Hello everyone, remember us?! Sorry its been so long since our last blog, we are both still alive and having a good time, I hope you are all well. There is a lot to tell you about so here goes...

You may remember last time we were preparing to leave Perth to drive across Australia in the un-named van. Well, there was a bit of a change of plan. We put the junkheap into the garage to get checked out and apparentely it needed $2300 worth of repairs, despite it getting Sarah the 40km to work and back every day. The doubts we had about the vans reliability (we didnt fancy breaking down on the Nullarbor much), and also doubts about whether we had the money to fund the rest of our time in Oz, meant we decided to sell the beast to an unsuspecting Irish couple and by a couple of flights to Melbourne instead. The couple havnt phoned demanding their money back so the old deathtrap must still be hanging in there!

So while we were a bit disappointed to be missing out on our big drive, we didnt mind too much having to stay in Perth for a few more weeks. I got a new job working for a removals firm which i enjoyed and Sarah was kept on at her job. The time eventually came to leave our 'home' city. We were both keen to start travelling again but also sad to leave our nice new life in Perth, we became quite fond of the city, our house and housemates Mark and John. Im sure they miss our wonderful company too! I think what we both took from our time there was, as we kind of moved away from the 'backpacker ' scene, was a real feeling of having lived there, rather than just travelled through.

So we were back on the road. Next stop was Melbourne, where we were spending the week with our friends Sara and Ciaran, who we met on our travels in Asia all those months ago. First up in Melbourne was a trip to the G to watch the footy. Yes, we went to the most famous sports ground in Australia, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, capacity 90,000, to watch an Aussie Rules Football game, Melbourne Demons vs Hawthorn Hawks. We were both a bit clueless, but we had a great time, the atmosphere was great, and friendly too even though the Aussies are crazy about the game. Hawthorn in the end demolished the Demons by about 100 points. For the record iv decided to be a Fremantle Dockers fan. Next day we decided to make the pilgramage to Ramsay Street, or Pin Oak Court as it is in real life, on the Neighbour tour. For our American and European readers, Neighbours is a long running and very popular TV show in the UK. We got to visit the sets of Carpenters mechanics, Erinsborough high school and the street itself, which turns out to be a tiny cul de sac in suburban Melbourne. At night we went to the Neighbours quiz night, where we got to meet some of the 'stars'. We were hoping for the legends that are Karl Kennedy, Lou and Harold, but had to settle for Stuart Parker, Rachel Kinski and Connor. It was still a great night out though. Next day it was time to drag Sarah of to see Jack Johnson in concert! Despite the freezing cold weather, he was brilliant, even Sarah said he wasnt as bad as she thought he would be. I even caught her singing along, but she wont admit it! We were up early the next day for a day trip along the famous Great Ocean Road. The road winds its way along some very beautiful and dramatic coastline, rainforest and small seaside towns. We took lots of photos so check them out. On our last night in Melbourne we met up with my friend Amanda who i met in America a few years ago. Due to a swish new hairdo, we were sitting in the same bar for a good half hour before I recognised her! Eventually she showed us a good night out on the town, though no 'seedy nightlife' as promised!

Next day it was time to escape the somewhat Scottish-like Melbourne weather and jump on a plane to the Gold Coast. Courtesy of Sarahs mum, Mrs Dorothy Christie, we were staying in a very nice 4 star hotel. Dorothy and Brian joind us this week for a holiday and Sarah was really happy to see her mum for the first time since November. Purely for some mother and daughter bonding you understand and not so she could extract some cash! We all went to the Australia Zoo for a day where we fed kangaroos and Sarah fulfilled one of her Australian Dreams and held a Koala. We also had a trip to Sea World and Warner Bros Movieworld. On our last night together we went up to Surfers Paradise for a meal at the revolving restaurant at the Crowne Plaza, enjoying the good food and luxury while we could.

The next day Dorothy and Brian were flying off to continue their holiday in Cairns and dropped us off in Brisbane to collect our new wheels, already named The Pammywagon, or Pam for short. You will see why!

Anyway we will tell you all about our first few days with Pam in our next blog soon.

Love Blair and Sarah xxxx