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So, we're back in the UK. After 30 hours of driving, flying and hanging around airports, we are back on solid ground in the Northern Hemisphere, ready to give reality (and jobs) a go.

It was so cold when we got in at 6.25am. There we were, dressed head to toe in our warmest clothing, complete with woolly hats and scarves, and the gust of air from outside just crystellised us. There was snow covering everything we saw on the way back from the airport. It was a lovely dawn, with pale blue and pink whorls of cloud hanging over everything, and the orange sun creeping up over the frosted hills. But cold, very cold.


However, despite the insanely freezing air, we are rallying our spirits and preparing to move, settle in and make some money, and then, get on travelling again!


We want to head to Canada, Japan, Europe...in the near future. After that, well who knows.

The plan is to update the blog with any travel-related news like buying tickets or deciding on a destination, etc. So, keep up to date! Find out where we're going next! Any suggestions?

Once the unpacking, repacking, moving and unpacking is done, we'll get the pics sorted and do a little slideshow for everyone. Thanks for reading!

Alpaca

Another early start this morning saw us checking out of our lovely little apartment (my new model for the perfect first flat) and hitting the road again to go to Montville, the place to be for arts and crafts in the mountains. We went to the Poets Cafe, a beautiful 20s style verana building with curlicue iron work and art deco windows. We sat outside, under a shade, looking out over the valley and nervously eyeing the horribly large spider on the balcony rail about two meters away. This thing was hairy, black as night and about as big as my hand. Apparently, it doesn't like to bite humans...but I have heard that before, concerning sharks.
We had some beautifully light fruit scones with jam and cream, edging back into the English mentality with morning tea seemed to be a good plan. Then, we had an explore of the boutiques of Montville, enjoying a specialty sweet and fudge shop, an African store and some wonderful glasswork from an artist who actually used to live in Bren's house, the one we are currently staying in!
Then, we found the alpaca shop. I have a small obsession with alpacas and I was actually crestfallen when I decided that it would probably not work in my favour to bring a small Alpaca figurine away with me. Just writing about it brings back the sorrow. Doh.
Well, we departed Montville, sans alpaca, and stopped off only once on the way back to the house to buy sushi for lunch. We ate this on the deck, which has purposefully been aged to resemble Japanese wood, with chopsticks and earthenware mugs of green tea, so as to taste a little of the flavour of Bren and Reg's life in Japan.
Then, I spent about an hour on the phone (or the Skype headphones and mic set, depending on how accurate you would like me to be) trying to persuade Vodafone that I really do want to cancel our broadband contract, as we will no longer be in either New Zealand or Australia.
Since then, I have been spending almost two hours trying to bring this blog up to date! Phew! Meanwhile, Alex has been helping out with the gardening and assembling a photo slideshow to upload once we are back.

So,  today is our last full day. Tomorrow, we go into Brisbane to catch our flight back to London. We stop off in Singapore for a few hours, but I don't think they will let us out of the airport. We will be going from our regular 30 degree, sunshine and blue skies, crickets chirupping constantly to the dull grey skies of England, with its rain and its reported -8 degree temperature. Mind you, that was -18 last week, so that is something I suppose!

I will update about the journey when we get back and I have a minute amongst all the reunions and unpacking. We'll put the last of the pictures up and get everything sorted. After that, I plan to try to do a weekly update about our plans for our next big adventure, as well as any other travelling we might happen to do on the way, round the UK and maybe, hopefully, some of Europe, while we save money for the next big trip. So if you are interested, check in every so often, or become a follower for updates.

Thanks for reading!
Since then,

Noosa

Noosa was calling, as Australia's most sought after propety location, so we had to see what all the fuss was about. We drove down the coast to the National Park bay and it is beautiful. I vaguely remembered it from my previous trip to Oz, so we walked along the beach and up along a boardwalk for views over the curving bay. It was so hot, you practically dehydrated just by standing there, so we went down the highstreet, not to shop per se, but to take full advantage of the air-con.
We were set to meet Bren and Reg at a restaurant they particularly like, called 'Bistro C' at 1pm for lunch and we made our way there and joined them at the table with a view over the sea. Alex had some fancy fish and chips (or 'Fush and Chups' as they are referred to often, here) while I had a swanky salad involving brazil-nut polenta, kumara, blue cheese and crostini. Then, while Alex groaned and held his stomach, I polished off a tasty desert of chocolate creme brulee, rum bananas and candied pecans. Yum!
Then, we went and nursed our bulging tummies by laying out on the beach, carefully avoiding the sea and its possible jellyfish monsters.
While we were there, laying on the hot sand (very relaxing), the wind changed direction, bringing dark purple storm clouds to rest above us and also, according to the lifeguard's megaphone speech, a whole 'flock' of bluebottles - not the fly kind, the stinging jellyfish kind to the beach. Yay. How we love the jellyfish. The clouds started to spit, so we upped ships and left the beach, sitting sandy in the car as we drove back to Peregian Beach. Bizarrely, the rain came down even as the sun was out and shining away.
Back at the apartment, we swam in the pool for a few hours, until we had ingested enough of the salty water to probably cause some sort of incipient illness, then made dinner. We watched a documentary on the Forbidden City and laughed at the dramatic 'woe betides' of the presenter.

