Had a look around Wollengong today, the lighthouse and beach ect and then headed on towards Moruya. We made an attempt at the scenic route again but it seemed to involve factories and large industrial areas this time so we gave up and took the highway. After our wildlife yesterday we stopped in Ulladullah for lunch and saw pink parrakeets in the trees around us on the waterfront, they were so bright and vibrant (and noisy!) We then headed on again aiming for Eurobond National Park on the coast in Victoria (our second state). After alot of confusion we ended up [View Full Entry]

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Woke up this morning in Penrith, very surreal! We went to Featherdale Wildlife Park today and it was very cool. It is a wildlife sanctuary specifically for Australian animals, so we saw all of the usual; kangaroos, koalas, emu, wallabies and wombats ect and some other bizzare ones like the Southern Carroway which is another really huge bird but its very ugly. Unfortunately the weather wasn't too friendly, but we soon forgot that once we found out that all of the animals roam free and you can pet and feed them. Not a greatly masculine thing to enjoy but it was [View Full Entry]

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So after alot of anticipation we finally picked up our campervan yesterday. Nine days to get to Melbourne and thankfully its not as offencive as it could have been, slightly beacon-ish in colour but ok. It is some kind of aborigional lizard. First stop for us was the Blue Mountains and Katoomba. The journey was ok and was just over an hour and a half plus a minor detour so I could see the Sydney Olympic park. Wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be! We got to Katoomba just before sunset and headed straight for Echo Point which is [View Full Entry]

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So its the last day in Sydney today. Have had a busy few days up to now and I think that we have definately covered everything. We went to Bondi yesterday on our first sunny day after all of the rain (worst in 148 years they say on the news!). Bondi was really nice, perfect rolling waves up the beach and crashing along the rocks and golden sand. It was just a shame it was too cold to swim (though I nearly had to). The waves are really decieving and in trying to wet my hands, it came in further [View Full Entry]

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So my first entry from the Southern hemisphere. Had a busy few days so far and we are thoroughly enjoying Sydney. It seems to be a great place to visit, its just a shame about the weather! Wasn't great the first day we got there but at least dry, then we got a couple of days of sunshine which were great. It is such a beautiful and diverse place. Then the clouds came over and we have had torrential rain since, I'm pretty sure you have seen on the news about it. Not so bad here as down the road in [View Full Entry]

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So we spent our last few days in the US in sunny Santa Monica (well, not quite so much at first!) We made an early decision when we booked our Greyhound tickets to take the red-eye from San Francisco to Santa Monica. I wasn't such a fan, we left at 11pm and arrived in Santa Monica at 7.30 am the next day. I can tell you that it is virtually impossible to sleep on one of those things properly, especially when the arse-hole if front has his seat back against your knees and thinks it is a bouncy castle! Anyways, we [View Full Entry]

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So last full day in San Francisco today. Apart from Phoenix, its the longest we've been anywhere and it still feels a bit like we have spent no time here! I have thoroughly enjoyed it though and its been different (again!) I think its a major plus that every city/place we have stopped in here has been so different to the rest. I think it has helped stave off boredom (not that I could really get bored on a rtw trip). I still can't get over how hilly it is here though. You really don't get used to it, I still [View Full Entry]

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I'm not really in Nappa, I just wanted to have another place in my heading. Having said that, I did go there yesterday and it was really nice. We went out there on our winery tour and got to do a bit of tasting and had a wander around Sonora. The first winery was a ranch that had been turned into a winery (I don't know why Americans don't want to call them vinyards?) We got to taste a few wines, two nice (the white and red) and one that was not so good (desert wine) but in fairness I don't [View Full Entry]

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Sorry, I couldn't resist! Obviously we went to Alcatraz to day which was very cool because it's been something I have wanted to do since I was little. I was just as good as I thought but at the same time I wanted so much more!? That probably sounds wierd but I hope I can make it make sense. It was everything I imagined arriving there on the boat, pulling up and seeing the lookout tower and the lighthouse with the fort at the bottom of the hill. We then watched an educational video and strolled towards out "guided" tour (headphones!) [View Full Entry]

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So we spent our last few days in the US in sunny Santa Monica (well, not quite so much at first!) We made an early decision when we booked our Greyhound tickets to take the red-eye from San Francisco to Santa Monica. I wasn't such a fan, we left at 11pm and arrived in Santa Monica at 7.30 am the next day. I can tell you that it is virtually impossible to sleep on one of those things properly, especially when the arse-hole if front has his seat back against your knees and thinks it is a bouncy castle! Anyways, we [View Full Entry]

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