Hello, despite the gap of over a month, I can confirm that Lee and I are still in Australia! Last blog entry, we had been had arrived in Melbourne and were having some serious troubles with the Battlebus. Not wanting to bore you with the same, but there have been a few more van drama's since Melbourne, although thankfully we have now sold the van (boo hoo) to another British backpacker, and are now currently living in a tent, courtesy of my dear old friend, Matt Southgate.

Once we left Melbourne back in early November, we continued our journey along the south coast of Australia, with our next major stop off point being Adelaide. We had planned this stretch of our road trip to include the famous Great Ocean Road, which as the name suggests, is a stretch of highway that runs parallel to the ocean (well for roughly 200 of the 250 kilometre length or so) as the rest snakes in and out of forest and country park and bush land. If you have been lucky enough to take this route, you will understand how breathtakingly beautiful the scenery along the road is. The day we drove, it was extremely windy and stormy looking. The clouds were some of the greyest and angriest looking I have ever seen and we felt sure that the heavens would literally open at any second and we would be caught in a ferocious thunder storm. The appearance of the sky and presence of an approaching storm created the perfect backdrop for the spectacular scenery and we ended up pulling the van over numerous times so we could watch in awe as the giant waves broke and crashed against the craggy rocks. The absolute highlight of the Great Ocean Road for us was going to watch the sun setting at the also famous 'Twelve Apostles'. The Twelve Apostles (now only about 8 remaining) are gigantic lime stone pillars that rise from the ocean and retreat into rows and are left standing as reminders of the continuing coastal erosion. The other 'must see' at this tourist pull are the Fairy Penguins that swim/wash onto the beach just after sunset. I cannot even begin to explain the excitement I felt when we finally saw a big black blob emerge from the waves, washing in towards the shore, and then slowly lots of tiny black penguins pulling themselves out of the ocean and onto the sand. It was really quite amusing seeing them almost make it to the sand before the wave pulled them back out into the ocean again, but eventually they all made it ashore, one by one. We saw 3 black 'blobs', all groups of the Fairy Penguins with about 40 in each group, and they all seemed to have 'Ushers' at the front and back of each group as they filtered out of the water, and then ensured they either diverted left or right once they climbed the slight incline on the sand bank, to make sure each penguin was going to the correct penguin burrow (probably not the correct name for penguin residence!). This really was a fascinating sight and I only wish we could have seen them all up closer, but the viewing platform (quite rightly) is on top of the cliff looking down on the beach to protect the penguins and their habitats. I have to say that the sunset that particular evening was without doubt the most spectacular either of us had ever seen. The sky literally turned every colour imaginable and there were some of the most amazing cloud formations too. Needless to say, this was a particularly special and memorable part of our journey in Australia so far.

Onwards from the beautiful Great Ocean Road in Victoria, we continued our journey towards Adelaide, crossing states into South Australia. We had a particularly enjoyable sunday roast dinner on board a traditional paddle steamer on the Murray River, not least because it was the first roast dinner we had eaten in over 4 months, and it was a great relaxing way to spend a sunny sunday afternoon, lazing on deck with a nice glass of wine in hand!

The next day we arrived in Adelaide, not too sure what to expect. We thought we would probably only stay a day due to the impression given by our guide book that implied that Adelaide was quite a dull place. We ended up staying for 3 days in the end and I have to say we were quite pleasently suprised by how we found the city to be. I personally was quite taken with the beautiful architecture of the city. This probably sounds quite strange for me to be saying this for anyone who knows me will know that I have never really been one to comment on my appreciation for fine buildings, but I have to say one thing I keep noticing in Australia is that there are very few old, historical buildings. This of course is due to the fact that Australia has not been established for anywhere near as long as the UK, but it has made me realise how much I have taken for granted the many fine old buildings that are pretty much dotted all over the place in the UK, that give good old Blighty so much charachter. Waffle asides, my point is that Adelaide has noticably more older buildings than any of the other cities we have visited, and I really appreciated seeing some real traditional old houses and facades of the old businesses.

Our stay in Adelaide also included another wine tasting trip, this time to the world famous Barossa Valley, voted the No.6 best wine growing region in the world. Lee and I both felt it was a much classier affair than the Hunter Valley wine tour, but still did our bit for classy Brit abroad and got spangled by lunch time. We got so caught up in the pomp of some of the fabulous wineries that we ended up purchasing 12 bottles of cellar door wine - not your average backpacker purchase but they were all being sold for such ridiculously low prices for cellar door wineries in that area, that we couldn't resist, and besides it made for an extra special treat to make up for the gallons of backpacker friendly boxes of wines we have polished off since we have been in Australia! I have to say the beauty and proximity of the Barossa Valley did put a big tick in the Adelaide box for Lee and I and so we didn't leave sharing the same 'dull' view of Adelaide as we had been lead to believe.

