Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)!

We were meant to spend longer in Ho Chi Minh City, but had instead extended our stay in Cambodia to visit Siem Reap, and so in the end we only had one day to see it. We only really wanted to go there to find out about the history, visiting the tunnels where the Viet Cong would hide out during the war, and after taking a tip to see the war museum.
The tunnels were very interesting, and we learned about the intricate architectural designs used to prevent anyone from finding them such as horrible looking metal traps and trick tunnels leading in different directions. Thousands of people lived under the ground for twenty years meaning many people were born and died there. This inevitably led to lots of illnesses due to poor ventilation and lack of sunlight or exercise. They had to come up with solutions to get rid of excrement, and another problem they had was cooking food, as if they let the smoke appear over ground this would mean their hiding place would be found. We got to go down inside the tunnel which was surprisingly small and uncomfortable to crawl through. The tunnel is also a lot wider and taller than it used to be so it's hard to imagine how awful it must have been!
The war museum showed us a different side to the war, seeing it from the side of Vietnam, such a war torn country. We know of it as 'The Vietnam war' yet to them it was 'The American War'. The photographs were very disturbing, showing very gruesome images. I have studied about the effect these images had on the world's support for America in the war through the media, and so it was interesting to see, yet at the same time they were some of the most distressing photographs I have ever seen. It was horrible learning about the effect that the chemicals still have on people today several generations down.
We went out for a few beers afterwards (we needed them after our heavy day) before getting a plane to Vientiane so we could spend Christmas day in Vang Vieng. We are going to go back to Vietnam to explore Hanoi in January before my journey to India. 

Phnom Penh & Siem Reap!

Our journey from Koh Phangan to Phnom Penh was the longest journey we have had yet, consisting of tuk tuk, overnight boat, taxi, bus, aeroplane and another taxi. It was hectic! One of the girls we met in Koh Phangan, Erna, met us there, and another, Kaytee, met us a couple of days later. It was fantastic to see another countries with the girls and stay in contact for a little while longer as we all got on very well.
The history of Phnom Penh is fascinating, and we spent a (very sad) day exploring the killing fields and prison. They were both very shocking. The Killing fields were very quiet and serene with lots of butterflies and trees around. It could be such a beautiful place. It's awful to hear how recent the tragic events were and to learn that the majority of people in Cambodia will know somebody who lost their lives under the regime. Every time it rains they discover more bones of those buried in the mass graves. There are even clothes and bones which are visible. It was distressing to see the clothes of very small children. Pol Pot believed that it was better to murder an innocent person by mistake than to risk not killing somebody who could be guilty of opposing his regime, and would kill every member of a persons family so as not to risk anybody taking revenge. This included babies. They used to play music from loud speakers to drown out the screams of those being killed. The audio tour was very good and used accounts from people who actually witnessed what happened and how it affected them and their country.
Our trip wasn't all sad though and on a different evening we went to a boat party with some people we met at the hostel. It started late which was a shame as it was meant to be at sunset and by the time the boat left the riverside it was dark, but we still had a great night.
On another day, me, Kaytee and Erna hired quad bikes and explored the Cambodian country side at sunset. It was amazing to see what the rural areas of the country is like - as there are only three big cities and the majority of the rest of the country is made up of small villages. All the little children living on our route would run out to wave at us and say hello. They were extremely cute, yet I didn't wave back much as I didn't want to lose control over the bike and risk hitting one of them!
That evening we got a taxi to Siem Reap where we visited the amazing Angkor Wat temples. The taxi ride was terrifying. Our driver even drove down the wrong side of the road on a busy highway for a while until Erna asked him to stop. I have no idea what he was thinking. It is often a rarity to have seat belts in taxi's aswell, and so we were all gripping our seats. The temples were gorgeous, and definitely worth the taxi ride from hell. We saw the temple that Tomb Raider was filmed, and all had fun climbing around the rocks putting on our best Lara Croft impressions. My favourite temple had lots of huge faces everywhere. They were like nothing I have ever seen before and it was interesting to imagine what they would have looked like when they were functioning temples hundreds of years ago in the twelfth century.
Me and Jess left for Ho Chi Minh city the next day for another stressful journey of long buses, this time unfortunately with a horrible stomach bug. I spent the entire 13 hour bus ride being sick into a plastic bag - not pleasant for me or anybody else who was unlucky to be sat close to me!