Peregian

We had an early start today, waking up to pack for our trip away from Melany. Bren had booked us in at a resort in Peregian Beach, so that we could hang out at the beach for a day and go and see Noosa, and have a 'last-blast' holiday before we have to head home.
Off we went, through Yandina and onto Coloundra where Bren hoped to stop for her coffee fix. However, the cafe was closed as it was a Sunday and in order to avoid any 'putrid' coffee fails, we continued on to find another cafe that met the standard. We found one. It was overlooking a glorious turquoise blue beach, with hot white sand and palm trees. We ordered our drinks (Chai latte time!) and sipped and revelled in the light breeze that interrupted the 30 degree sun beating down outside the sheltering cloth roof.
We moved on, arriving at our apartment-style hotel in good time. The apartment was lovely, decked out in sunshine bright colours and with a walk-out patio that took you right to the pool. We stopped just long enough for lunch, then Alex and I headed down to the beach. It was a long curve of golden soft sand, edged by white breakers from the deep blue sea. There wasn't a cloud in sight and we strolled along, toes in the water. We saw a few tiny drops, about a centimeter across, but gave the jellyfish no thought. They were too small to worry about. We splashed about in the shallows and then made our way further up the beach to the lifeguard flags. The friendly lifeguards were walking about, helping kids build sandcastles and paddling with the parents. We dumped our towels high up on the beach and then plunged into the refreshing sea. It is so odd - we are programmed to assume that seawater equals cold water, but here in Oz, its actually warm. It is so much more pleasant! So there we are, swimming around, cooling down in the breakers, when I hear I hear Alex apologise - to me, for hitting me by mistake. Thing is, I am about three metres away - his arms are not that long! So I look around and what he has actually hit is a giant brown rock. Thats weird, I think. There was no rock when we walked over that bit of sand a moment ago.
It was a gigantic jellyfish! It was huge! Alex had brushed the top of it with his hand while playing about in the waves. We both realised at the same moment and you have never seen two people exit the sea at quite such speed. We stood there, on the shore, dumbstruck by the sheer size of this thing. Vowing to never set foot in the Australian sea again, we settled down on our towels, still amazed and horrified.
We sunbathed for a bit and then headed back along the beach to return to the apartment for dinner. As we walked along, we spotted several jellyfish stranded on the beach - some small, frilly ones akin to those we saw in Abel Tasman, some fist-sized brown ones, a few more that were bigger than motorcycle helmets and then, the biggest pile of goop masquerading as an aquatic creature ever. We took some pictures (which will turn up once we have our own pc going again) with Alex next to it for size reference. If we'd met this thing in the water...well, it would probably have eaten us. *shudder*
Back at the apartment, Reg and Bren had gone out, so we went into the pool while we waited for them to return and let us into the house again. Alex and I made supper and then we all watched 'Memoirs of a Geisha' on the super comfy sofa, before going to bed.

Rainforest

Saturday was a day to be taken easily. We relaxed on the deck in the heat, reading and planning. In the afternoon, we all piled into the car and went to the Mary Caincross Rainforest reserve, a reminder of how the area used to look before it was lived in. We browsed the informative display, learning the sheer size of dinosaurs that had lived here thousands of years ago and the sorts of creatures we might come across during our walk. Then, we set off into the trees!
Instantly, the light changes - it is darker, more filtered. The smell of foliage is strong, and the strangler figs loop mad-looking vines across the pathway. As we walked deeper into the rainforest, all sound was blocked out, to be replaced by creaking trunks and snufflings, odd bird calls and things crashing to the floor from the canopy, almost 50 metres above. I spotted two small Pademelons in the brush and both Alex and I froze in order to snap off some pictures of them as they unconcernedly hopped about (they look like tiny versions of kangaroos). We carried on, startling when a large, solid green pod hit the ground just next to us with a heavy thump. Concerned (understandably) about being knocked out, we made a hasty exit from that particular grove of trees, only to walk into a stand of native bush fig trees, and to narrowly avoid being pelted by the continuous rain of bright purple fruit that fell from the canopy above us.
We saw several more Pademelons, including one with a joey in the pouch and we sat and observed them for a bit. We found a crazy misty river winding its way through the tall trees and looking picture-perfect for a Jurassic Park setting. That is where we first heard the noise.
It was a crying baby. We hadn't seen anyone take a baby into the forest, but despite the empty paths, we knew there were lots of other people wandering round. We heard the cry again. Again. Again. It was relentless. We started to think someone had abandoned a baby in the forest. We were just debating investigation, when we heard it again. From the opposite direction! Well, we didn't think there would be two babies in peril in the rainforest. We figured it had to be some sort of animal. Maybe the Pademelons? But no, they just make huffing, clicking noises. We eventually found out what it was - a tiny, insignificent looking bird. A relief, as we had been beginning to think maybe it was some sort of large animal's ingenious human-hunting technique.
Then we took a trip down into Melany town in order to buy the ingredients for a dish Alex and I planned to cook for our hosts the night after. We also hoped to pick up some sort of mozzie bite cure, as Alex had been bitten 51 times and was feeling decidedly woozy. His top lip was starting to swell up, but the chemists was closed. Thus, dinner was eaten inside, so as not to expose him to anymore insects!

Irwin

(Sorry for lengthy gap in updates! We have been in the Hinterlands, with nary a computer in sight, let alone one attached to the internet! Anyhow, we have returned, so Japanese keyboard notwithstanding, let us continue...if I can remember)

Friday, we planned to go to Australia Zoo, the most famous zoo in the world, thanks in large part to the efforts of Steve Irwin and his family. Bren and Reg drove us down to the Zoo gates and out we got, ready to be amazed by crocs and various odd Aussie wildlife.
After paying the entrance fee (crippling, but worth it), we sauntered to the park map, only to discover a khaki-clad ranger standing nearby casually holding a baby crocodile. The day was shaping up to be everything we could have hoped for.
We planned what we would do around some live animal shows and located the stadium where the first was to be held. We were 10 minutes early and caught the last song and dance routines of Bindi Irwin, the eleven year old that has taken over Australia with her nature-wise rallying cry, in memory of her dad. 11! We were impressed, if a little concerned for her, but she and her mum and brother are doing an epic job of holding everything together.
We were then astounded, literally, by what happened next. A chirpy, upbeat Aussie bounded into the arena and explained that she was going to fire up a bidding war between members of the audience for an afternoon in the echidna enclosure with the Irwin family. Alex and I sat firmly on our hands so no-one could accuse us of offering money we definately do not have to the cause in the auction...we were expecting a few dollars here and there, but we watched in utter amazement as the bidding rose, until the prize was rewarded to the winning bidders - at 1600 AUD!
As the winning family were led away (no doubt in shock at the amount they just dropped on a family day out), enthusiastic rangers leapt into the ring, babbling loudly on mics. Suddenly, huge bright blue and red macaws soared out from under the stadium and over our heads, tail feathers literally trailing inches above the audience as they flew round and round. A small flock of flourescent green lorikeets sped out like twittering bullets and almost took our ears off as they zoomed, chattering loudly right in front of our eyes. Then, the enclosure cleared and the white and black cockatoos that had been sitting all round the bannisters let out a screech and flew off - the audience was asked to yell the name of one of the birds out in the zoo. Everyone joined in, yelling out an obscure name (I can't remember it...something like 'Djambela'). Then, as we watched, an absolutely huge black and white stork-like bird could be seen in the distance, approaching the stadium. Long, spindly red legs trailed out behind her and the rangers ran out of the ring to give her space to land. She was as tall as the men, about 6ft, with a truly massive wingspan. As she walked elegantly out of the enclosure, the keepers once again went into hyperactive mode and announced, with great glee, the entrance of the crocodile! The giant screen lit up showing the crocodile slide menacingly out of its  'paddock' behind the stadium and move into the water in the ring. As it moved its whole four meter length of predatory muscle and teeth into the open, the Irwin family ran out, Terri, Bindi and Robert, as well as some keepers to maintain order and keep the kids safe during the act.
We watched as the silent shadow swum under the water, then rearer out towards the antagonising keeper stomping his feet at the edge of the water. They fed him scraps while teaching the audience that 'crocs are not the ferocious animals you think they are...but lets watch him attack a pig leg and do the death roll, just for funsies'.
After the show, we stumbled out of the heat (in the full sunshine, one gets woozy fast) to the shade and had some of our picnic lunch. Then, we embarked on our trip round the zoo. We posed with the model of the crocodile that weighed two tonnes and measured nine by three meters when it was alive (!) and craned our necks to see the red pandas swaying at the tops of their trees. We stood next to the Indian Elephants while they were being fed, watching as their trunks curled up to suck up bite sized chunks of melon. We sat by the otter pool and watched, enchanted as the tiny sisters showed-off their synchronised swimming moves and then snatched fish heads from their keeper. We pressed up against the glass of the tiger enclosure as the keepers entertained the two big cats with toys and the tigers, in a bound of overenthusiasm found theirselves swimming in the pool. We also found out that while tigers like to swim, they don't like going in front feet first as their front paws are so sensitive - so they back into the water! We went through the aviary and looked at all the colours of the parrots and then into the koala pen to pat the koala's soft fuzz and laugh at their expressions. We meandered through the Roo Heaven and were almost run down in a stampede as the entire mob of kangeroos bounced through the park and right by us. Luckily, we stayed very still, and then soothed them with handfuls of roo food, which they munched contentedly with snuffly noses. I was chased by a huge water dragon lizard that was laying on the path when I tried to photo it. We peaked in at the wombats, heavily weighed down by the babies in their pouches. The discovery of a petting zoo had us laughing at the climbing goats and piglets, the calves and gently baaing sheep. We roamed through the shop, amused at the inclusion of woolly mammoths in the toy section and marvelled at the Bindi brand, which is massive and a sheer money-making machine.
After a lovely, fascinating day, we loped out just as the zoo was closing in order to catch our lift back up into the mountains.

