Hello from Sydney! we enjoyed new years eve in Brisbane - we went out for a lovely meal with David (my second cousin) and Jess his girlfriend, and then walked up to the kangaroo point cliffs to look over the city and the river for the fireworks. It was a really good view and we got to see all the fruit bats swooping about too!

our last day in Brisbane was spent going to the gold coast to see the beach, it was beautifull. we swam in the sea and walked along the cliffs on the border between Queensland and New south wales - where you can stand in two time zones at once! one side of the street is an hour ahead of the other . . . sounds like a good excuse to celebrate new years twice!

While we were looking over the sea at Point Danger - we spotted 4 wild dolphins having fun in the surf, very cool. we also saw lots of silly surfers being rescued by the life guards. i could have spent a lot more time on the gold coast, its very beautiful and laid back.

yesterday we had to say goodbye to Roz and Ian and the home comforts of their house and get on the train to Sydney. its been quite a relief to stay somewhere nice and comfortable where you dont have to pack and unpack every other day.

So the train took 14 hours . . . we were really glad to get off it in the end. we are staying in a huge hostel 100+ people on 4 floors. Glad i packed the earplugs...

So this morning we joined the free walking tour round the city - it was very good and we saw the opera house, bridge and the botanical gardens that are home to 20,000 fruit bats - they are huge and FLUFFY!

we will be here for a week seeing the sights . . . any way i'm off to stalk the Bondi vet!

Mrs P