Hi Mat, Hope the off road safari lived up to expectations and the dingos and sharks didn't bite !! I eventually managed to get through to the University and here's the deal : They did ring to ask you to come in for an interview....well done ! However, they don't start interviewing until after Easter. As you know, they only have 30 places on this course this year and they do usually allocate them on a first come first served basis, i.e. if you pass the interview you are in, and when they have 30 they stop interviewing. However, the administrator said that they will ensure that you get a fair crack of the whip and that, as long as you ring when you get back to the UK she will arrange for you to be interviewed. She said not to worry, and that you didn't need to ring her from your travels, as long as you do shortly after returning. They have a note on your file to this effect, and I made sure she was aware of just how much you want to get onto the course. They have not yet had 30 applications for the places, however don't usually get many applicants until April for some reason! so she is totally confident that there will be places for you should you pass the interview stage. So, well done again, this gives you something to look forward to on your return !!! If seeing us all again is not already enough for you to look forward to !! Have fun, speak to you soon

A young man i know went to OZ Found he couldn,t get on the tour bus So he used all his power and got on the blower ended up better off than he wus (Bit of poetic licence needed there) We do enjoy reading about your adventures-most exciting thing I,ve done this week is choose paint for the living room. Bit sad really Stay safe keep welland watch out for very large spiders love you lots Granma and Grampy

I can't believe I have just typed a message and then pressed the delete button, how daft is that?? So here goes again. It sounds as though you are still having a good time and hopefully better weather than us....even the ducks are floundering in our neck of the woods!! I can't look at your pictures as you may have taken a picture of that horrible palm size eight legged fiend you talked about. Unfortunately Brian has had another bad patch and took to his bed for the majority of the week end. Josh attempted Rugby and football but both matches were rained off due to water logged pitches. Joe has been to see some band at Soton Uni which apparently was brilliant and Adam has been organising his birthday celebrations, he has opted for paint balling this year. It has been quite a quiet week, although I had an incident with a hitch hiking granny on Saturday. I stopped at a bus stop and offered several friends a lift. This old lady ( who I don't know - I thought it was the mother of one of the people) got in the car and generally got very comfortable. She talked all the way to Salisbury then proceeded to complain because I parked in a car park that she didn't know, said thank you and walked off. It turns out that none of us knew her!!! I have heard of old ladies queue jumping but never hitching lifts. She is just lucky I am not a weirdo.......I know what you are thinking Matt. This week end I went to an Old school disco with posh school dinners to raise funds for charity. We all had to dress up in uniform or 70's/80's gear. I opted for Josh's uniform with a skirt ( not his!!) completed with hair in bunches....a fab look. There was a lot of pea flicking using spoons and offers od snogs behind the bike sheds for the gals. Generally it was a hall full of sensible parents that took the opportunity to revert back to childish behaviour, good fun was had by all and lots of money raised. We even managed to watch Mars eclipse the moon..... well me and other fellow sober party animals did. You will be sorry to hear that I will be unable to take part in the Line dancing this week due to disco ittas of the knee! Anyway I must away, I am all waffled out. Enjoy Frazer island and keep slapping the sun cream on.xxxx

hi mat, we are sitting in your media centre watching your pictures come up on the great big screen. you wont be able to find your way around your house when you get back because they have changed everything. you seem to be doing very well out there. are you going to stay forever? wait until you see kiwi land, its fabulous. doesn't time fly, you've already used up a third of your trip and you have hardly started yet! we have come down today to give mum and dad their birthday presents unfortunately it is the wettest day of the year and its pouring it down outside. i presume you are having a heat wave! we hope you keep on having fun and we will miss you at our anniversary party! miss you grandma sniff and grandad xxx

hello my brother, where art thou, how are you? you seem better now lol! ok you weren't depressed you just seemed it! soooo... you sound like you are having fun, in the hot weather well.... guess what...... it HAILED here today and me mum and hollii were stuck in ringwood running from shop to shop and THEN, to make everything so much funner, it followed us home and mums washing got soaked and so did TRUFFLE. anyway, enough about mee. i have no idea what to put, i have run out of things to say, i am writing to you on the new laptop and i really like the keyboard lol, so i AM going to talk some more. Mum and Dad are heading off to catherine languishes party! haha! you are having so much fun and we are stuck in school! you lucky lucky lucky ........ lucky thing. ermmmmmm i am thinking of what to say to you! hmmmm well. dany#s friends seem to love you lol. you are going to have so many friends in italy when you go and stay with the italian crew haha! anyway, keep having fun :D and we will all keep leaving comments. i miss you. see you in a few months. xxmeggggiiiiiieeeeeexx

Hello matty, Lorenzo (my italian friend) would like to have a internet site like you! He would like to ask you how to do an internet site. (By the way, Dan, Lorenzo is NOT my boyfriend!) Have fun, Dany and your internet fan Lorenzo.