Koh Phangan!

We went to Koh Phangan for the full moon party of the 10th December, which was as mad as we had expected it to be. The parties are different to those on the Phi Phi islands, with less different bars. I felt it was more centred around getting wasted. The days leading up to the party were just as mental as the actual night of Full Moon. The day after the actual party it was shocking to see all the people with bandages and injuries showing how unsafe it can be. Not really much else to report on Koh Phangan as we just spent a week partying really, but had a great time with some amazing people.

Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, & Koh Tao!

When we first arrived in Phuket we had decided to spend a couple of days in Katta, an area quieter than Patong. On our first night we were quite disappointed with the local bars which seemed to be full of old men gawping at young Thai women, however the next day we spent lay on the beach and afterwards found a really chilled out reggae bar which to enter you had to wade through the sea.
The next day we took a tour on a boat to see a few different islands, including 'James Bond Island' (famous for being the set of one of the films). It was beautiful! But I think I would have appreciated it a bit more if I had drank less rum at the reggae bar the night before... We got in kayaks and explored some caves on another island, and went for a quick swim at another one.
That night we left for Patong, famous for it's nightlife. Our time in Patong mainy consisted of sunbathing and clubbing, so not much to report about that.
After Patong, we visited Koh Phi Phi. We were staying in bamboo huts at the top of a hill. The huts were basic and there were LOADS of mosquitos, but it was amazing, and the view from our balcony was gorgeous. Unfortunately to get to our hut we had to walk past the islands sewage system, which somebody had renamed 'Poo gardens'. It wasn't a pleasant smell.... The beach on Phi Phi was amazing with loads of little bars, UV body paint, fire shows, and buckets of Sang Soom (Thai rum). We went out every night we were there - always promising ourselves we would take it easy yet ending up stumbling home in the early hours of the morning. I loved it! We met some amazing girls who we became great friends with and we all went out for a tour on boats to see Maya Bay, where 'The Beach' was filmed. On the way we got to stop at a secluded beach on a different island for lunch and also tried out snorkeling. I am not a fan of it though, and ended up panicking because we were so far out to sea, and also the depth of the ocean. The water was so clear it was like tap water so you could see everything. That night we all bought fluorescent shirts and went out for some UV fun.
Phi Phi was probably one of the best places I have ever been. There were no Taxis because the island is so small everyone just walks wherever they go, and there is always something going on in the evening.
We spent one night in Krabi in a nice hotel and it was such a relief to be somewhere with a lovely clean bathroom and comfortable beds after four nights in the huts.
Next was Koh Tao, which we had assumed would be easy to get to, but typically none of us had actually researched transport. We knew there was a three hour drive to Surat Thani to the ferry, yet didn't realise the ferry would take so long to get there. We were told by the man on reception at the hotel that there was no overnight ferry because it was not high season, and even claimed to phone up the pier to check. This wasn't such a problem for me and Jess as we had a couple more weeks in Thailand so our plans were flexible, but it was for Madeleine as her days in Thailand were limited. She ended up booking a flight to Bangkok from Surat Thani, and checked in online as she wasn't sure how easy it would be to access wifi when we arrived. When we actually got there, we found out that the man at the hotel was infact wrong and the night ferry was still running. Poor Madeleine couldn't change her flight as she had already checked in! We are going to complain about this to the hotel, although they probably wont take any notice.
We had been advised by loads of people to go to Koh Tao, but it seems at the moment there are renovations going on everywhere meaning you can't relax anywhere without hearing sawing and drilling. (I can hear it right now) However, we found some fire shows, buckets, and a drum and bass night, so I was happy. Last night I even tried fire Poi on the beach.
Unfortunately Madeleine had to go home yesterday and we were very sad to see her go as we have had an amazing time with her. Today we were meant to go to Koh Phangan, but we missed the ferry this morning. This has worked out for the best though because when we phoned up the hostel to let them know, the lady told us there had been a mistake with the booking and we aren't meant to check in until tomorrow anyway! So we have one more night in Koh Tao before a week of partying leading up to the Full Moon party!