Zoom

It has been a helter-skelter couple of days. (Apologies in advance if this makes no sense, I am using a Japanese keyboard and it is very weird).
Our last full day with Richard and Ansie, we got a lift with Brad into the city again as he had to go and pick up Rhian's birth certificate. We meanwhile, had lunch in the Queen St Mall food court and then walked over to Southbank and spent the afternoon lazing about the urban beach. This is such a cool concept - its an area of golden white sand, just off from the pavement, with a free pool stretching out towards the river. You can sit in the shallows, pretend you are on the beach and watch the boats go by on the river, or lie back at look over the skyscrapers, or even see the cars filled with commuters zooming over the bridge in the distance. Once we had swum about about and just generally enjoyed being cool in the heat of the city, as well as the obvious novelty of sitting on a beach in the middle of a very built-up area, we went and lay on the grass to dry off. We caught the buses back to Redland Bay and began the dinner. For our last night, Ansie was constructing the creme-de-la-creme of dishes, a roast leg of lamb for the meat-eaters and for us all, a vegetable and ricotta stack. Yum. Delicious! We helped out laying the table and finishing off the pesto mix and then set to eating. We all ended up staying around the table for the whole evening, eating the main, then later a platter of fruits (fresh lychees! Sun-ripened nectarines and watermelon!) and then Brad brought out one of his expensive, vintage reds and a tray of gourmet cheeses and we ended up all eating more than one would have thought physically possible. Anyhow, eventually, we all retired to bed.

The following morning, Alex and I packed up our stuff from the caravan and loaded up Richards car, as he very kindly insisted on driving us up to Melany, our next destination. Ansie joined us on the journey, and after we had bid farewell to Brad and Licelle we set off on the 'short trip' (Aussie terms, not English. In English, we would refer to it as 'Crikey! What a distance! We should stop for tea and scones, so as to not starve before we get there!') Ah well, three hours later we arrived and after a brief mix-up with the house number and sending Alex into a complete stranger's residence, we found Bren and Reg's house. The six of us had a drink on the balcony, before Richard and Ansie had to go to meet friends for lunch. So we thanked them very much and bid them adieu and off they went.
Now, we are staying in an art deco inspired bedroom in a truly lovely 'Queenslander' house (The traditional state building style, made of wood, with painted cladding and very high ceilings). Bren and Reg took us down into the town of Melany and we wandered up the street while they shopped for groceries. The single high street is lined with an odd mix of cafes, hippy shops touting 'legal' highs (!) and touristy boutiques selling handmade soap and the like. We stopped to have cake at a cafe that was beckoning us in with its chocolate coated muffins and blueberry cheesecakes. We sat outside, pavement cafe culture, shaded from the sunshine and munching on cake. On the way back to the house, we passed along Mountain View road, and saw the Glass House Mountains in all their bizarrely shaped splendour, surrounded by sweeping rainforest covered hills and valleys. Back at the house, after dinner and a sit out on the raised decking overlooking the tropical garden, we came inside and watched 'The Last Samurai' before going to bed.

Today, we awoke and had breakfast on the balcony overlooking the palm trees. We all got ready for our planned day at the beach, zooming off in our host's little red sports car to King's Beach in Caloundra. It was beautiful. Clear brilliant blue skies, baking hot sunshine, fine white sand and turquoise water, breaking as, admittedly large, waves on the beach. Palm trees (and pines, oddly) waved on the shores and pavilions and giant parasols occupied the groundspace. We sat in a little cafe on the edge of the beach and the others had coffee while I had a pineapple juice. So lovely! Fresh from the plantations just outside of town, it was sweet, but not sickly, just right and so good and refreshing! After our refreshments, we headed down the bakingly hot sand with funny, high-step mincing movements and settled on towels. Around lunchtime we ventured back to the cafe for fish and chips and then Alex and I bravely ventured near the water, despite the anecdotes involving sharks/jellyfish/crocodiles/sheer bad luck that we have come across while travelling. The water. unbelieveably, was warm. I have never encountered warm seawater before. It was a revelation! We jumped straight in, embraced being battered by the 7ft waves, splashed around...then the helicopter that keeps a lookout for sharks went overhead and we decided to vacate the water. We esconced ourselves in the saltwater pool at the end of the beach instead to wash off the sand, then went back to the towels and read for a bit. Being fidgety though, we ended up getting up to go on a walk quite soon afterwards and meandered down the coast on a raised wooden boardwalk, next to the palms and looking out over oddly shaped rocks into the surf. We had some ice cream (mandatory beach food) and then sat in the still warm rays of the sun at about 5pm. I could very easily get used to this lifestyle.
We returned to the house with a short detour to Melany to pick up some picnic goods for tomorrow, when we plan to visit Australia Zoo. This is a highly exciting plan, given our addiction to animals and the fame of this particular zoo. We manufactured our own pizzas for dinner tonight, with myself making the bases and then instructing their topping process. We ate outside on the decking, surrounded by a symphony of rainforest noise and friendly black beetles. The sky up here in the mountains is completely free of light pollution and every single star shines brightly and clearly. It is so beautiful.

