Home at Last

So, we've been back home now for 2 and a half weeks and most people have asked, how does it feel to be home? It's honestly not that bad, it's good to be back in our own bed, with lots more clothes to choose from, it's nice to see everyone again and it's just comfortable being back in normality. We both did say though that it would be great to stay home for just a few days and then go away for another 6 months! We definitely aren't tired or bored of travelling, how could we be when we were so busy and when there is so much more out there to see?!

Yesterday I visited Portsmouth to see yet more friends and family (and in the process clocking up 1000 miles since we've been back!!) and I was asked by my cousin Janet, "What was the worst thing that you saw?". Her theory being that I must be bored telling people what was best so she'd give me a challenge and a challenge it was! I struggled and struggled but I really couldn't come up with an answer for her. I'm sure we must have done or seen something we really didn't like but all the good memories completely blocked everything else out. This made me think last night of the experience as a whole and how much I've enjoyed it, how much we've seen and big a part of our lives the last 6 months will be. Even from the very early stages of planning where we wanted to go, working out routes and places we really wanted to see. Through to going into the travel agents and seeing our initial plans change but coming up with new ones on the spot. The excellent STA Travel agent, Matt, in Kingston who was so helpful giving us advice, recommendations, ideas and not rushing us even though there were others waiting. He didn't just want our money like some other places probably would but he actually wanted us happy and going away with the trip we wanted, not the one he wanted to sell! All the planning that we put in really paid off as the whole trip went off without a hitch really. There is only one thing I would have changed about planning and going on the trip.....getting a NEW Lonely Planet guide. I didn't realise until we were away that the one I had was about 4 years old, no problem when going around sightseeing but it was a problem in terms of budgeting!! Due to some levels of inflation we had underestimated the costs of hostels so ended up spending quite a bit more per night than we had expected. My advice to anyone else budgeting for a trip: Make sure your info is up to date!!

The best thing on the trip was either standing on top of Sydney Harbour Bridge at sunset or watching the dramatic colour changing light show of Uluru at sunrise (better than sunset!). The worst thing about the trip: I still can't think of one!!
The best thing about being home is seeing all our friends and family, if it wasn't for them we would have wanted to stay away forever! The worst thing about being home is the fact that it feels like we've only been away for 2 weeks! (But then I realise I've written over 35,000 words in my journal, I'd never have done THAT in 2 weeks!)

Being back, there are lots of exciting developments, we're soon moving to Bath into a gorgeous flat, we're both starting new jobs and we're going to be proper adults. It doesn't mean we can't continue our world travels though! The next place on the agenda is Europe (most of the Australians we spoke to have seen more of it than us), especially Paris as Megan has never been. We also hope to go skiing and one day we'll be looking into Arctic/Antarctic cruises!!

I seriously recommend a gigantic holiday to everyone, it's the best thing we've ever done. As long as it's well planned there won't be a day that you will regret.

Trip by numbers

So, we are finally returning home after:

173 days

5 countries

23 destinations

14 hostels

3 hotels

7 family homes

7 train journeys

6 coach journeys

13 flights

1 really bad bike ride

a lot of ferry rides (Sydney!)

60,000+ km

40,000 (almost) miles

80 bed bug bites

1 lost iPod

2 really bad cases of sunburn

And I'll leave the last number up to your imagination (I don't like to think about it!)

...... pounds sterling!!!

Coming To The End

From Sunday morning it rained non-stop all the way through to Wednesday evening, meaning we couldn't go down to the pool pr beach and there definitely wasn't much chance of going for a sail! We still enjoyed our time indoors, nice and relaxing, just watching movies, reading and going out to really nice places for lunch.

On Thursday the sun came back and we were very excited. We spent the morning down by the pool, enjoying the heat and the general happiness the sun brings! For lunch we all went out to a local Chinese, P.F. Changs, to meet with one of Gemmas good friends. This is one of the best Chinese restaurants in Naples and I can certainly agree with that, it was fantastic! On arriving back, the wind had picked up and I was itching to go for a sail and luckily Megan and Antonio were willing to come along and give it a try for the first time. Antonio came out first and really enjoyed blasting up and down, after about 15 minutes we swapped and Megan came on board. At first she didn't like it but it was just a new feeling and after a couple of minutes she was used to it and enjoyed it loads, especially when the wind picked up more and we were speeding along. Once I dropped Megan off, Antonio came on again and we decided to sail down to the pier which is about a mile or so away, we got there fine but as soon as we turned around to come back the wind completely died and we were left sitting there. We could also see a massive band of rain coming towards us so we raced as fast as we could (not fast at all!!!!) for home, it took us 40 minutes or so to get back and we just beat the rain, as soon as we beached the cat, the rain hit!

Yesterday the wind was really light all day so we didn't bother going out, instead we stayed by the water and relaxed again! We also sorted out our bags so we're pretty much packed to leave now that our time is running out. Tomorrow we will be leaving here and on Monday morning we'll be touching down in the UK for the first time in 5 and a bit months. It is sad that the trip is coming to an end because we've enjoyed it so so much and the time has absolutely flown by, but all good things must come to an end eventually. There are now other things to look forward to, a new adventure is beginning. Unfortunately for us it won;t keep that travel bug inside us satisfied for long (just means we'll have to plan lots of smaller adventures!) as it is the "real world" that awaits!!

Relaxation in the sun

We've been in Naples for pretty much a week now and we've kept ourselves busy doing nothing! This final fortnight was always going to be the 'Summer Vacation' part, more of a beach holiday than we've had the rest of the time. Everywhere else we've been there has been so much to see and visit that we didn't want to waste time sunbathing, that's what our visit here was for! We've definitely enjoyed our week, mostly messing around by the pool, reading, throwing the American Football around on the beach and sunbathing.

On Wednesday we went to the Ritz Hotel for a few hours. Whilst Gemma had a personal training session we all relaxed on the beach in the searing heat. In the afternoon Antonio had a tennis lesson and Megan treated me to a pedicure in the Ritz Spa! I wasn't sure if I would like it or not but it was surprisingly pleasant. I did, however, still have to make myself feel more manly by reading 'Sports Illustrated' and other manly magazines whilst having my feet done!

On Thursday after jumping into the pool . . . . a lot, we went to the local mall where there are a variety of great shops which are so much cheaper than the UK. Here I got challenged on the topic of my manhood again as I drank a 'girly' pink drink (in my defense it was very fattening therefore not girly) and bought 'perfume' (aftershave actually!), not great since I'd only just had a pedicure!!

Yesterday we visited the Ritz again but this time for 'Para-Sailing'. This was excellent fun, Antonio was really worried but went up first and really enjoyed it, he claims he saw lots of sharks from up high but we didn't see any!

 Megan and I went up together in a 'tandem' and it was really cool to be up so high and moving really fast because it really doesn't feel like you are at all. You just seem to float up there nice and gently and quietly. I was enjoying myself right up until the point that Megan thought it would be a good idea to ask me; "Do you think you'd survive a fall from all the way up here??", that freaked me out slightly as I pondered the answer!!

