Jonas took us on all day trip to see Dave's family today. First stop was to one of his daughter's, Rachel's house where we met her children, Catherine and Daniel and grandma Avril. We had cups of tea and loads of cakes while we got to know everyone. Next stop was his other daughter, Susan, husband Joe and son Matthew. Had a really good night eating pizza, and talking about everything that bites, stings and kills in Australia. They gave us loads of advice o...

Today was the first day we saw Australian animals in Oz. We went to a nature reserve and saw koalas, kangaroos and emus - which Claire accidentally sent into shock as she had the left the flash on the camera! Unfortunately, we wasnt allowed to pick up and hold the koala as it is illegal in NSW, but it was still good fun.

This morning we decided to head into Newcastle city centre for some lunch and a look round. It's not as big as we thought and had a kind of British town type feel. The best thing about the trip was the roast lamb sandwich (with gravy!!) we got from the food court! When we got back Jonas took us for a look round his village. It's a nice little place but apparently has a few angry residents! Spaghetti Bolognese for tea, which we had to make in the dark as there wa...

Welcomed the morning in with a huge bacon, egg and mushroom butty - Yummy! It has been well worth the 5 month wait. Finally registered Frank as ours at the RTA office, didnt take Claire long to decide who could be the main owner of him, when the admin guy said 'is responsible of all fines and payments?'...Dave! We then had a drive round the town, Claire getting used to the automatic side of the car - cant stop the left leg from keeping on going for the non-exi...

Had some breakfast before going into the nearby town to get Frank kitted out with camping gear. A duvet, pillows, pots and pans, storage unit, plates and cups, cutlery and a chiller bag later all organised in the boot we are now ready to camp up the east coast in comfort and style! Or as Dave says, 'camping like a girl'! We had a go at putting up the tent - a nice 4 man size and is going to be our home for the next 2 1/2 months. Well, from when we leave Jonas...