30/9/02

Took Doris back, got the deposit back straight away which was good. Spent the rest of the day trying to sort out T's PC which is misbehaving, it will be OK eventually.

28/9/02

Went and found a new plastic bubble thing for the roof of the van, only $24. S cleaned the inside but it was raining to much for me to do the outside. Went to L&C's in the arvo to watch the end of the AFL Grand Final. Got absolutely hammered.

26/9/02

Went for a nice long walk. Quite hard going as we haven't done much exercise recently. It was the 9.6km Wonderland loop walk that took us past 5 of the local sights and had some fantastic views. The 1st short stretch lead us to the Venus Baths, I don't know why they're called this as no one in their right mind would want to bathe in them, you'd end up all brown and slimy. Splitter Falls were OK, the Grand Canyon was better, not that big but steep walls and the view out was really good. That route led to Silent Street, another gully that narrowed as you walked up it, not good for fat people. After that we continued the climb to the Pinnacle and the best view of the day. There's a spectacular view of Halls Gap, the valley, reservoir and beyond the mountains to the plains. It was a bit windy and cold but we stopped for lunch a quick lunch anyway. The last part of the walk brought us along the cliff line then down into the valley back to the start. Got pizza and a cask for our last night in Doris. It doesn't seem that long ago that we set out.

24/9/02

Has a lie in then went for a boat cruise. It wasn't that interesting, it was quite relaxing but we couldn't hear the commentary due to screaming kids and a naff speaker. There wasn't that much too look @, slow moving river, the trees, that was it. There were some old steam paddle boats near the wharf but we didn't really need to get on a boat to see those. We walked around the old buildings in the port after lunch. They're quite good, a lot have been preserved even if their use has changed. The brothel wasn't open which was quite disappointing! :-) We went in the Penny Arcade and Picture Gallery and watched old Laurel and Hardy movies then had a go on some really old arcade machines. Went in the secret bar and escape tunnel of the Star Hotel, has to sneak in as I hadn't paid.

22/9/02

Cousin Phil's tours day 2. Went to Lake Hume first, it's a big reservoir and weir although they have a real water shortage, the water level is about 20m below the shore line. We sat by the weir and had a coffee, v pleasant. Went to the Ettamogah pub next, it's a real version of a pub from an old ozzie newspaper cartoon, a bit like Andy Capp. We picked up Matt then went out for lunch, large portions, v nice, I am now fat.

21/9/01

Cousin Phil's tours day1. Went through Tawonga and Tawonga South (mate!) to Mount Beauty, home of the lovely Ms Retra. The towns nothing special but the area around is amazing, will have to come at some point for a proper look. Lunch stop was in Bright which has a street full of old buildings, we had an enormous sandwich in a cafe. Myrtleford was the next stop, not actually in the town but a small winery on the outskirts. It looked nice but the wine was rubbish. Last stop was Beechworth which is an old gold mining town. Again nice old buildings and a fantastic bakery.

20/9/02

Drove to cousin Phil's place in Wodonga, it's quite nice, especially the view which is just like the view we had of the South Downs from our cottage.

18/9/02

Got up early as we were going to the Star Wars exhibition at the Powerhouse museum. It was very good, it was called Star Wars - Magic of the Myth and shows how George Lucas has integrated elements from many different cultures myths and legends into something that appeals to everyone. The displays were good with the audio guide narrated by James Earl Jones, there were lots of costumes and production models from the films + concept artwork and storyboards. We didn't have time to watch the documentary as we had to leave by 1pm to drive to Canberra. It was very windy on the way, the weather has turned crap! It's cold and wet here and the campsite is full of school kids. Good job we're only here for 2 nights.

16/9/02

Had my first close encounter with a Huntsman spider this morning, I think I broke the world high jump and long jump records @ the same time and backwards! I opened the tailgate of the van and it had crawled in under it, I didn't notice it straight away, not until I'd picked up the table. It startled me more than anything as it wasn't moving, still I've never been that close to something tarantula sized before. I got a stick to shoo it off, I didn't poke it, just put the end of the stick near it, the bloody thing only went for the stick! Had a short sword fight with it, all throughout it was climbing up the side of the van, I was a bit worried it was going to get inside. In the end it shot under the back bumper somewhere, I hope it's not taken up residence in the spare wheel. We drove to Woolworth's so that should have shaken it off. In the arvo we drove down to Bondi beach so that definitely should have given it a headache. Bondi's nothing special, just a small beach in a bay. I guess it's good if you live in the city and don't want to travel too far to the beach. We took the scenic route to and from Bondi and have seen quite a bit of Sydney, some nice, some not so, same as every other modern city I suppose. No sign of the spider.

14/9/02

Drove to Sydney. It's a long drive, 550km, and we had trouble finding the campsite. Had a good row though caused by lack of communication and navigational skills. Got here eventually though. K's b'day so phoned the old fart in the evening and used up all the credit on the phone card, forgot I'd called her on the mobile, doh!

