MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! for all those people i havent passed my holiday wishes on too yet. Hope everyone had a brilliant and memorable one for all the right reasons. Many thanks to everyone who sent me messages on my message board over the festive period. So, me and the girls booked our trip to Kangaroo Island, a small island about 3 hours drive from Adelaide, famous for its diverse wildlife, unspoilt beaches and volcanic rock formations. we take a coach ride and a short ferry crossing to Kangaroo Island, during the ferry crossing we managed to get sat next to "Santa's Seat" i got rather excited hoping to sit on the big fella's knee, unfortunately due to busy time of the year he wasn't able to make it, much to my disappoinment. We arrive late on the night and spent a night on the island at a hostel, ranked as the worst Hostel Donna has ever stayed in. i was quite happy spending a night in a bed infested with ants!

The next day we rise early and get picked up and head off on a tour! not quite the tour id usually go for, sat in a big air-conditioned bus, driven around by some roly-poly bus driver giving us all kinds of spiel about the island and to crack funny jokes which only my grandparants would find funny! anyway it was still a good way to see the island for a day. We 1st headed for a honey farm to check out some special bees and there honey. not something id choose to do but it was part of the tour. next we went off to check out some caves which was discovered by soe guy on a horse! paid lots of attention to the tour guide as you can see. they where pretty cool though anyway. we stopped off for a bbq luch next where i saw my 1st wild Koala Bears! they where so cool! sleeping as usual but still nice to see them in the wild. The afternoon began by going to visit the Remarkable rocks, a weird and wonderful rock formation formed by volcanic rock thousands of years ago, awesome views of the coast line from here too. Kangaroo Island has one of the highest population of Great White Sharks and Bronze Whaler Sharks in the world! gulp! not a good place for a swim. After the Remarkables we headed off to Admirals Arch, a huge arch in the rocks where a colony of New Zealand fur Seals settle. these guys absolutely stink! i knew they did anyway from seeing them in NZ but god, get a wash! also at Admirals Point it is 3000 miles to Antarctica so the waves and and swell from the southern ocean pound the shore line with brutal force all year round! So a full day on KI ended with the drive back to the ferry terminal stopping off at Kingscote, the islands main town, to see some guy called Jim feed Australian Pelicans, the biggest Pelicans in the world, its was quite awesome watching them close up, infact abit to close at one point, one pelican managed to smack me 3 times across the face with his wing in a mad panic for a fish! crazy bird. we finally got back to the terminal where i bought myself some Kangaroo Island Ale, only brewed and sold on the island.....oh and there is some of that bees honey in it, i knew there was a good reason for going to the bee farm!

the next 3 days where spent really bumming around Adelaide, we drove out to Victoria Harbour one day with a friend of the girls, he took us to a famous ozzy bakery for lunch and to some beautiful view points of the area and city. we flew out late on the 3rd day to Melbourne for Christmas!

A short time spent in Urban Central Backpackers for a night before checking into our xmas apratment on the docklands. This place was unbelievable, i didnt know what to expect but an aparment with Harbour views, open plan kitchen and living area with floor to ceiling windows and huge wrap around balcony and 3 bedrooms was not what i thought of for a minute. it was jaw-droppingly beautiful! my dream apartment for 5 days! i knew it was gonna be a good chrsitmas. we meet back up with the girls, Kirsty and Martine flew in from NZ. great to see them.

Christmas Day was weird, as you can imagine, waking up to the sun shining and 28 degrees of heat at 11am isnt what im quite use to. It just didnt feel like Christmas but then again it was never going to be the same as home, away from my family and friends. I get up and start preparing xmas dinner! yes me! cooking a Turkey!!! oh dear we are all gonna die! after a short conversation with home on how to cook a turkey the bird was finally in! time to open my prezzies! we all decided to do a secret santa between us so we all had something to open. Then it was time to crack open to Champagne on the balcony! after a few drinks dinner was finally ready, looking awesome aswell, tasted just as good as home i thought, ill cook next year mum! haha. So a few more drinks i passed out on the sofa, Christmas Day done!

We all wake fairly early on Boxing day as we have tickets to the Cricket match betweeen Australia and South Africa at the MCG! something i know my dad and a few of my mates will be extremely jealous with. i was so excited about it. We had great seats in the sun, sat drinking beer and wine id sneaked in. the atmosphere was no Headingley but still a great experience, not to sure if all the girls enjoyed it. I know Kirsty did, especially when we moved into the notorious Block 13 where its party central, we end up singing, banging on seats and throwing empty cups and plastic bottles up in the air, Kirsty got thrown out along with over 100 other people throughout the day, a funny moment! time to leave i think..... we head into Melboune for some drinks and tea, dont quite know how the night went as i was completely plastered! good times!

A day of recovery followed, spent the full day vegged out on the sofa in the apartment watching highlights of the Boxing Day football, including the LOWLIGHTS of Hulls game against Man City! booooo! On the evening however after watching 4 hours of football on TV i got tickets for the game at the Telstra Dome, just a short walk from the apartment, infact you can see it from every room in the apartment, to watch Melbourne Vs Sydney. It was great to see some live football after such a long time even if the standard wasnt the same! What made it even stranger is a player for Melbourne use to play for the Tigers upfront in the victorious league 1 days, Danny Allsopp of all people! a true legend for us that one season, he was unstoppable upfront with Ben Burgess, not quite the same player he was for us but still weird seeing an ex-tiger playing, and yes before you ask, i was there wearing my tigers shirt!

28th we check out of the apartment and back into a hostel.......uughhh! not the same as a 3 million pound apartment! i didnt want to leave. we spent the day on a tour of the Great Ocean Road, a strech of road between Melbourne and Adelaide, a really beautiful drive. we visited Bells Beach the home of Ozzy surfing and the same beach where Point Break was filmed! great film! next we drove on and stopped at Split Point lighthouse, another famous filming location, this time for a childrens TV show called Round the Twist! beautiful views of the coastline and ocean, cn just see Tasmania in the far distance. We stop for lunch at a quiet spot where we spot more Koala's then drive on to the 12 apostles, a limestone rock formation carved out by the sea. they look pretty spectacular although the viewing area is over-run with to many tourists, kinda spoilt it for me. Another day trip to cross off the list and another 650km of coastline covered!

Plans are now to fly out of Melbourne to Sydney tomorrow (30th) where we have another apartment booked, not quite as nice but still it will be the new year celebrations over the harbour that will make it a special time in Sydney for me again. The girls are looking forward to it aswell. Once new year has past, god knows what ill do with myself, perhaps look for some work as the funds are runnung rather low. Look out for some photos in the new year of my oz experience so far.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!