G'day! Its been a while since our last blog, so let us begin........

After our last blog in Sydney we met up with Becky and Chris, had a few beers and a laugh. Next day our first train journey to Newcastle, we had planned to use our time there to lounge on the beach but the weather had other ideas, trying to lounge around in our full waterproofs wasn't as fun. We strolled the town and had a curry before heading back to our very nice hostel which used to be a gentlemens club and had partly kept up the theme with big leather sofas in a huge common room. The weather let up on our second day so we explored the coast which was beautifully rugged and trekked to Black Butt reserve to look at kangaroos, emus, koalas and lots of birds. Koalas are brilliantly lazy. In the evening headed to the local boozer for open mic night which was good, mainly because the beer prices are half that of Sydney!

Next day on the train again this time to Port Stephens, further up the coast. Our "hostel" was very nice, bungalows surrounding a pool and a bush garden completely surrounded by wild bush. Our first place to find was Red Neds Pies, world famous for its selections of pies, we had four! Kangaroo probably the pick of the bunch. Full of pie we went and slept on the beach at Nelson Bay and got really burnt, well fay did eddie just got panda eyes. That evening we were reading on the porch of our hut being visted by possums, eaten by mosquitoes and listening to lusty koalas and their scary mating calls. Next day we headed to sand dunes, that do have a name we have forgotten, the largest moving sand dunes in the southern hemisphere, looked like the sahara, very cool. Had a chill out and a sunbathe before a few schooners in the local. Whilst cooking in the bush garden we were visited by a cheeky kookaburra which looked like orvil, didn't look real but apparently it kept stealing food.

Next up Coffs Harbour, interesting place when the weathers good. First day we wondered why we had ventured here (damn lonely planet) as nothing was open and nobody around. Next day the weather picked up we spent the day on the beach and swimming in the creek. Evening we had a mexican for dinner and a stroll round the carnival thats here for the holidays. Yesterday we had a serious internet session and made great plans. We got tickets for the Brisbane International Tennis Open, going to watch Contagion at the moonlight cinema and biggest of all we are leaving Australia a week earlier than planned to get to Asia sooner, wahoo! After that we strolled to Muttonbird Island reserve which takes you right out to sea and just as luck would have it a pod of dolphins were swimming past, sadly not close enough for photos but it really did happen! Honest! Headed to Hoey Mooey pub that evening for a few jars but sadly were a day late for the crab racing. Luckily got back to our hostel before all hell broke loose and some japanese travellers had a punch up with the local carnie folk outside the hostel, the woman running the hostel said there was a few black eyes this morning.

Today we are heading further north to Byron Bay for three days but before that the beach is calling... ho hum!