I am currently writing this from the aforementioned Japanese keyboard, on a Mac - so its very odd, but the soundtrack to my writing comes completely and utterly from the depths of the rainforest. There is the constant low hum of the crickets out in the trees, and a staccato frog that chirrups in scales. Another frog makes a monotonous ticking noise not unlike a clock. Before, when we were sitting outside, there was also the steady bumping of large armoured beetles throwing themselves at the glass lamps as well as various rufflings and skuffles in the bushes that had us quite nervous, as there are both mambas and taipans in the garden. There was even the odd flap of large, leathery wings as fruit bats flipped past through the night on a mission for tasty goodness.

Biking

Awaking to hot blue skies and a haze of sunshine, Alex and I partook of a tasty toast breakfast and then set about making ready to go cycling again. With the rucksack packed full of water bottles, we whipped on our helmets and jumped on the bikes and we were off.
We set ourselves a direction and headed that way with no particular goal in mind. We cycled down the coast in the direction of the Gold Coast for a while, enjoying the occasional rush of cool air as you sloped down a hill and perspiring through the heat on the upward slope.

After a good long while of following the cycle path in random twists and turns, and finding that most of them led onto dead ends, we decided that it might be better to turn back than risk getting lost somewhere in Queensland. So, we backtracked and started cycling back up the route we knew, towards Victoria Point jetty. We had in mind that there was a cafe nearby that we could stop at for sustinence, so on we cycled. It took longer than we remembered, it was definately hotter than before, but we made it without too much difficulty (the one difficulty being that I paid too much attention to a large, golden butterfly and fell off my bike when I careered off the pavement into the banked up edge - good thing I didn't go the other way, or I'd have fallen down onto the rocks lining the beach instead!)

Finally, gloriously, we made it through the heat of the day to the cafe and sat and drank cold gatorade from the chiller cabinet. Ah. Good stuff. Once our flagging electolytes were restored, we had some lunch and then went down towards to beach and sat in the shade watching the boats skim across the water around Coochie Mudlow. Of course, not too long after this, we had to start heading back if we wanted to make it home in time for dinner! So we hopped back on the bikes (ooof, muscle pain) and started peddling back.
We made it home, thouroughly exhausted and jumped in the shower to clear away the thought of exercise. The others were making Spaghetti Bolognaise for dinner, and Richard was kindly manufacturing an entirely different pasta sauce just for me and my vegetarian ways. We laid up the table and prepared to nosh! I sprinkled some of Richard's fresh garden chillies on my dinner and they surely pack a punch raw than cooked! Good stuff!
Instead of being outside on the patio, this time we were eating inside at the table usually reserved for dinner parties in order to avoid more mozzie bites and it seemed to inspire intense debate. We covered the spectrum of random dinner topics, from an in-depth look at the language of Afrikaans, to the issue of privacy on the internet. After a while, we moved to the sofas and watched baby Rhian gurgling at the camera as her parents tried to get a good passport shot of her. Eventually, the effort tired her out and the rest of us decided to retire to bed as well.

Heat

On Friday, we took a day inside to relax and sketch. Our adventure of the day was in our complete and utter lack of direction when we set out for the three-block away shops...We managed to tramp over nearly every road in the estate apart from the one we actually needed to be on. We eventually returned home, defeated, to the laughter of Richard and Ansie. After more in-depth directions and a hand-drawn map, we set out again. Moments later, Richard passed us on the bike, laughingly checking us to make sure we weren't going off in the wrong direction again. The trauma of the whole thing deserved chocolate, so we bought some cookies (have had no chocolate in over three weeks! Shocking!) and came home again.

Saturday, we awoke in the caravan, our 5-star luxury accommodation after some of the places we have resided. 

 Our plan for the day was to go and market in Brisbane and we planned to do this self-sufficiently...with the use of the public transportation services. Hahaha. What fools us.
Anyways, we munched down breakfast (cereal addiction has commenced; no more porridge!!!), waved a cheery hello to new arrival to the house, Licelle's brother Antoine, and then departed out of the door to locate the bus stop.
We stood in the blaring hot sunshine of nine in the morning, by the side of the road, watching and waiting for the right bus to roll on by. Eventually, a bus turned up. It wasn't quite the right one, but we boarded anyway and rode through the suburbs of Brisbane, stopping to change at Griffith Uni and finally into the city proper. It only took us just over an hour. Distances in Oz can be deceiving!
We walked to the Southbank precinct and strolled along the beautiful curving metal sculptural arbour, covered with purple flowers and green tendrils. We came across a communal theatre project stadium and saw some randoms practicing their skills with various acrobatical things. Then, we found the market.
This was an excellent market, with many things that I wanted in order to fill my house (as yet, a shadowy dream house that I have yet to own). However, they also had a leather-working stall the likes of which I have never seen before! A fantastic tooled leather owl shaped satchel caught my eye, and I wanted it so badly! Alas, it was a little pricey, but I did get possibly the coolest coin purse (never knew I needed one until now). Its shaped like a dragon, and he is the happiest looking dragon I have ever seen. He is lovely. He is called Clarence. When I am back in the UK and it is cold and raining, I will pull Clarence from my bag and remember being really, really hot in Brisbane. Awesome.
After the market, we sat on the edge of the urban beach pool, right in the centre of the Southbank overlooking the river. We dangled our legs into the cool water and sat for a while, enjoying the water and the sunshine. 

 However, as per usual we started to get hungry after a while, so we started the search and forage mission for lunch. We located tasty burgers and ate them in a cool, air-conditioned room. I had some more vitamin water, which I am enamoured of (so thirst quenching!) and decided maybe this consumption was what is keeping me free of mozzie bites - its packed with vitamin b. Poor Alex is gaining bites by the hour...
After lunch, we wandered down the riverside, through an elevated boardwalk around rainforest and pools. We spotted five large lizards soaking up the heat on rocks by a little waterfall and another one chased us around the pavement, running helter-skelter on his tip toes. We discovered a Nepalese Peace Pagoda. The carving on this building was beautiful, intricate and all in glossy dark wood.

