Australia!

---

Happy New Year One and All!

Hello everyone, sorry its been such a while, but honestly there's been lots to do, and because of this we are going to do a rundown of major events since our arrival in the land of Australia.

1. Arrived Coogee Beach 15 December 2007.

kellie: Well it was a long flight i shall give you that, and when we arrived it was still only early in the morning, so first things first we hit the sack. That night we found a little cafe and had some amazing risotto, and drank water from the tap! An absolute novelty when its the thing that gave me natorious "bali belly". Next day we woke and went a wandering, its a lovely little place and there are loads of backpackers, right up our street. However our first hostel and it is something we are going to have to learn to love, as bunk beds and communal bathrooms are a mission in themselves!

SJ: Arrivinng at Coogee was a nightmare...i am not a fan of public transport and now that we are 'travellers' taxis are not an option so getting the train and bus (and then a short taxi ride up the hill as we got off the bus at the wrong place!) was not fun with a huge back pack on our backs, a medium sized one on our fronts (full to the brim) and a new holdels we purchased in Bali to carry all the additional things we brought whilst out there (that we didnt send home...yes there was more!) was an absolute mission..coogee was itself nice though although we did feel like we were in Ireland as everyone here was Irish..well 90% of people anyway! Oh and i am NOT a fan of hostels...whats this sharing bathrooms business...i kind of imagined we would have a shared bedroom of 4 (not 8!) with an ensuite...this is not the case! Boys also tend to wee on the seats even more than at home out here!

2. Friends Arrivals.

Kellie: So we have been there a few days and our friend Martin calls and tells us hes arrived from the UK, and basically suggests that we head up to Byron Bay on the Gold Coast for the festive period and get a lovely apartment and relax rather than trying to make a Xmas Dinner at the hostel kitchen. His treat on the apartment we flew up on the 21st and opened the door on a lovely three bed open plan, right on the beach and with plasma TV huge corner sofa and courtyard. Yes it was lovely! SJ and i had purchased a full sant suit for Martin and bought ourselves raindeer antlers, so in full costum we went for a few new years eve drinks in town, got a few stares as we were hanging out with santa but made it all the more fun. The only thing was that in OZ they dont seem to celebrate Xmas very well, no decorations or lights, so next year we want full cheesy Xmas hilarity! Managed to also Met up with old flatmate Corrie, and friend Will, who ever so kindle accepted our packages form santa while we travelled. We rendevouzed at the Opera house and drank champagne and ate cheese in the sun looking up towards the opera house and over the river to the bridge. We truely were in Australia.

SJ: Meeting up with everyone has been great fun although i am glad Martin is going home after 2 weeks cause his idea of being out here really doesnt fit in with our 'backpacking'!! Byron bay was lovely though and it was great being able to cook Christmas dinner in a real kitchen we didnt have to share and we had a dining table (outside and inside!!). The day before Christmas me and Kell brough about a kilo of prawns, marinated them and cooked them on the Barbie..hehe true Ozzie style...or not so much as they keep telling us!

3. Kellies Birthday 22nd December 2007.

Kellie: all i can really say about my birthday is that sj and i got a little tipsy on lychee cocktails...which may i add are the nicest drinks in the world, and ate 2 different cheese boards at two diffferent places, and then had a dance in the local club. It was a great day and i am now hooked on lychee cocktails whatever their sort! Was truely great time helped along by our waiter Jacob and our princess chairs, ps anyone ever goes to Byron Bay go to the balcony bar and get their cheesecake with blueberries...yum yum yum!

SJ: Kell and me had a brilliant day dispite our friend Martin dissappearing for 8 hours. It meant we drank the best cocktails i have ever tasted (dont worry mum i got the recipe!!) and eating more cheese than i have ever seen...no wait thats a lie we ate even more cheese on Christmas day... (the cheese obsession came from Thailand where you can not buy cheese for love nor money apart from processed stuff worse that the cheap burger slices from Netto!).

4. Christmas Day.

Kellie: When we woke up SJ made lovely bacon and Avocado sandwiches and we stuck on our hats and bikinis (even martin!) and went to the beach to open a bottle of champagne, seeing the new day in on the beach was Crazy! Actually sweating on Xmas morning made it feel different and not so sad that we werent with our families because it wasnt really like Xmas. Anyway after that Sj and i headed inside our luxury flat and made up a xmas dinner that our mums would be proud of, set the table and proceeded to get quite drunk, and eat a astronomical amount of cheese and biscuits. It was brilliant!

