Back in the Land Down Under

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It was a great feeling touching down in Australia again, the 5th time I am lucky enough to say I have had the pleasure. It was the first time I had been back since 2004 and I was excited about what the next 2 months had in store for me, not least catching up with mates I have made over the years, witness a wedding of 2 ex-colleagues and most importantly, having my parents join me for 2 weeks!

I eventually made it to my hostel after having to remind the taxi driver we were actually in Melbourne and not Mumbai and that it would be beneficial to his career if he actually tried to learn where places were as opposed to relying on his satellite navigation system, a tool which was useless at finding my digs for the night! The next morning I headed into town for a walk, to again familiarise myself with Melbourne’s layout. Although I had been there before this was the first time I had had time on my side and was able to wander the grid like format of the CBD. It is especially easy to get around and I really enjoyed carelessly walking through town, taking in various points of reference along the way, including the south bank, aquarium and the MCG. I had planned to meet up with Myles for lunch, one of the 3 aussies I had travelled with in Colombia, then again in Galapagos, Peru and Bolivia. He had recently started work for an engineering company and I nearly didn’t recognise him with his new short hair cut, blazer and shiny shoes - very much the working professional. It was great to see him again and find out how the rest of his trip had panned out, since I had left him in a café in Chile 2.5 months earlier. We caught up 2 or 3 times after that for a few beers and was nice to be in his company in his home town and get introduced to some of his friends and his family (however briefly)!

I also managed to catch up with a guy who I worked with at RBS in about 2002. I had seen him on my last visit in 2004 but since then the contact had died down a bit. I called him up at about 11a.m. and to say he sounded weary when he answered the phone would be an understatement. He had no idea it was me on the line and when I started talking it took a while for him to cotton on. He was glad I had called, although I was wondering why he was not at work, to which he replied, “sorry mate, I just had a baby last night”! A fair enough excuse I suppose. I managed to catch up with Ben a couple of days later and was great to see him, even though he had put on a bit of weight and the amount of grey hair on his head and around his chin had significantly increased. He took me to the hospital to meet his wife and new addition, a healthy baby boy who was adorable. I’m sure he’ll look a lot different the next time I see him!

On the morning of the 7th August I was packed up again and heading back to the airport, not because I was going anywhere myself but because I was to meet my parents who were flying in to meet me for 2 weeks. After establishing their arrival gate was much further away than first anticipated, I made it just as the first passengers were getting off the plane. I was excited, having been glad to share part of my dream trip with them, but at the same time a bit nervous too. The constant stream of people filled through, but there was still no sign of Mum and Dad, which I thought was strange…and my fears were confirmed when the pilot walked through and told me he was the last person off of the plane. As it transpired, they had missed their connecting flight from Sydney and were put on the next domestic flight to Melbourne that arrived 45 minutes later. It was brilliant to see them both and it wasn‘t long before Mum was in tears. Dad on the other hand, came through chatting on his mobile and I had to wait for him to finish his conversation before I could say hello, although in his defence he was talking to my sister whose birthday it was back home. Its weird how things work, but within an hour of us seeing each other, it was as though the previous 7 months had not passed between us. We picked up the hire car, found our hotel for the night and went into meet another mate of mine, who moved to Australia 9 years ago and is now married and expecting his first child. He lives in Mildura, which is about 4 hours from Melbourne and was in town with his family, also from England and whom my parents know very well. Chris and I played football together from the age of 7 and I had not seen him since 2003 when we had met in Adelaide. It was great seeing him again, hear how his life had changed and reminisce about the trouble we gave a certain Business Studies teacher whilst at college.

We had a lovely lunch and the parents chatted about old times. It was weird that Mum and Dad hadn’t seen Ian and Jean since they moved from Hockley to Norfolk 2 years ago, but were now catching up on the other side of the world. After the meal, Chris and his family went off to the MCG to watch the evenings AFL (Aussie Rules Football) game, leaving Mum, Dad and I went to go into town. They weren’t too concerned about seeing much of Melbourne, which was due to a combination of wanting to see me and also jetlag. After watching a street performer entertain a large crowd outside of Flinders Street Station, getting yours truly involved near the end, we headed in the direction of the South bank (which is very similar to its namesake in London) and later ended up in the sports bar of the Crown Casino, where the next game in the tri-nations rugby series was being shown, much to Mum‘s enthusiasm. New Zealand once again thumped Australia, which made me smile! Mum and Dad looked to be falling asleep and I was about to call it a night for them, when the AFL came on and showed the crunch game between Geelong and Collingwood. They have been the top 2 teams in the competition for the last few years and was due to be a good game. Collingwood are a team everyone loves to hate and as I have friends in Geelong, I was going for them, leaving Mum and Dad to try and work out what the hell was being played before them. AFL is a fast flowing, high scoring sport and in Victoria (especially) is the biggest sport by far. The locals are extremely passionate, girls included, and makes for a thoroughly entertaining social atmosphere. Needless to say Mum and Dad had woken up by this point and their introduction to AFL had been a great game, although unfortunately Geelong were second best this time around.

