Hey everyone- What a lot i have to catch up on! i have been terrible at updating this site- sorry for neglecting you all. Here goes... We arrived in sydney australia on 4th May and did evrything we could possibly think of while we were there. We has a few days on our own to explore before hannahs sister sophie joined us (who lives in oz and used to live in sydney) to give us a full tour of the best bits! On my eploration of the first few days i literally wandered around coming across things as i went-taking in the city. I walked through Hyde park (if my memory serves me correctly) where there were more runners than walkers! everyone is majorly into their fitness out here. Jogging on their lunch break no less! Then we walked through the botanical gardens and the herb garden- lovely! (see first pic). So so pretty. Through the botanical gardens is the walk to the famous Opera House. I dont care what anyone says...i think on first glance, the Sydney Opera House was every bit as impressive as i could have imagined...better! It is absolutely beautiful and with the harbour bridge right behind...i had a 'moment'. We met the rest of the troops including Russell (who has been travelling with us on and off since leaving Fiji!) and had a drink on one of the bars with the best views of the harbour and opera house area! lovely. Once Hannahs sister arrived she took us to lots of cool places including a trip on a ferry to Manly where views of the opera house on departure and arrival were amazing! We also went to a lovely market on Glebe Street where i tortured myself with all the clothes i couldnt buy! i did however buy some shoes (a neccessity as you cannot wear flip-flops out here into some bars). I also discovered Falafel wraps! yum! We went to Darling Harbour too- which is a lovely area full of bars and restauraunts where we spent a night out. We had a lovely dinner in the Blackbird Cafe where the waiters danced on the bar etc- very cool! Also went to Coogee beach and walked along the coast all the way to Bondi Beach. They were lovely areas but very hard to get a full impression of since its not warm enough to lay on the beach- i was told in peak months you cannot even see the sand its so busy! i can appreciate it would be absolutely buzzing. Sophie spent last christmas and new year on bondi beach! how amazing would that be! The food in Oz is so good too- i was hoping i would stop with the eating as ive been putting on weight thick n fast since New Zealand- i just cant help myself! After sydney, MC, Fi and I got a return flight down to Melbourne and Hannah fast-tracked up to Brisbane to spend time with her sister (who's at uni on the Gold Coast near Brisbane). Melboure was really good! i loved it. We stayed the first three nights in St Kilda which is a suburb on the outskirts of the city. It was like a little seaside town with an old luna park. It had a cute street full of wierd little shops- you will see on the pics. I took pics of some hairdressers for mum to see- theyre funny! ANd stayed 2 nights in the city so we could have a few drinks out at night without worrying about geting back. Melbourne has a fab transport system of busses and trams. it took a while to get used to- but literally you could get anywhere within a few minutes- no long waiting at all! The character of the city was really different to sydney. it has little alleyways connecting sone of the roads full of little cafes and bars with barely enough space to walk through- they were gorgeous and the smells as you walked up them were out of this world! yum. While in Melboure we went to: the Queen Victoria Market- nothing special- like leeds market to be honest. The Melbourne Museum, which had an exhibition of the commonwealth games on- very interesting! and had exhibits from gifted students in the area of arts and technology from local schools- so so so amazing! Brunswick street; a quirky street lined with independent shops and bars- my favourite part of melbourne. Visited Ramsay Street (the set of neighbours) it was pure cheesey tourist rubbish- but very entertaining all the same. just had to be done! Melbourne Zoo. SO much fun- we loved it. Had real bad weather though but enjoyed it all the same. Yarra River promenade and Federation Square Needless to say: a great time was had by all! We arrived back in Sydney on 15th May where we were picking up our "wicked" campervan ...lots to be continued!