Hi all

Thanks to all of you who have left us a message, it's nice to read, hope all of you are well too!

We thought it was about time we posted an entry to let you know what we've been up to now we've finally arrived in Port Douglas.

For everyone who doesn't know I'll start at the beginning of what has seemed like a very long 4 days:) (A smile Chris)

We set off on Sunday from Manchester and said our goodbyes which for both of us was the hardest day of our lives (missing you all like crazy), so as we disappeared through the departure gate the only thing we were worrying about was whether we had too much luggage and how we were all going to cope. We soon realised that that was just the start! Our flight from Manchester was delayed, however the time in the airport passed fairly quickly and before we knew it we were sat on the plane to Heathrow. At this point we both could have done with shares in Kleenex for the amount of tears we were shedding! Then we waited, and waited and waited until the friendly pilot advised that there was a problem because of the crash on the Thursday at Heathrow and departure was delayed another hour. For all of those that know me (Sara), I am a real worrier and whilst Iain had already switched to his slow aussie lifestyle setting (telling me not to worry) I was beginning to panic that we might miss our connecting flight. (This I discovered later was the least of our worries!) It turned out that we didn't leave Manchester till about 11 pm - an hour after our flight to Singapore had already left Heathrow. Upon arrival at Heathrow we joined the by now fairly long queue and were greeted with a piece of paper telling us to re-book our flights and shipped off overnight to a London hotel where we didn't sleep a wink! We managed to get flights to Singapore the following day via a brief stop in Hong Kong and were soon back at the airport, where we joined yet another queue to sort out the flights. The customer service that we experienced from British Airways was superb to say the least, so much so that I thought Iain was about to knock out the cashier at one point and I'd hhave gladly cheered him on. The monkey (i.e cashier) advised us that the chances of receiving our suitcases at the other end ranged from slim to zero and that although we could make a complaint there wasn't time if we wanted to make our flight. We rushed over to the check in desk and the rest of the flight to Sinapore passed fairly uneventfully as we were shattered, although the in flight entertainment did pack up half way through. Cathay Pacific flights were what we ended up on and they weren't bad for all of you that are looking to fly out to see us soon!

By the time we got to Singapore, I had take a turn for the worst, think stress, tired and travel sick and was not feeling (or looking so Iain tells me) my best. We only had one night in Singapore because of all the delays and as the monkey predicted our cases had not turned up so the day was dedicated to emergency shopping (Singapore was not that bad for shopping for anybody thinking of going). Our hotel was amazing, with a rooftop pool and amazing views and it was a shame we didn't get to stay a little longer! It also backed onto clarke quay one of the main areas of Singapore which was amazing and I took some great pics on my lovely camera (thanks ma and pa, x) which I'll post on here later once we have some more time.

The following day it was back off to Singapore airport, where we tried in vain to locate our cases and then boarded the plane to Cairns with the surprise news that despite booking a Quantas flight we were on a Jetstar plane (apparently a partner of Quantas) and it was going via Darwin where we had to get off and go through security again!

The plane was a shocker, think easyjet, ryanair and you will be able to conjure up an image which is smashing for a 1 or 2 hour flight but for 8 hours was a bit of a nightmare (Iain had pins and needles in his legs the whole way) with no tvs or music or anything!

Anyway upon arrival in Cairns a wave of relief swept over both of us as well as a tidal wave of travel sickness for me (Dad - could probably have done with another packet of Kwells! the rate I'm going through them, x) and as a result we sat in Cairns airport for as long as we could before having to join the queue for immigration. A security officer came over to check on my well being and advised that she'd jump me straight to the front of the queue at this point which we thought was marvellous until she advised that once there, a quarantine doctor was coming down to check me out! They did and with a relief let us through. We checked in with lost baggage again which has become a regular stop off in the airport then proceed to the outside world where our transfer was waiting.

The coach transfer to Port Douglas was about an hour and was a cracking drive, the views along the sea were amazing. We arrived at the Mantra Portsea about 11ish yesteday morning and checked in. We're about a 10 minute walk from the town and marina. The apartment is stunning and the balcony overlooks the pool with a spa bath as well. Port Douglas is very cute little place and a holiday hotspot of the rich and famous including Clintons, Sutherlands and now the Berkeley/Tweedlys. Yesterday we just had a bit of a walk round and tried to stay awake for as long as possible, finishing the day off with a glass of vino and beer in the jacuzzi before jet lag finally got the better of us about 8 last night where we fell into a deep slumber.

This morning both of us are feeling so much better, with it being the rainy season there have been some very heavy downpours pretty much all morning which is not helping us getting rid of the lovely casper the ghost colour we are both sporting! although it is still very very hot! We've been to our local branch of the bank and activated our accounts which was surprisingly painless and we've just booked a trip to the Great Barrier Reef for Sunday which we're both looking forward to (and when I get to grips with technology) will put the pics up. Now we're going to head to the marina for a vino and a spot of lunch. Well I think that's enough info for now, will keep checking this and updating it. So G'day for now. Missing you all, lots and lots of love. Take care. Sara and Iain xxxxx