The following morning we loaded the car and headed the 45 minutes out of Melbourne to Geelong, where my mate Chappo and his family now live. Mike originally went to Australia at the same I did, back in 2001 to play cricket, although he went to Victoria and I to South Australia. He is 10 years older than me and I have always looked up to him - he always took me under his wing as a younger member of the 1st team back at our cricket club in Essex and we have remained friends ever since. Whereas I came home from that trip, Mike started a relationship with Kylie, lovely local girl and is now set there with his own family. Every time I have been to Australia I have visited him and this time was able to see the complete Chapman family. Kylie has a son Hamish, from a previous relationship, but also 3 with Mike; Gus, who is a spitting image of his Dad, Milly who is going to be a handful when boys start paying an interest and the latest addition, Alfie. It was great to see a good mate so happy and with a family he should be really proud of. They are all great kids with their own personalities and was a lot of fun being around them all. We stayed for 2 nights in Geelong and on the 2nd night were invited to Kylie’s Mums place for dinner. She is from a massive family anyway and getting together regularly is very much their thing. We were made very welcome and the dinner was beautiful - my first roast for some time!

On my trips to Australia before, I have been lucky enough to drive the Great Ocean Road - a stretch of coastline starting in Torquay and finishing in Warnambool, but can be continued into South Australia and eventually Adelaide, which was our intended destination. We set off on the Tuesday and were due to arrive in Adelaide on the Friday lunchtime, however the weather was so poor that we arrived on the Thursday night. There are many places of interest along the route and Mum had seen my photos before (I have done it twice already) and was keen to get some of her own, however the inclement weather made this virtually impossible. Whenever there was a slight break in the weather I would slow the car so Mum could take some photos, including the kangaroos on the golf course at Anglesea, but all in all it was a real disappointment. I really wanted them to enjoy the drive and see the highlights I had previously, but maybe they will have to return at a time other than the heart of winter to enjoy the 12 Apostles and London Bridge - rocks that have been eroded over time by the ocean. The first night we stopped in Lorne and the place was dead! I know it was out of season, but there really were very few other tourists around. We had some dinner in a local restaurant and then went back to the hotel bar where a very reluctant barman served us one more drink before he closed…at 21:30. An enforced early night! We set off early the next morning and by lunch time had reached our intended destination for the day, Port Campbell. It was still raining heavily and I saw no point in stopping around - it wasn’t as though we could go for a walk anywhere - and all agreed we would push on for Murray Bridge, which is just over the South Australian border. Here we had a really good meal, a good sleep and a bit of a look around in the morning, before leaving for Adelaide just after lunch time, and still 4 hours away.

Arriving in Adelaide was something I had looked forward to from the moment the plane had touched down in Melbourne. It may be classed as a small country town by other Australians and generally given a bad wrap, but it treated me well when I was there for 6 months playing cricket in 2001 and is a place where I have a lot of great friends, a place I feel at home and a place I always stick up for when people take the piss out of it. It was late afternoon but I decided to show Mum and Dad around as best I could and showed them the High School I worked at, the ground I played at and drove through the centre of town to orientate them the best I could. It was good to be back! The next thing was to find accommodation for the night, which didn’t take too long and we were soon cooped up in a little motel room in Glenelg, paying over the odds for our room. It had been a long time since I had shared a room with my parents and now I had done it for 4 out of the last 6 nights. Dad still snores as much as I remember!

