so much to do and so little time...

Haven't done this for a while. Updating the blog whilst Joey's driving. Today we're covering over 650km from Canberra to Melbourne. This is the longest drive we've done for a while. It's not too bad as the roads here are generally pretty good. Unfortunately the same can't be said for the drivers. The male drivers. Cars here aren't just unleaded, they're testosterone fuelled too. Perhaps the drivers here are reflective of the country's general attitude, but we campervans get a raw deal. On a daily basis we get cut up and near rammed off the road. If we try to overtake someone, then they speed up (the pride won't allow being overtaken by a campervan), so we pull back in and then they slow down again. The male aussie pride is scary. And you should see the looks we get when they see a shiela behind the wheel when there's a perfectly good bloke in the passenger seat.

Anyway, rant over with, where have we been...


29th December (Wozza)
Let the birthday commence! Today Matt surprised me by checking out of the campsite and checking into the Hyatt hotel on Sydneys glamourous Rocks....it was amazing. We're talking views of the Opera house about 100m from the bedroom window, marble bathroom, rooftop pool with the harbour bridge looming over the top....as you know, i'm not one to boast but the boy done good! The champagne was on ice (thank you lovely Ali) as we entered the room and the birthday was in full swing.....

The Evening began by discarding the Tie Dye Teashirt, bongos and Thai fishermans trousers in favour of the new birthday Sass and Bide jeans for a night out on the town. The evening began with a delightful meal in the Sydney institution that is Doyles fish restaurant followed by drinks in Darling Harbour with Phill and Fiona (friends from NZ). The evening was completed with a selection of cocktails, Karaoke (me, matt and phill - a dazzling rendition of "papa don't preach"!) and a few rounds of black jack at the casino......all in all an excellent night, didn't get to bed till 3am which isn't to bad for an (almost) 30 year old! The egyptian cotton sheets at the Hyatt were also far more preferable than the somewhat musty (well we have been away 4.5 months) and torn (Matt has got a long toe nail!-only joking) sleeping bags!


30th December
What a lovely day......thank you for my surprise birthday cards, it was so lovely to read everyones messages...
Breakfast in bed looking at the opera house, birthday phonecalls, balloons and flowers delivered to the room...what a lucky girl I am.

Spent the day mooching round the Rocks and relaxing by the rooftop pool, bliss. The evening was spent with a surprise trip to "Bills" restaurant. Bill Granger is the Aussie equivalent to Jamie Oliver and does the meanest passionfruit pavlova ever, I was fit to burst! The birthday was brilliant.....


31st December (Matt)
Unfortunately we had to check out of the birthday hotel. We packed our bags and asked the concierge to get our van. What a site. On the hotel concourse was a charcoal Porsche 911, followed by a blacked out mercedes, followed by a 1993 toyota hiace campervan. What a sight! Then we saw the owner of the first two cars - some bloke called Sir Richard Branson. I've never heard of him but joey later told me that he's the founder of branston pickle. Who'd have thought there'd be that much money in pickle? So, we said hello. Posed for a couple of photos with him (I don't usually allow photos with joe public, but he was very insistent). Then we hopped in the van and cruised off. I think the highlight of the meeting (and for him i'm sure the whole experience was a highlight) was when I shook his hand and as jo went to shake his hand, he went in for the kiss!!! He very sharply backed away and put his hand out. The sly old dog! I think Wozza is going to sell her story to the News Of The World: "Married woman gives Branson the elbow". Or how about "Branson pickled". I should be a pun writer.

Anyway, down to earth with a bump as we were back in the Lane Cove Tourist Park. Not the 5 star pampering we had become accustomed too.

Then it was time for the grandaddy of all new years celebrations - fireworks in Sydney harbour. We got the bus in to town and watched from just below the bridge. Very very impressive I can tell you! 15 minutes of awesome whizzbangs and the like. Good atmosphere, good organisation, good night out. It was also the 75th anniversary of the bridge, so the fireworks were especially large! We were home by 2am using public transport. I can't imagine it being that well organised back home...