 
We were accosted by a little old lady clutching leaflets about the Citycat boat service. We all had a discussion about university courses, and the immense amount of subjects her progeny have studied. She herself had studied the Ottoman Empire and was very excited about my Classical degree. Anyway, it turned out that the boat was cheaper by far than usual cruises due to the fact that it is actually a part of the Brisbane public transport system. So for the same price as the bus fare (cheaper, actually) we took to the water, riding the back of the boat all the way up the river and the front (with its strong, cooling and exhilarating headwind) all the way back again. We took snapshots of the city skyline and the red-brown cliffs.

We saw a ridiculously massive cruise ship (bigger than the buildings it was parked alongside on the shore) and pelicans in flight.
After the thrill of the Citycat, we disembarked on the other side of the river and meandered into town for a sit down. After drinking loads of water to recuperate from being in the sun so long, we started looking at how to get back home.
Pah. Turns out, the Brisbane travel system goes in zones, like the tube in London. Nowhere points this out though and for some reason, all the bus drivers blank us when we talk to them. We reckon there is some sort of secret, in-the-know bus driver handshake/signal that you are meant to give when you board in order to get them to speak to you. So far, we have been unsuccessful. Eventually, we managed to work it out and board the right bus and arrive home. Phew!
It was just coming up to dinner time and everyone (full house as Licelle, Brad and Rhian are back from the hospital) was getting things ready for the table. We laid out the plates and so on and then Richard served up a whole BBQed salmon, which we had with roasted veg and a potato bake. Some of the others had chicken kebabs as well and we all sat down to eat.
We ate, and talked and had guavas for desert and Alex and I were interrogated as to our travels and purposes. We listened to the geckos crawling the walls as they chirupped and watched large bugs fly in and out of the lamplight. One such giant was a preying mantis that flew onto the edge of the BBQ. Richard picked him up and gave him to Alex, who tried to put it on my head while I took some snaps. I held him for a little while, and he danced his front legs about and curled his feelers, looking about with big black eyes.

Then, we went to bed. Sleepy!

Brisbane

Today, we awoke bizarrely early again in order to cadge a lift into the city with Brad. This mildly backfired, as he needed to pick up his brother on the way and his brother had been coerced into babysitting duty. Thus, we stayed at his brother's house for an hour or so watching the tennis.
Anyway, after a while, we headed into the city proper and arrived in Brisbane, the air heavy with prospective rain that never came, but with a humidity of 89%, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were swimming regardless.
We took a stroll through the city centre, wandering around looking at all the buildings made up of dusty red-gold stonework. We found the Botanic Gardens (which we seem to magnetically locate in every city) and admired the giant lizards sunbathing on the rocks and shivered at the slimy eels gathering at the edges of the ponds. We took some touristy pictures to document the lizards and then carried on to Old Government House. We walked down to a mangrove boardwalk and saw some truly horrific looking red and yellow spiders the size of my palm hanging in the trees. After staring at them in terrified fascination for a good five minutes, we nervously picked our way down the centre of the path along the riverbank, skin crawling. We continued down the river for a while and then turned back into the city, returning to the central precinct in order to have a cool drink and people watch. We sat, with large frozen fruit juices in front of us and a brownie/custard slice for good measure. While we munched and sipped and had brainfreeze, we watched all the people go by. Some were wearing crazy balloon hats from a vendor up the street a little, others were in the height of fashion. It was very interesting.
We took a look around the Myer mall, looking at all the things for sale, but we got bored pretty fast as we can't actually buy anything much due to packing and monetary restrictions. We went to City Hall and sat in George Square, laughing at the need to relocate City Hall when the building in front of us was so obviously perfection for it.
We found a store I visisted last time I was in Oz, called 'Skinnys'. A place for Australiana and sheep skin products, I caved to the forecasts of -11 degrees centigrade at home, and the millions of pictures of snowy landscapes crowding facebook and purchased a new pair of slippers in order to try and keep myself warm when we return home.
Then, content with my buy and after an amusing diversion in a geographical store involving mouldable figurines, we managed to locate a bus service that was headed in the right direction, caught it despite being 10cents short of the ticket price (thank-you Mr. Bus Driver) and were picked up by Ansie at the bus stop.
We have just enjoyed our third restaurant quality meal - homemade buckwheat pasta with roasted garlic and tomato sauce with olives and parmesan...Now, for sleepytime.

Thanks for the comments! We shall try and get some pictures up and in the blog asap. In the meantime, check out our Flickr gallery. :)

Coochie

We aimed to be awake at 7.30 this morning, in order to not embarrass ourselves in front of our super-early-morning-riser hosts. Hmm. We made it up by 8am, not too bad, considering the complete lack of sleep the night before!
Our plan today was to take a bike ride up the coast to Victoria Point and then catch a ferry over to a tiny little island called Coochie Mudlow. So, after manufacturing ourselves some salad sandwiches from last nights leftovers, packing up water bottles, rain jackets, maps, phones - the whole shebang of a survival kit, as well as donning our law-abiding helmets and some blister-avoiding fingerless gloves (like a ruffian) we mounted our worthy steeds (Richard and Ansie's bikes) and set off down the sloping driveway. Then we stopped, to adjust the saddles. Then, we zoomed down the road! Then we stopped to check we were going in the right direction.
Eventually, we set off properly, whizzing around the bike paths along the coastline, the sea lapping not three metres away. Mangroves skulked about in the shallow water, luckily clear (I say lucky, because if it is muddy the crocodiles can surprise you!) We took a path through woodland round the back of a golf course, spotting a sleepy goanna lizard pop into flee mode and walk on water before submerging itself under a lily pad in an ornamental pond. After some hills and a few long roads with overhanging branches, we made it to the ferry port and walked our bikes onto the little 40-people ferry that pulled up at the jetty.
We meandered across the bay, landing about ten minutes later on Coochie Mudlow. We embarked immediately upon a cycle route around the island. There were some excellent hills to whoosh down, providing a much-needed breeze in the seriously warm environs of the island. I had a nervous moment when I felt something on my leg and looked down to see a large, spherical brown and cream spider sat on my calf. I almost hit a tree in my eagerness to stop, but then very calmly managed to brush it off with a twig. Phew. I laugh in the face of deadly creatures.
We continued on, viewing the pancake-flat cane toads on the road with a sort of macabre interest. I mentioned a while ago, how the New Zealanders serve to hit possums - Australians do the same with cane toads. They have cane toad bashing days. It is like a national holiday!
With great surprise, we found we had completed the entire island route in very little time...admittedly Coochie is a very small island, but still. Bikes are not our first form of transportation! We drew up outside the kiosk and sat down to sample caramel icecreams and vitamin water, which I am addicted to. We watched the creamy ibis stalk about the patio. After our recuperation session, we wandered down onto the yellow sand beach and got comfy after a re-app of sunscreen. Alex concentrated on building a mini fort to protect himself from the sea (thouroughly checked over for possible nasties/jellyfish/sharks/crocs/random evil man-eating beasts that lurk in water) while I started a battle against the land-based meanies, the ants. After a while, in the heat, the sea was looking mighty tempting, but the fear remained. Would we die a horrible death if we ventured into Australian seawater? I dipped in a toe, and survived. The signs were good. There were kids further out in the bay - if all went badly, they would be eaten first. Happy with this arrangement, we went into the deliciously cool water and washed off the grainy sand.
Well, we survived the sea, got back on the ferry and biked on home again. We arrived back to find a note from Ansie - Licelle had given birth at 4pm that afternoon! So congratulations to Licelle and Brad, and welcome to the world Rhian!
That evening, once Ansie and Richard had returned from the hospital, we all feasted on amazing vegetable pies, and I seasoned mine with the 'Hooligan Juice' manufactured by Richard. This substance contains 5kg of tiny chillies, and little else. Yum, tasty. Alex refrained, not being into the hot food so much. Its all good.