The next morning was the day that, for me, would make my trip to Australia. I had stayed with a family for 6 months 9 years ago and Mum and Dad had formed a friendship over time with the parents of the family who kindly hosted me. Robert is a typical Australian gentleman who is never to shy to highlight England’s past failures, be it cricket, rugby or tiddlywinks. Whenever I had scored a low score he was the first to remind me of it - in fact he would question whether I actually made a significant score during my season there - which unfortunately was probably justified. This time however we had arrived with England dominating all forms of cricket and Australia underachieving in whatever it was they were playing at the time. I was determined to let him know about it. I also had Dad as an enforcer and it didn’t take him too long to get stuck in with the banter. In fact Dad took to the role a little too easily and didn’t miss an opportunity to put Australian sport down. I thought it was a risky strategy considering he had only just met Robert and Janet and they had offered to put them up for the week, had images of Dad finding himself homeless. Robert took it on the chin…all week…and gave it back whenever he could. It was nice to see the roles reversed. I remember 6 months of banter aimed at me when I was only 19 - an enforced learning curve, which Roberts maintains made me stronger!

Janet is a diamond! She is so articulate and has the driest sense of humour I know. It doesn’t matter how much she drinks, she can still put a sentence together with words I have never heard of, or put you down without you even realising. I don’t know where she gets her energy from, but from keeping the house tidy, looking after the grandkids and looking after Robert, she somehow manages to prepare the most amazing food…and lots of it. When I was there 9 years ago I can honestly say - and Mum wont take offence to this - that I ate a whole lot better than when at home. OK, maybe not better, but certainly more! It really was a home away from home and I will be forever indebted to the generosity they showed me back then.

The rest of the family comprised of Simon, who is the elder son and who I was staying with along with his wife Helene; Charlie, who is my age and was my team mate. Both are like brothers I never had. Emily is the oldest and had already moved out by the time I stayed. She has a cracking boyfriend, Trent, and 3 lovely kids, Tyron, Acacia and Joel.

So it would have been 10 years since my parents first spoke to Robert and Janet and they all seemed to hit it off immediately, which I knew they would. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like the Giles’ as a family and are certainly the most hospitable and welcoming people I have had the pleasure to meet. The other thing Robert and Janet do extremely well is drink white wine and this first night was no exception. Once a bottle is open, it doesn’t take longer than a few minutes before the contents are consumed and the next cork is being popped. I had told Dad about this before he left England and I don’t think he fully believed me…he did that night and quit trying to keep up!! It was a great first night, sat in the back garden around the fire, telling stories, reminiscing and generally catching up on lost time. It certainly didn’t feel as though it had been 6 years since I were last in their company, and I hope its not another 6 before I see them again.

Janet had kindly taken the week my parents were in Adelaide off of work so she could accompany them on some of the trips that had been planned. Simon had also taken 2 weeks annual leave which he had planned to spend with my parents and I, which was very generous, I hope Helene didn’t mind too much. As I was staying with him, it also meant that the number of Toohey’s Extra Dry consumed in the house would severely increase. He was keen to enjoy his time off work and I had provided a great excuse for him to punish his body (much to my displeasure), although by the end of the second week I think Helene was ready to punish it more. We may have had a couple of rowdy nights whilst she was trying to sleep (as she had to work) and I think that had there been a kennel outside, Simon and I would have had our stuff moved in together!

During the next week we saw plenty of Australian Rules Football, either amateur games watching Charlie, Trent and Tyron, or on the television. It is an addictive game to watch and is easy to see why so many people follow it passionately.
That week Simon was the perfect host, taking us to all the various ‘points of interest’, which for Adelaide doesn’t take too long! We went to Mount Lofty in the Hills which is a view point overlooking the whole of Adelaide and gives a really good perspective as to where things are and how the city and surrounding suburbs are laid out. We went to Cleeland National Park where Mum got to have her photo taken with a koala - a dream of hers apparently - and was able to feed the tame kangaroos and wallabies. She was in her element…and before I knew it, so was Dad. What had happened to the masculine father figure I had always admired and looked up to? He was now cooing over Skippy!! We went to the Barossa and McLaren Vale wine regions later in the week and partook in one or two (or five) sampling sessions, a must for any visitor to South Australia. We also took a tour around the Adelaide Oval, which is probably one of the more scenic places around the world to watch cricket. One of the stands was being rebuilt, so the ground was in a bit of a mess, however it did give an impression as to what the ground would look like come completion. In order to keep up with the demands of modern day professional sport, quaint little grounds like Adelaide have to embrace change and make necessary improvements, or face losing the venue altogether. It was interesting to see inside the stands and the history behind the venue.

