Hello Everyone

Apologies for delay of the update - just been having far too much fun (and too much to write and too little time). Where were we? After leaving Sydney, we headed off in our little van once more to the Hunter Valley to check out the vineyards. Started our wine tasting extravaganza with a tour at Wyndhams, one of the big boys, so we could get the the low down on how it's done. A really cool guy showed us round - he was very knowledgeable and laid back (and to mum and dad, there are no chemicals in Antipodean wines to account for your hangovers, it must just be the volume you down, eh)?! It was really hard for Z to spit instead of drink (designated driver), but T was well pissed by 11am. Visited a few more small independent wineries (one called Thomas - excellent Shiraz and Semillon), and a brewery (bit disappointing as no free tasters, but good ale). Purchased a few bottles from each place and some delicious smelly cheese, and we were set up for the long road ahead. On the beer front, the Aussies think they invented the stuff and it is definitely a big part of their culture. They have to have it ice cold and very fizzy (so it tastes of nothing) but there are some good ones. Boags, VB and Coopers were a bit tastier than the average, (and not a XXXX or Fosters in sight). Beez Neez was a really nice honey wheat beer.

The only sour point was a bloke at the campsite (50 something, Aussie) who was really nice and helped T get the BBQ lit and gave him some tips on cooking some nice steaks. They were having a nice chat, then out of the blue came, "It's the Muslims you have to look out for", followed by "well you'll know, you've got a problem with blacks in your country"- shocking, where do these people come from? T said he didn't know what he meant and got out of there quickly.The steaks were cooked to perfection.

Next stop was Port Macquarie, for an overnight stop. Not much to say about the place, except for the excellent steak, red wine and cheese we enjoyed in the van, looking out to the Pacific Ocean. Should also mention the 2 crazy old ladies who detained us in a Church we went to visit (one of the oldest - well over 50 years). They were lovely, but kept us there in excess of 2 hours filling us in on the history of the place (and their lives). We only wanted to stick our heads round the door. Did stop at the Koala Hospital - our first glimpse of the cute Aussie icons. We were suitably overwhelmed by their cuteness, for want of a better word. We saw one having eyedrops put in for conjunctivitis (to which they are particularly prone apparently, in addition to chlamydia - dirty buggers), and cringed as the uptight volunteer showing us around shouted at a Japanese guy for translating too loud for his mother.

Next day, after a brief stop in South West Rocks (pretty town behind a spectacular cove, with an old gaol on the headland, and humpback whale spotting at the right time of year), we stopped for the night in Red Rock. T chose the place randomly and we weren't expecting much, but the boy done good. We drove in on a track through beautiful coastal heathland, avoiding rare coastal emus. Got to the caravan park and the dude at the office was pretty grumpy, but we let him off as the place was beautiful - wild and spacious with sand dunes behind and cool birds and trees. A little path over the dunes led to yet another spectacular, deserted beach (can't get over how many there are here). The sun was setting in a clear sky behind us, lighting up the heathland an emerald green, but over the sea it was stormy and moody, with powerful waves crashing against the shore. Didn't think it could get much better, but then found another path up to the headland (red rocks, hence the name - clever aussies). The view was outstanding, and on the other side of the headland was another, deserted, incredibly long and beautiful beach. Behind us, the national park sprawled out for miles. Cool. It was really humbling being up there and we couldn't bring ourselves to leave. May have affected us so much as the place was originally called Blood Rock, as many aborigines were massacred there and driven off the headland - it was pretty sobering.

Next morning, Z was in a bit of a mood as T had accidentally wiped the video footage of Red Rock from the camera. So went back up to the headland to do it again, and just as we were leaving, we spotted about 10 dolphins playing just off the coast - incredible. Z was so excited she ran back and told the grumpy old dude in the office, and he said they were there all the time. Miserable bastard.

Drove to Byron Bay after that. First impressions were that it was a bit touristy and brash, but after a few days there we loved it. It had a good atmosphere: very laid back with lots of surfers, backpackers and hippy types. There were some nice beaches with beautiful, squeaky white sand and wicked breaks dude. At night you could see millions of stars of the milky way stretching across the sky - it was so cool. We went for an amazing walk along the coast, past all the famous surf beaches up to the lighthouse. At the lookout at the most Easterly point of Australia, we saw more dolphins and some turtles! One afternoon we were sitting in the van when we heard a bump on the roof. An owl (Frog- mouthed Tawny, about 1 ft tall) had fallen off its perch and was now sitting on the ground spinning its head around 360 degrees, trying to work out what had happened. Z thought it was an eagle (?!), in need of help and ran off to tell the caravan park manager, who said "what do you want me to do about it?". T sat and watched it as a drunk guy nearly fell over it. The owl flew off and that was the end of that. We randomly bumped into Jon and Asa one night (cool Swedish mates of Thomas and Caroline), who were spending the weekend there for Asa's birthday - small world innit, so spent an evening with them, which was very nice. Next day, T had a 3.5 hour surf lesson, which nearly killed him it was that knackering. He was a natural though, and really enjoyed it. On our last day we got up really early and went diving around Julian Rocks (off the coast of Byron Bay). We weren't on best form as our guide was new and didn't instil us with much confidence, and Z ended up having a bit of a panic and coming up too quickly as she pressed the wrong button on her vest. But despite that, the diving conditions were spot on. We saw some fantastic marine life, including leopard sharks, nurse sharks, turtles, rays and moray eels.

We had to drive to Brisbane after that, via the Gold Coast, which wasn't the most pleasant of journeys as Z was convinced she had decompression sickness (the bends) all the way. Turns out she was OK though. As soon as we hit Queensland, the change in climate was tangible, it was so heavy and sticky and humid. Stayed in a caravan park that T didn't like as it was full of locals who lived there, but that Z liked for the washing facilities. Brisbane was another cool city, with not much to differentiate it from the other big cities, except that it was probably a bit more laid back. It had a nice waterfront with pretty parks, where we enjoyed picnics. Stopped at a wicked Belgian Beer cafe and got a little bit drunk on exceptionally good beer. We especially liked Gouden Carolus - a favourite drop of King Louis XIVth, and at 8.9%, it did the trick. It's amazing how, even in the big cities you can be woken and lulled to sleep (or well pissed off - T) by the beautiful chorus of a multitude of exotic birds. The 2 ft wing spanned fruit bats make a right racket when coming home to roost as well, but are very impressive.

We stayed in Brissie for a few days and on the way to our next destination we drove through the Glasshouse Mountains National Park and stopped at Australia Zoo, of the late, great Steve Irwin fame. Saw loads of cool Aussie animals, but the crocs were a bit off. Maybe they were missing Steve. T was gushing at the Koalas like a little girl (but we'll let him off as they were incredibly cute). On leaving the Zoo (when Z eventually managed to scrape T from the Koala enclosure), we headed on up the Sunshine Coast to Noosa, but we'll tell you more about that next time as all blogged out for now.

Don't be strangers.....