Mmm..Ian, the spiders do not sound very nice in your last postcard, English spiders will never seem as scary now! You both look very festive in your Santa hats but Ian's expression seems to imply either unhappiness at having to wear such a silly hat or too much alcolhol. Never!! Pleased to report that Grandma M seems to be making good progress, she is still in hospital but looks much better (Talking nonsense though!). We had a cheerful, boozy lunch last week at home with rellies and friends coming to visit us, Tina, Ant and baby Cara. She was a star (Cara of course!) as she decided to show off and crawl for the first time - Ant rewarded her by moving all of her toys further away so she would do it again! Hope to speak to you soon mom xxx

check your email now

Hi guys hope you are well. Wer'e a bit of a sickly crew at the mo; Mitchy has a chest infection though you wouldn't really know it as he's still careering round the place and I'm still having problems with my stomach/bowel. I've now been referred to a specialist at the hospital though its unlikely that I'll get an appt before the New Year so I've just got to drug myself up and hope for the best until then. Re: Delia and the money; could you get the market you sold her at to send you the buyers details if they try and sell her on again when they have done NZ. Youv'e probably thought of that already. Christmas has definatley arrived in the Doney household. The lounge looks like Sants's grotto with the tree and all the decs and I bought Mitchy a big train light which sparkles and changes colour etcc; as you can imagine he loves it. I took him to see a grotto the other day and they had real reindeer; it was really cool. His favourite words at the moment are father chrisbus and noman (snowman). He's got his nursery nativity on Wed, he's going to be a shepard and then on Thurs he's got a xmas lunch and a date with santa. I've been busy with my book selling and have another sale tomorrow morning. Mark's been really busy at work but at least he's been at home at night which makes a nice change. Anyway better go, love you loads Thomi

hope you are okay, has your mail redirection finished, getting it written on now ? Are you at kevs yet, give him a big hug. Is geraldine still coming ? check your other email too.

love sarah and steve

G'day Guys, Glad to hear that you are coping with all the local wildlife in Oz. It sounds like you have seen more spiders and snakes than us, we've been here over 8 months now and seen only a few small ones! (Thankfully!). Plenty of other wildlife though!! As you may, or may not, remember, we are not in Brisbane now. We have moved down to the Gold Coast and are sharing a house near the beach in Surfers Paradise until the new year! Yay - this means xmas day on the beach with a beer, a barbie and a swim! Let us know when you will be passing through, so we can meet up again. Speak to you soon, happy travelling. Steve & Zarina

Hi EveryoneSorry its been a bit quiet, we've been trying to sort out our money nightmare which got worse....the boiler packed in in the house which we're renting out) so bang goes the best part of another grand and the delia guys never gave any details so thats another 800quid, oh well looks like we're a bit cursed, we reckon we're 2500quid down, which pretty much does the rest of Oz and india so we'll be coming back with debts and no job.

At least its worth it, this place is fabulous, we spent yesterday in a photo frenzy, we saw about 50 kangaroos, and even got sent back from our platypus spotting night walk by a big male Roo who growled at us. We're at Carnarvan gorge now, again risking the van a bit going off road... There was a big bush fire then flood so the gorge had been closed but it opened up today so we're going to get togged up and go for a hike.

Thankyou so much for the help all the parents with the boiler etc.

Thanks Al for the update, things sound fine and dandy with you guys, yes we met Ste and Zarena and wioll again in a week or so. Send us some piccies of Jack Love to Lucy.

Thomi, no pressies this year, just would love to hear from you over xmas xx

Christ almighty, its been a while since I last sent you guys any form of communication, so I thought Id be better off posting a little message on your fancy board thing-a-me-bob. Glad to see that THE FEAR is really starting to settle in. Once someone starts quoting statistics about the lethality of various arachnids, reptiles and other assorted mammals, you know that the paranoia has really got them glad youre surviving though

As the good Doctor Thompson once said, "It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top."

Having taken the opportunity to pursue your photo albums and stuff it seems youre seeing some pretty mental things whilst winding your merry way around the globe, so all I can say is keep up the good work and always ensure youve checked under the seat before settling down with the morning's paper.