The rest of the time was spent enjoying meals out or simply drinking in the back garden around the fire, a favourite past time in the Giles household. For me, the first week in Adelaide was about spending as much time as possible with Mum and Dad, whilst also making sure Simon made the most of his time off work. We managed to sneak in a couple of rounds of par 3 golf, which was entertaining to say the least, and I had managed to recapture my ‘form’ from Fiji…well enough to beat Simon anyway. We didn’t do anything to crazy that week, it was just nice to have a few beers with one of my best mates and somebody who will remain a lifelong friend. Simon is such a generous guy with a big heart and nothing is ever too much trouble…and is also very persuasive! Somehow at about 22:30 on a Tuesday night, he managed to convince me it was a good idea to buy a bottle of scotch and between us proceeded to polish it off, much to the annoyance of Helene. Apparently we were a little too raucous for that time of night! My head hurt on Wednesday!

So Mum and Dads week of fun in Adelaide had come to an end and it was an emotional trip to the airport to say goodbye. I had thoroughly enjoyed having them around, was great to show them Adelaide and amazing to get to introduce them to Robert and Janet. I was gutted to say goodbye and was weird to think that the next time I would see them would be longer than when I had left England in January! They were off to Sydney for a few days and then back to London via Singapore for a couple of nights, so was hoping they would enjoy the last few days of their holiday.

The next week in Adelaide was more of the same, catching up with old cricket mates and generally enjoying peoples’ company I hadn’t seen for a while. The Wednesday was a great day because Charlie had managed to get a couple of days off work and he, Simon and I decided to play a full round of golf before getting stuck into the beers and head into town, making a full session of it. The golf was fine, except for the constant rain! I swear we were the only players on the course and after the 3rd hole we should have called it off, however by that point we were so wet that we may as well have carried on. I was glad we did, for the first time ever I can say I claimed a victory on a proper golf course in Australia, leaving the 2 brothers trailing in my wake. Of course, being in Australia its not very competitive - much - and is always a nice feeling when England emerge victorious!! That night was a bit of a blur, although it was good to be joined by Mal and Stokesy, 2 guys I have known since my 6 month stay and who have been to live and work in England, meaning I have had plenty of opportunity to see them over the last few years. The night turned messy quite quickly and I remember Charlie standing on a bar stool belting out the words to the song he had just put on the juke box. It couldn’t have been too busy in the pub otherwise I am sure we would have been asked to leave. We were all buying rounds of shots, until Simon, in his wisdom, decided that a round of Bacardi 151 was in order. I have only had this once before and on smelling it again, remembered why! To say it was strong would be an oversight, in fact when its not being drunk by pissed idiot blokes in pubs, I believe its used to clean graffiti from walls around town, or power high performance engines! Unfortunately for Simon, he didn’t fair to well after this and in fact, ended his evening. We had to get Helene to come and pick him up…after he had painted the car park a different shade! The rest of us managed to get into town and continue the stupidity and I remember getting home around 04:00, walking into the lounge and seeing Simon curled up on the couch. I remember having a little chuckle to myself, thinking that Helene must have kicked him out, until about 4 days later when she reminded me of my little chuckle and informed me it was actually her ’asleep’ on the sofa n and she had heard me laugh! Oops!

On the Friday, Trent had organised for he and I to go shooting with his Dad, Kevin, who has recently moved back to Adelaide from Perth. Kevin is a fully qualified game ranger and was pretty excited at the prospect of shooting kangaroos and rabbits on his mates farm. I was pretty excited too having never used a rifle before and was pretty keen to eat roo for dinner! The hunting expedition didn’t exactly turn out as planned. For starters Kevin couldn’t locate the bolts for his guns - pretty important parts - they load the bullets - but told me not to worry as he was confident we would still catch something. Kevin and Trent are both of Aboriginal decent and are very passionate about the indigenous ways of life, and were keen to tell me tales of the bush, as well as showing me the different tools they used for hunting. So with a new plan we turned up at the farm and went through the back gate into the paddock…and that’s as far as we got. 5 minutes later we were stuck fast, Kevin managing to bog his 4x4! We trudged back to the farm in the hope that Kev’s mate would be back soon, but he never turned up and we were left wondering what to do in the middle of nowhere. We did find a rifle in the foot well of one of his cars - only in Australia - and had a few pot shots at some rabbits, but Bugs managed to evade the bullets and lived to see another day on the farm!