For the rest of the holiday I think we're on for more of the same with the addition of more water-sports. Mark is hopefully showing me how to rig his boat today so that I can take it out next week and teach Megan to sail (if she likes it!).

Dolphin

Just went for an early morning walk along the beach and I saw a dolphin about 20 ft off shore. There was no-one else around on the beach and it was like it was there just for me!

Fireworks and Alligators (not at the same time though!)

After our exploration into space (well, almost) we took the next few days to enjoy the peace and quiet before the kids were back. We went to the beach, played golf and a little more baseball as well as continuing to watch the tennis and football.

On Tuesday morning our 2 weeks alone were up and we went off to Miami International to pick up Lisette and the boys. We left with plenty of time to spare but by the time we'd eventually found a parking space and got lost in the maze that is Miami Airport they had arrived. It at least meant that we didn't have to wait around for ages! Everyone was very tired by the time we got them home meaning an early night for all.

For our last 2 days with the boys we had planned to take them to the cinema to see the newly 

released "WALL-E" on Wednesday which we all really enjoyed and on Thursday we went to the 'Rapids' water park again. The 'Rapids' was a slight wash out, we managed to get about 4 or 5 rides in before the lightning came and everything was closed. We thought that maybe we could wait it out but there was no such luck there and after about 2 hours of sitting, waiting and hoping we decided to call it a day. It was a shame but there was nothing we could do about it!

This gave us one last day before we left and it was 4th July, Independence Day this is one of the biggest days of the American calendar so there is always a lot going on. During the day we all went to a place called 'Peanut Island' where there are beaches all the way round the small island which can only be reached by boat. To begin with the weather was beautiful, we decided to leave our stuff and go for a walk round the island. When we got pretty much as far away as possible it started to rain, heavily! Unfortunately, both Megan and I had left our towels, t-shirts, books and bags out on the beach meaning they were absolutely and horribly soaked by the time we got back to them. The storm didn't seem to be going away so after some lunch we decided to call it a day early for the second day in a row!

After eventually drying out and getting ourselves sorted we 

headed out for the evening celebrations. We were taxi for the 

night so dropped Lucien off at his friends sleep-over, then took 

Lisette and Rene to one of her colleagues houses (mansion, more like!) before heading to downtown West Palm Beach 

where we had decided to spend our evening. The celebrations here were good but I think there weren't as many people as there might have been due to the crummy weather earlier. There were lots of stalls here and a band on stage, followed by the excellent local youth orchestra who finished their set with an 'American Compilation' culminating in the National Anthem whilst a four storey high flag was unfurled on a local building by the fire department. At 9pm the

 fireworks began and went on for at least 30 mins, these were as excellent as we had hoped from the 'biggest celebration in South Florida'. The traffic was relatively busy getting out of town but nowhere near as bad as we'd expected meaning we made great time doing the rounds to collect everyone again.

We had an early start on Saturday as we had a busy day planned. We were driving all the way across Florida to the west coast town of Naples which is a 3-4 hour drive in itself but we were making a detour halfway across the state to go deeper into the Everglades and go on a safari.

 The area we stopped was a 'Seminole Indian Reserve' where our first port of call was the Ah-Tah-Tee-Kee Museum which gave us an interesting insight into the history of native Americans in Florida. We then went on to the 'Billie Swamp Safari' where they offer air-boat rides, swamp buggy rides and other animal shows. We went on an air boat ride first, this lasted about 20 minutes and we saw loads of alligators. At one point we went in towards some trees where there were a few hiding out but unfortunately as air boats don't have brakes we didn't exactly stop in time and got stuck in an overgrown area surrounded by about 10 'gators! The driver had to get out and try and push us away with a big pole but this was proving difficult as there were alligators apparently holding us. Eventually we got ourselves free and headed back to the jetty after being so close to the alligators that I could have leaned out and touched one, probably not recommended though!

Next up was the swamp buggy ride which took us right through the swamp and showed us a whole variety of animals including bison, water buffalo, lots of deer, pigs, wild horses and ostriches. This lasted about an hour and was really quite interesting. We were very lucky because on our return all the tours were stopped due to lightning (it's becoming quite a theme here!). We continued our drive towards Naples, eventually arriving at Gemma and Marks at about 5pm. We had a nice relaxing evening sitting out on the balcony, eating, drinking and chatting whilst overlooking the beautiful sandy beach and the Gulf of Mexico. The apartment itself is absolutely gorgeous wit lots of large windows to enjoy the amazing views, it definitely won't be a problem spending our last 2 weeks here.

Today was spent mostly watching the long, classic Wimbledon final which was made even more interesting by Megan's Spanish cousin, Antonio, being here cheering on Nadal. Unfortunately we couldn't watch all the match but "Tivo" is a great invention so we were able to record it whilst we were having a beautiful Sunday lunch with Marks brother, Steven and his wife, Claire and their (almost) 1 yr old always smiling daughter Annabel. We eventually finished watching the final at about 6pm, it really was a whole day of tennis! We finished off the day with a quick visit to the gym and swimming pool followed by some American Football on the beach with a beautiful sunset in one direction and a sea-based thunderstorm in the other!

Space Exploration

This week has gone really quickly but I'm not sure how, we've not actually done that much really. Well, we've done a fair amount but only bits and pieces, not many whole day activities. We have played golf at the driving range, gone to the mall, played baseball in the practice batting cages, gone to downtown West Palm Beach, been on Safari, been to Kennedy Space Center and filled the gaps watching Wimbledon and Euro 2008!

The baseball was pretty fun, hard at first to get used to but eventually we moved up from slow speed softballs (which, by the way, are in no way soft!) to medium speed baseballs. We were pretty happy with ourselves as we both managed to hit quite a few of them. It was definitely worth trying out one of America's favourite sports, if only to find out it's harder than it looks, giving us a new found respect for baseball players!!
On Wednesday we finally went to 'Lion Country Safari', the worlds first purpose built drive through safari park. It was a nice day (not raining for once) so the animals were all out in force. We got to see many animals up close including Emus, Zebras, Giraffes, Rhinos, lots of different deer, Lions (all sleeping!), Elephants, Chimps and a cool White-Handed Gibbon who was showing off on the monkey bars!
On Thursday we went to check out downtown West Palm Beach and visited the area called City Place. It was really nice with lots of shops, restaurants and cafés in a very nice setting. It really reminded me of Dubai as it was just off a big motorway, it was all very new and very clean and looked slightly out of place. Nothing wrong with it though as overall it was a really nice area to spend the afternoon. We also checked out West Palm Beach itself and it seemed really nice, we'll probably head down there today if the weather holds up.