12/9/02

Up early to visit the eastern most point of the Oz mainland and a lighthouse. It was only s 1.6km walk but that was up and down a steep hill so it was a good workout. On the way down to the cape I saw a couple of black blobs in the sea, then fins, after looking through the binoculars they turned out to be a dolphins. We nearly ran the rest of the way down. When we got there we got a better look, there were 2 or 3 of them fishing, I think, near the shore. On the way back we saw even more, there was a pod of maybe 10 a bit further out. I was just moaning about them not performing for the tourists when the first lot put on a show, surfing on the breakers and jumping around, bloody fantastic! Drove back to Coffs Harbour after that. Cooked Phat Thai for everyone in the evening, portion control was out the window so we have enough for a couple of days. I didn't burn any pans either, M has this excellent electric wok that's really easy to use, I have to get one when we get home.

11/9/02

I am an Uncle, Billy-Bob finally put in an appearance at 12:45am UK time after causing much pain and suffering to Susan. Rob sounded knackered on the phone, still he has another 20 odd years of that so he'd better get used to it!

10/9/02

Have come back up the coast to Byron Bay for a couple of days. M and G said it was good, not so sure now we're here. It's a bit like Airlie Beach, a backpackers party zone. It would have been good if Daz was still here but as we're still trying to recover from that it's a bit much. Will have a day on the beach tomorrow though unless it's really loud tonight in which case we're leaving.

8/9/02

Went round to M's mum's house, it's huge and she's rebuilding it herself I think. There's lots of ground as well including pool, competition size floodlit tennis court and a BBQ the size of our van. There's a paddock further out the back as well apparently. She makes very nice cookies! After that we went down to Coffs Harbour marina (M's dad owns it) and walked over to Mutton Bird Island. We didn't see any though, or dolphins or whales either. We went to the fishing club for a drink or 3 to get over it. M cooked a roast dinner, haven't had one for ages, it was bootiful!

6/9/02

Went to Wet'n'Wild the waterpark on the Gold Coast. We went via Surfers Paradise, it's horrible, all skyscraper apartments blocks just like Spain. The waterpark was very good, especially the Screamer ride which had us both sat on a sledge then dropped down a 45° slide so that we bounced/surfed across the pool at the bottom. After all the fun we headed down the coast to Emerald Beach to see Michelle and Guilleme, got there about 7pm. They had invited some other friends over as well, John and Megan, they're both really nice as well so we all got pissed and had a good laugh. Megan's a bit of a hippy chick but she still beat up G when she was pissed, even bundled him into a flower pot (with a little assistance from J).

4/9/02

S's birthday. D booked us a room/suite in the 5 star luxury pad as a "thanks for having me/happy b'day" pressie, he shouldn't have but it's bloody marvellous! It's bigger than his for some reason. We have a 2 bedroom flat on the 16th floor, the master bedroom has an en-suite bathroom, the other bathroom is outside the second bedroom so it might as well be en-suite. We also have a kitchen, laundry, lounge/diner and a balcony that goes all the way round the edge of the building, it would be nice as a house. Made use of the facilities, lounged around by the pool, used the spa but the water was too hot, also had a quick go in the gym and sauna. After lunch we started our tour/pub crawl. We headed over to the Southbank first. It's very nice, relaxing and clean. We walked around until we found the Plough Inn, then we stopped for a few. We walked back to the hotel via the city centre and a few more pubs, even got S on a tequila slammer @ one point. Cleaned up and then headed out again. 1st stop was the casino so S and D could play on the pokies. S won her money back + another $4 and was on the machine for over a hour. D did slightly better, he was trying to blow $40 quickly while we were waiting for S to finish. He was playing $5/go when the free spin thing came in, he ended up with $1100. Went to Aurora's for some food, we were the only people in the place so we made lots of noise. S doesn't remember eating her meal. Last stop for S and I was the Irish pub we ended up in next. We had more tequila, springboks and vodka. There was a live singer. We left when some bloke started getting arsy and D hit someone else in the toilets. Tried to find another bar but they were all closing as it was 1am. D carried on but we went home to bed.

2/9/02

Drove to Brisbane. Checked into our campsite then took D into the city. He has decided to treat himself to some luxury for the last 3 nights of his hols so he has checked into the Quay West suites, a 5 star all suite hotel, very very nice. His room is the same size a 1 bedroom flat! Got the bus back into town in the evening and went for a steak and some drinks. Nothing much was open though, guess that's cause it's Monday night.

29/9/02

Woke up feeling not to pleasant. Drove back to M&T's and went to bed for an hour. T was going to wash the van for us but I said no as it was Aub's job to do it. Made sure he got up and out there cleaning. (Bitch!:Aub) He was lucky as Tony did help him and I cleaned the drivers seat/dashboard area.

27/9/02

Left the campsite and began our drive back to Melbourne. Did a short detour through Horsham just to say we had been there. Stopped at the Giant Koala and had a coffee and then continued on our journey. Arrived back about 5 o'clock. Read my e-mail, Uncle Jim passed away yesterday, will miss him.

25/9/02

Left Echuca and drove to Halls Gap in the Grampians. Beautiful scenery but raining. Went for a drive and stopped to look at the Balconies, short walk from the carpark but we got soaked. We could see the rocks but not much else as we were standing in cloud. Stopped at Silverband Falls which were not v impressive.