Chiang Mai!

We had originally planned to spend a week in Bangkok, but as the Foreign office warnings were still advising against all but essential travel, if we left the airport and something happened there would be a chance our travel insurance would be void, and so we booked connecting flights to the north of Thailand.
It was lovely to be somewhere that was less humid! The hostel we were staying at was really friendly and we met loads of people when we arrived. We took our first ever tuk tuk on a day out to Tiger Kingdom which was great fun. I could just sit and get driven around on one of them all day just looking at the city and feeling a nice breeze, although they aren't so great for good hair days! I was worried that it would be quite cruel towards the Tigers and had heard rumors that the tigers get drugged to make them more placid, and sometimes chained to the floor, but when we got there they all looked quite awake and there were no chains. We first went in the cage with the baby tigers who were only a few months old and really cute before moving on to medium, and then large. It was surreal to be stood next to such an enormous powerful animal and I was happy to have my photo taken quickly before making an extremely fast exit.
On another one of the days before Madeleine's arrival we also went on a boat cruise recommended by the lonely planet book, but it was really disappointing and quite boring.
When Madeleine arrived on Sunday we were really excited about meeting her at the airport with a sign, but she managed to get an earlier flight so unfortunately I wasn't even out of bed. However, it meant we could spend the entire day together. I got my first ever Thai massage and after carrying my backpack around it felt amazing on my shoulders. We then spent the afternoon wandering around the market and eating loads of strange foods. We ate fried grasshoppers and maggots, before eating meat on a stick, quails eggs, and some sushi. My stomach must have been confused after all that!
The next day we went on an elephant training course. It was absolutely amazing, and I think the highlight of this entire trip. We were given some silly outfits to wear, and a big straw hat as we were out in the sun for so long so we all looked absolutely hilarious. We were then taught how to get on and off the elephants. Unfortunately I'm not the most graceful person when it comes to climbing things and had some trouble with my legs flailing around but I made it up and back down again alright in the end. We were then shown how to control them, giving them directions by tucking a stick under their ears and saying something in Thai (which was impossible to remember). Once we had got the basic hang of it we were then allowed to ride down to the river. It was so scary being in charge of an elephant, but absolutely great fun. I named mine Nellie of course. We then got to wash them in the river with some sort of root that when wet made a sort of lathery foam. We were told this is really good for the elephants skin so I rubbed a bit on my leg, but I don't think it did anything but make me dirtier. Afterwards they prepared us some food before we got given a certificate to show we can now control elephants. I have my elephant licence before I even have my driving licence.
Because the elephant training was only a half day tour, we decided to do a cooking class in the evening where we were shown how to prepare Thai food. We made some amazing dishes which I will make for you all when I get home. I think the soup I made was the best food I have eaten since I have been in Thailand!
To top off this amazing day we went on an extremely drunken night out which was great fun, but we had planned for the night to be a bit more restrained than it turned out to be as we had another tour booked for 7am the next day to visit Chiang Rai. We got taken to see the some hot springs before going to see the White temple. The temple was gorgeous. To get inside you had to walk along a path with hands coming up out of the floor either side and horrible statues of scary looking faces. This was meant to represent crossing hell to get to heaven. There was a man on a microphone, his voice booming down to keep walking and not look back. Inside the temple had some really strange paintings representing hell of Superman, Darth Vader, and Harry Potter.
We were then taken to a dock where we got a small boat past the Golden Triangle, a piece of no mans land between Thailand and Laos. Because there is no law there it used to be used as a place for people to trade opium. The name the golden triangle is because there would be people using so many different currencies, they would instead use gold. I didn't get any opium. We got to stop in Laos for a little look round, where I saw the biggest spider I have been in contact with on my entire trip. This is quite worrying as me and Jess are spending Christmas and New Years in an open aired treehouse in Vang Vieng...
After the trip and a bite to eat we visited a tribe where the girls are encouraged to wear gold rings around their neck to push down their shoulders giving the illusion of extended necks. It was really interesting.
The next day we got a plane down to Phuket. Chiang Mai was amazing fun and I would definitely recommend it to anyone taking a trip to Thailand.

