Hi Everyone, welcome to our blog!

Just a bit of housekeeping first (that should impress Cheryl). I know what its like to receive unwanted junk mail so if you do not want to receive these blogs please let me know and I will delete you when I get back in August .

Brian and Dianne after they finally turned up, (traffic jam we heard, yeh right, heard than one before!!) dropped us off at Perth airport for our 5pm Tuesday flight, we had to leave a day earlier than everyone else because these tickets I bought on Gumtree for $50 apparently had some small print!!!! (Wonderful thing Gumtree).

We flew from Perth to Denpasar, Manilla, Tokyo, Bejiing, Shenzou, Guanzou, Left Shoe, Right Shoe, New Delhi, Old Delhi, Corner Delhi and finally Abu Dhabi. (I think I could write a song about that.......I've been everywhere man).

Cheryl and I had never been to Abu Dhabi before but it's very much like Dubai and Doha BIG!!!!!! So its lucky the pilot had his Google Maps with him as he needed it to get from the runway to the terminal. Our stopover was approximatley 10 hours so if any of you are travelling through there it the future, please let us know as we know all the staff on a first name basis.

The trip from Abu Dhabi to CDG Paris was much more sensible. We arrived on time and we need to get our connecting flight to Marseille. Again we didn't read the fine print which said our flight was leaving from Orly, which we found out is another airport on the orther side of the city OMG!!!! this meant a bus ride through Paris. We found out where the bus left from by asking a nice French gentleman at the information centre (double dutch is another good international language). We purchased our tickets and only then, did we realise that this bus companies roots were Australian; it was owned by Ned Kelly!! The tickets were dearer than our tickets off Gumtree!! Our bus turned up and as we sat down I noticed a very familar computer bag (not Gucci but important none the less) leaning up again a stainless steel bollard on the footpath outside. OOOOOOOOPPPPPPPSSSS!!!!!!! (That,s not what Cheryl said!) Quickly I yelled out to the driver in the french that I learnt back home....STOP THE BUS!!! and I managed to retrieve the bag. I got back to my seat to find Cheryl curled up and hiding!! (Maybe she wasn't feeling well??) The trip to Orly was about 1.25 hours and travelling through the back streets has somewhat tarnished our illusion of beautiful Paris. In all fairness though you do realise how big these cities are and how small and isolated Perth is.

The flight from Orly to Marseille took about an 1.25 hours and was very pleasant expect the guy who sat next to be constantly scatching his nuts even the poor hostie didn't know where to look.

Upon arriving at Marseille we hopped into a brand spanking new BMW taxi and good to see another Australian, Daniel Ricciardo. On the trip to our hotel we averaged about 140km per hour with Daniel giving the bird to anyone who was unfortunate enough to get in his way . It seemed a podium finish was clearly on his mind!

We arrived at our destination the Newhotel which is a bit of a misnoma really as it was the next construction job after 'The Great Wall of China'. We made it up to our room in the traditional small french lift and we literally flaked out on our bed. It was at that point we recived a text message from Dianne to say that she, Brian, Trisha and Paul where sitting on their balcony in Lyon having drinks and nibblies DAMN THEY BEAT US (b******S!!) but then again, they can't say they have been around the world like we have. Cheryl and I had a well deserved shower, got dressed and went down to the prominade which quickly reminded us why we came back, as everyone is out late at night enjoying themselves. THIS IS SOOO GOOD!! Looking forward to tomorrow to catch up with rest of the crew.