SJ: All i can say was that although i was very impressed with what we managed to put topgether (minus parsnips and yorkshires - mum i want extras of those for our mid-year christmas when i get back!!) it was no where nice as my mummys... Kellie forgot to mention the strange man on the beach that came and sat with us in the morning and invited himself to ours for dinner...we had to hide out in our appartment from him most of the day! We did also buy a Christmas Party albumn to listen to but that consisted of songs such as little donkey and away in a manger...which are both very difficult to dance to!

5. Tourists.

Kellie: For the couple of days after Xmas we met up with friends we met in Bali, Anthony, Damian and Sebastian who lived in Wollengong (crazy names out here for places!) headed into the town and had a look around, investigating the MCA (museum of contempory arts) which had a crazy lady who really liked making photos of herself into weird characters and a perspex tube full of hair???? took loads of photos and all in all took in the city. It felt good to be can in a fully westernised society but the feeling that every one is rushing around is a little to get used to after Thailand. But its new and all exciting! We also headed up to see the Blue Mountains, said to be so because of the haze that surrounds them, are the home of the three sisters mountains, famous in OZ and a brucial part of abouriginal legend of the seven sisters (not hundred percent sure of what the legend is, so 50p to the person that does on my return) We saw some lovely sights and i cannot believe how many trees! MIllions! We spent a day also walking from coogee beach to Bondi beach which takes around an hour and a half, but there are loads of little beaches an bays to stop in and have a quick refreshment and swim, really great views over the beach as in the photos.

SJ: I love being a tourist!! Just not the prices that intails...boo!

4. New Years Eve 2007/ 2008.

kellie: Juliet, Pete, Simon, Sj and i, were gathering in a place that Juliet had located at 12 in the afternoon becfore the fireworks as we had been advised it gets very busy and you have to get there early to get a good sitting spot. When we found Juliet we couldnt believe the spot she had managed to grab, right underneather the bridge just before you hit the water, over looking to your right the Opera House, we could see everything a treat! During the day we proceeded to drink (only a little) and eat sandwiches, when the fireworks went off it was really a sight to behold, gave a realisation that we werent at home and this was part of our huge travelling experience. Its not many times that people can say they say the New Years Eve Fireworks in Sydney right under the bridge, and im chuffed to bits i have done it once. Lots of oohs and aaahhhs i can tell you!

SJ:We didnt drink a little we in fact drank A LOT!! We were there for 12 hours before the fireworks even started...they were amazing but lasted a minute for each of the hours we had been waiting! The porta loos there were also the cleanest i have ever been in in my life...they even smelt of lemons! We qued up in a burger que for 1.5 hours only to find out they didnt sell burgers only greasy kebabs...so we got chips...i then put a lot of tomato ketchup all over all of them (as Juliet wanted!) only to find out it was chilli suace i had just covered them in...we were a little annoyed by this point!! opps! Fireworks were imence though and we had such a good spot.

5. Back In Cooge.

Kellie: well now its the 3rd January 2008 and we are just ready to head on up to Cairns to start the East Coast leg of our trip, planning maybe a coach which allows us on and off at whats ever point we want for 45 days, so who knows, where and how long we shall stay there, but we sure will keep in touch a bit better as we will have lots and lots of stories to tell i shall imagine.
Have really missed friends and family over the festive time and it really does hit home what your missing, but this year was novelty...it was hot! Love to all and may everyone have a wonderful 2008!

SJ: 6th January - Just only had time to find a computer to update this blog and add puictures but we have just been told they close in 15 minutes! Carins is so very very hot and humid. We are sweating from places like our knee caps that i didnt even realise you could swaet from! There doesnt seem too much to do here unless you like fishing so we are leaving tonight to travel overnight on a coach to Airlie Beach where we will then go on to do a 3 day 2 night cruise around the Whitsunday Isnads...we really can not wait. Everyone who has been here before says it has been one of their highlights! Yesterday we were up early to go out on a boat around the Great Barrier Reef. We were just going to go snorkelling but were told we could do an introductory scuba dive without doing our Open Water course first...so we did!! In fact we did 2 30 minute dives going down to around 10 metres underwater. The fish and coral were amazing. It really is a different world under the water. Although we looked ridiculous kitted up in full scuba gear it was well worth it. I only wish we had got photos..the memories will stay forever though (as long as we dont keep drinking at the rate we have been!).

Lots of love and kisses to everyone...we miss you all loads!

SJ and Kell xxxx

---