We arrive in Australia with the sounds of cheering, whooping and a crowd gathering outside of arrivals. Unfortunately this was not for myself and Charlie. It was for the Tottenham team that were due to walk through the gates at any moment. So we decided to stick around in this little slice of home. Whilst waiting for the team we see Hannah and Mattis again. This will be the second chance meeting on this trip. We catch up whilst the revelry unravels around us. The team signs shirts, kisses cheeks and selfies with the fans. We leave Hannah and Mattis to catch their flight to New Zealand while Charlie and I hop on a bus to the city.
We manage to make it to central quays, the main stomping ground for tourists and home to the opera house with the harbour bridge in the back drop. The air is fresh, the water is clean and there is no sign of human faeces smeared on the pavement. India feels like a distant memory already.

To get to neutral bay we catch the ferry. We arrive at our long awaited destination, fuzzy haired, free spirited and ready to get back into western civilisation. Stef is waiting for us at Razzy's flat and we waste no time in relaying travelling tales and brainstorming ideas for the future over some Turkish food and drinks in Newtown. The first week was spent catching up with old friends, making new friends, enjoying the light spectacle around Sydney that is vivid and celebrating Charlie's birthday with a good old fashioned peep show, washed down with some karaoke later that night.

After spending way too much money in this metropolis we decide (after ALOT of deliberation) to make our way north to Brisbane. We fly out, bidding farewell to the cornucopia of trendy cafés, salute the polished pavements around the quays and Auf Wierdersen old and new friends.

Brisbane, Queensland, also known as the sunshine state. With winter temperatures not really dropping below the mid twenties we feel the beach babe in us come alive. We check into a hostel and start the search for some farm work, not before we have a few nights out of course, with karaoke top of the agenda once again for stefs birthday. We go to our first doof, (doof doof music) a party we heard about from a man called Peter Pan. I catch up with an old friend Lucy. She takes us on our first Australian adventure. A road trip to some nearby highlands. We walked around antique odds and sods shops, went to a cheese factory, saw a man playing the didgeridoo and admired the landscape. From this vantage point we could see the Sunshine Coast and the flat plaines of Queensland.

With the job search in full swing on a particularly productive day we scan the internet, trawl the phone lines and raid notice boards for some farm work. We eventually prevail and are called to Maroochydore for some farm work, strawberry picking due to start the next day. We pack up in the hostel and make our way by train and bus to the beachside town.

Our first day on the farm and we are ready and raring to go. An early rise and nothing to fill our bellies with (we didn't have time to shop the night before) this didn't deter us from our first day. Half way through, starving and aching after moving gregariously through the fields, Brad calls it a day.
We finish the day with a Thai feast and an early night. For now the farm work continues in an attempt to save money and we work towards getting our second year visa.