G'day again everyone! Back by popular demand (well, Catherine) we wanted to give you an update of what we've been up to since we picked up our tiny house on wheels (camper van) three weeks ago.

We've done loads and loads since Sydney and covered over 1000km, so we've put a few photos on here as well. For those of you just wanting the highlights, some of the things we've done included sandboarding, getting sloshed in the Hunter Valley, dolphin watching in Port Stephens and meeting the wildlife at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo near Brisbane.

For those looking to waste more time at work, keep looking busy and read on....

We picked our camper van up - which is a Toyata Hiace converted into a Toyota Hiace with a bed that you assemble with a lot of jiggerypokery - in Sydney and hit the road. If you have met us before you'll know we enjoy the occasional tipple and so we immediately made a beeline for the Hunter Valley wine region. Here a man drove us around six different wineries, testing (for purely educational purposes) over forty wines, ports and schnapps (hick!) as well as tasting olives, delicious smelly cheeses, ice creams and chocolates. However, we promised not to mention food on this blog entry so we will stop there. The Hunter Valley was just beautiful with rolling hills of vineyards as far as the eye could see. Whilst we could still see, of course!

Next stop was Port Stephens (via Newcastle!) which is a 20km bay, home to resident dolphins and the most amazing rocky coastline and sandy beaches. We stayed in Shoal Bay, right bang on the beach. Here we went on a dolphin spotting cruise, hiked up the Tomoree Head to capture breathtaking (literally breathtaking after the walk) views over the vast stretch of coastline. We also went to Stockton Blight which are the largest moving sand dunes in the southern hemisphere. Any sci-fi or movie buffs will remember Mad Max, the unfortunate launching of Mel Gibson's career, which was filmed here. It was just like being dropped into the middle of the Sahara! The best part was we took a four wheel drive to the middle where we learnt to sand-board. This basically entailed sliding down 20m-high sand dunes on a tea tray. Tim managed to sand board standing up as well! Although on a really little hill! Amanda managed to do the splits. On the big hill. That hurt. A lot!

We kept heading north, zigzigging inland to see the incredible national parks. We went to Port Macquirie, and inland to the fantastic Dorrigo National Park with incredible waterfalls and rainforests. Eventually we arrived at Coffs Harbour, home to Charlene before she arrived in Ramsey Street. Amanda is a Neighbours geek.

Anyway, it was a cool little town, and we hit the beach and a koala hospital, where they nurse the cute little critters back to health if they are crook (translation: a little under the weather!).

Tim has developed an obession for "big things". Please, no sarcy comments, Amanda has made them all!

It started near Sydney and he has now got pictures of: A Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, a Big Prawn in Ballina, there is a Big Gumboot and a Big Shell still on the list. He was a little disappointed with the Mini Ayers Rock service station though.

Anyway, back to reality. Next we carried on finding beaches, and exploring rainforests on the coast north. We stopped in Byron Bay, before heading on to Surfers Paradise. Now, we had read that if Surfers were to be a person it would be like Paris Hilton, so we were a little apprehensive about what we would find. But we loved it!! The place is as flash as you like, with bars, restaurants and clubs open all day and night, theme parks, and 38km of beautiful beaches. We went to the top of the Q1 Observation T+

ower and could see amazing views up and down the coast. The tower is about 230m high, and the highest residential tower in the world, although try as she might, Amanda was not allowed into the Penthouse suite. So she settled for a huge slab of Mars Bar Caramel Cheesecake instead. (Ooops - forgot - sorry!)

We moved on to Australia's third largest city, Brisbane. It has its own Brisbane River (which looks like the Thames), its own 'millenium' wheel, and when Coldplay came on in the bar we were both a little homesick! But Brisbane is a great little arty city to chill out for a few days. From Brissy we hopped on a ferry and went to the beautiful North Stradbrooke Island, where we were lucky enough to see a huge pod of dolphins playing and jumping the waves in the wild. It was an incredible sight.

About an hour north of Brisbane is Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. We love a good zoo! Here we fed elephants and roos, got close to loads of koalas at feeding time, watched tigers playing and watched the Wildlife Warriors show in the Croceseum (did we mention it was cheesy!) But the show included birds of prey, elephants and of course, a big croc called Monty. It was a cracking day out.

And that brings us to Noosa where we are sat right now. This pretty little seaside town is just so chilled out we could stay here for ages. But there is too much else to see. Tomorrow we are going to learn to surf. Apparently you are guaranteed to stand within a two hour lesson. I think this may be a challenge for Amanda who has trouble staying upright on her two feet at the best of times, but we'll see.

We have just booked up trips to Fraser Island, Lady Musgrove Island (on the Great Barrier Reef) and the Whitsunday Islands (right in the heart of the reef). We can't wait to be able to update you all on that soon. Very excited!!

And that pretty much brings you up to date, although there is loads we've not had time to put on here. But rest assured we'll bore you with the literally thousands of photos and hours of video footage we have taken when we get back. You have been warned!

Thanks again for all the messages and emails. We loved hearing from you all. Until next time. Catch youse later.

Tim and Amanda

xxx