Hello from down under! Well we arrived here last Sunday after a really long flight from Thailand. As you know, we had been staying at the Marriott in Phuket the week before our flight was due to leave Thailand for Australia. We flew with JetStar which were very cheap and it was okay - we had a bit of frustration at the airport as they wouldn't let us bring closed and sealed bottled water on to the plane that we had bought in the departure lounge. Very annoying as we had stocked up for the flight with lots of water and just had to leave it there. Bet the airport staff must take home so much free bottled water, grrrr!

The flight to Sydney was 9 hours long and neither of us slept very much. It was great landing there as we got some really amazing views over the city and as it was early morning the sun was shining brightly and we managed to take some photos from the plane. We landed in Sydney and collected our bags and then had to go through quarentine which looked (and sounds) scarier than it actually is! We'd managed to book a domestic flight that afternoon to take us to the Gold Coast so we made our way across the airport. By this stage we were both so exhausted and starving as we hadn't been fed on our budget flight so we checked in quickly and headed for Subway for some healthy sandwiches. The flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast was just under an hour - the quickest flight we had both ever experienced, and because the airport here is so tiny we managed to pick up our bags pretty quickly. Liz met us outside the airport - it was so good to see her after 3 years (!) and of course for Matt to meet her for the first time!

We drove in to her home town which is called 'Coolangatta' and then moved in to our 'apartment' for the week. Originally we thought we had wanted to stay there for a few months and make use of our working visa, however as the weather is starting to get 'colder' we thought it would make sense to do some travelling before settling anywhere. So we fly to Cairns (north) this weekend to start our epic campervan journey along the East Coast of Australia!

Back to the Gold Coast, on our first night we were taken to an engagement party by Liz. A little strange, crashing an engagement party, but we really enjoyed it and it was great to meet some of her friends and relax with a few drinks. We were both surprised at how well we did as we were both quite tired after our flights that day, but we managed to stay quite late and then went back to our apartment. The following day we had our first experience at an Australian Surf Club at a place called Rainbow Bay which was really nice. We've noticed that everything is more expensive here than it was in Asia but you do get more for your money. The plates of food that we bought there were just huge, and for the first time in ages we actually felt full after a meal! We then decided to walk our food off with a nice walk along the coast - the coast here just stretches out on and on so you can keep walking for ages which is great. There are loads of surfers out, even though the Ozzies think it's winter here (it's like summer in England to give you an idea) and most of them are wearing wetsuits! That evening we headed in to town for a few glasses of wine and met Liz for some pizza and salad at a place called 'Bread and Butter' which was really nice.

The following day we actually went to the beach and had a swim and a sunbathe there. We haven't tried any surfing yet but we're pretty confident we'll be able to give it a go sometime soon. The rest of the week has really been spent sampling nice food in the restaurants of Coolangatta, walking along the beaches and drinking lovely coffee in the many coffee shops around here! It's been a really nice, relaxing week for us, but we are ready now to start the next leg of our journey and start some more exploring!