The main attraction this week, however, was our visit to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. This is only about 40 miles east of Orlando so we knew we were in for another long drive, luckily it was definitely worth the trip. The main part of our visit there was taken up by the bus tour. This has 3 stops around the huge site where you are dropped off to have a look around. Cape Canaveral itself is and island 8 times the size on Manhattan Island and it is also a wildlife reserve so it's pretty nice to drive around. We saw a few Alligators and even a Manatee whilst going between points of interest.
The first stop was at the Launch Pad Observation Gantry from where you can see Launch Pads 39A and 39B. It was pad 39A that every single Apollo mission was launched from along with most of the recent shuttle launches. The observation deck was about a mile away from the launch pad. The reason for this is safety, within 400 yards of liftoff you would be killed by the heat, within 800 yards you would still be killed . . . . by the sound! A mile is really the closest they can guarantee safety although all the family, press and V.I.P's watch from over 3 miles back.
The next stop was at the Apollo/Saturn V center where we saw some information about the original 'Space Race'. the failed attempts and how the Americans changed their mission to actually getting on the moon. Here we also saw the actual launch control room used in the Apollo missions. It wasn't even a mock up, they've actually left the original there! After watching a 'liftoff' from launch control we left and went into a big hangar containing the Saturn V rocket. It is HUUUUUUGGGGGGE, and even that is an understatement! In this room was the entire rocket, a lunar rover that they trained with and a lunar lander for moon landings. They also had information about every Apollo mission with a quote from each one including Apollo 11 - "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" and Apollo 13 - "Houston . . . . . . . We have a problem". But my favourite was from Apollo 17 as the astronaut stepped onto the moon - "Yippee, this is fun!!".
The last stop was at the International Space Station Center where anything and everything going up to the ISS is processed, sterilised and readied for its trip into space. We also got to walk through the habitation module and a laboratory that are exact replicas of what is in space right now.

Back at the visitors centre after a 4 and a bit hour tour we went on the 'Shuttle Launch Experience' which is apparently one of the most realistic simulators of a launch that you can go on without leaving the ground, pretty cool! We finished our trip off by going to the 3D IMAX and watching a film about going to and walking on the moon. This was really interesting and amazing to know that only 12 men have ever stepped foot on the moon and the most recent of these was over 30 years ago. NASA are planning to go back to the moon though in 2020 as part of their new program, the constellation program which will also involve trying to put man on Mars!

Fun Times In Orlando

On Monday we thought about going to the Lion Country Safari but then had second thoughts when we realised that this meant the kids sitting in the car for a couple of hours driving slowly and not fighting. We thought this might be a bit of a push and didn't really want to test our nerves too much so instead we went and played adventure golf again! We went on the hard course this time which was pretty fun but we were held up by a few bus loads of kids on 'summer camp' programs. There weren't too many shaded places either so we spent most of our time standing in the baking sun watching a load of kids randomly smacking golf balls about! The kids enjoyed it though and that's the main thing.

Tuesday morning was spent staying out of the way as the final packing was done for Lisette and the boys' 2 weeks trip to England. Everything was OK and we got away on time to get the to the train station just before the heavens opened again! After dropping them off we headed for a quick stop at the mall for a haircut for Megan before coming back to an empty house for the next 2 weeks. As soon as we entered I thought something seemed odd and then I realised there was no dog about. I had a look around the house and eventually found him in the boys room wedged behind their bed and a toy chest. I have no idea how he got in there but he was facing the wall with not enough room to turn and it was too high behind him to back out! He'd gone in there probably because of the thunderstorm. He had also looked for other places to hide though as the computer had been knocked over and was subsequently not working. I spent the rest of the evening going around computer shops to try and fix it but to no avail. (Finally it is now working again but not all the time, stupid dog!)

Last Sunday I spoke to Mum and Dad (Fathers Day too, so good timing!) and had a good chat. I also told them about how we were thinking of going to Orlando but weren't sure because of cost. They then said that they would pay as a birthday present to me. That was awesome news and I got straight on the case trying to find the best bargains and deals. Eventually it was decided that we would go to Universal Studios and Universal's Islands of Adventure for 2 days and 1 night staying on-site at the fabulous 'Loews Royal Pacific Resort'. The hotel was a lot more expensive than some places but being on-site meant that our room key worked as an express pass for all the rides. We were going to buy some anyway so we ended up saving money by staying in a hotel more expensive and with more stars!!

We decided to go on Thursday and Friday so that we wouldn't miss any of our dancing classes (we're onto Level 3 now!). We arranged for neighbours to look after the dog, got up early and set off for Orlando at 7.30am on Thursday. The drive was about 200 miles and pretty boring but we got there sooner than we expected, arriving at just about 10am. The hotel itself was magnificent, decorated entirely as a south pacific tropical style resort. After checking in we walked through the statues, fountains and gardens down to the complimentary water taxi service to the theme parks. It was about a 5 minute ride or alternatively a 10 minute walk, proving how close we really were!

As Megan has been before we knew what we were doing and where we were going, for our first day we decided to go to 'Islands of Adventure', the more rides based of the two parks. We headed straight for 'Marvel Superhero Island' and went straight for one of the major attractions, 'The Incredible Hulk' roller coaster. We got straight on without queuing (with our room keys!) and it was fantastic, just so different from all the normal roller coasters, you're shot out at an incredible (get it?!) speed whilst you're still going up to the top, very unexpected and very cool! We were so happy with that ride that we ended up going another 4 times throughout the day. Also on the superhero island, apart from all the cool superhero shops, was 'The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman'. This was a really well done 3D ride following Spiderman around the streets of New York. In some points you really do feel like you're falling or flying, even though you're just sitting on a cart!

Onwards from here we headed through the funky looking 'Toon Lagoon', home to Betty Boop, Marmaduke and Popeye, to 'Jurassic Park'. The entrance to this area is excellent, just like the film with big arches and flames. As soon as you are in here everything changes, there are fossils and footprints on the floor, deep vegetation and animal noises all around you and of course the music playing! The actual ride is a log flume style water ride. You are taken on a ride through primeval dinosaur habitats on a nice gentle raft ride until suddenly you enter the velociraptor enclosure where the raptors have escaped and gone a bit mad. From there you go inside a building where more dinosaurs are on the loose until eventually with a T-Rex looming over you, you escape via a massive and really steep drop!

Again moving on we went to 'The Lost Continent' where the main attraction is the roller coaster called 'The Dueling Dragons'. This is two separate coasters that ride simultaneously and come within 12 inches of each other at some points, pretty scary seeing the other coaster right underneath you, especially with your feet hanging loose! After riding this one we got some lunch. It took us a long time to find somewhere that wasn't selling just hot-dogs, pizza, burgers and turkey legs. We eventually found a café in Jurassic Park where they sold some healthy stuff along with the usual crap! After lunch we thought it wouldn't be such a good idea to get straight on a ride so instead we went to a stunt show. It was aimed mainly at kids but was fairly amusing and let us sit in the shade for 45 minutes or so, always a welcome opportunity! Eventually we continued around and ended up back at the start ready to go round to the things we liked for a second time. One thing we saw that we had missed the first time was 'Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges'. We thought it looked like a nice gentle raft ride but we were wrong . . . . . . . . very wrong! We ended up getting soaked through to the bone, lucky it was a nice hot day really!

