It"s been a bit of a while since i"ve been able to update and I've got 10mins before we go off to find a nice campsite by a beach! Well we've been in Oz about a week. We had two lovely days in Sydney-on the first afternoon we met two curaotr friends of mine from the Art gallery of New South Wakes and they took us for a lovely steak lunch so we got straight onto the Australian beef. One our second day in Sydney we went for a mammoth walk from bondi beach to Cogee beach and saw some lovely beaches by following the cliff walk. When we got back to our hostel there was an internationl food festival taking place on Hyde park just opposite so we wandered off there and had thai surrounded by Syndeyites and some very expensive beer and wine! The next day we picked up the camper van and set off for Katoomba in the blue mountains. We had a bbq the first night and then wore ourselves out with along walk down the mountain, up again by cable car and then along the mountain to the next little topwn where we were rewarded with a lovely slice of flourless chocolate cake, a milkshake and a cup of tea! The views of the mountains (see pic) were stunning and we saw this formation called the three sisters from lots of angles! That evening we bbqed our own steak down by the river watched by squawking cockatoos. The next day we set off for the Hunter wine valley and Darren proved his mettle on the windiest mountain road I have ever seen. Very beautiful but seat of your pants stuff. We arrived in time to go and sample some white wine and purchased a couple of bottles and then made the best thai curry I have had outside of Thailand on our little camping stove and ate it in the dark at a free campsite right in the middle of lovely vinyards and pastures with horses. We have just spent two days in port Stephens and have been a bit dissapointed by the weather which made everthing flat and grey rather than sparkling like the photos. But we saw a pod of dolphins only 30m from the shore of the virtually secluded beach we camped next to whixch was very exciting. Yesterday we went whale watching and saw a mother and her calf but from much further away that the dolphins so not quite the same wow factor. We had lunch in a little cafe looking over the two bays and a great thai in the evening so we are doing very well for food but not quite the same gourmet level as Japan!

Hope its not long before I blog again. Off top Byron bay tomorrow.