Hello stranger, yes I know its a shock but I've at last managed to get a look in on the computer and have been allowed an opportunity to write. I'm a little worried because I've been reading all the others and I feel inadequate up against Mrs P, so you'll have to bare with me! Not a lot has been happening apart from Barcelona with Sarah (don't mention the airport to Sarah!!) which was fantastic and eye opening in many ways, especially the naked man with painted shorts!! The Gaudi buildings were fantastic and Sarah has promised to take me back to see the Catherdral when it is completed, she may be pushing me in a wheelchair by then. Barcelona we found was very wheelchair friendly! Sarah has been researching a new healthy diet which she insists will make a new woman of me! I'm not convinced, but it looks like I shall be experiencing it shortly. It involves only raw food, luckily not meat! All veg and juice and water, with a small bit of fruit thrown in for excitment, I wish you were here to share her enthusiasm. This may be the only time I have the energy to fight Sarah for the computer!! Rachel has got the keys to her flat, so I have been press ganged into painting and decorating, in all my spare time (which is not easy, as I don't have much). I don't think I can do the wall papering without you, so if you could pop home for a day I would really appreciate it!! It is looking good though and she is really pleased and proud. Don't listen to a word that Sarah is saying, she is bullying me into this diet, while talking to you on the phone, and its true she is a real grouch these days, anyone would think she's missing you! I've just had to go and rescue Rachel, she frightened herself when she turned her tv on and found 'Alien' was showing! This doesn't give me much confidence about her living on her own! We had an interesting family meal tonight, three different conversation going on at once and very few of us with any idea what we were talking about. Well hay-ho nothing changes you'll be glad to hear. I'd better get on, I think I've wittered on long enough to bore you completely. Take care and one last peace of advice don't sit down without checking underneath for spiders!!

Hi Mat How's it going? Hope you've sorted out the travel arrangements now and can get on with enjoying yourself. Thanks for the picture of Jim perhaps he'll be able to find himself a rich sugar daddy with those looks! Sarah came over last night she wanted to know what me and Dad wanted for our birthdays, I told her I would like a Next Voucher and Dad could have a B & Q Voucher (lol) (I can type that now I know what it means). Anyway I was only joking but when I told Dad he thought I had been serious even though I was lingol (same as lol but with an ing on the end of the first l (I can think of lots more of those but it would get ridiculous)). Anyway it's March 1st and the sun has been shining today ( hooray). Dad wore a daffodil to work as it's St. David's day. I had the day off as the computer was being delivered between 8 and 12, it arrived at 1.40 so I had an incredibly exciting day (bit like this message) Have fun and look forward to next message and photos. Lots of love x

Hello Matt, hope you have got the Oz experience sorted now, sounds really frustrating. I need to know do they really refer to women as Sheila's out there in Oz. I do know one Australian type joke which you may want to try on your mates after a beer or two. here goes. 'Whats your favourite colour blue?' I know it's not brilliant but does sound better if you say it in an Aussie accent. I to have had a new experience this week. I had the chance to go ski bobbing. Being scared of heights and also now having two screws in my leg after my op I was a little nervous. Being of a certain age ( 21) I decided i must go for it, just in case i don't get another chance, after all the worse thing that could happen was damage my pride and get a few bruises. It was fantastic, I screamed all the way down the first time, from then onwards i just went with the flow, best of all,my leg stayed intact!!! I fell off once when i was trying to get on - if that makes sense. This caused a bit of chaos as my friend laughed so much she accidently let her sledge go down on its own, this caused someone to panic, thinking someone had fallen off. Apart from that everything was fine. Next week I have the chance to experience line dancing - I have no sense of rythmn and not sure of my left and right....who cares life is for living!! Love the picture of Jim....amazing bosom!! Keep smiling, writing and picture taking - multi tasking is good exercise for the brain.xx

Sorry Dan... Had another look and the suspicious 'Gen' sounds very like Megsy, please don't sue me for libel!

P.S. Thanks for the lol explanation, Megs, I thought Dan was starting to go mad - but then again, he seems to be calling himself 'Gen' these days, so you never know!

Well, one thing's for certain, Mat - your trip is having a profound effect on all at home! Dan and Megan have discovered their future professions as life coaches, your mum and dad have felt inspired to change the house, Dany is nagging me for a garden swing - complete with river and handy rocky ledge - and even Mrs P has found her forte as an on line diarist! Just think what we'll all be like in a couple of months' time... ! The photos look great and the ones of Australia bring back a few memories for me. One of the clearest is being saved from possible blindness by a kind magpie which flew into my eye outside a theatre in Melbourne! It's a long story... I'll tell you about it after a couple of bottles of red wine this summer. Take care and have fun, Love, Phil x