Hey everyone, hope you all had are well and that life back home is going good !! The following is the journal entry from the State of New South Wales !! After our brief visit to the capital of Canberra, we decided to head to the south coast of New South Wales. Our first stop was to Batemans Bay which is a beautiful fishing town that is surrounded by excellent surfing beaches. We arrived there in the evening and the town looked gorgeous, as it was situated next to an impressive harbour. However whilst cooking our dinner, we got bombarded with the visious little b*****s known as mosquitos. They attacked us aggressively and we both got bitten alive. This occurrance happened again the following morning where they persisently kept on bitting us during breakfast. After looking at a map of batesmans Bay, we discovered that they had named a beach "Mosquito Bay" and a clifftop scenic point "Mozzie Point". It was then that we realised that the very pretty Batesman Bay may have a nasty problem with these annoying pests. Consequently we moved swifly up the coast as we treasured our skin and we visited the next town which was called Ulladulla. This was also a gorgeous town as it was surrounded by stunning lakes, lagoons and beaches. We surfed at Mollymook beach for one morning and then headed to Kiama. Unfortuately at this point the weather took a turn for the worse and we were plagued with cloud, high force winds and rain. When we arrived at Kiama we visited their impressive Blowhole which can sprout water up to 60m high, and then we headed north to NSW's 3rd largest city Wollongong. During our trip to Wollongong the weather was absolutely awful so we were not able to surf as planned. Therefore we stayed in the city for a day and took advantage of the huge shopping centres by doing some well earned Christmas shopping. Our next stop was to Cronulla which is a gorgeous seaside surburb south of Sydney. It was mainly a surfing town as the surrounding beaches were famously known for their excellent surf. The waves were pretty high and quite vicious so it enabled us to advance to more of a skillful level. We stayed there for 2 days and surfed each day all day. The weather also brightened up a little so we were able to spend our days surfing in the sun. We loved Cronulla as it was a relaxed and chilled out town that was enclosed with beautiful beaches. On the 23rd of December, we made the exciting journey to SYDNEY BABY!!!!!! We made the joyous trip to Bondi first as it was the most accessible place to camp Snoppy without getting clamped !! Luckily it turned out that a week travel pass around sydney was incredibly cheap, so staying at Bondi would not cause us any finacial problems. Therefore we camped at Bondi during our 2 week stay and we loved it there as it was a wicked place to be !! Bondi boasted some wicked resturants and bars along with some flashy cafes and eateries !! Bondi was not trashy at all (which was what i anticipated) as everything there was trendy and upmarket. Along with a pretty beach, crashing waves, rockey scenic points and grassy banks, Bondi was a great place to call home for the festive period. The atmosphere there was always lively and bubbly, and everyone waas out to have a brilliant time. On the 24th of december we met up with Kat and Michael who returned to Australia from their New Zealand adventure. They had some amazing stories to tell from their visit to the adventure capital of the world, so it got me and Matt very excited for our trip there. It was great to meet up with them again and we were very glad that we were going to spend christmas with them. On Christmas eve, we all went out for a festive drink in Kings cross (which is Sydneys answer to Londons Soho). There were some very interesting people wondering the streets (they were clearly prostitutes and pimps) so it was a very entertaining place to be. We met up with Andy from WA and spent the night in a lively bar catching up and listening to everyones stories from their lastest mini adventures.