Chillaxing

Today, then, has been relaxed and quiet after our frenetic day yesterday. We found Richard in a cafe at the station and he drove us and our ridiculously hefty bags back to his and Ansie's house. We arrived back, and nearly everyone was up and about, despite it being 6.30 in the morning!
We were intorduced to Brad and Licelle and then we all set about making breakfast, which we ate outside on the patio surrounded by palm trees and ferns. After our leisurely breakfast, we cleaned up and looked over maps of the area to sort an itinery out for the next couple of days.
Later (about 10) Richard, Ansie, Alex and I set off on a car trip around the area so that we could get a feel for it without collapsing from exhaustion halfway through the trip due to our disturbed night! We went to Victoria Point, out to Cleveland and up to Wellington Point where we admired the giant bunyan fig trees growing their roots down into the ground from the upper branches and munched on icecreams. We watched some amateur fishers catch a whiting and a blowfish and they, being friendly Australians, immediately wished us a good trip and recommended places to go. We tootled back to Redland Bay via the farm fresh fruit stall and the chouk farm for eggs, and also, the best fish shop this side of Brisbane. I mentioned, in passing, how I had started to eat fish in NZ and had once tried a prawn in Spain...and this was a catalyst for buying enough different fish varieties to feed us all every night for the next week.
We had naps when we got back as we were both falling asleep on our feet, and now we've just sorted our plans and updated everything. New pictures are up on Flickr! Enjoy! Comment, let us know what you think!

Run

Ah, the bliss of an actual bed! We awoke refreshed and happy to be horizontal and not propped up in a seat near a screaming infant. We grabbed our stuff, checked-out of the hotel and wandered into town for breakfast. After fruit smoothies and a shopping diversion (I could not help myself. Things were literally leaping out of shops at me, it would have been dangerous to ignore that sort of behaviour from inanimous objects), we bought monorail tickets with the intent of swooping about the first floor level of the city, sightseeing as we went in a fantastic two-birds-one-stone manaeovre.
However, we instantly became absorbed into Darling Harbour. Bizarrely, having written off the National Maritime Museum as unworthy of our illustrious presences, we were humbled into buying tickets for the immensely exciting opportunity to scramble, aft and fore, over a tallship, the exact replica in fact of the Endeavor - the ship Capt. Cook arrived in both Oz and Nz in for the first time! After some quality time pretending to be a pirate (to great acclaim from other watching tourists) and harrassing the volunteer guides with question after question, we moved onto the HMAS Vampire, an Australian Naval ship. We played around the gundecks and the engine rooms and thouroughly explored the many rooms, emerging finally feeling hungry. We hunted out a food court (our new skill, we can find one anywhere. Why, oh why, does England not believe in the magic of the food court?) had sandwiches on the steps overlooking the Harbour ships and a floating model of a seadragon. This is turn led us to the Maritime Museum proper, which was hosting a 'Mythical Creatures' exhibition for free and that sucked us inside with nary a say. Before long we were posing with giant dragons and watching mini movies about the making of mythical creatures in 3D. We saw fake mermaids, heard legends about unicorns and were just admiring a giant golden griffin when...eeek! The time!
We had completely lost track of the time. We had exactly 40 minutes until our train left - and we had to catch the one-way moving monorail on the rest of our planned tour of the city, walk sharpish back to the hotel, get our lugguage, trump off down to the station, check-in the bags and board the train!
We hopped on the monorail, stuffed ourselves into the crowded compartment and gazed out of the windows in an effort to see the remaining precincts of the city and also to stem the flow of rising panic. We swooped above Chinatown, with green tiled bamboo-style roofs and calligraphic signs. We moved on through the Haymarket, passing intricate and ornate Victorian era windows and curlicues on the sides of the buildings. As we arrived back in the City Centre, we flew off the platform and zoomed through to the other side of the precinct to our hotel like birds with their tails on fire. We grabbed our lugguge, and with 20 minutes until our train left, caved and ordered a taxi. This time, we were not swindled by the driver, partly because we obviously had that harried, city-liver vibe and partly because Alex maintained a constant glare at him through the passenger window, which probably unnerved the poor guy into wanting to get rid of us as fast as possible. At the station, we located our platform in super-quick time and boarded the train (no time left to check the bags, they would have to ocme with us!)
Phew! We made it! With the bags safely stowed in overhead compartments, we were ready to embark. The beginning few hours of the journey were in light and Alex actually sighted a kangaroo from the window. We admired the beautful scenery, lagoons surrounded by rich mangrove and eucalyptus forest, with houses snuggled into the roots near the water (obviously the locals are not as petrified of crocadiles as I am). As it grew dark, the hyperactive Italian kids sitting in front of us went almost ballistic with surpressed energy and grew louder and louder. Grr. Finally, they were smothered in sleeping bags and after the initial excitment wore off (two hours later) they passed out. To Alex's great amusement, I made good on my promise from the previous train and crawled down into the footwell with the full intention of sleeping on the floor. This I did, reasonably successfully for a good few hours, but eventually the jarring floor started to cause me pain, and the enforced curled up position was no longer comfy - so we swapped. It obviously proved more comfy for Alex, as when the lights came on at 5am this morning, and the announcement came over the PA that we were coming into the station, I could not wake him up at all. I was starting to have visions of having to ask for assitance to drag him off the train when he finally awoke and we disembarked, off to find my Uncle Richard in the rabbit warren of Roma St. station, Brisbane.

