We made the trip from Cairns to Brisbane (32 hours on the train!) to meet back up with Line and Catharina. All four of us went out for something nice to eat and we had loads of fun celebrating their Christmas on the 24th, watching them open small gifts from each other and their families. We had an epic game of 'Ring of Fire' and got a little merry with our goon (cheap boxed wine). Christmas Day started off very different, we woke up in a dorm with another 6 people, it was red hot outside and all we had a to open was a christmas card from Teresa :-). The hostel we were staying at had a free BBQ for the masses of travellers away from home, so we enjoyed a few hours with Line ... read more

After the incident with the beaver like looking kid on the train we arrived in red hot Townsville, It reminded us of America and some of the deserted streets that we had walked through while there. We walked into to town, shared an expensive sandwich and were picked up by our host Andy. Andy lived with his wife Nanny and their daughter Asha who had just turned 6. They were having a BBQ that night and at about 5pm Andy offered us our first bottle of beer, the bottles then didn't stop coming all night. The BBQ was beautiful and Andy and Nanny had a couple of friends over who were also really nice and friendly people, calling us pommys (Australian name for the English) whenever they could. While we ate and listened to Andy play ... read more

We stayed in San Diego just 12 miles from the mexican border for a few nights before heading to LA (plus we got an extra over nighter on the bus). Our host Jimmy and his girlfriend Kelly are great people to hang out with ! We visited our first English pub and thought it was funny when we walked in and there were two girls promoting Brown Ale, how ironic! We spent a full day walking along the golden sands of Califonia, went for mexican food, an all you can eat Indian Buffet (not in the same day) and had an awesome games night with a couple of Jimmy's friends Mi Linda and Craig. Craig also got us on a tour for free around San Diego which explained a little about the history. We stayed with ... read more

Hay, we just thought that we better send a message to let you all know that we didn't actually get married in Vegas. We were only joking and are very thankful of all of the lovely messages saying Congratulations that we received. We're really sorry if you'd thought you'd missed the joyful day maybe someday in the distant future it might actually happen we'll be sure to invite you if and when. No more practical jokes, we promise Matt & Kerry ... read more

We hired a car when we arrived in Flagstaff, Arizona, a nice comfy silver nissen automatic, so so easy to drive. It was about a 2 hour drive to the Grand Canyon where we were spending 3 nights with Daniel, our host in Grand Canyon Villege. I don't think we were at all prepared for what we were about to experience. What an amazing place, the Canyon stretched as far as you could see and it was just WOW every time you looked at it, it left us both speachless. We would turn away from the Canyon for a second and then look back and have the surprise as if we were seeing it for the first time all over again. We got up at 6am to see the sunrise before taking a hike into the ... read more