Hello everyone!

This will be my last blog entry from Australia as I leave tomorrow evening :( Very excited about New Zealand though!!!

So here is what I have been up to since Byron Bay...I left Byron on the Monday and headed for Surf Camp which I was pretty scared about but it turned out to be the best thing i've done so far. We had a half day surf lesson and all of us managed to stand up on the boards and catch some waves. It was very tiring though!!! Had dinner and drinks that night and a crazy bus ride to Sydney the next day with people singing Backstreet Boys and Christmas songs at the top of their voices at 8 in the morning. Arrived in Sydney late afternoon and went out for dinner at The Gaff and partied until my feet died. Embarked on some serious sightseeing with a couple of girls from Essex the next day. We walked miles and miles - saw the botanical gardens, the opera house, walked over the bridge, went to Darling Harbour and then got a ferry to Manly and had a $10 steak over there.

I had a day trip to the Blue Mountains the next day which involved some hiking and a ride up the steepest railway in the world. Saw the 3 Sisters and a really impressive waterfall. When I got back to Sydney me and the girls headed to Darling Harbour to watch a carol concert - very surreal when you're sat there in your shorts! On my last day in Sydney we hit Paddy's Markets (unfortunately i couldn't buy much due to limited space) and then went to Bondi Beach. Bondi was great apart from the number of couples getting a bit too touchy feely right in front of us! Had a lovely Italian meal in Bondi before heading back.

The next day I left Sydney on a 3 day tour to Melbourne. Stopped off at Canberra to check out the capital (it is only the capital because they couldn't choose between Sydney and Melbourne and it was somewhere in the middle!). We then headed into the Australian Alps and stayed the night in an Alpine Hotel where we drank schnapps off of skis! It was another early start the next day - we headed to Thredbo, got the ski left half way up the mountain and then climbed the last 6.5 km to the top of Mount Kosziousko (Australia's highest mountain). Afterwards we had a 4 hour drive through the outback (with no toilets) along the banks of the snowy river. It was a bit of a rough ride and the only way to stop myself feeling sick was to sleep! Spent the night at Lake's Entrance before heading to Wilson's Promontry (Australia's most southerly point) in the morning. Did a bit of a walk to a view point and then down to Squeaky Beach. Arrived in Melbourne in the evening.

I'm staying in St Kilda which is out of the centre but very cool - it has shops with so many cakes even I can't decide which one to get! Melbourne has got a bit of a European feel to it, especially St Kilda. Met a couple of girls from Switzerland and spent a couple of days sightseeing with them. Went to the Queen Victoria markets and to an Australian art exhibition and caught the free tram around the city. The next day it was 39 degrees but we braved the heat wave and did a city walk, discovered an expensive swiss chocolate shop, saw the parliament houses and wandered through China Town. Tried some Sushi which is really good and cheap over here, walked through the gardens and then embarked on some retail therapy in Cotton On (great clothes shop over here). Went out for a meal in St Kilda to a vegetarian restaurant where you pay as much as you want to which was a bit novel. Watched the live music back at the hostel (thought I might want to marry the singer he was so good until i saw he had a hairy back - wife beater vest was not the best choice for him!). Yesterday I did a day trip along the great ocean road. The weather decided to do something completely different and I spent the entire day in leggings, cardigan and a rain jacket. Saw some great sights though even if it did remind me a bit of England. Tomorrow I am doing the Neighbours tour which I am very excited about and I hope you are all very jealous about, then I fly to New Zealand to start my tour on Monday.

Just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Sorry I won't be there this year, but I will make sure next year is extra specially good! Miss you all lots x x