Sydney

We arrived in Sydney city at 6am on Sunday morning, tired, bleary eyed and with an air of doom about us (we know we have another train journey to look forward too, tomorrow night. Yay. Not).
We decided to go with a taxi to get to the hotel, as we have no net now for quick map reading and were right royally ripped off as the taxi driver took us on the scenic route. Scum. Not feeling like it was the best start to the day, we checked-in to find that the hotel had no record of our booking. Luckily, before despair could take us, the lovely lady on reception pulled the records from the website we booked it from and confirmed our booking did exist. Wheee! We left our bags at reception and went into town to rustle up some breakfast, which we found at a nearby food court. Then, late morning we were able to check into the room, shower and regain our human sides after the night of misery on the train. Feeling considerably recovered, we sallied forth into town and took a stroll around the Botanic Gardens. Here, we were walking into the palm gardens, discussing a book when something, or rather, lots of them, attracted our attention. Flying Foxes. Hundreds upon hundreds of them, hangin like leathery pods from every branch of every tree for a considerable distance in front of us. Noiselly, the ruffled and squawked and cried and opened their wings and flapped about. They were amazing! It was was of the most sureal experiences either of us have had, surrounded by giant diurnal bats! Added to this, a huge flock of Cockatoos zoomed past, screaming defiances at the Flying Foxes, yellow head feathers whirling. Long black beaked ibis stalked about the ground, along with tiny red ground birds and bush turkeys. What an unexpected, sudden sight for us!
We were definately cheered by this encounter and we continued on to find the NSW Art Gallery in the hopes of locating an Eliasson exhibition we had heard about. No such luck, but we did end up having a group demonstration of the Didgeridoo which was excellent and obviously, very Australian!
After the Gallery, we wandered back through the gardens and up to Mrs Macquaries Point, which promised a brilliant view of both the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. As we sat on the wall overlooking the Harbour and across at the two architectural images of Sydney, we took lots of photos and peered out hopefully for dolphin glimpses. As we couldn't very well stop in Sydney and miss their icons, we had to go a join the tourists thronging about the bases for the obligatory cheesy photo. After which, we walked down through Circular Quay and stumbled upon the most glorious chocolatier shop, with beautifully decorated cakes and chocolates lined up in glossy rows along the counter. The persausive (as if we needed it!) Maitre'd suggested we go inside to look at things closer and when we emerged it was with a lovely brown bag, containing a brown box, that contains two very artful and very decadent deserts. Realising then that we were very hungry, we headed to the food court for dinner, filled ourselves nicely and have headed back to the hotel for an early night, so as to enjoy tomorrow and to better survive the following nights train journey.

Nightmare

On our last day in Melbourne, we woke on time, did a last sweep of the hotel room and were just generally hanging about (I was writing the blog) when we realised that the clocks were all in one way or another, completey wrong. So we abandoned the blog, grabbed our stuff and headed downstairs to check-out, hoping no-one would notice our tardiness and chagre us late fees. Luckily, no-one did.
With our bags in storage at the hotel for the rest of the day, we took the tram down to Fed Square to enjoy breakfast, looking out through the glass a steel geometry of the Atrium onto a theatrical stage and the river. After our tasty breakfasts, we waddled gently down to the museum and went about the various exhibits. Never have we, either one of us, been more disturbed, horrified or strangely fascinated by all the things that exist in Australia (and much of the rest of the world) that would like nothing better than to hurt/paralyse/injure/destroy you and then probably eat you too for good measure. We saw giant, spindly legged crickets and armour plated cockroaches. We submersed ourselves in plastic bubbles so as to see giant ants close up, at eye level. We witnessed the many horrifc ways in which sea creatures disable you before they eat. No-one needs imagination for nasty aliens or thrille rmovie monsters - they should just spend an afternoon wandering the Melbourne Museum to find all the inspiration they need for something really, really bad.
Once we had horrified ourselves with the denizens of the deep and the insects above (including one exhibit of free-roaming spiders with no protective steel plating or iradium or lasers or anything helpful, at all, we went into the mind and emotions section. There, we learnt what things could attack us rom within, mental disorders and the like. Sounds truly disturbing, but there were some brilliant interactive bits, like taking to a couch to experience a dreamscape movie for three minutes, or standing in pods filled with short film clips meant to inspire a rollarcoaster of emotions. After all this, we sat and looked at the dinosaur skeletons for a bit, to soothe our fractured minds, then we took our leave of the museum (but not without gazing longingly at the toy possums and platypus' in the gift shop). Do you know, it turns out that in Australia, possums are actually a protected species? They cherish them here. Not like the bloodthirsty New Zealanders. Obviously, Oz is some sort of possum freeland and they have possum protection programs and so on.
We went back to the food court for dinner and then it was back to collect the bags and off to the station to catch our night train to Sydney. We checked in the lugguage, ate muffins bigger than a small child's head in the food court and then went to board our train. Where we waited. Waited. Waited some more...eventually, almost an hour after it was meant to leave, everyone was allowed on the train and off we went. The leg room was ok, the chair was rubbish, it was your usual semi-horrific night journey on public transport. Added to the complete inability to sleep in such conditions, and thus staying in a sort of dozy, weary trance as the train bumped and swayed about, the whole thing had to stop about two and a half hours out of Sydney due to railworks. We finished our journey on coaches, having been woken up to be told this and move accomodation at 4am. Gah.

