Japanese,Shotskiis and small fish

---

Hello all :-)
Havent done an awful lot since i last blogged, iv been lazy!
I went on a tour along the Great Ocean road which was a lovely day out. It started off a bit gay, i got on the bus and it was full of old Japanese woman! Marvellous. It looked like i was the only british girl on there so i spent the first like hour of the trip laughing and cringing at how my day was about to turn out! There are millions of tours going along the 300km of Ocean Road so the day did have the feeling of a cattle marker, being pushed through the gates with everybody else. But once the weather cleared up and i met a coupld of people the day was much better.

We stopped at Bells Beach, world famous for surfing apparently, Lorne for a toilet break where we saw a koala in the trees! Then Apollo Bay for lunch and then onto the 12 Apostles, a geographers dream! I went in a helicopter along the coast which was just awesome! The weather had been minging in the monring but it cleared up just in time and the sun came out! Beautiful views, blue sea and skies and lots of rocks! Then we stopped at Loch Ard Gorge (more rocks) and then London Bridge, which fell down like 15 years ago, leaving a couple stranded on the other side who were having an office romance and had told their partners they were in Brisbane! The news helicopter got to them before the resuce helicopter... BUSTED!

Met up with godmummy Jill for the day, i was a big kid and we went to Melbourne zoo to see some native animals! we were going to go to healsville but the place was shut and animalless due to the bush fires. not good.

And then, finally on thursday evening, i became a back packer! Checked into Hotel Discovery...... hmmmmm yum. NOT! It was a bit manky and full of old foreign people, including a total psychopath in my room! But the other girls were nice so all good.

Met up with Freddy, a pal from home, who is doing the same trip as me, just a month later. Id been given a free pass for the observation tower skydeck thing so we thought we would do that. After walking for like an hour to it, i was then told there were 2 sky towers and we were at the wrong one! We found it eventually on Southbank and had great fun on the EDGE! You stand in a box then they project you out 3m over 99 floors of nothingness. Awesome! :-) I have a wrsitband to prove it :-)

Had a meal out with god mummy families the Blytons and the Beagleys and then the Hurleys, Jaybell and Ian, with their very tall sons! It was a great way to say goodbye to melbourne and we had a lovely evening before Kitty escorted me back to the dodgyness that was my hostel!

Up at 5am the next morning, urgh! To hop on my back packer bus up to Sydney. I was told it came at 6, it actually came at half 6 so that was annoying. Then the adelaide bus arrived and said that mine had broken down so jus hang around for a bit! at 8am, i was told it was coming at 10. Marvellous! It finally arrived at 11am, by which time everybody on the bus was getting grumpy but never mind! Its oz time, its all good! We were meant to go to WIlsons Prom for the day but its shut at the moment because of bush fires, which is a real shame but cant be helped. So we were off to Lakes Entrance for an evening on the beach getting sand blasted by the sand!

We were up early again the next day to head off to jindaybyne, along the Barry Way, a rather bumpy road through the Great Dividing range that was used to drove cattle to market. It was a tad hairy by our driver guide Bogan had driven a tesco truck from Cairo to Capetown so we were safe! Then to Thredbo, the ski area of Australia. I still cant get my head around the fact that you can ski in oz! Obviously the wrong season but still! Walked up Australias highest mountain in Thredbo (looked just like scotland!), then we were in for a night of luxury! We were staying in a ski lodge thingy and we had it to ourselves virtually, which was fab :-) Had 18 of us making whirlpools in the hottub, then we had a yummy dinner, followed by shotskis (a ski, with four shot glasses in, the two people at the ends control it, you all have to drink, no hands) and pervy Belgian men! But we had a good laugh, and got to know everyone much better with hot tub bonding! We knew names by the end of the evening!

We had a lie in (!) until 7am and we were off to Canberra. That city is so wierd, people are literally only there to work for the government, the place is full of people in suits. The Prime minister doesnt even live there, its so wierd! Got out of there pronto, and finally arrived in Sydney! Checked into Wake Up, an awesome hostel! It costs my daily budget to stay here but it is very nice! In a mixed room of foreigners but some of the girls from my bus are staying here too so spent the evening with them. Wake up is mahoosive, there are like 500 people staying here, hence small fish, BIGG sea! But Im a happy fish, relatively. The whole meeting people thing happens without intention and there are some more girls in my dorm today so everything is good. The next few days in Sydney are in the process of being planned, Bondi, Manly, Aquariums, Bridge climb (maybe) and Blue Mountains. But we shall see.

xx

---

Comments

[Susie Thornton]

Susie/Sarah/Lucy
All in edinburgh ENJOYING your blog and missing you millllllions!!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx