Having headed up and down the east coast we are now back in Sydney. For our last month down under we were spoilt by visits from family and the hospitality of our Australian friends. Anybody who has been away from home for a long period of time will appreciate how nice it is to be surrounded by familiar faces.

We kick started our month, in Sydney with Amy's mum, Pam. After a rather stressful surprise meeting at the airport we headed into Sydney, Pam was excited to see the city we were more interested in getting out of the campervan and staying somewhere that did not have a shared bathroom and dorm. Let's just say the apartment was fabulous and we greatly appreciated it. Continuing in this flashpacking manner we went for oysters and champagne at the Opera House. Eating decent food (we even cooked up a roast dinner) and drinking G+Ts (no more goon for us), we naturally became accustomed to the new lavish (for a traveler) lifestyle. Hitting the fish market we got our first taste of lobster Mornay, delicious and also meet up with Paul's cousin Suzie which was lovely. Despite the awful summer New South Wales had we managed to get some beautiful days so we soaked up the rays did the Bondi to Coogee walk, explored the botanical gardens- home to giant bats and walked around the historic (by Australian standards) area The Rocks.

Leaving Sydney behind we head to Melbourne by night train. The Australians seem a bit slow on the uptake in terms of fast rail, the bullet train etc…and so 15 hours (the time it takes to do the journey in a car) later we arrive in the state of Victoria. Weary eyed we are greeted at 8am by Kate and Simon, a couple we meet four years ago travelling around Europe, back at their lovely house we settle in for a delicious breakfast. Up and out we explore Melbourne taking a walk down De Graves Street, famous for its European café culture. After a typical Australian BBQ dinner, we meet up with Emily (Kate and Simon's travel companion who we also meet in Europe) and a few of their other friends to sample the night life- we were not disappointed. Sunday we head to the Belgium Beer Garden, (Paul is quite disappointed at the lack of choice), we stumble upon an International Food Festival fill our faces and head home for a roast dinner.

Keen to explore the rest of Victoria, or the Great Ocean Road at least we get a campervan and drive south towards the coast. Our first night we spend in a place where we are 'not supposed' to camp, cooking up a storm and having a few drinks we start to hear voices. Getting louder and louder we realize we are surrounded in our supposedly 'secluded spot' by 100's of school children on an evening walk. Anxious to not get caught by the ranger and fined a ridiculous amount, we leave our camping site at 6am.After this we drive further along the coast calling in at Lorne, Twelve Apostles (although there aren't 12 of them anymore) and Apollo Bay among other stops. Taking a week to explore the coastal road was great. We spent the time chilling out, stopping for picnics on secluded beaches and enjoying afternoon cocktails and mussels. The Great Ocean Road was one of our highlights from our time in Australia, the scenery was breathtaking, weather incredible and company superb.

As the beautiful weather continues we arrive in the state of South Australia. Coonawarra, a wine region suggested by Kate and Simon, is our next stop. Paul volunteers to drive us around this wine rich region. Vineyard after vineyard we are plied with wine… naturally we oblige.

Getting closer and closer towards Adelaide our two weeks with Pam is coming to an end, sad to say goodbye we all depart Adelaide; Pam to fly to the Whitsundays and us to drive back to Melbourne.

One of the great things about travelling is the unexpected. Driving back towards Melbourne we realize there's an international surf competition being held at Bells Beach. Sad to not see Kelly Slater (he is on the next day) we settle down on the sand in the sunshine, hard life! The competition is brilliant and we learn all about the scoring technique. With our Jucy camper due back in Melbourne our time on the Great Ocean Road has come to an end. Reesa, who lived in Bolton for a few years got in touch and invites us to stay at her house for the Easter weekend. Arriving in Melbourne again and meeting up with Reesa and her boyfriend, Chris, who were so hospitable, we go out for the night. The next week we spend hanging out with their friends all of whom are great and welcome us with open arms. We thought we'd have been twiddling our thumbs for 12 days in a hostel but instead we had a blast with Reesa and all her friends going to the comedy festival, Aussie rules game, out for dinner, drinks, black and white photo booth and introducing Australians to ring of fire (and them introducing us to Cowboy Sneak). So a big thanks to you all for welcoming us and for such a great time in Melbourne.

Having not played netball in over 6 months Amy was eager to get back on the court so when offered a game Amy jumped at the chance. The match was mixed, so it was quite strange to play with guys and girls but Amy took it all in her stride and Paul found it entertaining to watch especially when a guy from the opposition got sent off.

Melbourne was also the first place we tried couch surfing, we stayed with a guy in Collingwood, which is full of bars, clubs, gigs and cafes. Seeing things from a locals perspective meant we visited places we would have normally overlooked. Back to Kate and Simon's for the weekend they treated us with a trip out to their beach house in Sorrento, (a beautiful beachside town an 1 hour from Melbourne) calling in at a few vineyards on the way we settle in for an evening BBQ. Back in Melbourne for our last night we cook for Kate and Simon, in an attempt to thank them for the hospitality they have shown us over the last few weeks. It has been great to catch up with them in Melbourne and we cannot thank you guys enough for how kind you have been.

Back in Sydney for our final week in Australia, the last 7 have flown by, we are joined by Amy's dad and Kathy. Settling into another apartment, we show them around the city, after all our time spent here we consider ourselves tour guide worthy. One of the highlights of the week was our trip out to the Blue Mountains. Based a couple of hours outside Sydney, the Blue Mountains is a huge national Park, with sights such as the Three Sisters. Walking around this vast area the scenary is breathtaking. Waterfalls cascade down cliff sides into a patchwork of green. Back in the city we manage to catch a few happy hours, dine out in China town, ride the ferry, cross the bridge, go bowling and watch an aussie rules game (by far Malcolm's highlight!). It was great to see them both and we really appreciate them coming over to visit.

One final night out in Australia we meet up with our friend Alyssa. We meet Alyssa and her friend Bronia in Fiji, Alyssa who lives in Sydney treated us to a night at an Irish bar complete with a pub quiz- which we won. It was great to catch up with her.

Feeling we have exhausted Sydney (we know there is probably a lot more to see but time is ticking on and the budget belt is starting to pinch) we prepare to depart. Not so fast! On arriving at the airport we are informed by our very incompetent airline that we are unable to board the plane to Bali as we do not have an outbound ticket. This does not comply with the British foreign office website, it is a policy of the airline, how lucky we are to have chosen to fly with them. Denied check in and panicking as time counts down we ask if we can book a ticket with them and then cancel it later 'sorry the only flight we have is $999 and although it is called refundable we can only give you credit vouchers.' Aware that we have no intention of ever flying with this company again and with no access to the internet, we try option B. Amy's Dad. Hurriedly ringing Malcolm, who luckily is still in Sydney, and we ask him to book any flight out of Indonesia before May 24th. Amy's Dad who was enjoying his last morning in Australia is now stressfully browsing airline websites on a bad internet connection. With 90 minutes to go the crisis is averted as Amy's dad gets us a flight to Kuala Lumpur. We board the plane and Amy's dad hits the bottle, so long Australia!