G'day mate! How's it going? Yep, we're in Australia and getting the hang of the local lingo. Well, we've been here two weeks now and settling in nicely. The first few days were a bit hectic as we tried to fit in Sydney. And for all those who have been asking, yes, we actually did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb! Wow! That was an experience. Some of it was quite scary but when we got to the top, it was actually ok. The views were great as you can imagine, and a guy actually proposed on the top. Brought back some memories, although we agreed that the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge was a better setting, ha ha! Well, it wasn't as stable anyway. Sydney is great, although it's not much different to any other big city, however the views are far better and there is definitely a vibe about the place. It's full of English tourists, surprise surprise. It took a while to hear an Aussie accent actually. We did all the usual stuff, (apart from climbing the bridge, which most people just go and have a look at!) - we saw the Opera House, Botanical Gardens, Circular Quay and the main attractions in the Centre and around Kings Cross area (i.e. pubs!). Our hostel was like a proper hostel. It was 7 floors and we were in a room of 10 people. The beds were comfy and the showers were good. We managed to do our first bit of 'hostel cooking' too. We managed beans on toast and soup. We met up with a couple of Andi's mates (Lucy and Steven - lovely people!) and had a few drinks, and the be honest, it's just like going down the Bigg Market in the Toon on a Sat night! Drunks are drunks, even on the other side of the world, but it was good and Andi loved it.

So after Sydney, we headed to Campbellton, to stay with Mitch Claydon (and Ben Harmison) and had a great time. What a pair of clowns! We went to the beach (on the one good day we had in between the rain!) and also headed to the Blue Mountains which were quite cool. It's a massive area of forest and the haze from the eucalyptus trees makes it appear blue. We got the train down the side of the mountain which was pretty scary - it was almost vertical, and of course us four sat right at the front - and you're not tied in or anything, how brave are we? And after we walked around the trail and looked at all the old mining stuff we got the cable car back up again. (Nic also missed off that I bowled Ben out during a cricket net session. Wait til I sell that to the papers when he plays for England!) (Sorry Andi, I'm trying to block out as much cricket stuff as I can!)

And after Campbellton, we headed to Terrigal, to stay with Kurt and Lizzy. Terrigal is a lovely place. A little surfing town, with nice cafes along the beach front and a couple of big pubs. We lazed about here and just enjoyed not having to do anything. On xmas day we headed to the lagoon and had a bbq....wait for it...on public 'pay as you go' bbqs. How cool is that? You stick 20cents in and the electric plate heats up. So for xmas dinner we had burgers, chicken kebabs, steak and sweet potato...oh yeah and a couple of bottles of beer. Then headed to the beach for a walk and an ice lolly. It was a quiet xmas day (with not much sun) but it was definitely different. But on boxing day we went to Kurt's parents' house (luxury!) and they made us feel right at home. Had a massive traditional xmas dinner with all the family and was cool to see the grandkids opening presents under a xmas tree - reminded us that it was actually xmas time! The only other thing that happened during our time in Terrigal, was that Andi tried to learn to surf! It was eh......funny to say the least. But to be fair in the end he did manage to stay on the board and ride a wave the whole way in to the beach (on his stomach - standing up is far too advanced!).

So now we're back in Sydney, staying with Lucy and Steve for a few days to watch the fireworks for New Year and looking forward to it, then the travelling starts - and we head up the coast.

There are lots of cool things about Aus but the best must be the 'drive through off licences' they have called Bottle Shops.

But yes, there are lots of bugs and the spiders are scary!