G'day from Down Under (the world that is not the duvet) At last i’ve managed to get a chance to sit and catch up with the blog for those of you, including National security, who like to keep tabs on our movements.   Well here we are in the land of sea, sun and surf- in the middle of winter. John soon discovered even Australia has cold weather. 17 degrees here in Oz -32 degrees back home. For those who remember his famous quote last time around that "it never rains in Sydney" before we had a week of monsoon conditions, it will come as no surprise that johns back pack- despite being heavier than  mine didn’t contain any long pants or fleeces. Lesson one of the Johnny school of backpacking noted, as he had to make an emergency purchase to stave off hypothermia Sydney is reeling at the moment from the recent cricket defeat back home at Lords with frequent autopsy reports about the state of Australian cricket. They don’t seem to have difficulty showing affection for the new royal arrival though with the TV providing latest updates from the Lindon wing, or the impending Liverpool game in Melbourne. We are staying in Kings Cross area until Thursday which is the backpacker area as well as the Red Light district, so spoilt for choice really (of wifi and eating places that is). John’s only been propositioned once – by a burly door guy- so we feel we obviously fit into the area. There is no obvious touting for business on the street- just lots of bars up or downstairs with colourful entrance halls. One of the bars has their own version of the Chippendales though so can’t claim it to be sexist. John has had to buy a hoody (and a pair of long pants) and it’s freezing cold - well its warm in the sun but there’s a bitter cold wind. He has decided layers are the answer- Eureka !  Anyway I’m sure you will pleased to hear we arrived safely in Sydney without too much of a disruption to the border control. I declared our wooden contraband* on Johns immigration form- well it was in his rucksack so didn’t want difficult questions if they split us up ! (The many hours watching border patrol have not been wasted) - and to our amazement they didn't even want to look at it never mind spray it -just told us to go through - no difficult questions, no body search - it was a real disappointment. The Canadian woman behind (who asked us what it was like to be home) - seemed upset that he didn’t want to examine her salad either. We both enjoyed Seoul airport en route - especially me who made use of the free shower facilities, and a free half hour in the massage chair – Just what you need after a hot day in London and a ten hour flight. Have to admit I can see why it’s ranked one of the world’s best airports. There is loads to do - the usual designer shops, duty free and gift shops with really nice bits and bobs. We even managed to squeeze in a Korean meal- well I had the Korean (Bibimbap) and John had Japanese tempura prawn with udon noodles. I was impressed that the two of us managed to wield our chopsticks like natives, and didn’t get anything down the front of our shirts J Still not sure about the kimchi (at least I think it was Kimchi loads of dark green bits floating in clear broth) – smelt like old socks but I’m sure that was just unfamiliarity. A couple of weeks on the road and they will probably be saying that John and I smell like Kimchi. Day2- Weds 24^th Woke this morning to Australia’s version of the Moroccan muezzin. Didn’t poke my head out to find out what it was but suspect that it was a sacred ibis (large bird, black and white, long beak – not the ecclesiastical version of the hotel chain). A quick sweep of the bed with my leg (not easy when you’re only five foot four in a queen sized bed) revealed John had disappeared. Apparently operating on postie time and up before the ibis i soon realised he was already testing the hotel shower facilities. Who says the British postal service isn’t reliable? We had a good day of exploring. Sydney likes to keep many of its facilities hidden underground but we managed to dig some of them out and found numerous food malls offering a diverse range of fare - so kept Johns energy levels up. It’s strange how drab a lot of the Sydney buildings look when the sun isn’t shining on them. The Circular Quay - home to the iconic harbour Bridge and Opera House has a positively dated feel. “WHAT? Sacrilege” i hear you all shriek. Well it’s true. The high rise buildings round the quay are definitely showing their age.  Sydney has its fair share of homeless who take up residence in various street doorways, most without the energy to even bother to beg for coins. As John says its par for the course in big cities these days.  On Tuesday everyone looked as miserable as they do back home – but today we came across a few who bucked the trend and seemed more positive about the state of the world - either that or they had extra seeds with their granola. Well better sign off and go for a shower now ready for another day on the road.