Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! We have been in Oz for 2 weeks now and are only just getting over the jet lag. We spent 4 days in Sydney, relaxing in the botanical gardens over-looking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Home to hundreds of large fruit bats who were roosting noisily in the trees above our heads. Cool! We stayed in the celubrious area called Kings Cross and had the company of 4 transexual prostitutes plying their trade outside our bedroom window! We frequented the best aquarium I have ever seen, with amazing, and apparently quite rare, sharks and shark rays swooping about above our heads and below our feet. I also managed to keep up the Guy family tradition of stalking Billy Bragg where-ever he may go! We tried to catch a bit of the Christmas spirit by watching a 3D version of the Chrimbo movie "Polar Express". We both got very sad, me simply because it just didn't feel like Christmas in 30+ degrees and Pete because it made himn miss Winnie all the more. Then we up sticks and moved on for a family Christmas in Adelaide. No time to drag our heels here, so far we have : snorkelled with sting rays (more of that again tomorrow), seen koalas and echidna (looks a little like hedgehog but is a monotreme (lays eggs like a platypus)) one of which almost landed on top of me it was so shy!, eaten our lunch whilst being gently harangued by kangaroos, visited Kangaroo island (Australia's biggest island), seen NZ fur seals and Aussie sealions, flown in uncle Tony's plane over amazing coast line - Pete flew for around 15 mins on the way there, I flew for around 15 seconds on the way back! - had some wonderful walks in the hills, swum in the sea where the great white shark attack took place a couple of weeks ago, had Christmas dinner - including prawns! - sitting outside in the sun, missed the first time it's snowed on Christmas day in Plymouth in years, had a swim in the sea and a stroll along the beach at sunset on Christmas day, and tonight we are having a BBQ for NY's eve! And we've only been here 6 days!! Next we move on to NZ to meet up with Ben again for a 6 week trip from Auckland to Christchurch. Have a fab New Year folks, we will! xxx Janet and Pete