Christmas Day was wicked in Australia, it was so different from christmas in the UK !! On christmas day the sun finally come out (it was raining and freezing during the run up to christmas, so we were relieved when the sun made an apperance on the 25th). In the morning me and matt ate a lavish breakfast and then we prepared a gorgeous home made traditional roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings. It was a beautiful christmas meal and as it was our first christmas meal together it felt even more special !! Not many people can say that they cooked their christmas dinner in the back of a van in Sydney ! We camped at bondi over the festive period so in the afternoon we met up with Kat and Michael and spent a few hours sunning ourselves on bondi beach !! It was crazy as you would have never guessed that it was christmas. The beach was ramed full of locals and tourists and so it just felt like a normal sunny day on an popluar overpacked beach. Everyone was just chilling out with friends in the bars and resturants or eating sushi and Mcdonalds on the streets!! The atmosphere at Bondi was completely different to the typical christmas back in the UK, it was quite sureal !! There was no christmas decorations to be seen, just the odd santa hat that people (predominantly British tourists) were wearing on the beach. However santa did make an apperance (on a jet ski in the sea) so that was highly amusing !! It is clear that christmas in Australia is not the family affair that we are known for back in the UK!! It was quite an experience and one that we will not forget in a while !! On christmas evening we just chilled out at the guys hostel and ate indian takeaway !! Overall it was a great christmas day and we dont think that we will ever encounter one like that again !! Back home in Wales, Boxing night is a big party night where you have a good festive drink with all your friends. Therefore I persuaded everyone to have a big night out on the town (in Kings cross as it was cheap and cheerful) to celebrate Boxing night. All of us got extremely drunk and it turned out to be an awesome and eventful night. We all had one to many (and even got asked to leave the bar by a bouncer on a power trip) and so we were feeling very rough and fragile the following day !! Oops x x x x For New Year we watched the unforgettable fireworks in sydney. We were positioned opposite the opera house, just beneath the harbour bridge so we had an amazing view of the whole city !! We camped out at that spot from midday to midnight so it was a long tiring day that involved lots of wine drinking. However everyone was in a lively and optimistic mood so the atmosphere there was wicked. Every hour after 1pm a different lazer show or aircraft display was performed to keep the crowd entertained. At 9pm we watched a firework display that was primary for families and kids. The display was brilliant so we were extremely excited for the midnight display. When 12 o clock struck the whole of Sydney lightened up and the fireworks were absolutley awesome. The exact firework display was set off at several different locations throughout the city so the whole sky was lit up by the spectactular colourful fireworks. The show was incredible and was truley the best firework display that we have ever seen. What made them so amazing was the location of them (Directly above the Harbour bridge and Opera house). The city was so scenic and it looked even more amazing when the fireworks were set off around it!! The whole harbour bridge was also lit up brilliantly by the impressive firework displays that were set off it. As it was the bridge 75th anniversiary, the organisers made sure that the display was extra special and as a result they were jaw dropping to watch. Everyone was tranfixed on the colouful sky and by the end of the show everyone was on a high and was smiling and buzzing. At the end of the night we were all pretty wrecked from drinking lots of wine and we did not want the night to end.!! There were thousands of people in the cowd and so it was chaous on the streets. Everyone was happily singing and dancing which meant that the atmosphere in Sydney was uplifting and bubbly. Much of the crowd was British and we met some cool londeners !! During the two weeks we spent in Sydney, we explored the city quite thoroughly and visited all the main attractions that Sydney offered. Our favourite place in the city was called Circular Quay, and this is where the Sydney Harbour bridge and the Opera house were situated. The harbour bridge was very impressive to look at and the Opera house was a magnificient architechual building. They were both amazing masterpieces and they lived up to our huge expectations. On one of the days we did a tour of the Opera House and the inside was as spectatcular as the exterior design. The theatres and concert halls ranged from intimate venues used for comedy / small plays to huge grand opera theatres which were breathtaking to view. The design of the inside was so impressive to look at, each theatre had a different design and were extremely detailed to suit their function and purpose.

Sydney was a brilliant city and as there was so much to see and do, you could never get bored !! As you walked through the streets you were always surrounded by professional street entertainers that performed magical tricks and dangerous acts. Their act lasted an hour so you were always entertained by some crazy guy swallowing knives or juggling fire whilst walking on a tight rope. Our favourite trick was when this dare devil dude juggled fire and knives whilst balancing on a bmx bike that was fixed onto an unsteady pole. It was a really cool and exciting stunt and we watched it numerous times during the two weeks !! Some of the acts were really dangerous so we were mesmorised by their crazy tricks and actions.

