We had spent weeks in the rain and cold that was hitting Melbourne searching for a van that was suitable to carry all four of us. Finally after receiving a complete clean out, new upholstery and curtains Hilda Hiace was born. Our leaving day was Sunday. The plan was to help Gemma and Kieran move to their new apartment then be off on out merry way… well that was the plan anyway. What actually happened was we helped Gemma and Kieran move then decided that it would be a good idea to have a BBQ and a few drinks on their balcony. A new plan was formed to wake up bright and early and leave on Monday, head over to Dandenong to buy our bike rack and find a camp ground. Monday morning came and Hilda ... read more

We woke up and decided that a decent breakfast was needed before our long walk to the nature reserve. Feeling the need for something that tasted of breakfast and not curry, noodles or cake we struggled to find anything. Finally we spotted a burger king advertising breakfast served till 11am. This looked like our best bet. Looking at the menu we were pleased to see sausage and egg. As we read on we were soon disappointed to see it was served in a croissant - who’s crazy idea was this! Finally we found something that was served in bread and ordered just in time. At 10.55 every American for miles around descended upon this tiny restaurant desperate for breakfast, not minding who they shoulder barged out the way to get it. We settled ourselves in a ... read more

After a long argument with our rucksacks we finally squeezed everything back in and made our way to the airport. If I could only use one word to describe our flight, it would be rushed. As we were still taking off the flight attendants hurried through the cabin almost flinging meals in front of those who had ordered. Before people even had a chance to finish eating the attendants were back asking for the rubbish. Just as we were landing they ran through with the duty free trolley, not actually giving anyone a chance to buy anything, only just making it to their seats for landing. The flight was 50 minutes long most of which was spent taking off and landing. We caught the train from the airport to Bugin station from where we had a ... read more

We woke feeling like we could do with another days sleep. It was difficult to get our heads around the fact that we left the UK yesterday, which was Wednesday, and after one nights sleep we were waking up on Friday. Trying to keep ourselves on KL time we went down for breakfast which was scrambled eggs, chicken hot dog sausages, toast and curry. After trying all that breakfast had to offer, and deciding that in future we would give early morning curry a miss, we walked to the Petronas Towers. You can go up the towers for free but you have to queue from 6.30am for a ticket. We decided that we were having enough trouble getting used to the time without getting up at 5am. We will probably have to come back to KL ... read more

I can't say that we were sad to leave Barnsley. I would say that the fact that we were on the road by 10am says a lot about how eager we were to be at our next destination. We were staying on a site called Callow Top. We have visited it many times before in a tent but this would be our first time in a caravan. It has its own traditional pub which brews its own award winning ale - nothing to do with why Andy enjoys visiting - honest! We had been especially looking forward to coming here this time as our good friend Mandy and my god son George were visiting for a few days. They are from Shrewsbury so this would be the last chance we had to spend some time together ... read more