Sounds like u met some awesome people in cairns!!

Hi David,
Just caught up with all you latest entries- what an amazing time you are now having and WHAT A BIRTHDAY - brilliant and certainly one that will take some beating. We are reading all about your adventures with envy, they do truly sound fantastic.
We are now getting ready for christmas and starting the shopping marathon. Last week Caroline Oliver and I drove down to see Granny and Grandpa - they loved seeing their great grandson, especially grandpa who was able to remember lots from his own childhood. They both send their love and wish you a very happy christmas.
New York was fantastic and we all had a great time....especially as our trip was not affected in any way by the various strikes.
Have a wonderful Christmas and I wonder what plans you have to celebrate New Year??
Enjoy! Lots of love Julia and Keith

Hello David
Happy Birthday. glad you are enjoying your experience Carry on making the most of it. Very best wishes. Pat and Frank

Reading all the messages with great interest (and envy). Just wanted to wish you an early HAPPY BIRTHDAY for the 8th Dec. Have a great time. Russell

hey Julia i'm still in Cairns leave on the 5th Dec night bus to Airlie beach to catch the boat! and i will be in Byron bay for christmas! there will be people i know from the woolshed staying there as well! so it's work out well! enjoy new york!

Hi,
Hope all is well - I wonder where you are now! We have just got back from Mexico where we went to a wedding. We are trying hard to adjust to the time differences, coping with 8 degree temps rather than 28 and the thought that it is Christmas in less than 4 weeks time. Where do you hope to be for the festive period and do you have any plans???
Don,t forget that Phil's brother and girlfriend are out in Australia over Christmas and so if you want any contact details let me know and I will speak to Phil for details.
Hope you have a brilliant birthday - what a place to be and so hope you do something special. Granny and Grandpa send their love and wish you a very very happy birthday and send the message.........look after yourself!!!
We are off to New York next wednesday to help celebrate Laurens 30th birthday. All looking forward to it - if we get off the ground as there is set to be a huge strike the same day and so there won'd be any immigration staff on duty. Fingers crossed.

Dave, Glad to hear you are enjoying yourself on the trip. Sorry it has taken us so long to write an entry onto your blog. As we write this we are sat in the lounge at Nha Trang, Vietnam. Heading to Ho Chi Minh City shortly! Speak soon, take care and enjoy!!!!

Have managed to record the match`s highlights. Sammie is a lovely girl but her dad is a Man Utd supporter, so don`t hold that against her. Cheers. R

Hey Julia, Thanks for your messages! i've seen the floods in Thailand i'm hoping that when i go in Feb it has all calmed down! but if not i'm able to change my flights so i could just go some where else!

Was a nailbiting evening yesterday and from looking at your photos you found it a stressful time as well, especially as it was at some god awful time in the morning for you. I think Aldershot did very well considering who they were playing AND at least they didn't lose 6-1 as Man U had done the previous weekend! ! Ross did very well and made a particularly good save on a kick by one of the key men in the Man U team( can't remember his name! ) and ensured that the result stayed at 3-0 rather than 4.-0. It was good that you were able to watch the game and make contact with Lauren during the match - technology really is wonderful when it all works.
Have just been reading all about the flooding in Thailand and it sounds really bad so perhaps you will do well to give the place time to recover before you visit otherwise travel could be a real problem in certain regions. However I don't think you have plans for going there until well into the new year and so hopefully things should be much improved by then.
Have sorted out where my messages were going, I was responding to your blogs rather than adding to the message board....what did I say about technology....only works well when you know what you are doing with it!!??
Take care and love from us all. Julia

Sammie, i was planning to hit Sydney for Christmas/New year too! but i'm not going to bother now! i'm going to travel south just behind the Christmas crowd! where it's less busy and cheaper! so will be looking to be in Sydney from the 2nd Jan! your best bet is to stay an hour outside of Sydney travel in for the night! i think trains run through the night! then move to the city when it all calms down! hope this helps! a lot of people i'm speaking to are going to spend new year in Byron bay! seams to be a good other option!!

Keep putting messages on but they don't seem to appear here so hope you are able to access them. Glad all seems well now and hope that your arm ins on the mend. We also visited Kurunda and travelled on the railway. Spectacular views but can't say I remember the waterfalls either so ther must be a very small viewing time when they are at their peak!!
Hope your next few trips live up to expectations! Take care - everyone sends their love