Kuala Lumpur & Penang!

I had the most amazing time in Kuala Lumpur, it has been my favourite city on this trip so far. As soon as we arrived we immediately scouted out a reggae bar just around the corner from our hostel, and after our journey with heavy backpacks, treated ourselves to some greasy food and a few jugs of beer.
On one of the days we took a trip to the Batu caves, where Hindu's celebrate Thiapusum, a festival in August. There are 270 steps leading to the caves which I climbed on my own because of Jess's vertigo. When I got to the top the views were breathtaking. The cave was so huge, I felt tiny in comparison. I'm not sure if it was the enormity of the cave or because I had forgotten to take my bottle of water up with me to climb such a long way in the beating sunshine, but the heights of the cave ceiling made me feel slightly dizzy. Walking back down I was a lot faster because I was being watched by some monkeys and we had been warned to keep our distance from them as they sometimes bite. We found the most amazing Indian vegetarian restaurant where we tried a selection of dishes served on a banana leaf.
Our travel book had mentioned a rooftop bar not far from our hostel which sold extremely cheap drinks, so when we got back to the city naturally we decided to find it. I am so glad we did! The manager was a great guy and allowed us to bring in coconuts we had brought in off the street to fill with rum. We stayed up until the morning drinking and chatting, even after he had closed the bar and locked everybody else out.
We visited a Batik shop where we were got to paint our own. I really enjoyed doing something creative, even though mine ended up looking like a piece of art made by a child compared to the ones in the shop made by professionals.

That night we met some people on the rooftop of our own hostel. They were amazing fun, and I hope to keep in contact with a few of them. After copious amounts of vodka we were given salsa dancing lessons by a the lovely Susana and David. I had a glorious time!
The markets around the corner from our hostel were good, and we spent a day eating and shopping. When going out for dinner I had a rather disappointing fish soup, so asked for some chillies to spice it up. Tip: When in Malaysia, homemade chilli sauce is LETHAL. I was too cocky with it and poured in quite a bit before I realised I had now turned by soup into a firey mess. I was not to be defeated though and powered through it, even though my face had turned such a bright red I looked like I was about to explode. People walking past the restaurant were all laughing at me struggling with the chilli, and Jess getting to grips with how to eat rice with chopsticks.
We left Kuala Lumpur to travel to Penang, which was a five hour bus journey. Sounds horrible, but was actually fine as our bus was air conditioned with comfy seats with lots of leg room.
Our hostel was amazing- instead of a backpackers they advertise themselves as a 'flashpackers'. Although we had booked the cheapest room with shared bathrooms, they had made a mistake with the booking and so upgraded us to a nicer room with our own shower and toilet. The difference was probably about a pound, but was still a nice surprise. We met a lovely girl called Becky in our room, and as it was just the three of us in a six bed room it was like we had visited a hotel together. The hostel even provided Ipads for people to use the internet. Again we found a reggae bar with cheap drinks and had an amazing night.
The next day we all visited a snake temple, which had been advertised as having tonnes of snakes all chilling in the surrounding garden and on the steps, but were disappointed to find just two big boa constrictors and some other smaller poisonous snakes. After travelling all the way to see it we had to have our photo taken with one of the huge snakes.
Me and Jess are now in Thailand. Our backpackers seems great with some friendly people and we are extremely excited for the arrival of Madeleine on Sunday!! 