On leaving the park at 5.30pm (just as a storm started) we went back to the hotel, checked into our gorgeous and massive room, sorted ourselves out and headed straight back out to 'City Walk', the bar/club/restaurant area of Universal. Megan took me for dinner at the Hard Rock Café which is always good, and then we found a bar called 'Rising Star', which is a karaoke bar. It sounds dodgy but this is karaoke with a difference, mainly the full live band and backing singers! It was a fun night but we were absolutely shattered after a long day, eventually getting back at about 11.30pm, full to the brim with food, drink and happiness!

Yesterday we were off to Universal Studios, the main park. We thought we'd get breakfast at about 9am and get to the parks for 9.30ish, earlier than previously. This plan backfired when it took the restaurant about 45 minutes to pour a single bowl of cereal, shocking service, we were really disappointed, this was the only bad thing about the whole hotel experience which was otherwise amazing. Eventually we got to Universal Studios for about 10.30am to start our second day of adventure! Here there are more shows and smaller rides rather than big roller coasters. The first thing we did here was go to the Shrek 4-D show which continues the story from the original Shrek film. It was pretty good with 3-D vision along with wind, water and vibration effects. From here we went to 'New York' which was really cool, you really feel like you are in old style New York streets. It was here that we stopped and watched a 'Blues Brothers' performance live on the streets. It is in New York that the 'Revenge of the Mummy' ride is located. This was a great ride, not at all what you expect, started very sedately then launching into a full on, blacked out, backwards, forwards, sideways, everywhichway roller coaster! Just a short walk from here was San Fransisco and the town of Amity where the main draw is the 'Jaws' ride . This is really old but it's a classic and quite funny to see the old and slightly rusty Jaws come and try to attack you!

The big draw at Universal Studios at the moment, at least the one they are advertising most heavily, is the new 'Simpson's Ride'. Unfortunately it didn't really live up to all the hype. It was a 'Motion Simulator' ride, ie: you sit in a car that shakes around a bit whilst you watch a big screen. It was OK but definitely not as good as we had hoped. It replaced the 'Back To The Future' ride and Megan (who has now been on both) says it was exactly the same ride, just re-themed. The outside of the ride was pretty cool though, they even had a Kwik-E-Mart and a Squishee stand!

We finished our rides off on the E.T. ride, like Jaws it is really old but pretty funny so we enjoyed that! After walking through 'Hollywood' and 'Rodeo Drive' we went to the giant 'Universal Studios Store', had a look around, waited out a 45 minute down pour and then headed back home, eventually back at 9.30pm. A good two days had by both of us, a great birthday present!

P.S. Sorry it's such a long blog!

Stormy Weather

I can't believe we've been in America for almost 2 weeks now, it's gone so quickly but I guess that's what happens when you're looking after kids! The American way of life isn't too different from the English and therefore pretty easy to adapt to. The main difference here is in terms of money and also different names for things. Everything here is so cheap for us compared to the UK, the food, the clothes, even activities and attractions. It;s great but to start with I kept forgetting about the exchange rate and assuming everything was the same as sterling. The depressing thing was that most things are the same price in dollars as they would be in pounds (ie: something that's 10 pounds in the UK is probably around $10 over here!). This has been good for us as we haven't had to worry too much about what we do or buy.

As I mentioned, the other major difference is the different names for things. We played a game with Réné where we tried to come up with as many as possible and there are quite a few everyday words that change. It's pretty bad but both of us are already using some of them as it;s just easier than explaining ourselves to the kids every time! One of the best ones though happened on Friday as we were driving with Lisette. As they're going away soon I wanted to make sure I knew where the nearest petrol station was, so I asked. She told us where it was but Réné shouted that there was one just by the house. He was adamant that there was a petrol station by the house. Lisette laughed and asked him if he knew what a petrol station was and he eventually admitted that he didn't. When I asked him what he thought petrol might be the answer was a classic; "A type of dog??", not quite!

Since I last wrote, the weather has been very unpredictable making it hard to plan stuff to do. On Wednesday we were just going to stay home and play but Lisette needed the car on Thursday so we decided to change plans and go to the Lion Country Safari. We got most of the way there and hit a massive storm, the rain was so hard I had windscreen wipers on full and I had slowed right down but still couldn't see a lot. We made the executive decision that the animals wouldn't be out in that sort of weather so we'd be better off going another day. We headed back home (where it wasn't raining) and stuck with our original plan of staying there all day.

Thursday morning we got the news that my Aunt, Martine had finally succumbed to the cancer she had been fighting for the last few months and had dies overnight at the age of 44. This obviously meant an emotional day and left us not wanting to do anything at all. Lisette had taken the car to work anyway and luckily we didn't have any plans.
To cheer ourselves up on Friday we took the boys to a waterpark near here, 'Rapids Waterpark'. We arrived at about 11am and we could see huge amounts of rain in the distance as we went on our first slide. We hoped it wouldn't come our way but it did just that, with a couple of lightning bolts just as we got to the front of the queue for our first big ride. All water attractions were closed meaning pretty much everyone went and got lunch at the same time. Just as we finished our meals we heard that staff were watching the storm on radar and had to wait until it was 5 miles away but that would be in 10 minutes time. We decided that was a good time to head to the rides and they all opened just as we put our towels back on the beds, perfect timing! The rest of the day until about 5pm was spent enjoying all the rides and the sunshine. We had a really good day and 2 very tired boys by the end!

Yesterday we planned to go to the beach but once again the weather had plans of its own, raining hard from about 8am right through to the afternoon. The boys were both off with their "Mentors" (kind of like adult friends, someone to talk to and hang out with that isn't a parent or teacher) so the house was quiet and we enjoyed some time off. Megan by reading and me by watching Euro 2008 on ESPN!!

Another relatively quiet day is planned today as they're all getting ready to go to the UK on Tuesday but tomorrow we're going to try the Lion Country Safari again! We're also now trying to think of things to do whilst we're on our own here. We're thinking of visiting the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral and we're also toying with the idea of a visit to a theme park in Orlando. A long way for a day trip but I think it could be worth it. (Just after writing this Mum and Dad have said that they will reimburse me for a trip to Orlando, 2 days theme parks and an overnight stay as my birthday present!! YAY!!! Thanks!!!)

Florida

For the second time in 2 days, Wednesday saw us cross a country from West to East, in fact it is the second time in 2 days that we have actually crossed a continent! We got up nice and early to get to the airport in time to get through all the rigorous security checks that are now commonplace in America. We got through with plenty of time and went to 'Chili's' for breakfast. Only in America could I have a choice of burritos or tacos for breakfast! The 5 hour flight was pretty turbulent but passed easily enough, we're so used to long journeys now! On arriving early at Miami we eventually managed to find my Aunt Lisette and her two boys (Lucien, 11 and Réné, 8) outside and drove to their place near West Palm Beach which is about an hour or so north of Miami itself. Wednesday evening Lisette took us for a little drive around the local area of Lake Worth, showing us the lake, shops and the beach where we were just in time for a nice sunset, complete with cool pink clouds!

