Day 1: Our flight to Melbourne is at 8.45am and our flatmate Jacki kindly offers to drive us to the airport on her way to work, even though it is in the opposite direction. We are cutting it fine as per usual and get there with only 5 minutes left to spare to check in. The airport is even busier than Glasgow airport and I have a feeling we won’t make it in time but then a guy from the airport asks if anyone is still waiting to check in for the Melbourne flight, and thankfully we manage to get through. The flight is a doddle and we get to Melbourne about 50 minutes later. We wait for our luggage to come off and start to worry when one by one the people around us start ... read more

A rather early start for us as we had a two hour drive to get to the Blue Mountains which is inland and North of New South Wales, just outside Sydney. Surprisingly it is Greg who wakes up first and he has to practically roll me out of bed. You would think that starting work at 6.45am nearly every day would have made me slightly more accustomed to getting up early but that doesn't seem to be the case. By the time we get organised it is nearly half ten so actually not that early a start after all. The ride up in the car is faultless and we arrive just before midday. Jacki, our flatmate, asks us what we would like to go and see and Greg mentions he would like to see a waterfall ... read more

Arrived at Sydney airport at about 6.30pm, slightly tipsy after the air steward forced more free alcohol down my throat... Went to the information desk to find out the best way to get to our hostel and were told we should get the airport shuttle bus which will drop us off straight at the hostel door. Everything seems to be going smoothly apart from the mad Asian driver who seems to be exchanging some harsh words with the operator on the other end of the transmittor, who keeps calling him a "foreign c@#%". Nice. Next thing the bus does a lap of the airport and then arrives back at the terminal where we started. We sit there for another fifteen minutes and then eventually we are off again. It's not a long journey to the hostel ... read more

3rd November- So the day of reckoning finally arrived and in our usual state of disorganisation we get up with an hour to spare before we have to leave to go to the airport. Greg seems cool as a cucumber but I am running about stressed trying to remember if we have packed everything. Ask Greg about twenty times if he has the tickets and he tells me that he is going to kick me out of the plane if I don't shut up. Finally get to the airport and am so embarassed and stressed when going through customs I am asked to empty the contents out of my bag and get checked for drugs. Obviously it is fine but it doesn't really help to settle my nerves! The flight down to London goes smoothly and ... read more