Howdi,

Just a word of caution, this is going to be a long email so prepare yourself and don't be replying complaining about the length of this (you know who you are...Nigel).

So we've finally made it onto the west coast after our adventure up the east coast and the red centre. From here we now pick up a camper van and set off up the coast before we get into Darwin on the second week of June.

When last i wrote we were in Brisbane busy arranging our packages for the east coast. To be honest we were glad to finally get out of Brisbane, not really our cup of tea. From there we went to Noosa, a beautiful town where we did a bit of canoeing up into the everglades. After 3 days hard work we finally got back to civilisation and onto Rainbow Beach, our staging post for Fraser Island.

Everyone we know who's been to Oz has done Fraser, the island that is. It was brilliant and as i was bombing down the beach (the main highway on the island) with 9 people complaining about every bump we hit in the back of our rust bucket excuse of a 4x4 jeep i was in heaven, loved every minute of it. Sand getting everywhere, and i do mean everywhere, takes a bit getting use to but after a while you don't even notice that extra crunch in your breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc. We spent 3 days and 2 nights camping on the island, i would happily spent another few. Met some really good people, for some reason we ended up in a group full of scousers but at least they were from the blue half of Liverpool (Everton fans) so didn't have to listen to the endless stories of how good Liverpool FC are (come on AC).

From there we went to Arlie Beach, via a very quick stopover in Bundaberg to see the rum brewery, and set sail around the Whitsunday Islands on our sailing yacht, the Southern Cross. Again, this was better than i could have imagined. I even tried my hand at beach cricket and as i struck a beautiful shot off over the man at square leg i thought that this could be the start of something special, a new sport which i could really get into and not risk doing my back in again. This was all before i turned to make the second run back whereupon my knee seemed to pop out (ala Tommy Trout's stag soccer match at UCD all those years ago which some of you will remember) and i went down screaming like a big girl with no one around me. After about 2 minutes of intense pain i struggled to my feet to watch the game continue without me, yet another sport where i manage to injure myself! Spending the days (again 3 days 2 nights) sailing, snorkeling, lying on the beach was so relaxing and we were fully chilled out by the time we got back into port and heading for Cairns.

We spent a few days there before heading north to Cape Tribulation and back down to Port Douglas where we did a spot of snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. After our snorkeling around the Whitsundays we were really looking forward to this but were left somewhat disappointed. It was still beautiful and the marine life fascinating, Trish even had a shark swim under here without even a glance in her direction to acknowledge her, but it wasn't as colourful as i was expecting, maybe we hit a bad day. Then it was back to Cairns before we set off for the red centre.

We arranged to pick up a relocation from Cairns and have it in Alice Springs after 5 days. It was an absolute bargain, 5 dollars a day plus 300 dollar fuel allowance. This camper van was huge, a deluxe model with toilet and shower and it usually costs 120 dollars a day to rent. After 5 days driving, where we saw nothing but road kill, endless bush and desert and the odd farming station, and 2,700 kms we made it to Alice and set out for Uluru (Ayers Rock). It was beautiful and the sunset at the rock and the camping under the stars was awesome.

And so we set out for Adelaide (via Coober Pedy the opal capital of the world where we spent the night drinking in an underground bar and sleeping in an underground hostel) to pick up another relocation and headed for Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road seeing all the sights including the 12 Apostles and London Bridge (even though i has now partially fallen down).

Got into Melbourne and went to an AFL (Aussie Rules) game in the MCG. The game was brilliant (Collingwood beating Carlton by about 30 points in the end) and i now realise why the International Rules games between Ireland and Australia are so tough and rough. It was really good seeing an Irish man, Setanta O'hAilpin, playing so well and getting stuck in; I never realised how tall the man was when seeing him play hurling for Cork. After the game we met up with John and Leanne who we hadn't seen since we went our separate ways in Sydney and exchanged stories of our adventures to date over a few quiet pints. Awoke the next morning with just the slightest of hangovers and caught the plane to Perth where we are now in.

So that's it in a nutshell, I've tried to keep it as short as possible. Really looking forward to picking up the camper van tomorrow and getting onto the western highways. Hope ye are all well and when next i write i hope it wont be as long or as boring.

Paul

P.S. Happy to read this morning how the mighty Spurs have yet again secured 5th place in the league and another season in the UEFA Cup. Top four next season and Champions League football beckons, no doubt!

P.P.S. Congrats to John who pipped me at the post to win the Fantasy Football League (see i am a good loser!)

P.P.P.S. Heard Cavan drew with Down in the Ulster Championship, we'll take them in the replay i'm sure!