From Adelaide we continued up and drove westwards through South Australia towards our next main destination, the state of Western Australia, or WA as the locals call it. If you choose to drive this great distance then you will undoubtedly have to cross the famed Nullabor Plain which is an expanse of highway that leads mostly in a poker straight line through a vast, self described 'treeless plain'. I'll come back to that point shortly.

En route to the Nullabor, we drove through some very typical outback towns, the kind of places we had previously imagined that the whole of Australia would be like before we came over here. When I call them towns, they are more like red, dusty, scorching deserted looking settlements of maybe 100 residents or so. They each had an ancient looking general store with a forecourt that sported a couple of antique looking petrol pumps, and serve as the town supermarket, garage, post office, chemist and town community hall all rolled into one. Although quite a few of these stores/fuel stops we stopped off at had that 'you're not from round here' feel, they did provide a real raw insight into outback life in the many vastly isolated areas of Australia. One particular outback place we stopped of at, we were just pulling the van away when a group of 4 emu's suddenly wandered out of an area of bushland and entered the road. Luckily I hadn't picked up any speed and was able to stop and let them cross infront of us, but not before one of them decided to have a nice loose bowel movement infront of us. I think it's fair to say that wild emu's have the same road awareness deer do in the UK, i.e they weren't in any hurry to move and didn't seem fazed that we had at one point driving a fairly big campervan straight towards them. Still it was another great wildlife spotting encounter for us and it thankfully ended without any loss of life.

A couple of day later after passing through the Great Australian Bight (another famous rugged coastal route), we eventually arrived at the start of the Nullabor Plain. There is a grand road sign on the side of the highway to announce that you are about to cross the Nullabor, and describes it a 'treeless plain'. We found this to be fairly inaccurate as although there is not an abundance of vegetation, we did spot many a tree and bush along the 1200 kilometre stretch. Just before we crossed the Nullabor we noticed a small store/petrol station that stated that it was the only and last store for the next 1000 kilometres which was a very stark reminder for the vastness of the journey we were about to commence. Some people we had spoken to (mostly all Aussie's) had told us they crossed the Nullabor in 1 day which as you can imagine is one hell of a drive in just a day. Lee and I had made sure we had plenty of essential supplies on board the bus before we set out across the Nullabor, and took it at a much more leisurly pace, completing the actual Nullabor Plain stretch of the highway in a day and a half. There are a few roadhouses every 200 KMS or so, some of which have very basic campsites at the rear, or the alternative for an overnight stay is to pull in to a 'rest stop' which are basically area's of cleared bushland just off the main highway. The big drawback with choosing this option is that they do not offer any facilites such as shower or toilet blocks etc. We decided we would stop over in a rest stop on our journey as it was getting dark and we had been driving for hours and the next proper roadhouse was still a fair distance away. In the safety of our campervan I remeber settling down for the night and looking out of the window and feeling pretty blown away by the massive expanse of wilderness in all directions and that feeling of real isolation. One interesting thing we noticed whilst driving on the positivley flat, straight Nullabor was that some parts of the highway had aeroplane landing markings on them. We then noticed signs on the side of the highway warning that these particular stretches of marked highway were also used for the Royal Flying Doctors to land on/take off from if they needed to attend an emergency. It's not fair to compare the Nullabor to the M25, but a strange sight nonetheless!

Three days from leaving the bustling city of Adelaide, crossing through sometimes seemingly endless stretches of wilderness, we eventually reached the border crossing from South Australia into Western Australia. This is the only time we have crossed a state border and had to stop at a designated border control and quarantine point. We had our van searched and I had to declare the fruit, veg and honey we had on board, and then had it confiscated as it is illegal to cross the border with such consumeables. I was a tad annoyed at having to throw half the contents of the fridge that we had only restocked a few days previously, but there was nothing we could do about it unfortunately.

