down the east coast to Sydney

I fly home today! This is so wierd I don't really know how to feel. I've been looking forward to coming home for ages but am now a bit anxious. Someone said to me the other day is that the hardest thing is when you get back absolutely nothing has changed and you just slot right back into your old routine as if you had never gone anywhere. That scares me a bit. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone but I don't want it to be like 'oh you're back' and then just talking about normal stuff. I feel like I've been so far away that every time someone sees me they should be 'OH WOW YOU"RE BACK THAT'S AMAZING'. Every single time. Cos that's how I will feel. Things like having a dishwasher and a room where I can keep my stuff instead of in a huge bag that I have to fight to put things into every morning just seem so alien. hmmm.
Anyway since Surfer's Paradise we have been to a couple of other nice seaside towns like Coffs Harbour, Port Macquerie, Byron Bay etc, that all seemed very nice but a bit dull. I think going to them in winter when you don't really want to go onto the beach makes them all a bit samey. Coffs Harbour was nice as we went there on a Sunday and they had a big market on where Mike and I both bought cool sunglasses. The best times in the camper were when we went inland. We followed Waterfall Way up to Dorrigo National Park and that was brilliant. The drive there was right up a mountain on really twisty roads with fantastic views, both our ears popped. The national park has a skybridge where you walk along a wooden path at tree level, and at the end the trees drop away and you're looking out over this view of the whole valley, about 600m up in the air. We also found a really lovely free campsite in a valley near Thornton, near Brisbanish. It's not on any of our maps, the road isn't even on the maps, we got a bit lost, but it had hot showers so we were happy. The scenery there was gorgeous too, one morning it rained and there was a rainbow that looked like it ended about 100m away from our van. We've been having a bit of an OAP holiday, getting up early and going to bed early, going on walks in the countryside, not talking to anyone else. Not very cool but quite nice. We decided to change our tickets so we would come home a bit early as we really were getting abit too cold in the camper to stay in it for a month and were also both running out of money quite alarmingly. I was also getting bored of washing my hair in public loos sinks every morning and going for a week (I did wash in buckets of hot water in between but it isn't really the same) without a shower.
Our last day with the camper we went to the Hunter Valley near Sydney where they make lots of wine and cheese and lovely things like that. That was one of the best days, we got to taste some lovely posh wines including this amazing pink champagne. Also had lovely olives, preserves, cheese... ah it was so good. I really wished I was rich at that point as I could have spent so much money on good food there. We went on a wine tour of McGuigan's vineyard which was good, came out feeling very knowledgable about wine.
Handed back the camper on Saturday about 10 days early, after the most horrific drive through Sydney. After spending 2 hours trying to avoid the toll roads and one way system, we got about 100m away from the drop of point when we went down a tunnel and ended up about 20km away on a different side of town! It was just like snakes and ladders. Both feeling pretty stressed by the time we got to the drop off point a 2nd time, only to be told that the outside of the camper had to be cleaned (I had got up so early to clean the inside and he didn't even look at that), so we had to drive back up the road and pay 17 bluddy quid to have it washed. rip off. By then we didn't care though, just wanted to get rid of it and not have to drive around sydney any more. Hopefully we haven't been fined for anything on it but I think we're still waiting for an email to let us know if we're in the clear.
Checked into a really nice hostel called Australia Backpackers in the Kings Cross area. Only paying 11 quid each a night but we've ended up with a private room which is pretty good. We went out for a walk around the Botanic Gardens which are beautiful. So much better than London parks as it's got so many different bits. And lovely views over the water. Then we went to the Opera House! That was amazing, really sunk in that we're round the other side of the world, as I've seen so many photos of it and now I'm actually here. Went inside and wished we had enough to watch something there. For dinner went to a nice place in Kings Cross that did chicken and chips for $6.50. The food doesn't seem as cheap here as Brisbane (nothing could beat those $3 burritos) but there are a few offers if you look. Had an early night but some idiots in the hostel had a party until 7am with crap really loud house music. They got chucked out the next day though.
Sunday we went to The Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Contemporary Art Gallery. Mike is so good to put up with me. Both were really good, much more modern than I was expecting and some really interesting stuff. There was also a free concert in art gallery of NSW which was pretty cool. More walking around perving on the botanic gardens and then we went to The Rocks which was packed as it had a big coffee festival on and a proper party atmosphere. We walked across the Harbour Bridge, talking loads of photos and then staggered home as my feet were hurting a lot. Yesterday was our last full day here. I don't think we really did much, just went across to the shopping bit of sydney and looked in lots of lovely shops. Wondered down to Chinatown and sat in a really pretty garden with lots of fountains for our lunch. Also had a look at Darling Harbour which is so picturesque. Came home and sat in an Irish Bar drinking jugs and reminising. Had a huge $10 steak for dinner which was delicious. More jugs and did a trivia quizz. Then came back and passed out.
And so now it's Tuesday and we're catching our 24 hour flight home at 2.25pm. Crazy times xx