Before leaving Adelaide I was due a drinking session with Wozza, who was my captain when I played in Adelaide all those years ago and who has remained a solid friend ever since. Wozza is not only a bloody good cricketer but is an even better drinker, which is a scary prospect for those close to him. He has a unique way of guilt tripping you into drinking with him, which once happens only means bad things for the recipient. Anyway, I had managed to avoid one of these sessions so far, but couldn’t leave without having had a chance to catch up with him and meet his new partner Alanay. I was invited round for Sunday lunch, which gave me a chance to also meet Hannah, his daughter from a past relationship, who was gorgeous and very much like her Dad…although much shier. It was a normal afternoon, we had a few beers, lovely dinner and a couple of reds. Then the music came about and it all turned! There was impromptu singing, man love, laughter and an appearance from a sumo rasta! Where Alana got that fancy dress costume from I have no idea! Anyway, the night finished about 03:00 and Wozza finally made it out of bed about 11:00 the next morning, which was great for me as he was supposed to be at work at 07:30. The rest of the day my phone received rather obscene text messages calling me all the names under the sun. Reading between the lines, I don’t think he appreciated the 7 bottles of wine and crate of beer we managed to rid of the day before! I am glad we only get together every few years otherwise I think my body would shut down permanently…although it would be a bloody good laugh!

I managed to arrange a farewell meal for my last night and was nice to see so many close mates turn up. As I have said, Adelaide has a special place in my heart and I have many people there who will remain friends for a long time to come. It was sad to leave and sad to say goodbye to these people, but at the same time I was looking forward to the next leg of my aussie adventure - I had never before been to Queensland.

I arrived at Brisbane airport at about 23:30 and was picked up by JT, a guy I used to work with in London and who had relocated with his fiancé Rhiannon, whom I also used to work with, back in 2007. I had been invited to their wedding, which was the following week and decided to get their earlier so I could look around…and also be involved in the stag do, which was happening on the Saturday…or 2 days time! After a few shaky months in the recruitment game, JT has now found his feet and appears to be doing rather well for himself. Rhiannon has also found a role she really enjoys and has been with the same company since relocating there. They have an old style Queenslander house, which is set on the first floor so that the breeze can circulate under the house and keep it cool. It is a lovely place complete with a pool and a dog. It’s just the pitter patter of tiny feet that’s missing!

I went into town the following morning and quickly got acquainted with Brisbane, which it little more than a country town, something I like about the place. It is easy to get around and it appears you are never too far from anywhere. There isn’t a great deal to do, but I killed time walking along the south bank, through the gardens along by the river and through the heart of the CBD. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to get the shorts back on.

JT and Rhiannon’s family started turning up on the Friday, so I made myself scarce and got a room in town that night, meeting the mini bus bound for Byron Bay early on the Saturday. As is sacred with all stag do’s, whatever happens there, stays there, so it would be wrong to divulge too much information. Having said that, seeing JT parade around in a pair of green and gold swim shorts from circa 1976 is not for the faint hearted. There was a cricket challenge, a mini Olympics, a golf event and finally a rugby match, which by the time of day it got under way, was supposed to be non-contact. That lasted all of one tackle and before I knew it I was in the middle of a full contact game, which was great considering these guys play every week and I hadn’t played since school! The ‘Bear Grylls Challenge Pit’ provided much amusement, with the eating of various stomach turning ingredients, including a raw pilchard, all washed down with numerous alcoholic beverages. For some reason I opted for the swim leg during the mini Olympics, where you had to swim to a buoy that had already been dropped - at low tide might I add - touch it and swim back. Since the buoy had been dropped, the tide had come in considerably, making my swim a good 150 metre round trip and not being the strongest swimmer in the world, was a prospect not relished! The swim out was hard enough and I managed to touch the buoy, knowing full well that the guy I was swimming against was at least halfway back to shore and about to complete an easy victory for his team. I touched the buoy and turned around, not believing how far out I was. I was knackered and I really started to worry. I was trying my best to get back, but I felt like I was swimming in the same spot for ages. My lungs were bursting and I seriously considered chucking my arms up in the air and have one of the boys paddle out on the surf board and come and rescue me. I couldn’t lose face though and the thought of the piss taking I would face inspired me. I somehow managed to get back to shore and virtually collapsed. I was stuffed! A couple of the boys came up to me and said how tough they had found it and asked how I had coped with the ’rips’? If I actually knew what rips were then I may have had a more informed answer. I don’t think we get them too often in England, at least not where I swim! Apparently they are really dangerous and a lot of people drown in them every year - a real pleasing fact to find out! Needless to say I wont be volunteering my services to the swim team again any time soon, especially not with 8 beers inside me! Not one of my finer moments!

