G'day from Melbourne! I think the last message I posted was in Brisbane, so I'll try to recite the highlights of our trip since then. Happy reading...

After Melbourne we went to Byron Bay via Nimbin, which was a very interesting place full of interesting people functioning on interesting substances, if you know what I mean! We actually picked a couple of hitch hikers up about 5K from Nimbin and they guided us in. They were both in their 50's but they looked in their 100's and were a real pair of hippies - they also stunk! After dropping our 2 new stinky friends off, we took a walk around the town (if 1 street can constitute being called a town!) and had a look around some of the shops etc. After an hour or so of Nimbin weirdness we set-off for Byron.

Byron was a nice place - fairly chilled with a few good bars and pubs. There were a few schoolies there but nothing like Surfers Paradise - me and Butts felt more at home again! For our 1st night in Byron we went to a really nice bar/restaurant and had a paella which was really good (not a touch on yours though dad!) and not a typical backpackers location, but what the hell! The next few days in Byron were spent not doing a great deal as the weather wasn't the best, so beer o'clock reached us earlier in the day than normal

After Byron Bay we had 1 night in a place called Coffs Harbour and all I can really remember about this place was the giant banana we saw as we drove into the town! Sydney came next and we stayed in a hostel for a couple of nights in Glebe, which was a bit out of town but still nice. We had a night on the tiles on George Street which was way too commercial for me and it seems that there are more Irish pubs in central Sydney than local establishments! On our second day in Sydney we climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge which was really good (if a tad windy!) and walked around the Opera House. After a couple of nights at our hostel, we met our mate PT in Bondi one afternoon for a Dirty Sanchez Utd reunion and night out in Bondi. Bondi was really good - a more relaxed atmosphere and some cool bars to visit. PT kindly let us stay at his pad for 3 nights (cheers mate!) in Rose Valley which was just next to Bondi and a really nice place. We had a day at Bondi Beach (v.busy but v.nice) and a day at Manly Beach which was again nice but the weather wasn't too good when we went. For our final day in Bondi, PT, our tour guide, took us to a few beaches round the coast from him which was good as they're not places travellers generally know about and they were really nice quiet spots.

Our next planned port of call from Sydney was St Kilda, Melbourne. We had planned to travel through the night and arrive at Benzo's (aka - Peter Benns, Benzo Scifo, Niall Quinn, etc, etc) early last Friday with a crate of VB and convince the big man that a sickie was required! Unfortunately, Wilma, our car, had other ideas. Setting off from Sydney we'd noticed a few minutes after driving that the battery charge light was flashing - not good. It was about 200K further down the highway that things started to get worse. Conscious that we had battery problems, we tried to save every ounce of energy we had by not using the electrics - i.e. lights, indicators, A/C, windscreen wipers, i-Pod, etc. This was particularly challenging given the storm we were travelling through and the little daylight we had left in the sky! An executive decision was made at about 21:00 hrs to turn off the highway (when our headlights offered no more light than a candle!) into a little place called Gunning, find some accommodation for the night and take Wilma to a mechanic the next day to hopefully, sort the problem. Luckily we found a place to stay, which reminded me of that place the family stay at in Dirty Dancing, but there were no watermelons here. We dropped our bags off and then went for a few well deserved beers in the local pub. This was an experience in itself and the pub didn't quite resemble the bar in Crocodile Dundee, but it was almost the same! After a few scooners and interesting conversations with the locals we made our way back to our motel. Next day, we got up early and went to see a mechanic who advised us that our alternator was shot but unfortunately didn't have the parts to replace it. He did recharge the battery though and we set-off a couple of hours later for the next town, Yass, in hope that some mechanic could help. Yass brought no solution to our problem so we carried on regardless with every limb crossed hoping that Wilma would keep on running! About a further 300K down the highway, we had a further minor setback when Wilma wouldn't start after a much needed toilet break. After jump starting her off some friendly locals car we were back on the road, game on. We then stopped at the following town, which name escapes me (Wagga soemthing!), in search of a garage. Luckily, after a couple of stops here, we found a place who completely recharged the battery (again!) and took the alternator apart, cleaned it, etc. The owner of the garage was a really nice bloke and didn't charge us anything even though we were there for a couple of hours. Thankfully, Wilma had enough juice to get to Melbourne and we arrived at Benzo's late Friday night. Our plan is to now flog Wilma to some unsuspecting travellers asap.

On Saturday Benzo had a massive house party which was really good and lasted until the early hours of Sunday until a police visit and fine for the DJ's loud music brought the partying to a close. This was only temporarily though as the wheels were back in motion on Sunday for Sunday Club and today has been a quiet one for some much needed recovery time!

Anyhow, this giant message has taken it's toll on me so I'm off for a rest! Will be in touch again soon.

Chow for now, Dan