We left Sydney at a very early and unseen hour and with a very worse for wear Katie with a plastic bag at the ready! We were set for our first Oz bus in a month and ready to get back into the travelling mind set after our month of being quite settled. To follow was a three day trip from Sydney to Melbourne stopping at a few places along the way......

Our first port of call after a satisfying fry up to sort out you know who was Canberra, the capital of Australia and a city that is completely man made- the greens, the rivers- literally everything you see. It was something out of the Truman Show with everything being very well kept. We got out here for a quick visit around the Houses of Parliament, it was quite impressive and after nodding our caps to our old Queen Lizzie and a stroll around the different head quarters we were soon on our way once again. Here's a little fact: Every Australia Day (26th january) the Indigenous people protest peacefully outside the Houses of Parliament for their rights... don't have enough knowledge to say how well that's going but there is an obvious divide that every traveller feels immediately stepping in to this otherwise peaceful country.

So that night we entered the Snowy mountains and were staying in threadbow- a very cute skiing village that only had snow a week before we arrived. Not enough to cover the slopes but pretty cool none the less that despite the rest of the East coast being somewhere in the late 30 degree mark there was a place where it snowed not far off! We were told we were staying in a four star hotel so were quite excited at the thought of having our own King Size bed with en Suite... unfortunately this just meant a clean dorm room of 6 with a shower to share. Can't complain.

Before I go on I will just mention that this Oz bus varied from the other ones down the coast because we were with the same group of 20 for all three days and there was a big difference in that there were a few older people rather than the normal 20 somethings that it always consists of. This was actually quite refreshing and most of the people were good company if not quite entertaining, but there's always one annoying one and this time we found it in a crazy Dutch woman who knew everything about anything... don't you hate that! Soon enough the bossy English woman in her late 60's would give her a run for her money, which always made for a good ear wig on the bus!!!! Oh and the bus driver was Justin- a short fella that you couldnt help but like, he was a true bush boy who doesnt like the city, laughed at his own jokes and was slightly strange!!

Anyhoo, the next morning was our 'Big Day' if you will as we were soon to be Champion mountaineers climbing the highest point in Australia- Mount Kosciuszko! However, as we started to go up on the chair lift the temperature dropped more and more until we were absolutely freezing our pinkies off and were slightly apprehensive about the fact that we were only wearing tiny shorts and thin hoodies- one thing Justin didn't warn us about was that we were going to be facing gail force winds that would subsequently cause huge mist and make our very inappropriate clothing soaked through!! (and there he was tucked up in layers galore!) Still with all our might we battled against the force of the wind, up the winding track, arm in arm and just as we were about to give up and turn back as many already had, we found ourselves on the last stretch- WE DID IT!!! All the more of an achievement because of the conditions! As you can imagine we were elated, it was just a shame we couldnt see past a metre in front of our hands so we couldnt appreciate the glorious view from the top.

After a very entertaining walk home, singing and getting the uncontrollable giggles because the conditions were so unbelievable- Katie hanging on to Jemma for dear life as Jem kept slipping and the wind behind us now it was forcing us to almost run and our legs kept getting away with us and we couldnt stop- so funny (but scary)!!! We crawled into the highest cafe in Australia and ordered a very well deserved Hot chocolate and snickers to dunk in... heaven!!

With a change of clothes and a bit of lunch to regain energy we were back on the road, for the longest journey yet! Thankfully it was so picturesque we hardly noticed as we drove through Kosciuszko National Park around the cliff edges and with the bush on the other side- it was absolutely stunning, and to top it off we stopped every now and again when somebody would spot a wild kangaroo family or an emu... completely out in the sticks it was such a thrill to see! we crossed states from New South wales to Victoria and took a picture legs straddled over the wall to mark the divide to prove it! This meant the same National Park had to have a different name for dividing into a different state so we were now driving through Alpine National Park, and then the rain came! It was very cosy inside the bus and the view over the mountains was spectacular but it was completely dangerous to be driving on the cliff road in those conditions so we put our foot down and got outta there!! (On the way passing a township of just 6 people! Suggan Buggan- with a shack that was Victoria's very first primary school with only 12 children that used to ride 3 hours on horseback to get there and back- another little fact for ya!)

The second night we stayed in Lakes Entrance- a small town with not much to see, but a lovely fresh fish dinner caught within the last 12 hours... yum yum! The dorm was actually better than the 4* the night before and we stayed with two girls Cassie and Claire whom we would meet up with a few times in Melbourne. Very tired, it was an early night all round with a nice cup of tea and some rolo chocolate too ease the pain! (rolo chocolate bar- the most amazing thing ever invented, we will be importing the stuff when we get home!!)

Last day of the tour and we stopped in Wilsons Promontory- Australias most Southern mainland point and really beautiful. There are only three beaches in Oz with silicon sand (gorgeous white tiny particles that dont get too hot and squeak under your feet) and we have now been to all three- Whitsundays Whitehaven beach, Fraser Island and the beach we visited here- appropriately named Squeaky Beach!!! It was stunning, the sand stretched for miles and the sun was scorching, we had the option to do another walk but felt we deserved a well needed top up tanning session!!! Luxurious. We had one more quick stop to an old landing strip that is now surrounded by bush (tour guide not really allowed to take us there!) where we witnessed some more Kangaroo action, this time getting up so close to them and seeing them pop their heads up all around us- quite comical!! ... and worst of all the red backed spider!!!!! A fatal bite and an evil look about them was enough to send Katie into high shrills, safe to say jem was the brave one taking the pictures... eughhhh!!

So, we were now arriving in Melbourne. The city looked really cool and from the sound of it Melbourne was quite Avant garde, with lots of arty things ot see and do... we were very excited, however it became apparent that we had a bit of a dilema on our hands concerning accomodation arrangements... eek...