Morning all....... Busy, busy 10 days here, and before i forget apologies, i gave a slightly useless mobile number to you all, you actually need to add +61 to the beginning, forgot the fact that i was in Australia! Whoops! So: +61416649053....sorry bout that! So, when i left you last i was in a very 'rainy' but beautiful Byron Bay! We chose the worst three days to visit Byron as it was a Sunday and raining so was pretty dead! But we still managed to stay in a nice hostel and visit some nice bars and see a fantastic sun set over the bay.....was beautiful,some good pics to be loaded of that one! From Byron, via the doctors as the spider bite was worse than ever, the plan was to start heading South again as we didnt have much time until having to meet my friend Vix from uni at Sydney airport, but we decided that we should follow the weather for a few days and headed North up to Surfers Paradise.......................was beautiful! The sea was mad, the waves were mental and the beach was white and clear- quite a sight! We spent a mad mad few days in Surfers, the hostel we were in, called Surf 'n' Sun was ACE!! A great nightlife and was so friendly and they made everyone so welcome, we had a real ball there, including some bizarre nights out, a little '18/30's' back to my days in Ayia Napa and Zante..........ha ha ha..........as those of you who know Sue and Moody can imagine it was an eventful few evenings to say the least! BRILLIANT! Whilst in Surfers we visited one of the many theme parks in the area- Dream World........like a mini Alton Towers! Was brilliant, and apart from a few hairy rides where i thought i was going to see my breakfast again, was a brilliant day, great weather and the rides were brilliant, like being back at Thorpe Park when i was 14!! However, time was not on our side and an airport meeting on Saturday meant that we had to make our way South again, so the next stop was Nimbin.............one word........bizarre.........the place was full of hippies and stoner fruit loops and was an experience!!?! From Nimbin we did a long day of driving Bruce (Bruce is our name for our little beast of a 4x4 truck!) and arrived in a place just outside Sydney called Asquith, where we were staying with a Moody family friend so that we could get to the airport nice and early Saturday morning to meet Vix. Sandra was so hospitable, had a comfy bed and a home cooked meal, was brilliant and a few bottles of vino, although some blimin terrorists yet again caused havoc, and Vixs flight was pretty delayed so messed up the plans for Saturday.......... Eventually Vix's flight landed on Saturday and we headed straight off to a place called Wollongong.....on our way now to Melbourne! The road trip has been a fantastic idea, saved us so much money and we've had some beautiful drives along the East coast, stopping on the way for various tourist points.....however all our travel good luck came to an abrupt end on Sunday as Bruce died.......blown head gasket......and not going anywhere for a week at least.....damn! A real pain, as we were in some remote town called Cann River, so we jumped on the one bus that day that was heading to Melbourne and had to leave Bruce with a friendly mechanic.......... A 7 hour bus journey later and we arrive in Melbourne........instantly LOVE this city! It is very arty, the weather here is fantastic at the moment, went to a great exhibition yesterday and there is plenty here to keep me occupied for the next week. The city itself is so easy to get around, it is built like a grid and there is a brilliant tram service available for the whole city. We are staying in St Kilda, which is a little out of town, and houses some fantastic restaurants, cafes, bars and parks and gardens. Melbourne also hosts some of the largest sporting events in the world, including the Rod Laver Arena which hosts the Australian Open and also the park outside my hostel is transformed every year for the Australian Grand Prix (going to pay that a visit for you Nan!) Today, which was a bit of a highlight, we did the Neighbours Tour........when in Melbourne it has got to be done! ha. Went to Erinsborough High, which is actually an English language school in real life.....thinking about applying for a job.......ha......also went to Ramsey Street........it is so much smaller in real life! And even more exciting got to meet a star of the show....and low and behold it was the young and very attractive Boyd!!!! Took plenty of cheesy pics which are all on the website so check them out www.ellenmoriarty.com Not much more to report at the mo. Looking forward to a week in Melbourne, going to meet with some friends this evening and saturday we are going to an Australian football game, which will be good fun! Dont understand teh rules, but sure i will by the end of a game........ Hope your all well, and that things are going ok back home. Let me know what your up to, and i will speak to you soon. Love Ellen xxxx