Happy New Year from Sydney!!!!

Feeling very sad today as said goodbye to Dave this morning. We had a brilliant month together and I am going to miss him loads

Since the last blog entry I can report that Xmas dinner in the campervan was a great success!!! We had chicken, roast potatoes, veg, gravy and stuffing - all cooked with the help of a hob and a microwave - no oven! We have photographic proof for those of you who don't believe me and we even had crackers and a tree (well the tree was actually a pen but it did have bells on and looked very pretty!) and then ice cream and chocolate sauce for dinner - yum. Was very strange not being at home for Xmas and even stranger wearing my bikini on Xmas day but it helped having Dave there and we made the best of it. I got an awesome straw hat and we now have matching bracelets - oh we are so cool! Spent Boxing Day at Byron Bay which was really nice and watched the surfers fall of their boards which provided great entertainiment.

Left Byron Bay/Ballina on 27th and then the next few days were pretty awful! Having pre-booked all of the campsites up till then we thought it would be a good idea to wing it as it would be more of an adventure - well it was an adventure but not a fun one! Planned on spending a night in Coffs Harbour but seeing as the only thing to see in town was a Big Banana (seriously!) we carried on driving to Port Macquarie which was just as bad and we left very quickly the next morning!! We made the big discovery that there are in fact no restaurants/bars/pubs between Byron Bay and Sydney unless you count Mcdonalds (not even a pizza hut!), there were plenty of bowling clubs which were something else.

We arrived with great hope in Newcastle which again was a disappointment but we then discovered the wine route and things began to improve! We started drinking at 10 in the morning and it was such a laugh (although Dave was embarrassed by my slurring of words and taking to complete strangers by 1045!) Discovered some lovely wines (including one called Cockfighters Ghost - cool name and it tasted great!) and have made a list of them to pick up in Tescos when I get home. We were back at the campsite by lunchtime! Celebrated our final night in the campervan with a BBQ and had some yummy kangaroo steak!

Finally arrived in Sydney on New Years Eve and had a fun time trying to find somewhere to park the campervan (I wont mention how we really felt about the campervan except that it was cursed and that we wont be renting one ever again!!!) and eventually arrived at our posh hotel (thanks to Paula) which was lovely, especially having a real bed again. Spent New Years Eve having a few drinks at a bar then we went to the harbour to watch the fireworks, which were really cool but it was so crowded. On my birthday Dave got me breakfast in bed, which was very sweet and then we went to the harbour to see the bridge and the Opera House. Spent the evening at another bar then attempted to find a nice restaurant open on New Years Day but failed - what is wrong with Australia! so settled for a takeaway pizza and watched a DVD which was really nice. Yesterday we were planning on going to Bondi Beach but the weather was a bit naff so we got rid of our beloved campervan (the suckers failed to notice the bumper - he he!) and just chilled out. We went to a yummy Thai resturant for our last night and have now introduced Dave to the lovely Massaman curry!!

Am now at a hostel in Sydney and it is really weird being by myself again. I want to do the bridge climb and catch up with some friends in Sydney then will carry on down the coast, probably on the Greyhound. Right well I have waffled on for long enough, (hope I covered everything Dave!) will write more in a couple of days and put the photos on Facebook. Big kisses xx