The next week I moved into another mates I used to work with. Jonny and Hannah also live in Brisbane and Jonny Mewett is unintentionally one of the funniest men I know. It was great to catch up with him again, have a few beers and lot of laughs. He kindly took a couple of days off and showed me where he used to grow up on Tambourine Mountain, the beach on the Gold Coast he used to surf at and other points of interest along the way. He also lent me a car so that I could shoot up to the Sunshine Coast and check out a few of the beaches in that part of the world and maximise my stay in Queensland. I preferred the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast, which is less touristy, more chilled out and has nicer beaches. He also lent me some trousers for the wedding, that were an inch too short, some shoes that were a size to big and complete with my only suitable shirt (that has shrunk in the last few months), set off for the wedding looking like coco the clown!

September 10th was the day of the wedding and I had to catch a ferry early in the morning, across to Stradbroke Island, where the ceremony was to take place. I was sharing a room with a couple of JT’s mates who I had never met before and they instantly made me feel welcome. John and Sam were great blokes and we got on straight away. The wedding was supposed to be held outside but the weather couldn’t make up its mind what to do, so much so that the decision to actually hold the ceremony in the original outside location was only made about 25 minutes before the happy couple said ‘I do’! It was held on a hilltop overlooking the ocean, a lovely setting. The rain held off and Rhiannon looked stunning. JT looked like the cat who had got the cream as Rhiannon was walking down the isle, a smile stretched across his face from ear to ear. It was obvious he was a pretty happy man at that stage and so he should be. For those of us lucky enough to know JT, it is fair to say the old boy is punching well above his weight and that this was the moment he finally made Rhiannon his. If you ever read this JT, I’m of course just joking mate.

From Brisbane I flew down to Sydney where I stayed with Emy, an aussie girl I had met and travelled with in Colombia earlier in my trip. It was great to see her again, although she was tied up with work so didn’t get to spend as much time with her as I’d have liked. She lent me her car however, allowing me to get about a bit, visiting the beaches on the north shore, where Home and Away is filmed, which was good although the weather was absolutely shocking. I then caught up with Chloe, somebody else I used to work with in London and stayed with here and her boyfriend for a few nights. The Friday night Jonny flew down from Brisbane which was awesome of him and we caught up in a pub in town, where I had also organised for the rest of the Anders crew who had moved back to Sydney to join me for a few drinks. It was brilliant to see Abby, Josie, Rogers, Liz and Dion again and we all had a good night, talking about London life and working for Anders…which was agreed was a grey area between work and play! Abby also had a spare ticket for a Powderfinger concert that was happening the next night. Powderfinger are Australian and my favourite band, having been introduced to them back in 2001. I have seen them 3 times in London and found out whilst I have been away this year, that they were splitting up. I was gutted I wouldn’t be in England to see their last shows over there and didn’t for one minute expect to see them in Aus, so I almost bit her hand off when she told me she had a spare ticket. The gig was amazing, they played all the belter songs and I left Sydney with a big smile on my face!

Australia had once gain been amazing. There are so many reasons why I love this place and I know I will be back again in the not too distant future. The interests and mentality of Australian people are so similar to English people and I think if we had the weather that they do, the 2 countries would be very comparable (although our beaches are nicer). I also love the rivalry between the 2 nations when it comes to sport and love the banter I can have with my mates from 12,000 miles away. I just hope I can get stuck into them this year about the ashes, otherwise my Facebook account is going to take a beating!

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Photos

Mum & Dad...
...on the golf course at Anglesea...with the kangaroos

Mum & Dad...
...at the start of the Great Ocean Road

Dad...
...i hope that's Mums bag!

Kevin...
...STUCK

Trent, Simon & Robert...
...hard at work!

Alanna
What the fcuk is that supposed to be?!

Man love...
...with me & Wozza

Gold Coast
...from Mount Tambourine

Anders Crew...
Me, Chloe, Abby, Sarah, Josie, Liz & Jonny