For the next 2 days we had some time to ourselves as the boys were still at school and Lisette was working. We took the opportunity to chill out after all our travelling and check out the local mall and cinema ("Sex and the City" if you must know!!). On Saturday Lisette had a wedding to go to so we had our first day looking after the boys and I had my first time driving a car in America! Lisette has a massive Ford 4x4 which is automatic and real easy to drive so I was pretty happy driving around. We went off to a local swimming pool where some of Lucien's friends were celebrating the end of school for summer. It was a nice day, the sun was out in force and the kids enjoyed the pool, we ended up getting back at about 3pm when the heat got a little bit too much for itself and the clouds started to look ominous as is typical for Florida!

Exactly the same happened the next day when we were at the beach, the clouds started to build up out at see and you can see them moving in. We got off the beach just as they came overhead but this wasn't until about 4pm so we still had a pretty long day of sun, sand and sea!

On Monday Lucien and Lisette were visiting Lucien's new middle school, a specialised (ridiculously hard to get into) performing arts school where Lucien is part of the "Band School" playing the flute. This meant that we looked after Réné, spending most of the day playing games, throwing a ball about and going for a ride around the lake which he didn't want to do because it's "boring" but he actually enjoyed in the end!

When Lisette got back we took the car and took Réné to the cinema, the only possible way to shut him up talking about "Kung Fu Panda"! It wasn't too bad actually but I'm sure he enjoyed it more than us. In the evening we went and joined Lisette on a night of dancing, one of her hobbies. It was a salsa class, Cuban style, which we both really enjoyed passing our Level 1. There are 10 levels (which Lisette has completed!) so now we can go back and continue up the ladder which hopefully we'll do over the next couple of weeks.

Today we took the boys to play mini-golf just up the road which was pretty fun. Megan and I drew with joint top scores of 1 over par. Today has been the worst weather-wise and we are currently sitting in a tornado-warning! This came on pretty suddenly as only 30 minutes ago I was outside in the sun playing basketball with Réné! I'm not sure what we're doing tomorrow but hopefully Thursday we'll go to the Lion Country Safari which is a drive through safari park and on Friday we're going to the local water park which the boys love and are very excited about!

Goodbye Australia, Hello America!!

To say goodbye to Perth and Australia in general, Megan decided she wanted to take me out for an 'Australian Meal'. After looking around for a while we decided there was nowhere really typically Australian so we went for a 'Swedish' instead! It was a really good restaurant and I was happy to see that they offered a 'Smorgasbord', buffet style meal. We both wholeheartedly took them up on this offer, it's not everyday that you leave Australia! After dinner, a few drinks and a chat about what we liked in Australia, we headed back to the hostel and set the alarm for the stupid hour of 1.45am and went to sleep.

Not too many hours later we were woken up ready for our marathon day of journeying across continents. As we were connecting from our Perth-Sydney flight straight onto a Sydney-L.A. flight we had to check in internationally to begin with in Perth. This meant us arriving 2 hours before the flight (as instructed by Qantas only a couple of days ago), but when we turned up no-one had even got to work yet! We were left sitting around for a while wondering why exactly it is that you have to check in earlier for internationals than domestics . . . . . . we still haven't come up with a good answer. We both managed to fill our time though, Megan by labelling every single one of our bags and me by helping a lady download files from her laptop to her phone. She'd been trying for 6 hours and I did it in about 10 minutes!

The flight itself was fairly short at just over 4 hours, 3 of which Megan slept soundly through whilst I sat and watched films . . . . . again! On arrival in Sydney we were lucky enough to be on the correct side (again!) to see a good view out the window. We flew in with a spectacular view of Sydney Harbour and the city. The weather was crap but at least there was a good (final) view of Australia. We didn't have to wait long at Sydney Airport before we boarded the jumbo that would be hauling us across to America.

One of the strangest things about our trip was that we crossed the International Date Line going from west to east. This meant that we were transported back in time to start the day all over again. We were in the strange scenario of simultaneously having the shortest and the longest day of our lives! It was the shortest because we boarded and took off from Perth in the dark and saw sunrise well on our way to Sydney, then promptly jumped on an even faster plane to try and get back to the darkness as quickly as possible (for us on Perth time it was dark by about 1pm!). And it was the longest day because we crossed the International Date Line therefore making us start over again pretty much. In theory (sorry if this confuses you, I'm incredibly tired and jet lagged writing this, it might not be true but it's how I'm seeing it at the moment!!!) we left the comfort of our beds at 2am 3rd June and are now going to bed at 9pm 3rd June (not such a long day) but in reality it is now 10am, maybe even later, 4th June for us. A confusingly long day!

The best thing about our flight was the people watching opportunity. People watching is great normally but in a confined space for 13 hours it can be pretty funny. For example the guy across the aisle from me who went for the tactic of sleeping for the entire journey aided by no less than 6 mini bottles of wine (they have almost 2 glasses in each!). This made it quite comical when the girl sitting next to him needed to go to the loo which, unfortunately for her, was quite often. He wouldn't wake up and she had to use immense gymnastic skills to get past without booting him in the face. The guy next to Megan slept the whole way but with really loud jazz music playing through his headphones, plus he looked dead. But the real winners were the 2 in the row behind us. They didn't know each other at the start of the journey but boy did they by the end!! There was a spare seat between them but that didn't last for long as they got chatting and the guy invited the girl across for a drink. Long story short, the both got incredibly pissed and snogged the rest of the flight away in a very unattractive, noisy manner. Most amusing!

When we had arrived in L.A. and cleared security we got to our airport hotel, the Radisson LAX and checked in. It;s a bit special here. We have an amazing room with 2 double beds, en-suite obviously and loads of space. Not quite like the rooms we're used to, it got us imagining how our trip would have been if we stayed somewhere like that the whole time! We decided that we had time to do one thing whilst in L.A. so we made that a trip to Hollywood! A taxi there cost us $50, it wasn't as close as we had thought, but it was worth it. We walked up and down Hollywood Boulevard, saw the "Walk of Fame" stars and the sign on the Hollywood Hills. We even got in a bit of shopping. For our trip back we decided against the $50 cab and instead got $2.50 train tickets! It took ages longer but it was definitely worth it to save the money. We're up early again tomorrow as our flight has been moved 45 minutes earlier and also because LAX are so fussy we have to check in 90 minutes before a domestic flight. The alarm is set for 5am, fun times!!

Torchlight Prison Tour

Yesterday we went back to Fremantle and after sampling some fresh seafood for dinner we went to Fremantle Prison which sells itself as one of Western Australia's most fascinating and significant cultural attractions. Convicts first came to the Swan Valley in 1850 to help build the infrastructure for the Swan River Colony. They built lots of local road, bridges and government buildings but their first task was to construct the 'Convict Establishment' in which they would be held, Fremantle Prison. The impressive limestone building was completed in the late 1800's and was used as a maximum security prison all the way up to 1991.