Jakarta!

Jakarta is huge. It is chaotic in a completely different way to Kuta, with the city spread over a huge area, lacking in pavements and road rules. Even the taxi drivers have no idea where they are going. This was my first experience of being an ethnic minority, and felt slightly uncomfortable with the way everybody would stop to look at us and call out to us in the street.
Outside our hotel was a complete contrast to the inside. One one day a man tried to sell Jess a live goat just down the road from where we were staying. We decided it was probably best if we didn't.
We visited a museum on our first day, although it took a while to find after we got dropped off in the wrong place and then given several different directions as to which way it was to get there. However, this turned out to work in our favor as we got to see the monument national, and arrived at the museum just in time for the free English speaking tour. The museum was completely different to those you would see in the UK, with hardly any barriers to protect ancient artifacts. For example, the first record of writing in Indonesia was just placed in the garden of the museum for anyone to touch. We saw some absolutely amazing things. We then got driven to the backpackers region of Jakarta to check out a few small bars. Apparently it used to be extremely popular with a large amount of tourists, yet there have recently been hotel bombings (although there have been in Kuta also, Kuta has recovered it's tourist economy whereas Jakarta seems to still be struggling).
We visited a huge market selling all sorts of clothes, jewelry, and even Christmas trees, and then crossed the road to an enormous mall selling electricals. I was thinking of buying a small notebook so I could make use of the wifi we can access in our hostels on the way around and also upload some photographs, but couldn't really make sense of them and didn't really know what to look for. My Dad would have been in heaven though!
The next day we wanted to go to a club called Stadium we had heard about. On a normal weekend it stays open from Thursday to Monday. The guy on reception at our hotel asked if it was ok for his friend to come along with us to be our 'body guard'. At first we were apprehensive as we didn't feel unsafe and didn't want to drag somebody out if they didn't want to, but when we arrived at the club it was obvious he was having a great time, and dragged us up to the dance floor when it was still empty to pull some shapes. Willy was great fun!
On Saturday we wanted to go out again, but when the taxi pulled up the club was closed. Typical, we had visited what lonely planet describes as 'the clubbing mecca of south east Asia' on a religious holiday. Yet the next day Willy invited us out again with some of his friends. We had such a fantastic night! The club was enormous. (Strangely showing football on a huge screen whilst pumping house music? - it seems the Indonesians are mad about their 'soccer') Unfortunately, cameras were banned inside the club so we couldn't take any photographs.
Our last day we spent in bed ill feeling very sorry for ourselves. I had been slightly ill for a week, but had been ignoring it and still partying which had taken it's toll, but am now much better and loving Kuala Lumpur.

Bali!

Bali was the first stop on our journey through Asia, and we stayed in Kuta, which is known for being extremely chaotic yet very touristy. The majority of people are Australian bogans getting trashed, as Kuta is to Australia what Magaluf is to England. We stayed at a hotel where there is a bar in the swimming pool so spent quite a bit of time drinking Bintangs in the sunshine. The streets surrounding the hotel are so intense with people everywhere saying hello, trying to sell things, even shouting some quite rude things and grabbing our hands. After a couple of days we got used to this and began to relax a bit when we ventured outside the hotel. The humidity has been easier than I thought it would be to deal with, although can get a bit too much when in bars and clubs. We found a great reggae bar where we could enjoy Indonesian covers of reggae classics whilst smoking flavored Shisha. (The strawberry tasted like the smell of 'My little pony'!)
We had massages in the shade on the beach, drank cocktails, and sunbathed. Living the dream!