The shops in Sydney were also wicked and there was so much variety on offer. The Queens Arcade was a grand and victorian styled arcade that was amazing to look at as it retained alot of character. The arcade was huge and consisted of hundreds of fancy and upmarket shops. We also visited Darling Harbour which was a lively complex that provided entertainment for everyone !! The huge complex had great resturants and cafes, an imax cinema and some cool sophistiacted bars. We visited Paddys market that sold a great variety of cheap asian food (wicked for when you make sushi) and was also beneficial for cheap fruit. Additonally the chinatown in Sydney was extremely impressive and had some interesting looking chinese buildings, it was by far the best chinatown that we have visited. On a few of the days we caught a scenic ferry ride around sydney which allowed us to see greater Sydney. We travelled around Sydney viewing smaller fishing harbours until we reached the very pretty fishing village of Watson Bay. The trip lasted about an hour and it was awesome as the ride enabled us to see all of the beautiful harbours that surrounded Sydney. The trip also gave us ample opportunities to take amazing photos of Sydney's skyline and its fantastic architechual features.

During our stay in Sydney we went to watch one of the ashes test in the SCG. We went on day 2 of the 5th test so we luckily got to watch both England and Austraila bat and bowl. Sadly we were all out at midday but Flintoff kept the English hopes alive by batting extremely well. He scored 89 runs so he lifted the atmosphere for the barmy army. We watched both Waurn and McGrar bowl and they were equally fantastic. It was great to see all the legends in action, they truley are amazing cricket players. Sadly Australia got the better of the Brits on that particular day but our players did bowl well. Everyone in the crowd loved Panarsar and when he bowled everyone would cheer and sing louder ! He was always encouraging the crowd to make more noise, so by the end of the day we all decided he was our favourite. The SCG was a beautiful ground and we had brilliant seats that enabled us to see the whole ground. This meant that we never missed a shot as we could clearly see every play and boundary. However what made the day awesome was the BARMY ARMY!! They were so entertaining to watch and the songs they were singing were very amusing. None of the Australian fans had any comeback to their banter so all you could hear throughout the whole day was the barmy army going crazy. They were amazingly funny to listen to and they made the whole day entertaining and uplifting.

After New Year we met up with Stewart, Ducky and Holland who we travelled around with in Thailand. It was great to meet up with them as we had such a great time with them in Asia. We celebrated the reunion with a big night out (again!!) The night was quite eventful, we went to some great Irish bars in the heart of Sydney and saw one of the best coverbands that I have ever seen (incidently it was an all girl band which was quite unusual). We all got very drunk and had a great laugh. Unfournately during the night, someone trampled on my handbag and by accident smashed my phone up. I was not impressed with this finding as my phone is completely useless now and it does not work at all !! However we did not let this event ruin our night, and we carried on having a ball. On the way home in the early hours we all got lost walking around Sydney and was unable to find our way back home. Then by some sheer coincidence some randon mikman took pity on us and gave me, matt and kat a ride back to our van in his unsteady milk van. It was very amusing driving around Sydney in a milk van (beats any taxi ride handsdown) and it provided a great laugh the following morning.

On the 5th Jan we celebrated Matt 24th birthday. During the day we strolled through the city taking in the sights and then in the afternoon we headed to bondi beach to surf. The waves at Bondi consisently came in sets and so they were ideal for us. However as the sea was overcrowded with people body sufing in the waves, it was impossible to surf without nearly killing someone. Also the good surfing locations on the beach were rammed with beginner surfers all wanting to catch the same wave. After a couple of hours we decided to leave as we all got very frustrated with the lack of room and the negative attitude of the surfers. I think if we ever returned to Aus to surf, then Bondi would be a place that we would definitely avoid as it was ridiculously overpacked !! For Matt birthday evening meal we just chilled out and drank some wine whilst making sushi. We had great fun making the sushi (we are becoming experts now) and it was perfect end to a great day !!