We arrived in the eagerly awaited Western Australia, WA, on 15th November and proceeded to Australia's gold capital, Kalgoorlie. We spent a couple of days there doing a few of the tourist guided tours and sightseeing. We did a really interesting guided tour at the Mining Hall of Fame, which may not sound that interesting but actually turned out to be a really fun and interesting day out. We learned about all the workings of a gold mine, (past and bits of present day) and got to see a gold pouring demonstration which showed how gold bars are made. We also had a go a gold panning in the onsite mini river, and I then had trouble trying to drag Lee away as he was so sure he would find his riches here! We then did the underground mine tour which was really exciting, if not a little scary being that far underground and in such confined tunnels. The next day Lee tried to persuade me to go the Kalgoorlie's famous 'Super Pit', which as the name states, is basically a massive pit, which is still currently live and mined for its gold. I thought how interesting can a big hole be, but this turned out to be a completely inaccurate opinion of mine, as when we arrived, both of our jaws literally hit the ground. The pit is situated a short distance away from the main town and you have to drive up a small winding road up a hill, but nothing can prepare you for what lies ahead. We approached the viewing platform and neary fell over when we looked down into the enourmosly massive 'hole'! I can't even begin to explain the sheer size of this pit. You have to squint to make out what all the moving objects are inside. It wasn't until I realised that the ant sized vehicle I was looking at, was actually one of the many huge mining dumper trucks that get transported on massive HGV lorries with accompanying 'Oversize' escourt vehicles on the highways. I can only guess that the pit must be the same size as a reasonable sized town, and it was just awesome and mesmorising watching the tiny trucks and pin head sized humans at work inside the pit.

From Kalgoorlie we headed back down the highway towards the coastal town of Esperance. We had heard that Esperance had some particularly beautiful beaches with fine white sand and gorgeous turquoise water, but sadly for us the weather had turned partiucularly nasty and was to be the start of nearly 2 weeks of constant torrential downpours. We were a bit disappointed to not be able to see it in its full glory, but had hopes for our next destination, Albany. Unfortunately the rain was following us up the coast and not showing much signs of easing, although luckily the second day we were there, the sun came out and we got up early for a day's exloration. We enjoyed the coastal boardwalk especially as it takes in some beautiful views across the hilly suburbs and out over the bay and across to some of the tiny outlying islands. By this time, our main focus was to get the sale of the Battlebus adverts ready in preparation for our arrival in Perth. It was in Albany that we had another 2 van drama's. The first was in the afternoon when Lee could no longer take the constant rattle that was coming from the gear box area since we had had some works done on it in Melbourne. He decided to take the gear box apart to make some investigations and came across a cigarette lighter that one of the hapless mechanics must have dropped when they were tinkering with it. At this point we thought there could be no more funnier/ridiculous c*** ups with the standard of work we had had done on our van, but the best was yet to come. As part of the warranty agreement from the works we had done in Melbourne, we had to get an oil change (mini service) done after 5000 kilometres. Our drive from Melbourne to Albany at this stage had ensured we had already reached this total. Thinking we were being sensible, we took it to a main service dealer and garage. We waited whilst they did the work and even commented on how professional they appreared to be compared to the other mechanics we had been to previously. We drove away from their forecourt into the torrential rain and turned left onto the main highway when suddenly the oil warning lamp illluminated. An incandescent Lee declared that we would be driving straight back to the garage where they would have to fix it, and hope that due to their negligence, hope that they hadn't caused any permanent engine damage. We drove a couple of hundred metres up the road to the nearest roundabout and back to the turning for the garage, where we witnessed a 4WD vehicle sliding right our and then skidding back the other way where they had been slipping on the oil spill our van had now dumped on the already near flooded road. Lee made his frustrations at the way below standard quality of mechanics known, for which we did receive an apology and an offer to fix the correct part. This was of course of little reassurance as the permanent engine damage it could have caused could not well have affected our efforts of selling the van, not to mention the extreme hazard it had created on the highway. Once the correct part had been fixed in, we left for a second time, just in time to catch a council street cleaning lorry furiously clearing up the oil spill on the highway. Thankfully for us this was the last of the calamities we endured at the expense of the shoddy mechanics. The adverts we had posted on various websites had paid off as we started to receive a few calls of interest for the van. After spending a whole day polishing and tidying every single inch of the bus, we took it for its first viewing the following morning, and fortunately the guy said he'd buy it from us.

From Albany we continued our journey towards Perth in almost constant downpours. We were starting to think that our coming to WA had been doomed as we had been in the state for over a week and it had rained nearly all the time, which does unfortunately have an affect on the way you see and remember a place, despite our trying to be positive about all these places. We stopped off at a place called Valley Of The Giants which is a purpose built boardwalk that goes up into the canopy of an area of WA's famous Karri Tree forests. The trees are all over a hundred years old and are seriously huge in size. It was quite cool to be at the same height as the tops of the trees and look down to see how far down below the forest floor was.

Our next couple of days were spent at Margaret River which we likened to Byron Bay over on the east coast, both in size and in similarity of its town. A highlight for us here was hiring a canoe and taking it out for a gentle paddle along the stretch of river which happened to flow at the foot of the caravan park we were staying at. Thankfully the weather had brightened up that day and it provided a perfect vibe for relaxing in a canoe for a couple of hours.