As for us, everything is going according to the master plan. Sleepless nights have settled down and the boy is entertaining in the way that only 11 month olds can be. You know the sort of thing, being cute, shouting a lot, eating stuff he shouldnt, playing with electrical sockets and cupboard doors. Hes starting to get pretty quick on all fours and is starting to walk a little bit, so were both on our toes all day.

Other than that, life just as we like it - work is the same (an ongoing distraction for a couple of days a week - the new magazine is doing well). We did buy a new car to replace the roller-skate we had before so we can fit all the associated crap that nippers require and still have room for shopping and whatnot.

PS: I dont know if you know, but Stevie got engaged to Zarina and Karen and Norton are expecting twins.
I'm off to Frankfurt tomorrow for a trade fair for three days, so it's not just you lucky b******s that get all the frequent flyer miles... And if you're near Florida early Feb, then perhaps we can meet up?

Oh and should I not send anything before 2005 (odds on), happy christmas and have a good new year y'all (or what ever the local festive season is called)..

Al, Lucy and the wonderboy Jack..

I (ian) am starting to freak out now about this country. I started well by not checking under seats etc. and going diving with sharks at a shark feed no less. No cage, we just sat underneath a load of sharks savaging a fish kebab. Reef sharks are harmless really, its the tiger and hammerheads you've got to watchout for (which there are some). But sharks aren't really the prblem. near the shore are the box jelly fish with 3m tentacles which leave an acid like scar and can kill you. You're no better off in streams and lakes either because there are more croc's than people here (95% of attacks result in death). Oh and paopel are whipped off the beach into the sea by teh big 4m salty's. You're no safer on land though. ONLY 14 species of australia's snakes are deadly but at least you can see them (appart from some of the really small deadly ones). Its the spiders that are the really danger and they're everywhere too.

................................Its still very unlikely (they say) that you'll ever be biten/savaged by any of these creatures. Its far more likely that you'll be involved in a car crash with a kangaroo or casawaree (large agressive bird with talons) on the highway. We're off for a swim at the beach now. Wish us luck. thats all I'm going to say.

As Bill Bryson says. Australians play down the dangerous animal thing alot but then tell you about the near death experience thay had last week at the hands of one of these beasts.

Can't believe your Delia catastrophe! Knowing you 2 you'll come good I do HOPE so. Still trying to contact Puno police. Our hotel woman got me the number but it didn't work. I'm now trying the Head of Peru Police - trying to get a fax number then I can compose a message in all tranquillity. All this is very good for my Spanish. Pinch a wallaby for us or maybe 2! When do you get to Sydney?
LOL Westbymum

Hello Everyone

Well, this trip is getting better and better, we now have sharks, turtles, bats, wallabies,parrots, frogs, spiders, snakes, reefs, rainforests, and the true baking outback to add to some great experiences here already....only 10 days in!

Thanks for all the messages

BBH, Ben, Dews, Dean etc its all true boys! Claire is hot and Ian is Buff! Its nice to finally hear from you lazy arses. We turn our backs for 5 mins and you've all moved house. E-mail us you're addresses etc when you get chance. ps we looked on BT.com phonebook and found Davis B.You can run but you cant hide!

Toblisourous, thanks for letting us know you're out there up over, love to your lovely wife... xx
Tina, thanks for the piccie of Cara, she is truly gorgeous
WestbyMum&Dad, I (Claire) messed up good and proper, put my details wrong on internet banking and the money didnt go into my account and we dont have their contact details, at the moment we dont even have enough money to do Oz (well not in credt anyway) but we are on the case (as you know with the insurance claim) and trying to find their contact details via the backpacker market. Just one of those things that you have to constantly kick yourself for days about.
Joyce, glad to hear Tony's still spoiling you (hope th gene is passed on to his son! my birthdays just around the corner too)
Bye Bye for now, off to find some more wallabies, we've updated our journals and piccies so enjoy
Claire & Ian
xx

hope yer still havin' fun
UP YER BUM!!!xx

Scary about diving! Presumably no pix! Still persuing Puno Policia Turistica so..... Funny to be back in FREEZING Eruope, missing those funny tall mountains but brought back some Picso so heading for that tonight and we're determined to learn Spanish and keep walking. Wot's yor itinerary? See yor 'blob' is in N Aus. Gerry all set to meet u. LOl
Westbymum