On our first full day in Australia we got up at 9ish and had some cornflakes (we bought a box and some milk yesterday to save money). We had a look online for some places to stay in Fiji as we wanted to book somewhere for the week so we didn't have to worry. We ran out of Internet time though before we came to a decision so didn't manage to book anywhere. We also found out that our campervan is hopefully sorted, although we have realised we left it a bit late so we're paying £400. It could be £300 but we're paying the extra hundred to bring the insurance excess down from $5000NZ to $0!

I realised that with my stolen money, and this campervan cost, my chances of getting to South America with any money were getting slimmer. I have probably known this for the last couple of weeks, as I ended up spend a little more in Asia than I thought, but was in denial. I finally made the decision to cut my trip short and fly home from New Zealand, and let Vicky know. Luckily she is really understanding and I am confident it won't cause any rifts in our friendship, although I do feel really awful for leaving her! She is going to start looking for somebody else to join her though, and she has two months so fingers crossed somebody will fancy a trip to South America in May! I do feel now that a weight has been lifted and I can enjoy myself a bit more without the constant budget worry (although I'm certain I'll be coming home with nothing).

I still have 9 weeks to go though, and will have been travelling for nearly four months when I get back, so I don't think it's too much of a cop out! My mum is certainly pleased!

We headed down to the lagoon (the huge beachside swimming pool) and settled down on the grass. There was a band playing Latin Jazz and other summery type music, and as it was a Saturday there were lots of people having picnics and cooking BBQs - the atmosphere was so nice, it reminded me slightly of Summer days spent outside at Faversham pool, albeit slightly more glamourous and much warmer.

We headed for lunch at oneish, to an Italian with a hilariously pompous waiter . We ordered a chicken parmagiana (parmy to the Australians) which is essentially a giant chicken nugget with tomato sauce and melted cheese on it, although the waiter described it something like this, complete with hand gestures: 'a beautifully succulent chicken breast coated in wonderful, crispy breadcrumbs, served with a flavoursome chef made tomato jus and coated in a creamy mozerella, all served with a fresh, crispy garden salad'. I'm not even exaggerating - if anything he was more over the top than that!

After our parmy Hannah headed back to the hostel to sort out her contact lenses, Vicky went for a walk, and I went back to sunbathing! I ended up there until gone 5pm. There was a guy next to me practicing cocktail juggling or whatever it's called, with a shaker and a bottle. He was clearly showing off so I only peeked up at him through my sunglasses, but he was actually really, really good at it. It made me want a cocktail, but unfortunately they are at least $15 here so I probably won't be seeing another cocktail for a while.

There were a couple of heavy showers which lasted a few minutes, but other than that it was a really nice day.

On the way back I stopped in a camera shop, and decided I was going to buy a waterproof casing for my camera, whatever the price. It was $60 (£37) but I went for it anyway. If I look after it it'll last for ages and I can use it on other holidays too. It'll be really great for the Barrier Reef.

I had to test it in a foot of water for 15 minutes so I headed back to the lagoon and checked if it was watertight, luckily it was fine.

I headed back to the hostel where Hannah was napping and Vick was in there too.

Vicky and I went back on the Internet and finally chose somewhere to stay in Fiji, it is a nice resort on the cheaper main island called Uprising Beach Resort - it looks really nice for a week of relaxing.

We had a free dinner at the Woolshed again, I had chilli con carne with cheese, so tasty.

We wanted an early night so we went back to the hostel straight after dinner and filled in our journals, stuck in our scrapbooks and generally relaxed - early morning for the reef tomorrow!

xxx