It is very cheap to hire drivers over here so we went on a few trips. We saw some traditional Balanese dance called Balong; it was great fun. They acted out a story which at times was quite hard to follow but they gave us a piece of paper letting us know the basics. We then went to a place where women made the most amazing pieces of art on material using batik. I wish I could have taken photos but cameras were banned in the shop which is a bit of a shame as they were so beautiful but quite expensive. We also stopped in to see the surrounding gardens of a temple which was absolutely beautiful. I wore a long skirt, but was worried I was going to offend people as I still had my shoulders out. The guide said that it wasn't a problem though as we weren't actually entering the temple. Jess was given a sarong to cover up her legs which we were allowed to borrow for a small donation. We washed our faces in the holy water which on one side is meant to give you youthful skin, and on the other good luck. I washed my face in both so hopefully I will remain wrinkle free and lucky!
Another place we went to was a coffee plantation where we got given samples of loads of different coffees, cocoas, and teas. We also drove to a mountain where we had a beer looking at the amazing views.
We went to see 'monkey forest' where there are loads of monkeys you can get close to and feed bananas. This was fine until one mother monkey got stressed out and bit someone, then soon after one jumped on me. I have had my rabies shot, but I'm not  willing to test it out!
It is so cheap here - a nice change from expensive Australia, and the food is amazing (although I had a bit of an upset stomach today I don't know if it is the food or the beer).
We fly to Jakarta tomorrow, which is apparently less touristy so will be an adventure. 

Perth!

Perth has been home to Jess for the past three years, so I was looking forward to getting to know her friends and see where she has been living. Jess's friend Kirri let us take over her living room for two weeks which was absolutely lovely of her!
We have had some amazing adventures during our stay in Perth, although we have had a lot of stressful times too. I had to sort out my visa for when I visit India with Jonny, and so was left passport-less for our entire stay. This normally wouldn’t have been a problem as I have other forms of ID but it turns out WA is extremely strict on what forms of photo identification is accepted. Another thing hanging over our heads was the worry that it wouldn’t be returned in time for our flight to Bali..
We went to Fremantle on Saturday with Paul and Andrew. We visited the famous Freo market and bought an Ostrich egg which we later made into a giant frittata. Apparently one egg is the same amount as 12 chicken eggs!
On Sunday it was 35 degrees, so we headed to the beach for a sunbathe and when we started to feel overheated we went to Jess’s friend Paul’s house to watch rugby, play beer darts, and sing along to gay pirates. We had an amazing day.

We went on a wine tour in Swan valley on Monday where we got driven around a few of the wineries, getting to sample loads of wine, cheese, olives, and chocolates. A day of pure indulgence; I loved it, although all this eating and drinking has put a few pounds on me, and as we are soon heading to Asia where we will probably spend a large amount of time in our bikinis I decided to go for a jog.. But whilst doing so nearly got killed by a magpie! Apparently they peck out small children’s eyes and are extremely territorial. I was chased down the road by it screaming for help (probably quite loudly as I still had my ipod in). Nobody came to my rescue though, much to the amusement of a driver who slowed down to laugh at me running across the road punching the air. Exercising in Australia is bloody dangerous!
As Jess’s aunt Jane had very kindly lent her a car, we decided to take a long road trip up to the Pinnacles. They are formations of limestone in the desert that are thought to be at least 6000 years old. The journey was long, and we passed 7 dead kangaroos on the way… Kangaroos cause loads of accidents on the long roads through the outback, so even though we were driving in the day (Kangaroos are generally nocturnal) I kept an eye out, as in a small car a kangaroo collision would probably hurt quite a lot..
We also took a road trip to Margaret River to do a Bushtucker tour on canoes. We drove up the day before to stay in a hostel, and I finally managed to skype Jonny! That put me in a fantastic mood, it was amazing to see him.
When we woke up the next morning it turned out the office had some confusion and put us on a winery tour by mistake! The bushtucker tour group was already on canoes down the river. Luckily the company accountant picked us up and took us on a canoe to catch up, with a bottle of wine for the mix up. Super Pablo to the rescue! It was surreal being taken down a river on a dirty canoe by a man in a suit! The tour was great fun! I ate a widgety grub (like the ones on the lion king). It was DISGUSTING. I also tried kangaroo meat, emu, bush turkey, and crocodile as well as some weird nuts and fruits that the aboriginals used to eat. We saw some caves where we were invited to crawl through a small dark tunnel (the leader told us it was beautiful and everyone who does it enjoys it, but I just got dirty and grazed my arm). After all the canoeing we decided it was a good idea to stay at the hostel for another night as a long drive when tired is never a good idea. This turned out to be one of the best decisions we have made, as on the way back the car broke down in the middle of nowhere! Luckily it was the middle of the day instead of night (as it would have been if we had driven back the afternoon before) so we walked down the highway to a trucker’s rest stop where three very friendly truckers push started the car for us, even bringing us bottles of cold water in case we were thirsty. Only problem was we couldn’t stop, even at traffic lights as the car wouldn’t start again, but it seemed that for once we had some good luck and all the lights were green. Phew. After the long stressful drive we had a well earned swim in the sunshine.
That evening we went to a small jazz club. To get to the club you walk into a red phone box which leads to a set of stairs down to a cosy little room with loads of posters and candles. It was BYO so we took in a few bottles of wine and some snacks before listening to a group play some really fun music. We all got up and had a dance, but only after a few large glasses of vino.