1st January
Got out of bed late. Lounged around all day and did bugger all - probably for the first time since we've been away. In the evening however we went on a wildlife walk with one of the park rangers (our campsite was in a national park). We saw a ringtail possum, brushtail possums, rabbits, various birds. All very impressive.


2nd January
One of Sydney's central beach suburbs is called Manly. When Cap'n Cook sailed past the cove just north of the entrance to Sydney harbour, he noticed that the "natives" were manly in appearance. Cook would turn in his grave if he saw the current state of the area's natives. It's nearly all tourists and backpackers. Most of them quite scrawny. Perhaps it should be renamed? After an hour or so trying to find somewhere to park (cue arguing and bickering) we ambled around the town. Pleasant enough with a top beach. But the main reason for coming here is to get the cross harbour manly ferry - the best way to see Sydney harbour. So we got the ferry to Sydeny circular quay. 30 minutes of surprisingly rough motoring. It does give great views though. Whilst in the city we took in the botanic gardens before popping back on the ferry. A nice day out


3rd January
Today something strange happened. Joey learnt cricket songs, and she won't stop singing them. In particular "monty, give us a wave, monty monty give us a wave" and (to the tune of yellow submarine) "you all live in a convict colony". Why? Because we spent the day with the barmy army at the SCG. 5th test day 2. Delicately poised. England were something like 230-4 with flintoff looking good on about 60. By lunch? 289 all out. Oh well. I think we know the rest of the story. Still, we had a great day out. We drunk and sung and engaged in light banter with the locals - though most of the banter was convict related. More importantly, joey has broken her england duck. Howzat!


4th january
Sydney. Home to the 2000 Olympics. So why not stay in the Olympic village? Good to see a different part of the city too. What better thing to do than try to set our own Olympic record? 100m sprint? Too easy. Marathon? Too time consuming. Gymnastics? Lycra's too embarassing. These events are for mere mortals. How about something a little more extreme? 3 full loads of laundry washed and dried in 1:58:27.53 - a new world record. Alright. I was so proud and honoured to be part of something so special. Just as the flag was being raised and the national anthem blared around the stadium in front of 75,000 people the news we feared most came through. Joey failed a drugs test. Again. I guess it explains why her biceps are now bigger than my thighs. And her gruff voice. And hairy back.

A few more wickets tumble down the road at the SCG.


5th january
Day 4 - SCG. This time it's personal. Overnight england were struggling with a 15 run lead and only four down (KP + monty at the crease). So we thought we'd make a real effort to cheer on our finest. We both had flags as capes. I bought a cheap red + white polo shirt. Wozza bought some red short/top combo. And we had face paints. We rocked. And we got amusing looks on the train into town. Unfortunately the day's play started 20 minutes early and KP had thrown his wicket early doors. There was then very little to celebrate as we finished with a 50 run lead and the convicts had an easy run chase. At least the barmy army amused everyone with renditions of "livin on a prayer" and "the final countdown"... We sat through the presentations but then left when the gloating got too much. Arrogant bunch.

In the afternoon we collected our passports after they'd been couriered to the Chinese embassy for visas. They look very cool. We can't believe we've been away so long and still have so much great stuff to do...


6th january.
350km to Canberra. Capital of Australia. It's about 150km inland. The area round there is like plains and quite beautiful. Like how you think the plains in Africa would be. And as beautiful as it is, you've got to wonder why the capital would be in the hot humid muggy inland region when the coast is so beautiful. Apparently 80 years ago when they became their own entity neither Sydney nor Melbourne would accept the other city as capital, and so they started from scratch and Canberra was born. The federal buildings are all newish and not that fascinating. The most interesting place was the aboriginal tent embassy outside the old parliament building. It's little more than a tin shack but is permanently manned by some tented aboriginals who are available for political chat and debate. The embassy has been there for 30 odd years, but unfortunately the old parliament building is now a national gallery with the new parliament now about a km away, reducing it's impact. Very interesting.

Other than that, canberra is a bit tame...


7th January
Drove to melbourne all day and just stopped to kip before we go onward to the great ocean road...