Decade

New Years Eve dawned, bright blue and already 25 degrees. As the temperature rose, we headed out into the city on a hunt for breakfast. We caught the free city circle tram, smartly outfitted in marroon and gold, and listened to the helpful commentary as we traversed the city. We got off by the Ian Potter Gallery and discovered an amazing iron conservatory type atrium, surrounmded by the funky architecture of the galleries and Federation Square. In here, we found giant umbrellas hanging from the ceiling, 'Summer-time' themed art installations and a cafe selling tasty paninis, which we sampled for breakfast. While we ate, tiny sparrows came and sat on the table next to our plates, hungrily looking on and chirping at us for scraps.
After our breakfast, we took a walk round Fed Square, admiring the view of the Yarra River and gardens, the crazy buildings and all the art. There is, suffice to say, a lot of art in Melbourne. Pretty much every ten feet you will find some sort of art installation, popping out of the pavement or hanging from the ceiling or peeping around a tree trunk, or surging out of the ground. They are not precious about it though, the natives continue their daily life around the art with no issue. It is integral to the city. Like the trams.
Now, Melbourne is considered the shopping capital of Oz, and with good reason. Everywhere you look, there is another shop. Melbourne is a very large city and there are so many malls, outlets and boutiques that we didn't know where to go. In the end, we walked along the main street, exploring the Lanes and Alleyways that branch off of it. We found a shop dedicated to F1 which Alex admired, and I bought some board shorts for the beach in Brisbane. (advisable due to jellyfish!)
We looked in on the Houses of Parliment, striking touristy poses on the many steps in the front. We relaxed for a while in Parliment Gardens, next to a friendly and dozy pigeon. We found a huge gothic-looking cathedral, pointed spires soaring up into the sky, edged with sharp stonework and gargoyles.
We returned to the hotel, via tram, in order to freshen up and change for the night ahead. We left and caught the tram again, heading for Southbank which was purported to be an excellent viewing place for both sets of fireworks, as well as a lovely place to eat. The reports were not wrong. Southbank lined the river, with an extraordinary view of the skyline, crazy bridges arching over the water, cruises floating up and down the water and a whole range of chattering people settling into the benches and grassways. Eateries line the edge and we were debating which to go for...
(ARGH! Possible time delay miscalculation, must go now to avoid incurring late check-out fees! Will continue writing later!!!)
...While looking over the various special NYE menus, we stumbled upon the food court. Not only was it still open, but it was the most magnificent and varied food court we had yet discovered. Faced with an array of amazing food, all ready to eat, our stomachs made the descision for us and we found ourselves seated and munching within ten minutes of agonising choice process. Alex chowed down on a burger and pasta salad while I went Greek with spanakopita and salad. Yum. After our delicious dinners, we strolled along the river bank for a while, occasionally pausing to watch a street entertainer or sing along to the radio broadcast echoing around the streets for NYE. Then, we head across a bridge bedecked with steel sculptures and onwards past some crazy birds (rainbow lorikeets!!!) to the carnival area. We hiked on past more bizarre art (a forest of metal sconces) and settled ourselves in a field of spongy grass (so spongy, its is almost like bouncing. It is everywhere in Melbourne). Here, we listened to the playlist, Alex bemoaning his newfound liking of less than indie music and myself bopping away. However. Promising as this scene sounds for much jollity to be had as the evening developed and the early family fireworks began at 9.15, clouds began to gather over the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, the Eureka Tower. Menacing purple-black pouffs clustered over the fake Eiffel Tower. The radio began to issue weather warnings from the Met office. 'Severe storms forecast - be prepared to take refuge.' Refuge! Seriously? We were highly concerned at this point about the forocity of the storm. It grew darker and the clouds multiplied. Then, suddenly the wind picked up and rubbish and toddlers blew across the field. Giant, fat, heavy and cold drops of rain descended from the sky, knocking out passing birds. We decided now was the time to take refuge. So did the other few million people in attendance. A few hundred of us crammed under the thin, boardwalk bridge near the field, sheltering from the onslaught as best we could, not unlike penguins. The ferris wheel pit on a light show and the music continued as we all huddled away from the wind and rain. The fireworks put in an appearance about 15 minutes after the start of the storm, during a lull of rain. They sprang up from behind the Cricket ground (MCG) and made the damp grass sparkle. They were not alone - Mother Nature decided it was a competition of wills, and sprang the most jagged, pink and purple lightning bolts through the air inbetween the man-made lightshow.
Once the first set of fireworks had finished, we debated about staying the next three hours to midnight. However, no-one comes this far and goes home early just because of a little rain, do they? So we stayed. We danced wildly to the crazy rock music that came on the radio. Then we stopped, in case the police thought we had been drinking (strictly a no-no at this event). We then made a run for it as the rain revisited and trumped through various places between the Yarra River, the multistory carpark, Fed Square, the Atrium and some of the random colonaded buildings on Swanson St. There were millions of people, in the street, under tiny overhangs, congregating under stairwells - it was crazy! The music continued, the church bells decided to join in with their own cacophony and the disco that had meant to be taking place in Fed Square had dissolved into a mosh pit adoring the African Dance Troupe that were performing.
We stood by a sheltering pillar and ate the rest of the salad we had ordered for dinner as a mid-night snack. At about 11, we headed back towards our pre-picked-out epic viewing point for the midnight fireworks. It was so cold, still raining, so we shucked the open air for sitting on the grass under the bridge, drinking hastily purchased hot chocolate and eating warm doughnuts, faced on one side by a large Indian family and on the other by a Korean street gang. Bizarre circumstances. After one of the Korean boys got led away by the police, we decided to absent ourselves too. We went down to watch the ferris wheel performing its colours and took shelter under a tree (not wise, I know, in lightning, but it was fry or stay moderately dry. We took a gamble). There, we performing some sort of keep-warm jig to Micheal Jackson's 'Billy Jean' which was blaring out of the speakers lining the river.
Finally, it was almost time, so we darted out, and up the bridge to the point where we could view the entire skyline in order to see the fireworks being fired off the roofs. We had our own countdown, the music cresendoed and the fireworks whizzed, banged, flew and spun through the air off the roofs of the skyscrapers. 2010. Wow!
We spent the first hour of the new decade walking, almost in parade, with the thousands of other revellers not in cars or trains towards the outskirts of town. It was still raining, people were running about, the sheer numbers were crazy. Lights, music - noise everywhere. We sploshed back, made it to our hotel and went to sleep, grateful that the hotel had provided thick duvets in the wardrobe for just such an occasion.

New Years Day dawned...and it was grey and chilly. Hmm. Now that it appears that we really do have the power to cause rain wherever we go, we are seriously thinking about patenting our abilty and earning free trips to hot, draught-ridden locations forever. Its just a case of how to prove it? Ideas on a postcard.
It turns out that it was the coldest and wettest day Melbourne had experience in THIRTY years. Seriously. Its a gift. A giant, draught-ending, water providing, damp and sodden gift.
Anyway, rain notwithstanding, we took off into town and caught the tram to the Docklands. Here, we had a tasty breakfast of fresh blueberry and almond buns and cinnamon rolls. We perused the souviner shops for a little while then headed back into the city proper. We passed the Melbourne Prison where Ned Kelly met his end, as well as several beautiful gardens and buildings. The buildings are a mix of intricate Victorian stonework and modernist colourful blocks. We popped into the Imax theatre and watched the 3D movie, 'Dinosaurs Alive' as we both like dinosaurs. It was amusing as well to hear various young children scream 'My eye!!!' after a shovel full of sand was tossed out of the screen, or yelling when a Seismosauras trumped around the forest.
It was getting late, so we took another walk around the streets near Fed Square and onto Southbank to revisit the food court for dinner. We had Chinese and Indian food respectively, and then splurged on an ice-cream sundae. We sat outside by the river, watching peolpe go by and plowing through ice cream and waffle bits. Then, we returned to the hotel and went for a dip in the pool (not heated, eeep!) and then to re-warm ourselves we sat in the sauna for a bit.