We were going on a night-time 'torchlight tour' so were met by our guide, Matthew, at 7.45pm. He was an excellent guide and could really tell a good story, always handy on a spooky tour! We started off in the prisoner registration and processing area before turning on our torches, walking through the shower block and out into the main parade ground. From here you can see the hundreds of windows where over a thousand prisoners were once held. After a couple of stories we went into the first cell block. It is a really spooky feeling being inside, it was very dark and looking up there were 3 levels of thick doors, railings and netting. Matthew then told us a story about how a woman had been in there on her own one night and had looked up and seen the figure of a man standing on the very top balcony looking like he was screaming. She ran straight outside and through her tears told the tour guide what she had seen. The guide told her about a convict in the 1800's that couldn't take being in the prison any longer and had thrown himself off that very balcony. All the way through this story I was expecting something to jump out at us or a weird noise to make us jump but there was nothing. As Matthew finished his story I let my guard down just as he said "and if we all look up there" pointing his torch towards the top balcony. Just then there was a massive bang, a piercing scream and a body came tumbling down from the balcony. Obviously I almost crapped myself, screamed like a girl and shoved my head into Megan's shoulder! Looking back up I could clearly see that it was just a dummy but even though I had been expecting something all the way through I definitely wasn't ready for that! Luckily I wasn't the only one that jumped, Megan thought for a split second that someone had actually tripped and gone over the edge and the other 20 or so people in our group must have thought the same!

From then on we were slightly more on our guard and weren't quite as shocked (I still jumped and shouted) when a man jumped out of one of the solitary confinement cells we were being shown. These were tiny cells with 2 lots of doors, extra thick walls and only the tiniest holes as windows. Prisoners would spend 23 hours a day in here, alone.
We were then shown the gallows where 44 people were executed in the time that the prison was operating. This was quite weird to know that 44 lives were ended in that one small room. We also heard the last sound that each of those people would have ever heard, the trapdoor opening. A horrible noise.

It was about the gallows that we heard possibly the scariest, spookiest story of the night. It was a daytime tour and a mother was going round with a very young child in a pram. All the way round the baby had been screaming and crying, definitely not enjoying it. When they eventually got to the gallows she waited outside so as not to disrupt everyone and when most people had left the room she went in with the tour guide to have a quick look. On entering, the baby quietened down for the first time that day and as she pushed the pram right in the baby even started smiling. It reached its little hand up towards the rope with a hangman's noose on the end and still smiling said its first ever words. "Bye bye, Bye bye."

Now that is probably the spookiest, most weird, scary story I've heard in a long time. Made even spookier by it being told to us whilst sitting in a darkened chapel with only torchlight around the place! All in all it was a fantastic tour. It wasn't just scary stories but also interesting historical facts about the prison, the convicts and the general area. They do other tours during the day but I'm glad that as we were only going to do one tour, we did this one.

Perth and "The Valley of Taste"

On Saturday we continued our westward journey and travelled another 3,725 km from Alice to Perth. This means that in the space of 4 days we travelled around 7,000 km by plane, coach and 4WD (plus about 15 km on foot!!). It's amazing to think that's all in one country, it's the equivalent of driving from London to Edinburgh and back 5 and a bit times!! It was the fourth day in a row that we'd been up before sunrise too, I thought this was meant to be a holiday?!!

The reception staff at the Heavitree Lodge had been pretty useless most of the time we were there and they proved in perfectly on Saturday morning. I had booked our airport shuttle bus through them on Friday evening but they forgot to send a fax through so the bus never arrived to pick us up, meaning we had to wait even longer for a taxi to turn up. Luckily we still arrived with enough time to get our flight and they paid for it for us which is fair enough because it was their fault. Our flight was nice and easy, we flew over Uluru which was really great to see from the only angle we hadn't already seen on our walk! We were even on the correct side of the plane to see it from.

When we arrived in Perth (in the rain!) we checked into our new hostel, the Perth City YHA. It is our first YHA experience and we were pleasantly surprised, it's very nice and not too expensive. We were pretty tired so didn't want to do anything major, instead finding the nearest cinema and crashing out in front of the newly released 'Indiana Jones'! A nice chilled start to Perth.

Sunday saw us head off on the 30 minute train ride to the local town of Fremantle, or Freo as the locals call it (why must the Australians shorten EVERYTHING? They don't even call the MCG its full name, they call it 'The G'!! Seriously, if anyone knows please let me in on that one!!), which is a harbour side town with lots of fishing boats still working from there. On the weekends they run markets here so we spent most of the day just wandering around enjoying the town, the stalls and the fresh local produce. When we were down by the waterfront there were lots of people standing by the waters edge obviously all watching something. Not being ones to turn down a free show we headed down to see what was going on and it turned out that there were a few dolphins just frolicking in the water a matter of metres from the shore!

Monday was a nice, sunny day which we enjoyed whilst not doing anything in particular. We strolled around the city and headed for King's Park, to get to it we had to climb 300 or so steps but it was worth it. From the top there is a great view of the city and the Swan River which was made even better by the sun being out. We spent a while in the park just relaxing, reading and chatting before heading to an outlet shopping centre, 'Harbour Town'. There were lots of shops here and quite a few sales, not wanting to miss out I ended up buying 3 polo shirts for $15, bargain!

One of the main things Western Australia is famous for is its superb wines and this was what we had in mind for Tuesday. We booked ourselves onto a cruise and Swan Valley tour. The day was beautiful , really warm and only a few clouds, perfect for a morning cruise up the river towards "The Valley of Taste". We left at 9.45 and started our day with tea, coffee, muffins and great views of the city before the wine was brought out at about 10.30. After 'modelling' one of the 4 bottles for everyone on the boat we got a short class in wine tasting, learning the 6 S's.

1. Size (what the wine looks like)
2. Swirl
3. Sniff
4. Sip
5. Swish (around in your mouth)
6. Swallow (you could spit if you want but where's the fun in that?)

Once we'd tried these 4 wines we were definitely getting into the spirit of things and ready to visit some wineries.

When we got off the boat we were met by our jolly guide, Gerry who took us off to four family run wineries. First stop was 'Garbin Estate Wines' where we tried about 12 different wines. This was great as I now know which wines are my favourite. In the whites, Chenin Blanc and Verdelho were my favourite grapes and from the reds the Cabernet-Merlot was beautiful. At least in restaurants now I can have some idea of what to choose rather than just asking for 'House White'! Leaving here we walked through the vineyards to the largest producer of sparkling wine in Australia, 'Jane Brook Estate Wines' where we had a lovely lunch platter with cheeses, hams, veg and oven baked fresh bread. We had time to sample a couple more wines here including the unusual white port. After a brief visit to a nougat factory we went to 'Jarrah Ridge Wines' where we had some of the best Port I've ever tasted. We bought 2 bottles at a special cellar door price it was that good. Our last winery was the 'Edgecombe Bros Winery' where we tried a few more wines and had a cheese platter. This wasn't an amazingly special winery but I'm not going to complain! Our last stop was a brief one at the 'Margaret River Chocolate Company' with some free tastings here too.
The whole day was great fun and pretty good value at $120 each (around 60 pounds). I'm very glad we went and sampled the local produce and I even learnt a little bit about wine!

