This is our last blog in Australia as this afternoon we fly out to Singapore.

Well what can we say.... we've had a splendiferous time with Ash, Dave and Amy and seen some great things in Oz... and let me tell you Englands not the only place thats having a financial crisis at the moment. Unfortunately I'd not been keeping a tight eye on my spreadsheet, but with SE Asia around the corner this is our saving grace!!! and we cant wait!!!

Any way back to Oz, since our last blog in Cairns, we headed further north to a little town called Port Douglas, this is a similar kind of place to Noosa and we really liked it. As we were heading into the tropics the weather had not been too clever, so we gave the base tanning a bit of a rest. From here we went on a trip for a few days to Cape Tribulation and saw the rainforests which are beaut!!, we stayed in a hut in the middle of the forest and let me tell you... there were some strange noises surrounding us at night. We took the opportunity to take a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef and did a spot of snorkeling, which was an amazing thing to do (even more so 'cos they reckon if the global warming carries on as it is doing and effecting the reef, the Great Barrier Reef may not be so 'Great' in the next 10 years or so) In Cape Trib I sampled Kangaroo which was delicious, this was my highlight!!!!!!

From here we went back down to Cairns to drop the car off and celebrate Ash's birthday which we made the most of and hopefully it wont be one he'll forget too soon!!. And then all of a sudden came the time we had all been dreading, we had to say goodbye to the kids and then suddenly Gem had no one to mother and I had no one to teach the fine art of table tennis to. And the constant fidgiting, taking ages to get ready, asking "are we nearly there yet?" eating all the food and constant talking was no more and we really miss it!! Seriously... we had a great time and are so glad they were part of our trip and we were able to be part of thiers. They made our time in Oz special.

After a tearfull goodbye Gem and I made our way to Darwin, Northern Territory..... sweat...... we've never sweated so much 40degrees and 80% humidity is a right laugh!!!! From here we did a trip for a few days to Kakadu National Park, where we went croc spotting on the Mary River. It was good to get out into the bush and utilise some of the techniques that Ray Mears had taught me. We saw some aboriginal rock art from thousands of years ago.... or thats what we were told. We also visited a few places that were used in Crocodile Dundee. Get this.... our tour guide 'Wazza' had an aboriginal father and mother from Newcastle.... England... great combo!!!!!

After leaving Darwin we flew back to Brisbane, as we were here for a few days we decided to go to Noosa again as we liked it so much and we managed to find the 'Noosa Pie Shop' that came high on Andy Halls list of recommendations.... delicious!!!

And this is where our Oz adventure finishes as we wait our flight to Singapore from Brisbane. We've had a great time and hope one day we may return and see the West Coast.... we'll see........

So as the last 7 weeks of our trip commences we're excited and upset, suddenly we find ourselves discussing home and what we're looking forward too and what were not.... one thing we are definately lookin' forward to is seeing our three beautiful nephews and seeing Kelly and Nick tie the knot xxx

Like always, we miss you all and send our love.

Gem & Rob xxx