G'day from down-under!

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We arrived in Sydney to rain and grey clouds (not what we were expecting!) and an entourage of Mark's friends to greet us at the airport. We spent our first afternoon on Aussie soil in the beautiful northern beaches resort of Manly with the wonderful Dickie. A group of us enjoyed some drinks in the Manly Wharf Hotel (Hotels are pubs here!) at the harbor and Sarah was introduced to many of her new fiancés friends, some of which she will be enjoying seeing lots of over the coming 2 years.
After a week of Sydney, Mark and Sarah traveled up to Queensland to visit and meet the in-laws and Erin stayed behind with Dickie in the hope of finding some bar work to earn a little cash and enjoy the city for a month and a bit independently. Whilst in Sydney, Erin saw the Blue Mountains (see pics) and managed to squeeze in a tour of the Hunter Valley and taste a few specialty wines (or twenty!) which was great fun...
Meanwhile, back in Queensland and on Bribie Island, Sarah and Mark enjoyed catching up with the relo's. They enjoyed a week in the caravan on the Gold Coast, a fun 2 weeks with the lovely Holly, an old friend of Marks, and relished many trips to Montville, a selection of fine Aussie wineries, Dreamworld and Mark regained his pro-surfing knowledge by buying a new board and practicing on the Gold Coast waves! Sarah had a wonderful stay with Beryl and Jack, Marks family, and is relieved to know they are relatively normal and lots of fun! Sarah was warmly welcomed and spoilt rotten!
On the 2nd December Erin flew up from Sydney to meet Sarah and Mark in Brisbane. After meeting Beryl and Jack and spending an evening dressed up in Marks Navy get-up (SO immature!), we all spent a few days sight-seeing in the Bazmobile (see pic), Marks Fathers' (Barry aka Bazza's) car. We visited the picturesque Noosa, Montville and had a great day out at the late Steve Erwins Australia Zoo (see pics). We saw the fattest and largest crocs we have ever seen, fed the elephants and cooed over the tigers playing with their trainers (they looked so docile from afar!).
Our next stop was a couple of nights in Byron Bay. The beaches were beautiful and the town buzzing. It was much more sophisticated than we had anticipated and we enjoyed coffee in some of the surprisingly up-market cafes. We also bumped into Jack Johnson on the beach! We made a quick stop at the lighthouse which was cool and watched the surfers from above.
We also managed a 10 day trip to the Whitsunday’s (we needed a holiday from our holiday!). We stayed in an Australiana cabin which had all the basic necessities (apart from a toilet!) and a reasonably sized campsite pool which we spent many a day relaxing and reading by. We made 2 trips to the Whitsunday islands. Our first included Hamilton Island and the amazing silica Whitehaven beach. Unfortunately, due to the time of year, we were unable to swim in the sea, unless sporting a rather fetching stinger suit. Because we are all incredibly vain and 'too cool for school' we decided just to sunbake and play with our tennis ball. Our second stop, involved Hamilton Island again, where we stopped at a 5 star resort and Mark and Sarah joined in with the Aqua Aerobics with their noodles (foamy floaty things), Daydream Island and Long Island. We returned to Queensland, relaxed and excited at the long-overdue arrival of Carlos Santana Esquire Junior. We wish everyone a VERY merry Christmas and a VERY happy NY! We will be in touch shortly with our progress!

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Comments

[Uncle Jamie]

Christmas
Merry Christmas to every one down under! You know with all this traveling I hope that Santa managed to catch-up with you :-) Enjoy that Aussie sun and if you go anywhere near Koolangatta say Hi from me too! Cheers for now and Happy New Year X