This morning we took ourselves off to Australias oldest working Mint, Perth Mint, and saw a gold pouring demonstration as well as lots of samples of gold nuggets, bars, bullions and coins! It was pretty cool to see all that gold, we even got to see what our weight in gold is at today's market price. Next time someone says that I'm "worth my weight in gold" (which doesn't happen very often!) I can tell them that is around $3,200,000, almost a million dollars more expensive than Megan. I was very happy with this until she said that she could just feed me up and trade me in for a nice little sum!!

Tomorrow we're off to Fremantle again for a 'nice seafood dinner' (that quote is for you Adam. . . . . ) and a night-time tour of the Fremantle Prison, Saturday we're going to a science exhibition and then after that we only have 2 days left in Australia!! NOOOOOOO!!!!

Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park

Whilst in England we booked our outback tour through STA Travel so this is something that has been planned and we've been looking forward to for a long time. We chose to go on a 2 day Uluru and Kata-Tjuta Camping Safari. We were picked up yesterday morning at 6.30 from the hostel and we joined the 11 other people that were on our tour. Uluru is situated 440km south-west (ish) of Alice Springs so we were in for quite a drive. After a stop at a camel farm and a couple of roadhouses on the long straight desert roads we arrived at the permanent campsite at 'Yulara', the Ayers Rock Resort. From a distance we could see the mighty Uluru and the impressive Kata-Tjuta and we couldn't wait to get closer and have a proper look. (If you don't know Kata-Tjuta, it used to be called the 'Olgas', have a look on the net, its really something special).

We didn't have to wait long as after lunch we jumped back in our 4WD coach and drove the 50km to Kata-Tjuta. Kata-Tjuta means 'many heads' in the local language and we could see why, we got some great views of the 32 domed rocks as we drove around to a parking spot. From here we walked into the Walpa Gorge, formed between the largest dome, Mt. Olga and a neighbouring dome. We walked this with our tour guide, Nick, who gave us some informative little talks along the way about how it was formed, wildlife and aboriginal beliefs. It was a beautiful day with the temperature sitting at around 27C in the sun but dropping dramatically in the shade. This massive heat change is one of the reasons for the massive erosion, the rocks crack after such strains over long periods, eventually forming the incredible shapes and formations we see today. It was really great to be in amongst the huge rocks, all around you are just massive red walks and then looking out and seeing nothing but arid land as far as the eye could see was really strange. After coming out from the middle of the rocks we retreated to a lookout point to see the whole formation together. We left here at about 5.15pm and made our way to the Uluru sunset lookout point.

Here, some nibbles and wine were laid out for us ready to watch the amazing changing colour display on the massive rock. What we saw is difficult to put into words but it was an incredible sight. The colour changing from an ochre brown through to a red then bright orange. The sort of sight that most have seen in pictures but now having seen it for myself, those pictures don't do it justice! It was an incredible feeling to stand and watch something so famous across the world for myself. Once the sun had set and it actually got dark we went back to Yulara and had a BBQ under the stars and around the campfire. After a few glasses of wine and a really long chat with our tour guide (we've made ourselves a friend there!) it was definitely time for bed!!

This morning we were off to get close up to Uluru and see the sun rise. We were leaving camp at 6.20am so had to get up at around 5am (again!!) to make sure that everything was ready and we were all fed and watered. We had three options this morning;

1. Climb the rock
2. Watch the sunrise from the dedicated viewing area
3. Walk around the entire base of Uluru whilst the sun comes up.

We decided to go for option 3 and started the 8km walk at 7am. The sun rose at 7.20am and was absolutely spectacular. This was much better than sunset, partly because we were now so close to the rock, but also the way we went from darkness with stars, the moon and a big black rock to the brightest, most vivid orange imaginable in the space of just a few minutes. Once again, a very difficult thing to put into words, especially for someone so inarticulate as me, but in a word incredible. We continued our walk and loved it, we got to see that it isn't smooth at all, there are so many different features and different types of rock. We got to see that it is also nowhere near the uniform shape that we had imagined. There are massive gulleys and valleys present, it's not just round. We eventually completed our walk at 9am at the start of the climb. We took the decision not to climb as the Anangu (the local traditional owners) request that people don't. This site is sacred to them (and I can now really see why) and only certain initiated men are meant to climb and even then only on very special occasions. Over 35 people have died and many more have been injured on the climb yet people still do it. I think this is incredibly disrespectful. If you went to someones home and they asked you to take your shoes off before you came in you'd do it straight away as it is they're home, they're the boss and it's just polite. It is the same situation here. The Anangu own the rock officially (it was handed back by the government in the 80's), they ask people not to climb it yet some still do. After a few more stories about aboriginal beliefs of how the landscape was formed and a final short walk with Nick we headed to the cultural centre (which was really interesting) and then back to camp.

From here we had a 6 hour trip back to Alice but it went very quickly and easily. It is a shame that our trip here was so short but we did and saw everything we wanted to and had the best time. Also, our beds were comfy, all our food was sorted for us and it was brilliantly organised and guided by Nick. I'm glad we paid a little extra and went on a proper tour than a cheap, budget backpacker one. We didn't have to worry about anything but enjoying the amazing experience of exploring Uluru and Kata-Tjuta.

Melbourne to Alice Springs

For our last day in Melbourne we had decided that we had to do the incredibly 'english backpacker' thing of going on the 'Neighbours' tour. We didnt really know what to expect but thought it would probably be quite tacky. We were not mistaken, it was very cheesy and the most horribly touristy thing we've done so far on the trip! We aren't complaining though as it was actually quite fun. First off we went to 'Erinsborough High School' (otherwise known as Blackburn English Language School) which neither of us actually recognised at all. We then went on to 'Ramsay Street' (Pin Oak Court in real life) which was a lot smaller looking in real life! This is a real street with real people living in all the houses (most of the have been there since the start) and because of this there is a security guard posted there 24/7 to keep tourists off their private property. The official tour takes 35,000 people there every year and an estimated 10,000 or more people visit on their own too!
The final part of the tour was going to the studios and meeting a star. Unfortunately they were filming so we didn't get to see around the studios which could have been interesting. Instead we met Jackie Woodburne who plays Susan Kennedy, in the car park . . . . . . classy! After a short while taking photos and signing autographs it was the end of the tour. Quite a fun, but very cheesy afternoon and finish to our stay in Melbourne.

Today we got up nice and early and got to the airport for our 2,500 km journey into the centre of the country (almost exactly), Alice Springs. Only one piece of drama at the airport . . . . . . Megan got caught trying to smuggle a knife onto the plane! She had accidentally left a butter knife in the front pouch of her bag from the picnic we had way back in the Blue Mountains!! It was the first time she has taken that bag on a plane since Dubai so hadn't needed to check it for things like that before, unlucky!

After checking into the 'Heavitree Gap Outback Lodge' we went into town and had a look around. For a town with a population of almost 30,000 it still has a very small town feel and that is definitely a good thing. There is just one main mall here which doesn't take long to walk up, we spent most of our time in the traditional aboriginal art galleries (that's the art that is traditional, not the galleries!!) and even bought 3 original pieces.