Brisbane to Surfer's Paradise, via Hervey Bay

We're in the camper van, but it's not quite going as planned, no one told us how bluddy cold it is in Australia! I was expecting it to be like English summer, maybe a couple of chilly days but all we'd need would be hoodys, especially in Queensland. That is a lie. It is so so cold, apparently it went down to 3 degrees the other night. I have to sleep with 3 pairs of socks on and 4 layers of t shirts and hoodys. So that's been a bit of a shock. We've also realised that we have a bit too much time here for the route we've planned (can't really go too far past Sydney as that's where we fly from) so we're going through huge stresses now trying to see if we can move our flights forward a bit to save a bit of moolah. It's not going well at the moment. But other bits have been quite good.
We went up to Noosa the first day and it was really pretty, didn't do much but camped by the river (we got woken up at 7.30am but a warden telling us this was illegal so can't recommend that to anyone). Watched the sunset from a vantage point which had an amazing view over the river and all of the islands and the next day we went on a walk around the National Park which was lovely and again very pretty. Headed up to Hervy Bay and stayed in a campsite with a shower! ah it was amazing, showers are the best things in the world as we're currently having to pull over to public toilets everyday and wash ourselves in the disabled public loos with their icy cold water. Walked around the town which was nice and had some chips. We've realised that Australia is a bit more expensive that we expected, for example all chocolate bars seem to cost over a pound! For a mars bar! That's ridiculous. And all the day trips to go and do nice things are 60-70 pounds plus which we really can't afford. So we're sticking to the free stuff like sunsets. Had a nice drive back down through some national parks and saw lots of scenery. Went to Towoomba but it was pretty dull so we left quite soon. Then got a bit lost on some roads that aren't on the maps but found a really nice free campsite in the middle of a valley where we stayed for 2 nights. Again it had hot showers which were lovely. Went on a nice walk, it was so so quiet and just really picturesque. And now we're in surfers paradise. It's nicer than I expected as after reading Bill Bryson's 'Down Under' I was expecting it to be horrible here. Mike went surfing earlier but the sea is freezing so I stayed clear. We haven't got any electricity and our phone's are dead so we're now killing (expensive) time on the internet to use their plug sockets. That's about it. We're spending a lot of time sitting about reading and drinking goon. It's not bad and I'm still having a nice time, just not brilliant and not the best end to our travels at the moment.

Singapore to Brisbane

We've made it here to the 4th continent on the list and Australia is so looooovely. Just everything about it: you can drink water out of the taps, everyone speaks fluent english, the food comes in portions that fill you up... so nice. Only bad point is knives and forks. I can no longer eat with a knife and fork, it feels so clumsy in my hands and I'm not really cutting anymore, just tearing at things. Spoon and fork is a much better way of eating.
So last day in Singapore I didn't do much. I had all of this hassle with my uni place to worry about so sat about on the internet most of the day. We went back to our lovely Moroccan restaurant for lunch and then at about 5pm we headed down to the MRT station to get to the airport. Changi airport is amazing. There is free internet, free phone chargers, free massive comfy armchairs to watch tv in. Unfortunatley the food was very expensive but didn't mind that really. We flew with Quantas which was pretty good although I don't think anything will ever beat Emirates. Food was a bit grim. Had a good flight though, got my gin and tonic and watched 'He's Just Not That Into You' (mike mocked me for my shallowness) and 'Yes Man'. Didn't manage to get that much sleep though and when we landed I was so so tired, felt like I was going to collapse. We took a very long winded bus to our hostel (Prince Consort Backpackers - very nice but a bit pricey, or maybe I'm still thinking in Asian terms) but when we checked in they said our room wouldn't be ready for 3 hours. So we slept on their sofas until they were and then spent most of the day sleeping in our beds. When we felt a bit more alive we went on a little explore and discovered that we really like Brisbane. I've heard from so many people that it's rubbish and boring and ugly and we shouldn't even bother going there. But it seems lovely, we're staying in Chinatown and it seems like there's a really good live music scene and loads of little quirky art shops and boutiques. Tuesday we went down to the centre and went around lots of the museums and art galleries (all free) around the river and it was really pretty and a nice temperature and just really lovely. I like Brisbane lots, although apparently it gets up to 40 degrees in summer so I probably wouldn't like it then. Oh yeh and it's cold here! It's so wierd, apart from a few rainy days and the time we spent in Hong Kong, we have been in places that are constantly over 25 degrees, often more like 30-35 every day for the past 5 months. And here it's like English spring. I have to wear socks! Mental I'm still getting used to having to remember to take a cardi out with me.
So yeh Tuesday we had a lovely day walking around the centre and saw some good art shows and the Museum of Modern Art. Came back here and had an amazing $3 curry and later we went to a pizza place and mike and i shared a pizza for $5. Everything is either really expensive or really cheap here, there doesn't seem to be a middle ground. We've spent the past 2 nights sitting in our dorm with a big irish group that we've met drinking goon (wine in a box, I don't know why it's called that), and I think we're planning on going out somewhere tonight.
Today we got up really late and caught a bus up to Kount Kootha, which is a big lookout over the whole city, with Amy and Denise. Was really pretty. Then we went to the Panetarium and the Botanical Gardens which were also cool but we were so tired for some reason I don't think we really appreciated them. Came back here and slept for about 3 hours. So now I'm just about to go out for dinner and tomorrow we pick up the camper van!