Hey. Me, Teresa ans Gerard finally made it back to civilization, and managed to catch up with Mandy and Mike again in Adelaide two weeks ago. We all went out clubbing together that night in Glenelg, the local seaside town, which was a good night, then on Saturday I went off with Teresa and Gerard to explore the city (and shop of course). Visited the library, and a cathedral, and wandered around the city taking pictures, then went back to Glenelg to see it during the day, where we went to a shark museum, run by a guy who survived a shark attack and helped make Jaws, which was pretty interesting. On Sunday me, Mike and Mand left again, to commence the last leg of our tour!!! We were heading first to the Great Ocean Road. We stopped the night in Mount Gambier and the next morning headed to Logan's Beach, which is known as a good place to spot Southern-Right whales. There where two there-a mum and her baby, and we were dead lucky cos they were right infront of us, and were proper showing off, jumping out of the water, and rolling over and swimming on their backs. We stayed for ages hoping to see them jump out of the water again, and they did, it was fab. I thought that I'd only ever see that on the discovery channel! I got some great pictures. We continued on our way to the Great Ocean Road, stopping at all the places of interest along the way until finally reaching the 12 Apostles. The sun was shining on them at first, making it hard to get good photos, but it soon went behind te clouds, making it better. I also planned on taking a helicopter ride over them, because only 7 are visible from land, and you see them all from the air, except we got to the flight centre to discover that it had just closed. Typical! We stopped overnight at a campsite on the Great Ocean Road, before continuing to Melbourne the next day. We went straight to the docks there, to book our ferry for Tasmania for that evening, but it was full, so we had to book in for the following night. We spent that eveing in the best campsite we've stayed in in Aus so far...it had a bath! haha It was newly built and had an amazing heated camp kitchen (not like some of the dumps we have to pay to stay at) with a tv (you miss the telly) and an actual bathroom! Me and Mand spent about an hour in there each, having a really long bath. It was so welcome after 8 months without one! haha The next day we went into Melbourne, where I've been to before, so I went to places I didn't visit last time, like the library and museum, while Mand and MIke went off to see the city for themselves. At 6pm we headed to the ferry which was hysterical, you'd think none of us had been on a ferry before. But we were just dead excited to go somewhere different, and sleep somewhere other than the tent for a change! We chilled out on the ferry watching football, and visiting the little shops til bedtime. I was worrying that I would get seasick, cos it was really windy, but fortunately I never. The sleeping areas were set out like seats on an aeroplane, but there was only about 10 people in the room designed to sleep 100, so we had pleanty of rrom. The seats where dead uncomfortable though, and there was a lovely big open space on the floor, so I nicked as many blankets that I could get my hands on and made myself a lovely bed. I woke up the next day after a fab nights sleep, to find Mandy and MIke missing. It turned out that there were 2 really noisy snorers in the room and they got so annoyed that they went out to the public areas to sleep on the couches, but they couldn't get comfy, so basically they had no sleep! Suckers! haha That day we headed straight to Cradle Mountain in the middle of Tasmania, to climb it. Or attempt to anyway! The weather there was terrible though. It was so cold, and pouring down with rain and sleeting, so climbing the mountain was out of the question, especially as you couldn't even see it through the clouds! So we decided to go on a walk to the lookouts, to get pictures of the lakes below. It was freezing, and I didn't exactly come to Australia with the intention of climbing mountains, so I'm wearing every warm item of clothing I could lay my hands on, with MIke's thermal gloves, and Mandy's waterproof jacket, and we were battling to get up a really steep mountain, when it started snowing!!! It was absolutely crazy considering a week before I was in the outback, where it was absolutely boiling. We were pretty impressed with ourselves after the climb though (or at least I was) and so off we went to find a campsite. There weren't any campsites in town though, probably cos people aren't crazy enough to camp in the middle of winter in the mountains, so we had to drive on, to try and find a free roadside campsite. We spent ages though trying to find one, and before we new it it was dark and belting it down. In the end we found one that fortunately happened to have a picnic shelter in which we could put the tent under to protect it from the rain, but it also had what appeared to be a witches