fair well to Tasmania but it will always hold nothing but fond and funny memories for me!

We arrived mid-afternoon at Melbourne airport and bid farewell to our kind hosts Sue and David, as they made their continued journey onto Perth. After collecting our bags, we caught various bus combinations to arrive at our city central accommodation (the Stamford Plaza). It was a relatively upmarket establishment in a prime location of downtown and we had managed to secure a great deal for a couple of nights stay. Upon arrival, we both felt shattered and decided to have a 'duvet day' due to impending colds. Sometimes the constant travelling and enjoyment catches up with you and the freezing cold rain in Melbourne didn't help matters either! After resting up that evening we awoke slightly more refreshed the following day, although our stress levels were to be tested early on. During the course of the last week, we had been trying to reschedule our flight to arrive in the UK slightly earlier than planned for various reasons. However, this proved a challenge with the travel agency representative, who repeatedly misunderstood our requests and seemed set on booking us onto totally random flights. After celebrating a small victory of actually getting the correct message across, we were deeply frustrated when the flights back returned fully booked. I took my frustration out on a pair of socks, which I hurled around the bedroom for a couple of minutes then took a shower to calm down. However, Melissa was storing her emotional frustration up until I came out of the shower. Then like a coiled spring she gave way and felt the urge to let her anger out in some form or another. With nothing to hit in her immediate line of vision, she improvised and began stomping her foot on the floor in outrage. Very soon the anger turned to laughter, as she started to perform some sort of funny dance around the room as a result! This turn of events has now been coined 'the Melbourne Stomp' and coincidentally there is actually a patented dance move with the same name that kind of resembles the routine!

The next day we decided to join a free walking tour that happened to be running in the morning. We have done few of these tours across other major cities around the world and as I have said before, they tend to be a bit of a mixed bag. You win some and you lose some and this one was distinctly average! The factual content was relatively interesting, but the guide's personality sadly resembled the weather…grey and boring! It did serve to give us an orientation of the city and we became privy to some of the impressive 'street art' murals along a secret alleyway. Now the guide was quite (if not overly) passionate about all this. What I would deem as graffiti or general naughtiness is actually termed 'street art' to the less educated! Enough sarcasm though, as some of the 'statements' were quite impressive, I'm just glad they are not on my personal property!! After the tour, we spent a bit of time wandering the streets and shops of Melbourne. Compared to many other cities, it's a great place to shop and Melissa was starting to wake up to this. However, we were both still a little under the weather and cut the trip slightly short to get a well-deserved power nap. We did however brave the outside world in the evening and enjoyed an exquisite evening meal at a restaurant called Gingerboy.

The next day we spent a morning enjoying a full 'Melbourne Breakfast' and then made our way out to the western suburb of 'Yarraville' to meet our friends, Ben and Caroline. It was great to see them both and meet their children Ella and Thomas. We spent the afternoon as most Australians seem to do, relaxing and drinking coffee! We were also treated to some homemade culinary delights and fine cheese and wine in the evening…all of a sudden our colds disappeared! The next day, we took advantage of the sunny weather and made our way back into the city to enjoy the Botanical Gardens. Most cities have public gardens somewhere, but Melbourne's botanical gardens are pretty impressive. They cover a huge area and there is a nice walking/running path that goes round the whole perimeter. Ben and I took the kids to play in the garden, whilst Melissa and Caroline jogged around the track! I think it was Caroline's enthusiasm that persuaded Melissa to do this, but despite returning a different shade of red, it was an impressive effort given the heat! After this we enjoyed a walk around the park and stroked a dog that was actually the size of a small horse…I'm not joking either! We then tucked into a homemade picnic and enjoyed a bit of Frisbee on the grass. The only complaint was that I took a bee sting on the foot, which actually hurt far more than I remember! The last time I was stung was when I was about 10 years of age….it turns out that I'm still just a big kid when it comes pain! We had another chilled evening and took turns to read Thomas his bed time stories which he found overly amusing!

Ben and Caroline have a lovely house and great outside deck area to enjoy the afternoon sun. They also own the most prolific peach tree ever grown, which yields enough peaches to feed the thousands! I have to admit they are some of the most succulent peaches I have ever tasted and their son Thomas (Tom Tom) can't seem to get enough of them either! Caroline's cooking has also become quite inventive as she tries to introduce peaches one way or another! However, to give her a break, Melissa cooked up a peach crumble to provide a bit of diversity! The rest of the day was taken out to get caught up on domestic tasks, which actually felt surprisingly fulfilling! With the weekend over and Ben and Caroline back at work, we decided to take the short train ride back into the city and get out to the beach area of 'St Kilda'. It was probably the hottest day we had had on the whole tour and a lack of air conditioning on some of the trams helped to enforce this point. It was so hot in fact, that it was almost unbearable to walk for more than 100 yards! Therefore we strategically utilised air conditioned shops along St Kilda to take refuge and make our way down to the beach. We did stop for lunch at an interesting vegetarian restaurant called 'Lentil As Anything'. The principle is that you only pay as much as you feel the meal is worth (via a voluntary contribution). The only downside of this is that it can attract the wrong cliental, who basically abuse the system with a free meal. Given this, the ambiance was somewhat interesting, but the food was surprisingly tasty and we paid for the pleasure! We then made our way to the beach, which was absolutely packed with student sunbathers. If I'm honest, I preferred other beaches around Australia, for example Manly in Sydney and the area seemed to have a bit of a threatening undertone. Maybe our tolerance was tested by the midday heat, but we didn't stop overly long before heading back.

