Hello again,

so i think we left you in sydney, from where we flew to Byron Bay for a couple of days of Jennifer re-visiting old haunts and a bit of beach time. We got checked in to a Dorm room that meant just sharing with another couple who i suspect of being Finnish, the male in the couple was very surly, but we decided this was no reflection on finnish people as a whole, although it may be...

we arrived late at night so had to wait till the next day to check out the beach which was very nice and sandy and the waves were "going off". it's not really a swimming beach and we didn't have surf boards so we agreed to return the next day with boogie boards and take the waves on properly.

we wandered round the main village and did a spot of shopping, after cooking a nice cheap tea we actually ventured out. comically we went briefly to a bar called cheeky monekys which proudly heralded it's Thursday night wet T shirt competition, fortunately it was Wednesday so we were able to drink up and head out pretty sharpish. The DJ there was sadly English and thought it sensible to dip the music on a Jason Donovan track at 8 in the evening to see which of the newly arrived crowd were singing along. amazingly no one was singin along, this didn't deter himn from dipping the volume again next time the chorus came round, and it was at this point that we beat a hasty retreat.

fortunately we stumlbed on to a nice bar with live music and Coopers Pale Ale for $4.50, it had a nice rustic out doorsy feel and we were shortly accosted by two canadian girls who were heading up to brisbane to see a keith urban concert, which meant nothing to me but i was reliably informed he just married nicole kidman. anyway that passed the evening, and the next morning we headed back to the beach with boogie boards firmly under our arms ready to do battle with some waves. and darn me if it wasn't rather a lot of fun, the tide was really strong and you got dragged all over the show but once you got 20 metres or so out you could catch a nice waves that would take you right to shore pretty quickly. it was a good arm work-out and they still ache a bit which is probably a bad sign for someone about to embark on a 3 day canoeing trek but never mind.

after our exertions we ate out, i had a kebab and jennifer got a gluten free wrap which she will tell you about later no doubt.

that evening it rained so we watched the man u Chelsea game which was pretty dull and went to bed ready to catch our bus to brisbane the next day...

BRISBANE!

was pretty fun, we did some touristy stuff around the town hall and city centre but the main reason for the visit was to emerse ourself in Aussie culture and take in a Aussie rules game. so we went to see the Lions play the Crows, or brisbane V adelaide to you and me. It was played at the Gabba, which i'd wanted to go and see having heard ritchie benaud refer to it so often. Here's a free lesson in Australian, to say it like the Aussies do change the first A to an I, for the full Benuad tilt your head slightly and squint whilst saying "the Gibba" remember always plenty of emphasis on the A.?THe game was notable for?three main reason. Firstly instead of an away kit they have a "change Jersey" how funny!

Secondly because it was the occasion of one of my favourite moments of our travelling so far as the stewardess who guided us to our seats tapped me on the shoulder and asked " did you see a guy with no legs walk in here?"? alas the answer was no but i still wish i had.

Thirdly for the atmosphere which was a cool mix. Within 5 minutes two guys had skulked out having got in wihtout tickets (no fuss no police just "ah jeez" and skulk out"), and two guys had been thrown out for having a punch up. We had wondered how safe it was to have home and away fans mixed together and it appeared ill advised when a crow popped a lions inflatable, the lions fan literally launched at the crow... police... out.... back to the game.

Lions took an early lead but turned out to be rubbish and got whooped by the crows. Jennifer made friends with the lady next to her and received a few pointers and tips on the game there was a little banter but we waited nearly an hour for the first chanted cries of Brisbane Brisbane Brisbane... poor show.

then towards the end of the game the 2 brisbane fans in the seats in front of us had a contretemps with the row of crows in front of them. the first skirmish ended with the 50 year old crow turning round to emphasis his point that he would without regret blast the lions freaking face off no worries mate.

he was convinced eventually to sit down to watch the last few minutes, however his wife was slightly more volatile and kept up a stream of high pitched mouthing off for the last few minutes of the game. Words continued to be exchanged till the final whistle and people began to depart, unfortunately the lion boys took this occasion to suggest that the crow lady might be a bit on the ugly side. "you calling my wife an ugly?" and that was that, fists drinks, threats whirling round us. the crow lady had a big family and they all wanted a piece of lion. fortunately we came away unscathed and left the debris behind post haste.

other than that we caught eurvision on aussie TV, another classic, quite glad ukraine didn't win but erm how to phrase it...? erm? Scooch!?

i thought we voted to choose our entry? we turn our backs for five minutes and you crazy bunch are on your mobiles texting vote Scooch all over the place.. honestly...

anyway we are done here now, next stop Noosa.