 I finally got my passport back today so we are going to head out into the city with Kirri for a night out.
We are flying to Bali on Wednesday!! Australia has been absolutely amazing, and like everybody else I know who has visited, I have fallen in love with it. 

         

Brisbane!

We have now been away for an entire month, and this morning when I woke up with a horrible cold I almost began to feel homesick and sad.. That is until I put on my bikini and sat in the sunshine drinking cheap beer. It's a hard life..
Brisbane has been amazing. We have been staying with Mike, Malcolm (Shiny), and Dion who are great guys; so much fun. We haven't really done many touristy activities here, and have mainy used it as a week of drinking too much and eating lots of junk food. (I am getting an impressive beer and burger stomach..)
The boys work in the week but Shiny took the day off on friday and we explored the city after a morning swim in the pool. Brisbane is huge and it took around half an hour just to get to Centre of the city. We had a great day!
On saturday we planned to take a road trip to Gold Coast, so stocked the car full of Jim Beam (for the passengers - poor Mike was our designated driver) and cheesy music. We had so much fun we missed the turning and ended up in New South Wales... By the time we got to Gold Coast we needed somewhere to stop for a shower and to get ready to hit the town so ended up going to an aquantence's house to freshen up, but after a few more Jim Beams and a Hungry Jacks (Burger King) we were all absolutely knackered and got lost going back into the city! For some reason we ended up going back to Brisbane which was a shame because I would have loved to go out in Gold Coast, but never mind.
This evening Dion cooked us roast lamb followed by apple pie. Yum.
Tomorrow we are flying over to the West coast to Perth where I am looking forward to meeting Jess's friend Kirri.

 

Newcastle and Shoal Bay!

When we stepped off the train in Newcastle and drove along the beautiful coast line to Jess’s Auntie Anne’s house it was hard to see any similarities with the cold grey Newcastle in the North of England.. There are definitely no Geordies here.
Anne and Rob have a dog and four guinea pigs, fairy lights hanging around the decking outside, and even the same wine glasses as we do at our house (as well as a very generous supply of vino). I immediately felt at home.
On Wednesday we went to a club called ‘fannys’ which amused us quite a lot (me and Jess both have the same immature sense of humour teehee) and were pleasantly surprised at the drinks offers ($4 vodka!), yet disappointed when we realised the club was full of people who barely looked 18.. We were perhaps the oldest people there apart from the people working on the door.
On friday night we drove up to Shoal Bay where Anne and Rob own a flat on the sea front. It was dark when we arrived, but we woke the next day to the most spectacular views. Unfortunately we hadn't been so lucky with the weather; rainy and grey (whilst I hear there has been a peculiar amount of sunshine in the UK..) This didn't matter too much though as on Saturday we spent the entire day eating our own weight in crisps, popcorn, and pizza whilst drinking large amounts of beer and watching sports. I felt very Australian drinking Tooheys watching the AFL grand final.
When the weather cleared up we took a walk up Mount Tomaree where there were some amazing views overlooking the bay.
Tomorrow we are flying North to Brisbane, hopefully to catch up with some sunshine! 