cauldron next to it, and it was pitch black, so it looked like a scene from The Blair Witch Project!!! We had a pretty restless and spooked out sleep that night, so once we got up the next morning we packed up and left straight away for Hobart...and a shower! Hobart was a nice little fishing town, and had a market and stuff for us to wander around, and a really great museum exhibition about the Antarctic (as we were close to it, at the southern most point in Aus) which we spent a good hour at, and then we headed up the east coast towards Wineglass Bay, which is renowned for its beautiful beaches. We hiked and climbed 600 steps up a mountain to the lookout of the bay, which nearly killed me, but the views were worth it I suppose! We also stopped in a town along the coast were the 'little penguins' go every year when they nest. We waited at the beach until it went dark, and spotted a few lit'luns come out of their nests waiting for their mummies, so we knew they would come eventually. Then all of a sudden, we could hear these funny squeaky bird type noises, and in the distance, flying through the air from the sea were loads of 'little' penguins heading back home after a hard days fishing! They were great-not bothered by us being there in the slightest, and they literally march straight past you in a line, juming over the rocks, with their little legs to get back to their babies. They really are little though, they're so cute, and run as fast as they can, with their little paddy paws slapping down on the rocks, and their little arms out, flapping about as they run. We watched them for a while, and then walked back to the car, to find them all wandering about the carpark and in the street, it was so funny. There was a road sign up with a picture of a penguin on it as we drove into the street, but we never imagined them to be running riot on the road infront of us. It was amazing, and proper funny! We camped that night at another free campsite, (we've got no money, haha) but this time it was a nice one on a beach, with wallabies hopping around. And then we continued up the coast towards Launceston. In Launceston we visited a platypus breeding centre. I hadn't seen a platypus, so it was really good, and they also had echidnas there, which look like hedgehogs, but they waddle as they walk. You could stroke them, as we were in the same room as them, rather than them being in a cage, so basically, they're just waddling past you on the floor. They were adorable, I got some great pictures of them. It was really funny though, cos after leaving the room they were in, we were wandering around the gift shop and someone mustn't of shut the door behind them properly, cos the next thing you know, Edwina the Echinda was wandering around the gift shop with us! haha It was then time to head back to Devonport ready for our evening ferry back to the mainland, and after an 11 hour crossing and no sleep (this time the stupid guards kept telling us we weren't allowed to sleep on the floor) we arrived in Melbourne and travelled straight to Sydney. We were meant to stop overnight at another free camp spot, but it was pouring down with rain, so we thought it was best to get back to into the city and stay the night in a backpackers. And that was the night before last. We stopped at Bondi Beach, which was fab to go back to, as I have alot of fond memories from there, and then yesterday we got up with the intention of Mandy and Mike dropping me at a hostel in the city ready for my flight today. Except when I went to the bank to draw money out, I discovered that my Barclays Bank card was having none of it, and so basically I was in Sydney with not a cent to my name. So, my only option really was to be dropped straight at the airport, to guarantee I'd be here for my flight, and so the airport is where I have been...for the last 21 hours!!! I tried getting an earlier flight as a stand-by, but there were no connecting flights in Hong Kong, meaning I'd of been waiting around there instead of here, so I've been wandering about here instead. Mandy lent me money to buy food, so I've kinda just been wandering round using the free internet, browsing in the shops, eating, and making friends with the staff, who have been really nice. One old guy came over to me after he'd finished his shift last night to give me a little bag of fruit from his lunch box, and said, "that's for breakfast", and inside was a 10 dollar note. Bless him. So, yeah, only 9 hours left now til I leave, and only 6 hours til I check in! The worst is over. It's not exactly how I planned on spending my last 2 days in Aus, but hey....it's funny! Another story to tell! I've had a fantastic 8 months. As you know I've done all kinds, been everywhere, and made loads of friends! I can't believe how quickly it's gone! I did it hey! Thanks for reading my website! I have photo's to accompany my journal, which I'll put on as soon as I'm home. I'll see you all really soon. And mum...I'll see you at TERMINAL 3!!! haha Love Lauz xxx