From Margaret River we left for Freemantle, or 'Freo' as its affectionately known to the Aussies. The rain had returned and by now we were eager to get to Perth to ensure the smooth sale of the van, so we perhaps didn't spend as long there as we should have done. That said, we did go to the famous harbour to the Maritime Museum and went on a guided tour of HMAS Ovens! submarine. The sub was decommisioned in the late 90's but is one of the only subs in the world to be kept in near perfect working order and be on display to the public. This was one of those trips that again might sound a bit of a random thing to do, but I had always had a desire to see what a submarine looked like inside. I had always anticipated that they would be a bit scary feeling, and I have to say that my intuition had not mislead me. It was a truly fascinating experience to see all the many engines, machinery, computers and various buttons, and not least to see the truly cramped living conditions. The hour tour was incredible but I did get a feeling of relief to be stepping outside of it once the tour was over. I really cannot imagine what it must be like to eat, sleep and breath on one of these oppresive tubes for 3 months at a time, under the ocean and miles from home, all that and the risk of being torpedoed at any moment during action. For the Submariners that do have to do this as their job, all I can say is that they are very brave souls!

We left Freo 2 weeks ago now and have been staying in a couple of caravan parks in Perth, although minus a campervan now. We are now lodging in a 12 man tent. We arrived on a Tuesday morning and met up with my old friend Matt and his wife Ellen and their lovely son Isaac in the afternoon. It was the first time I had ever met little Isaac so it was really great to catch up with them. Lee and I were quite blown away by their amazing house too - a far cry from their previous Chelmsford flat. We've since been out with Matt on a Saturday night to Perths famous Northbridge area, an area crammed with busy bars and clubs, frequented mostly by backpackers, teens and Hells Angels! We spent a very drunken evening checking out various bars and a club which was pretty fun.

Since we've been in Perth we have been into the city a few times to see the tourist spots and to do a bit of window shopping. We both think it has the most British feel about it out of anywhere else that we have been to in Australia (not that that's necessarily a good thing of course!), but thats more than likely because there are heaps of ex-pats settled over here now - funny they all seem to mention the weather as being their main reason for the big move over! The beaches here all seem really lovely too and appear to run continuously for miles and miles.

We did a day trip to a place called Rottnest Island the day before yesterday, which despite the horrid sounding name, is actually a really beautiful small island. Cars are not permitted on the island (which wouldn't have been a problem for us anyway) and the best way to get around is to hire a bike, which is a fab way to check a small island out anyway. The perimetre of the island is about 25 kilometres, and we managed to cycle around half of it by lunch time, taking in some of the many gorgeous beaches and bays on the way. A lunch time drink by the waters edge put paid to further exploration of the island in the afternoon and we decided it would be far nicer to purchase some more alcohol and find a nice bit of beach to go and relax on. Our only regret that day was that we didn't book to stay there longer, but we may still try to go back there before we leave Perth.

Sunday just gone, Lee and I met up with another old friend of mine, Luke, who is Australian and lives in Perth. He suggested we meet up with him and some of his buddies and go for a legendary 'Sunday Session' over in Freo at a particularly lively, cool pub. It was great seeing Luke again and we worked out is was nearly 10 years ago that we last saw each other. For anyone who knows Luke, I can honestly say he looks absolutely no different from before. The Sunday Session seems a slightly weird concept to Lee and I as it is basicallly looked upon as a day and nights drinking like we would on a Saturday. Nobody seems to care that they have to get up for work the next day and think nothing of all piling into a club after the bars kick out at 10pm. We carried on drinking in some club until the early hours until complete drunkeness in all of us dictated that it was time to leave and visit the kebab shop en-route to the taxi queue. Lee and I felt particularly horrendous the next day and were so thankful we didn't have to make it in to work. Luke - I just don't know how you and your mates made it into work let alone the whole day!

Lee and I have just over a week left in Perth before we fly over to Sydney to spend our last 3 weeks of our time in Australia. Our time here seems to have absolutely flown by already and so we are hoping that the last 3 weeks will go a bit slower so we can take in as much of Sydney as possible. We booked tickets for 2 different events for Christmas and NYE. We will be spending Xmas day and having our Crimbo lunch on Bondi Beach, and then will be spending NYE at Sydney's Star Casino, whereby it is said to have amazing harbourside views of the famous fireworks, so we are really excited about both of these things. We are also looking forward to be staying in a house in a real bed for 3 weeks when we stay in Sydney, with the lady we met via the Gumtree website, looking for house sitters.

Well this has certainly been a mamouth blog so I promise I will try to keep on top of them from now on and not leave it so long in between blogs. If you are still awake, then thanks for reading and until next time.... farewell.

Lots of love, Lee and Jo xx