23/9/02

Said goodbye to Phil and family and drove to Echuca. The town is situated where the Goulburn and Campaspe rivers join the Murrey and was one of the busiest inland ports in Australia. After lunch we went for a walk along the river in to town. In the evening we went to the cinema and saw Goldmember, the new Austin Powers movie. It seemed to be lacking a story!

21/9/02

Phil and Jan took us out for the day. 1st stop was Mnt Beauty, a small town before you get to the ski resort of Falls Creek. Pretty town but quite small. We stopped for lunch in Bright which was a lovely little holiday town. Next stop was Beechworth which was the main centre for the Ovens Valley goldfields from 1852. Very picturesque town. On the way back to Wodonga we stopped at Myrtleford at one of the wineries. After trying a selection we decided that they were not nice at all so didn't buy any.

19/9/02

We caught the bus to Capital Hill where we began our walking tour. 1st was Parliament House where we did a short tour of the building. From here we walked past the Old Parliament House and Aboriginal tent embassy. We then went in the National Science Centre which took a good few hours. Walked across the lake to the Carillon where we had lunch. Continued along the lake to Blundell's cottage and the National Capital Exhibition before catching the bus home.

17/9/02

Caught the bus, train and then ferry to Manly which is a seaside town on the east coast. Had planned to walk 10km to the Spit but the weather was terrible, rain again. Instead wandered around the town which is mainly full of restaurants and coffee shops. After lunch by the sea we headed back to the city centre. Walked around the shops and did a loop trip on the monorail which was good.

15/9/02

Caught the bus and then a train to Circular Quay. Walked around The Rocks which is the oldest part of the city. Took quite a few pictures of the bridge and Opera house. Walked up to the top of one of the towers on the bridge which gave excellent views of the harbour. Stopped for lunch in the botanical gardens which overlooked the bridge and opera house, wonderful view. Later in the afternoon we met up with Jenny who Aub used to work with. Had a few drinks with her and her partner Steve.

13/9/02

Decided to stay another day. Caught up with the washing then went for a short walk along the beach. Aub found two starfish for me to add to my shell collection. Later in the afternoon, when Guillaume came home from work, he took Aub for a surfing lesson. I joined them as Aub wanted me to video him. He did OK, apparently it wasn't the right waves to be learning in. In the evening Michelle cooked fish for us. Sushi to start followed by flake. It was v nice.

11/9/02

Woke up and it was raining. Had planned to do a walk so instead had a lazy day. Did go for a stroll around town in the afternoon. Heard from Rob and Susan, they have had a baby boy.

9/9/02

Michelle drove us up into the hills to visit Dorrigo National Park. First we visited Dangar Falls which were quite impressive. On the way we passed an unusual tree, the La-va-tree. We then did a walk through the rainforest which was good. Had a quiet evening. M played netball so we watched TV and Guilleme kept us entertained.

7/9/02

Went for a walk along the beach. It was gorgeous. They live in a very beautiful spot. Had an easy afternoon, sat in the sun and read my book. Went for another walk later in the afternoon and on the way back got some videos out. Watched Evolution which was very funny. After dinner we watched a French film which had been dubbed very badly.

5/9/02

I woke up feeling dreadful, must of had a good day yesterday. Packed up our things from our lovely hotel and took Daren to the airport. After saying goodbye we headed south to the Gold Coast. Stayed at Coolangatta which is the southern end. We managed to walk to the shops and have a look at the beach. Laid outside the van all afternoon, did have a swim in the pool later on.

4/9/02

My birthday. Aub made me a lovely present, it was a hair clip made from a piece of wood and a shell. Also I got a last minute birthday card made from a beermat. We drove to Daren's hotel as we were going to be staying there tonight, a thank you present from D. Sat by the pool while we waited for our room. Has a swim and sat in the hot spa which was lovely. When our room was ready we went up, could not believe the size of it. It was a two bedroom apartment with living room, kitchen, two bedrooms (one en-suite) and it's own laundry. After having some lunch and doing the washing we went to see some of the sights of Brisbane. The foot bridge over the Southbank was closed so had to get the ferry across. Southbank was very nice, it even has a man made beach. Found a nice pub so had a couple of drinks there before crossing back over Victoria Bridge. Visited a couple of pubs before going back to the hotel. After going back out again things seem a little blurred. I remember going to a few pubs, the casino and having a meal (not quite sure what I ate though!). I think I had a very good time.

3/9/02

Met Daren at lunchtime and went to the botanic gardens for a picnic. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day. While they played Frisbee I read my book and sunbathed. Daren was going on a trip in the evening so we went to the pictures. Saw Adam Sandler film, Mr Deeds which was very funny. Went for a couple of drinks afterwards thinking that we would see Daren. He never showed up so we had noodles for dinner and got the bus home.

1/9/02

Did not get home until 4 in the morning. Aub and Daren decided to go skinny dipping in the pool, mad fools. Got up about 10. In the afternoon we went whale watching, it was fantastic. As the sea was very rough they were jumping out of the water and playing in the waves. It was really exciting as the boat sped up to catch up with another pod.