Well hello there!!

Well hello there!  Long time since I have entered anything on this - sorry!  We seem to have zipped around from one place to another at an alarming rate - just about keeping on top of e-mails but little time for blog.  Anyway have charged up my internet card so here goes....

Well last time we e-mailed we were in Sydney ...about four weeks ago!!!  We went out to the Blue Mountains which are absolutely gorgeous - went for a mega long walk which nearly killed both of us but well worth it - views were stunning!  I even got Matt to stay in a youth hostel with 'da youth' - sadly even though it was rated on several occassions as one of the best in Oz it was not up to Matt's high standards - back to the apartments shortly after!  From the Blue Mountains we ventured back into Sydney and then caught the night train to Brisbane ...watta mistaka to maka!  14 hours...yes fourteen hours stuck on a train ...It went soooo slowly I reckon we could have walked faster!  Anyways over the watchful eye of 2 police officers on the train (muggings are not uncommon apparently!) we made our way to Brisbane where we spent a few nights before heading out to the Sunshine coast for a bit of R & R ... this travelling is quite tiring you know!  Anyhooo....no surf but nice beaches to chill out on.  Went to Australia Zoo which used to be owned and run by Steve Irwin ...now run by his family - brilliant place - as good as you would ever get for a zoo!  Lots of crocs, snakes, camels, elephants, koalas (which sleep for 99% of the day and are sooooooooo cute).

Hired a camper from the Sunshine coast which had the feel of an old smokey pub ..it stank and had a sticky floor...hmmm.nice!  Our first leg in it revealed that the van was impossible to drive... who uses a stick shift these days?????  Also fridge broken...very important to keep 'tinnies' chilled at all times.  So returned the van the next day and picked up a lovely hippy camper...yes that is really what it's called!  It is bright blue and has flowers down the side... Matt cringes every time drives it!  I have a photo which I would love to post on the site but can't seem to get the pictures to show up properly!

Anyhow...in our new shiny van we trundled up the cost...visited a pineapple plantation, went to Noosa surf beach (but Matt couldn't get a surf...fierce compeition for waves by locals...).  Stopped off at Fraser Island (absolutely beautiful island) where I went up in a plane...which was pretty cool!  Also stopped off at Bundaberg (land of the ginger beer) before arriving at Airlie beach where we went out on a boat for a few days to tour the Whitsundays - absolutely stunning - water was beautiful... got to wear a very attractive stinger suit which looks even worse on than a wetsuit ...can you believe it!  Got to try out diving and went snorkelling on the barrier reef and around some of the islands around the Whitsunday islands.  Absolutely amazing - so many brightly coloured fish.  As soon as you put your head under the water there are fish swimming just cms from your mask - cool.  Got to do some proper sailing for a bit as it was quite windy - verging on sea sick but very exciting!  Also...much to my pleasure...the food was out of this world - good breakie and really good filling hot lunch and dinner and even a supply of G & T in the evening!  I was in heaven!  Sleeping quarters were cosy ...Matt and I shared a cabin with a German bloke called Timo who turned out to be really friendly ... he had the child bunk above our double!  Nothing like sharing a room with someone to help get to know them!!! There were about 35 people on board ...all of which were really friendly...had an ace time and made some travel buddies.

We are now back in Brisbane having spent the last few days driving down... hoping to pop across to Surfers Paradise tomorrow for a night or two and then fly over to Fiji!

Hopefully there will not be such a big gap until our next entry and I can get Matt to work out how to get the photos to work!

Lots of love to everyone!

Speak soon

Matt and Jess

;)