Moving slowly north up Australia's east coast, having a couple of days here, a couple there, we crossed from Victoria into New South Wales. Deciding that the sea termperature was now not life threatening, Simon bought himself a bodyboard, supposedly to get in tune with the Ocean before he started surfing. I was quite happy on the beach working on my tan, although he didnt give me much peace as he kept wanting me to watch just in case he caught a wave. Child! I felt like his mother, especially when it was time to go and I had to drag him out of the water. The campsites along this stretch of coast we stayed at were all virtually on the beach. One big surprise was a site we turned up at that had advertised itself as being in an area where kanagaroos are common. What we didnt expect was to have to shoo a family of them away from a shady spot under a tree to pitch our tent, and then do the same each morning so we could set up for breakfast. Just as the novelty was beginning to wear off, I opened the tent one morning to find a mother with her joey, literally inches from the tent. Amazing. Simon took some surf lessons and joined a programme with a mixed bunch of twenty something tourists and ten year olds. He did pretty well, getting the hang of it quite quickly. Probably determined not to be outdone by a bunch of kids. The smile was soon taken off his face when one of the mothers asked him which one of the kids was his. 'How old do I look?' he kept asking me. After our steady progress up the coast we arrived in Sydney 2 days before Christmas. We were expecting a blazing hot Christmas, but sat in a beer garden on Christmas Eve watching an incredible lightening storm, we didnt think we were going to get it. The rain didnt come, but the wind did, and at 5am on Christmas Day morning, we were trying to hold up a collapsing tent. After dealing with the tent, the weather improved and we headed off to Palm Beach, otherwise known as 'Summer Bay' the beach location for the Tv series 'Home and Away'. We had a BBQ and then took a walk around the headland and up to the lighthouse. It was a very different way of spending Christmas day but a very nice one. I did miss home a little bit but then I came to my senses. In the days running upto NYE, we did the tourist sightseeing thing (amazingly, I only got dragged to one museum) around what we have found do be an amazing place, as well as picking out a good spot for the big night. If you can picture the shots you see on the TV of Sydney - the Opera House with the Bridge in the background - that was the view we had from a bit of parkland you can see in this picture just behind the Opera House. The fireworks were worth the wait, and by far the best I have ever seen. A couple of days into January, we left Sydney for the Blue Mountains, a world heritage listed wilderness a coupe of hours from the City. Saw the sights (Jenolan Caves were incredible), but my mind was on the act of bravery (stupidity?) Simon had agreed to perform. He had decided to do a tandem skydive from 14,000 feet with a 60 second freefall. I very sensibly declined the opportunity because Mum would have killed me if the skydive hadn't! He remained very calm and said that he wasn't nervous as we waited for his name to be called up. When he was driven off to the airport, I stayed at the drop zone trying to read my book but couldn't concentrate. When I heard the plane up above me my heart was well and truly in my throat and my beating very fast. I watched them jump from the plane through my binoculars and didn't breathe again untill all five chutes had opened a minute later. It wasn't untill they all came into land that I knew which one he was. He walked away from the drop zone with saying it was the best experience he has ever had with the biggest grin on his face that I have ever seen. After the jump, we headed back into Sydney (for the third time - cant stay away) for a few final things before heading up the coast once more. We are now at a sleepy town next to a great beach for a bit of r&r. Next stop Byron Bay. Lisa