Sydney!

We arrived in sunny Sydney on Monday the 19th September to be greeted by Laura, Brian and Joe. Feeling a bit drained after a week of partying hard in Melbourne we were relieved to be staying somewhere comfortable and welcomed an early night and a good nights sleep. 
Tuesday morning we went to Bondi beach which was great fun and I was even persuaded to have a little swim in the sea, although it was horribly obvious that we were the palest people on the entire beach!
We had a lovely walk through the botanic gardens followed by a drink at the Opera house bar with Laura and Joe on Wednesday. We went inside the famous Opera House, but unlike the usual tourists who take a guided tour, we just popped in to use the toilet..
On Friday we travelled by train to see the 'Three Sisters' at the Blue Mountains in Katoomba; three huge pieces of rock situated in front of an enormous valley and mountains. It is an Aboriginal legend that these rocks were created when a tribes leader cast a spell on his three beautiful daughters to protect them from enemies, yet died before he could reverse the spell. The mountains are surrounded by a blue haze caused by a large number of eucalyptus trees resulting in the oils being evaporated into the air. The journey was over two and a half hours each way but it was definitely worth it; the views were breathtaking. We decided not to go on one of the treks, and instead settled for a chocolate ice cream and a few photographs (which unfortunately do not do the spectacular views justice).
Later that night we met up with Joel, Alice's old house mate, who took us to a bar where we drank shots out of teapots! Need I say more.....
I have really enjoyed Sydney! It was really nice to catch up with Laura, Brian, and happy little Joe, as well as Joel.
We are travelling by train to Newcastle tomorrow to stay with Jess's Aunt. 

Melbourne!

After a 24 hour journey ending up 10 hours in the future with no sleep I found out the best way to get rid of jet lag is with duty free blue label Smirnoff… Melbourne is amazing!! There was some initial shock when I ordered a pint of beer which cost $8.50 (actually quite cheap for Melbourne) so we ate a lot of instant noodles and cheap wine to make sure we don’t blow our entire journeys budget in the first city. 

We visited a jail which was closed down a few years ago which was very interesting but so creepy. Over 150 people were hung in the room we were looking around and we both got a bit freaked out and jumpy. After that we decided to visit some uplifting touristy places and spent a day wandering around the zoo. (yes we saw koalas, kangaroos, wallabies and kookaburras as well as the standard monkey eating it’s own poo..)
The nightlife there is fantastic, with quirky bars scattered all over the city. My favourite (so far) has to be ‘Bimbo’s’ where we spent an afternoon eating pizza in the sunshine. Although 'The Croft Institute' where there are hospital beds in the toilets and shots in fake syringes certainly was... interesting.
The weather wasn't great in Melbourne, but spring has only just begun and it is already pretty similar to an English summer. We spent one day drinking beer on the beach at St Kilda where we also visited to a vegetarian restaurant called 'Lentil as Anything', where you only have to pay what you think the food is worth. 

The hostel we stayed at is really nice, with a great crowd of people from all around the world who are all very friendly. We have had some hilarious moments translating slang from around the globe, I think we need to write down all of the funny phrases people have come out with. (food poisoning = fish illness?!)
All in all, only one week in and although my liver probably isn’t thanking me I have spent the majority of my time in fits of laughter.
Missing everyone at home, wish you could all be here with me to join in all this fun! 

I am currently in sunny Sydney staying with the lovely Laura, Brian and Joe and will blog you all about it when I reach Newcastle!