We left Sydney on the 7th Jan and we headed to the northern Sydney suburbs of Manly. Manly was an upmarket version of Bondi and it was a fashionable and pretty seaside town. It was quiter than Bondi so you could surf freely and relax alot more in tranquil settings. Manly had some beautiful beaches which were quiet and peaceful and the surroudings were lush and amazing to view. The town there was lively and less touristy and they had some great sufing outlets. However what makes Manly famous is the beautiful Palm Beach which was located on the northern peninsular of Manly. This beach was absolutley gorgeous and it is where Summer bay is filmed in the Australian tevelsion soap drama Home and Away. We stayed there for a day and night and the place was extremely posh and luxurious. The beach was stunning, the surf was great and it was a very scenic setting as you were surrounded by huge cliffs and mountains. The north area of the beach was where summer bay is filmed and this was where we saw the Summer Bay Diner and Surf Life Saving Clubhouse. Both of these landmarks regulary featured on the programme and so it was very exciting to see them. On the top of the clubhouse they had a sign that stated club director: Alf Stewart. I found this memorable as I used to love watching the programme. After 4 days in manly we travelled to a place called Newcastle which is an industrial town that is completely surrounded by great surfing beaches. We stayed three days in Newcastle and had a relaxing time chilling on the very pretty beaches. Sadly the surf there was not that great as each day there was an on shore wind which meant that the waves were very messy and vicious. We were gutted as we hated being inactive but we decided to relax on the beach instead.

After Newcastle we travelled to Port Macquire and Coffs Harbour which were both little harbour towns that had good surf and some beautiful beaches. In Port Maquire, the main beach was surrounded by hundreds of small rocks and over the years travellers and locals have painted the rocks which funny pictures or messages for loved ones. We were inspecting the rocks and one of them immediately stood out to us. On one of the rocks the following text was painted " MATT AND AMY BIG LEAP AROUND THE WORLD, 12th Jan, 2007). We were gobsmacked as we were viewing the rocks on the 13th Jan, so a couple with the same names as us is travelling Australia a day ahead of us. We found this finding quite freaky and hopefully we will get to meet them as that would be quite cool !! We only stayed in a day in each of these these towns as the weather was very cloudy and rainy !!

After surfing at Coffs Harbour for a day we then travelled to the beautiful oasis of Byron Bay which is undoubtably one of the most gorgeous places that we have visited ! It was a beautiful town that is littered with long white sandy beaches and clear blue turquoise seas. The beaches were enclosed by lush mountains and sheer drop clifftops that were so green and vibrant. Byron Bay was so scenic as the beaches were stunning and the rainforests were breathtaking to view. Its was a very chilled out place where everyone relaxed and enjoyed the tranquility of the settings. It was a also a very hippy place and consequently the shops there were really funky and retro. The town restained alot of character and originality as the big food chains such as McDonalds were not allowed to trade there. Therefore Byron had some wicked cosy and chilled out resturant and bars and everyone who visited Byron was determined to have an enjoyable stay. No one we know has spoken a bad word about Byron and we both equally loved our stay there. We loved the uplifting atmosphere of the town and we admired the calmess of the stunning surroundings.

What made Byron even more fantastic was the brilliant surf at the local beaches (In particular Clarkes Beach and the Pass). Byron is predominatly a surfing community and the majority of passing travellers and tourists stay there longer than antipacted as the surf is so great. Each day for 2 weeks we surfed at these beaches and it was ideal for us as the waves were mellow, clean and were of perfect height. The warm waters were calm and as the waves arrived in consistant sets, it was no effort to paddle out to sea. The waves also broke evenly which meant that Bryon for us was without a shadow of doubt the best place that we had surfed at. Therefore during our stay in Byron we improved tremendously on our technique and we were surfing very well. We were catching waves we never thought we would be capable riding and we were getting more confident by the day !! During the middle of our stay we met up with Kat and Michael (who had bought a board in Sydney) and we spent a week living the laid back life of a surfer. It was a fantastic week as we would surf in the days and relax with a drink and some nice food in the evening.