Alice Springs sits surrounded by the Macdonnell Ranges and our hostel is right at the bottom of the ranges in the only gap through them (you guessed it, the 'Heavitree' Gap) with a great rocky outlook. One of the local animals is the Black-Footed Rock Wallaby and lots of these come out in the evening into the hostel car park. We bought a bag of wallaby food and went down and hand fed them. None of them were shy and within seconds we were surrounded by wallabies all trying to get the food! It was a really weird experience as they'd grab your hand and pull it towards them to get food. We also saw a few wallabies with Joey's sticking their little heads (and occasionally arms too!) out of the pouches. That was really cool to see and a good start to our few short days in the outback!

A Perfect Day in Melbourne

Yesterday was one of the best complete days we have had on the trip so far, we both really really enjoyed ourselves. Yes, the BridgeClimb was better but we didn't do anything in the morning and obviously watching turtles hatch was so unique and special but we spent all day waiting. Yesterday was about the whole day as an experience.

The hostel has been advertising a free walking tour of the city and we thought we might as well go along even though we've walked around a lot and if it was no good we would have just left, but it was great!! There was a group of 9 of us and the tour guide and she took us round town showing us all the main sights but also the little alleys and lanes, the hidden bars and shops, the graffiti and quirky artwork, and the free views of the city. There are so many hidden gems in the city, you just have to know where to look! If you are ever going to Melbourne, I would say that you HAVE to do a walking tour, it's got to be the only way to see the real city.

Our tour started in the dirty looking alleyway directly opposite our hostel which we've waked past several times and we were shown a piece of graffiti here by the famous graffiti artist, Banksy. It is one of the only pieces he's done in Australia and it was so close to us! (If you don't know who Banksy is then look him up, he's very interesting and a bit of a legend!!) The council are so proud of it and want to keep it so much that they have now added the building it is on into the National Trust, they have also added the alleyway to the National Trust! We were then taken down some more graffitied lanes that we would have usually walked past without a second thought. These are lanes that people are actually encouraged to graffiti on and there is some amazing art there! When there are special events in Melbourne the council goes to these lanes and whitewashes over all the graffiti then specially commissions graffiti artists to do some really good stuff as they know it is a tourist attraction and they want it to look good! I think this is a good idea, definitely better than trying to ban it altogether.

After this we saw some more great stuff including the smallest café in Melbourne and the smallest gallery in Melbourne. We also saw some fantastic old buildings displaying mosaic floors and ceilings painted with gold. We saw the largest and second largest mosaic floors in all of Australia, the first shopping mall in Melbourne and the most hidden bar in Melbourne. The last thing we were shown on the tour before we had to leave was the view from the 35th floor toilets in the Sofitel Hotel. The loo's have floor to ceiling glass walls and you can see all the sports stadiums and in the distance the 'Great Dividing Range'. The main room with a view is a members only area but the toilets are public, a great tip for a free view for backpackers!!

After our tour it was time for my special treat to Megan. Whilst in Tasmania I booked and paid for a special dinner on the 'Colonial Tramcar Restaurant'. This is a really fancy, nice meal on a modified tramcar, whilst travelling around the city. It was great food, all inclusive wine and drinks and all in all a very odd, but great experience! This left at 5.45pm and got back at about 7.15pm. We were dropped off right by the Crown Casino in South Melbourne and as Megan hadn't been in a casino before we thought we'd take a look. It was absolutely massive inside with 3 floors of casino, loads of bars and restaurants and hundreds of 'pokies' (slot machines). It was great to have a look round and what was even better was that we found and acoustic duo playing in one of the bars. They were great and were playing lots of songs that people requested so we decided to shout out a few ourselves. If one of them knew it they would play and the other one would just pick it up and strum along. After their second set they came over to us and thanked us for our good requesting, they seemed to enjoy playing what we kept shouting out, we were apparently their 'creative consultants' for the evening! We got chatting them for quite a while and they were really nice guys and great musicians. We had got there at about 8pm and didn't leave until about 11.15pm, if they were playing longer then we probably would have stayed! It was a really great end to one of the best days.

Sport and Video Games - A Mans Heaven?

Our entire weekend was spent watching sport and playing video games, does it get any better? Saturday morning was horrible weather, grey and raining, and it didn't look like stopping. This obviously wasn't going to change our plans (we're British for goodness sake!!) but it did 'dampen' our spirits (see what i did there?!) slightly. By early afternoon it was still raining so we donned our warm clothes, took out the umbrella, readied ourselves with our 'emergency travelling ponchos' and off we went. It was definitely, without a doubt, the coldest weather we've been in since we left the UK in January. It was that cold that we could see our breath! We were very worried on our way to the MCG that we would be sitting in the rain but it seems we were very lucky as we were one of the few rows that was covered. All the people who were meant to be sitting in the rain ended up standing at the back undercover! The constant rain made the match interesting and quite amusing with both sides dropping the ball, falling over and sliding around the pitch. I started the match as a complete neutral, not supporting either Richmond Tigers or Geelong Cats, applauding all plays and generally enjoying the Aussie Rules. But by the second quarter I had chosen my allegiance. Not by who was playing better, not by which colour I liked best but because I had a really, really annoying Geelong Cats fan next to me!! She was the screechiest woman I've ever heard, screaming (literally, screaming) at everything and I decided; 'I don't want to be associated with her!'. From then on we supported the Richmond Tigers who, after a good start, got smashed by Geelong! I'm glad we went to a match again, it was a completely different experience to when we watched in Sydney, especially the weather! The MCG was great too, it looked really empty with fans scattered about everywhere but it turned out there were 35,000 people there! It is just odd as the stadium can hold over 100,000 so it is very difficult to make it look busy!

In the evening we headed off at about 10pm to the Turf Bar to get ourselves settled in and ready to watch the FA Cup Final, Pompey vs Cardiff. The closer it got to kick off the more nervous I got, sinking my drinks quicker and quicker to try and calm my nerves! By midnight (kick off time here) the pub was surprisingly full but most in there were supporting Cardiff. The game itself wasn't great, the goal was a bit crappy and we missed some good chances but I think that sums up our FA Cup run this year so it was only fitting that's how we won it! I was obviously very happy, slightly tipsy and definitely ready for bed by the time we got back at 2.30am!

After a lazy start on Sunday we eventually got ourselves up and out and went and explored a couple of Melbournes laneways in search of a café for brunch. This wasn't a hard challenge, there are loads of cafés, the challenge was finding one that wasn't heaving! We eventually found a nice little one still serving breakfast, just what we needed. The main attraction of the day was an exhibition at the ACMI, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, in Federation Square called 'Game On'. This was an exhibition charting the development and progression of video games and consoles through the years from 1951 when it first began up to the present day. This is in Lonely Planets Top 10 things to do in Melbourne and for good reason, it was really good fun and cheap too! Megan enjoyed it too and was in no way dragged along! They had over 125 playable games including classics like Pong, Pacman and Space Invaders and Megan shamed me by beating me on every single game we played (except Ms. Pacman!!)! We spent a good few hours here playing on every console imaginable. All of them were working, even the original space invaders machines that are older than both of us, the only console that wasn't working was the PS3, the newest and apparently best of the lot!!