Well Hello!

Been a while since our last blog, and that's mainly because we've been on a road trip!

But first we settled into the lovely beachside pad and got to know our nice flatmates -they took us to a trivia night (we got one question right about Cornwall!), we cooked them an English-style roast, Ben went to a poker night and Em to a Tupperware party!! Em also did a stint as a receptionist for a property company.

Then our mate Brian arrived; flew in from Bristol to see us. We decided to hire a car and explore the coastline to Melbourne. This was 10 days of a lot of driving, but also a lot of fun. In our first couple of days we had already seen a pod of about 10 dolphins playing in the waves, an octopus whooshing around under our feet as we sat and ate our lunch on a pontoon, a stingray in the same place, and a flock of cockatoos in a quaint old gold- mining village. Then, as Em and Brian were getting rather excitable at the sight of lots of kangaroo signs, we saw about 15 of them grazing on a golf course!

We stayed in some really odd places including a cabin in the bush where a crazy lady wouldn't stop talking to us and a truckers motel in the middle of nowhere with one hotel bar for dinner (the creepy owner kept asking Ben if all the women in England were as beautiful as Emma!).

We really liked Melbourne as a city, nice buildings and atmosphere. Great art gallery and cool nightlife. Emma went on a 'Neighbours' tour to see Ramsay St and the Lassiters complex and film sets which was fun!

Back along the coast again and there was surfing, rainforest walks, huge pelicans and a lovely vinyard for wine tasting in the bush, listening to the birds. We had more wildlife experiences with kangaroos (including one with a cute little roo in pouch, wriggling around), wallabies and kookaburras.

Back in Sydney we enjoyed the long weekend (they have a day off for the Queen's Birthday which we thought rather unfair seeing as we have to work in the UK!). There was the Manly food and wine festival, the Sydney Darling Harbour Jazz festival, and then a trip to the lovely Palm Beach (yes, we saw where they film 'Home and Away' - Summer Bay!).

But, it's back to the grindstone for Em and Ben now, desperately trying to find some temporary jobs to get the money coming in again! It's proving quite difficult...watch this space!

xxx