However on one of the days I fell off the board in real shallow water and smacked my back full force on the sea bed. My back was in absolute agony and I could not move as I was in extreme pain. Unforunately the waves were still crashing over my head and as the board was still attached to my leg, it bashed me full force in the face. Due to the impact of the bang, I was certain that I had broken my nose. I could not move from the vicious sea because my back was hurting so much and then to make matters worse my nose started pouring with blood. Matt had gone back to the van to change and as no one on the beach offered to help, I was really scared and was in quite some distress. Luckly I managed to drag myself out of the sea and went straight to the lifeguard who sorted my nose out. Luckily he made my day and informed me that my nose was not broken, it was just badly bruised. Afterwards my nose swelled up and the brusing came out so i looked pretty scary for a few days. Also to add insult to injury, the impact of the collison between my head and the board caused majour damage to the rear end of the board. We could not fix it ourselves as the damage was to severe so we had it in repair for 3 days. When we got it back, they did not charge us much which was a huge bonus.

After the accident I got back on the board straight away so it was all good. Initally I thought I would be really scared as the accident really shook me up and caused me to be in alot of pain. However geting back on the board was worth it as whilst surfing one day, I looked out to my left at sea and about 20 meters away from me were a bunch of dolphins swimming. It was so cool and something i will not forget as they were jumping in the air and diving in and out of the sea. It was amazing to watch them as they are beautiful creatures, but loads of the other sufers were getting annoyed as they were getting in the way when you were catching a wave. However I thought they were wicked so they did not bother me or the other guys at all. We love dolphins so when we get the chance to see them, I savour the experience.

Also another crazy story is that whilst staying at Byron our van got drug raided by the police. It was approximately 9 in the evening and we were chilling in the van when this police van came and parked next to us. There was no one else in the car park apart from us so we thought it was strange that this police range rover was parked next to us !! They then knocked on our van and shouted in a loud and demanding voice "This is the police". We both started to laugh (not in a obvious way though) as we kind of figured it was the police by the huge neon police sign that was brightly lighted up on their van. Apparantly they had a phone call from someone stating that there was drug activity going on around our van. I could stop laughing as what they were implying was ludricous but they carried on searching the van. Their search included a look in the glove compartment and behind the two front seats so they did not do a particlaury detailed search. We could not believe it happened, we dont know who tipped them but it was a funny experience and it makes a good story to tell.

Even though our stay in Byron was perfect, we did encounter some bad luck. Apart from the board breaking and me hurting my nose and back, we also got moved on by the police one morning when we were sleeping. Someone complained about the van being parked outside their house so they called the police (some people are such funny old b*****s). Other misfourtunes are, we had most of our clothes dyed pink when we washed them and sadly matt got his very expensive sunglasses pinched when we were at the post office sending a postcard. He was not impressed at all and by that point we were just praying that our bad luck would come to an end !!!

After Byron we made our way to a place called Coolangatta which was 20K south of Surfers paradise. We decided to stay there for a day to surf as the surf was meant to be great there. However when matt was surfing disaster struck AGAIN !!!. The surf board knocked him in the forehead and the impact of the knock caused the board to break again in exactly the same spot as before. We were not amused by this as the board should not have crumbled with the little impact that was made. Obviously the man who repaired it had not done a decent job, and his bad craftwork had caused the back of the board to become weak and fragile. As the board is made from epoxy resin, it is very difficult to repair and alot of people refuse to mend them as they are so time consuming. Therefore we had to travel back to Byron which was not a fun journey and get it repaired AGAIN with the same man. We were not happy bunnies with these board damages as they were causing us great hassle and costing us money we did not have. Therefore we made the bold decision to sell the board as we can not afford to keep damaging the board and dishing out money on repairs. Both of us were so gutted with this decision as we both loved surfing so much, but we have made great use of the board and at least we can say that we have mastered the skill of surfing.

After backtracking to Byron we made the short journey to Surfers Paradise which is supposed to be the most touristy and trashy resort of Australia. We were both intrigued with how we would enjoy Surfers as so many people have happily bad mouthed the place.

Well I hope that you have enjoyed reading this entry, sorry if it has bored you, I got a little carried away with it and I never intended it to be this long. We are now in Cairns and are leaving Aus in 2 weeks. I will crack on with the Queensland entry and will hopefully put it on in the next 2 weeks. Hope you are all enjoying life back in the UK, we love you all very much and make sure you all stay in touch x x x x x x lots of love, Matt and Amy x x x x x x