After suffering with a bit of toothache, I finally decided to take action and visit a dentist the next day for some emergency treatment. This proved to be a wise move and one filling later we were on our way again. Ben had kindly set Melissa up for a coffee chat with one of his colleagues, so she could better understand the employment landscape in Australia. I used the time to hit the gym with Ben and his friend. It was good workout, although I might have pushed myself a little too far as I couldn't bend my arms past two degrees the next day!! That evening we packed our cases ready for the next leg of the adventure…a long weekend in 'Apollo Bay'.

Almost as famous as the Pacific Coast Highway on the west coast of the USA, is the 'Great Ocean Road' that hugs the coastline south of Melbourne. Ben had kindly arranged a holiday rental in picturesque Apollo Bay halfway along the Great Ocean Road. The drive over was spectacular, although the road had a few twists and turns. Melissa was flirting with her motion sickness at one point, but we were blissfully unaware that Caroline was having greater trouble! She valiantly took both children in her car and it turns out that Thomas suffers from a bit of motion sickness himself! Eventually we made our way to the rental and the house ('Azen Haven') was perfect for a 'family' stay. We took advantage of the seaside location to get some real Aussie fish and chips that evening. It was my preconception before the trip that Australian fish and chips would not be a patch on their English equivalent. However, I have certainly changed my opinion after this trip…arguably they are much better! The next day, Ben and I awoke super early to go fishing off the local harbour. Things started out well, as I managed to hook a squid with the first cast!! However, the resident seal made sure that the fish would be a little sparse thereafter, but it was still good fun!

During the rest of the day we took a short drive out to a local rainforest area and enjoyed a pleasant trek through the woods. The only alarming point was noticing a 6 ft snake in the grass on our way back. Upon analysis, it turned out to be the most venomous type in the area, so it's a good job we gave it some breathing space! After that excitement we relaxed on the beach in the afternoon. Well we mostly relaxed, as 'Adventure Ben' decided that we should try 'paddle boarding'. This involved standing upright on a very large surfboard and paddling forward; it's a cross between surfing and canoeing. After falling off more times than I care to remember, I can confirm that it's a lot more difficult than it looks, although Ben did manage to master it towards the end…show off! That evening Ben prepared the squid we caught earlier and we all enjoyed it as a starter, followed by a homemade fish pie.

The next day, Ben kindly leant us his car so we could visit the 'Twelve Apostles' further along the Great Ocean Road. The 'apostles' consisted of rock stacks that are geologically unique in the area. I think there are only 7-8 still left standing, but they haven't changed the number yet! The only downside is that the area really draws the crowds, with an especial bias to the Chinese contingency. At risk of some social stereotyping here, one thing I have observed during my travels is that the Chinese like to take photos! It can be a bit overwhelming when they are all competing for the best photo opportunity and it kind of reminded me of an ITV's gladiator event called 'the gauntlet' as we made our way through the crowds! After a bit of muscle, we did manage to get a few shots of the apostles ourselves, but staying there for longer than twenty minutes was no longer an option! After this frenzy, we made our way to the quieter town of Port Campbell for a spot of lunch. We then stopped at the stunning 'Loch Ard' gorge, narrowly avoiding a Chinese tour bus….a very close escape. To throw the crowds off our tail, we cut inland and made a stop at the quirky town of 'Timboon'. We stopped for a cup of coffee at the old railway shop and enjoyed a spot of whisky tasting from the local distillery. After a short walk and a narrow miss with a spider, we returned back to the holiday home.

The next day I awoke on my birthday, at the ripe old age of 31! We all went for a birthday breakfast in Apollo Bay and took a slow drive back to Melbourne, to stop at the town of 'Lorne' and the Airie Point lighthouse. We also made time to stop at 'Bell's Beach', which was made famous as the set for the last scene of the film 'Point Break'. After a leisurely drive home, we found time to rustle up a moussaka for dinner and we all enjoyed a quiet nights recuperation.

However my excitement was far from over, as Melissa had some more surprises up her sleeve! The next day we picked up a hire car from the city and made our way out to the 'Mornington Peninsula' area. This is a stunning coastal country area to the south east of Melbourne. During the day, we frequented wineries and enjoyed a tasty stone baked pizza at the T'Gallant winery. We picked strawberries together and made our way to a character B&B in the heart of the town of Sorrento, which kind of reminded me of 'Carmel' in California. The whole area is outstanding and over the next few days we did some more wine tasting, visited the old army base at Point Nepean and had a good old pub lunch at Portsea. We also enjoyed a sunset meal on the pier at 'The Baths' restaurant and I even got a surprise birthday cake for dessert! All in all, it was a wonderful birthday weekend perfectly planned by my beautiful wife. On our travel back to Melbourne, we stopped off at the local hot springs which were truly relaxing. It was a very professional set up, with over 20 separate pools, including a super-hot one which nearly boiled me alive! We arrived back to Ben and Caroline's to enjoy a bottle of Mornington wine and good conversation.

The next day we awoke excited, as apart from being Ben's birthday, it was also Australia Day! Melissa had bought some token Australian flags and they were promptly placed around the premises for full effect! We all chipped in to get things ready and then the guests arrived for the day! Basically it was a big get together of friends and family, with lots of drinking, eating and general merriment! Of course homemade burgers were cooked on the BBQ and cricket played on the lawn…it wouldn't be Australia Day otherwise!

We spent our final day preparing for our next leg of the adventure to New Zealand, although we did find time to head out to the play park at Seddon with Caroline and the kids. The final day we bid farewell to our very accommodating hosts and their adorable kids. After staying with a family for a while you get a bit attached and it's fair to say we were slightly upset to leave everyone…ah well we'll just have to come out again! I'm going to stop there, as this may well be the longest instalment to date, but you guys have been asking for it, so hopefully it will satisfy until I get the next one finished! However, rest assured I will finish it all as there is much more to cover before we ended up back in the wet and windy UK!