Well, what a couple of strange weeks we've had...
after checking out of our hostel just outside of perth city centre we made the long treck to a hostel in Scarborough beach... en route I left Jade with
the bags and got a couple of presents for her birthday! Turned up at the new hostel and it was a complete shock... graffiti all over the walls,
s*** everywhere, a mouse running around, cockroaches.... a girl with dreadlocks showed us to our room and we couldnt see the floor! The fridge
looked like it hadn't been cleaned for a year! Anyways, grinned and bared it... spent the evening getting jade's some banners etc. Woke up
and celebrated Jade's birthday, went into Perth, done some serious shopping and then finished the evening off with a chinese! Beautiful...
Next few days just relaxed down the beach... then spent the Friday night in Perth city centre watching them turning on the Christmas lights...
chilled out over the weekend and then had the most random day on the Monday...

Went to the beach as usual and I got fed up of sun bathing (as usual) so we came back to the hostel early... was sitting there watching tv (which
was unusal as the filth of the place usually put us off sitting and socialising) and a fella walked in... asked me if i could work for a week and that
he'd pick me up and drop me off and provide lunch... you beauty... i asked jade for my phone to take his number and he asked me if we were
together and then offered her a job packing lollies in a factory... random! Picked us up the next morning and decided he wanted us both to paint
his mansion... sorted... spent the next 5 days painting... he wasnt even there, just left us to it... his wife would bring us lunch and some nights
she would buy us dinner... on the Friday night we told him we had to take our bags to work as we had to change (on the saturday) and he offered
for us to stay at his house, provide all meals, sleep and he would take us to the airport on Sunday! Result... arranged us a number to call when
we get to Melbourne for work and we're meeting up with them in Bali to show us around the island.... so all in all, had a great time on the West
coast and finished off the coast with some work... off to Alice Springs and Ayres Rock....

Arrived in alice springs, checked in and went straight to supermarket... then spent the next day sorting out our bits
for the trip and getting any snacks for the long 3 days ahead! Woke up at 5am and had to bring all our bags to reception for storage, proceeded
on having an arguement with the receptionist about the cups and bowls that i brought back... good start to the day... then the bus picked us up
and we were on our way... bus driver named Bree... we was about an hour into the journey when we had to stop suddenly... up ahead the road
had flooded and was a metre deep... after stopping for about 20 mins, our crazy bus driver thought it'd be a good idea if we pushed our bus
through (along with trailor), so there was us lads behind this huge bus trying to push it through a river... we managed it and got completely
covered in red dirty water... need that when you wont be showering for a couple of days.... anyways, got back on the road, stopping at a few
very hot roadhouses! Finally made it to King's Canyon, where the temperature was in the mid-40's! Really need that when you're about to do
a 3 and half hour hike! We got off the coach to begin the walk, and everyone is there putting on their hiking boots... Jade put on her material
wellies to cover her feet up, and there was me with my flip-flops! ha... love it... there was loads of signs saying what you needed i.e. hat,
high sunscreen, hiking boots, long loose fitted clothing and 3 litres of water... and there was me... flip-flops, factor 4 sun oil, no hat, no t-shirt
and just a pair of shorts! Managed to complete the walk... but was absolutely knackered at the end of it.... stopped off at a water hole, which
a waterfall fell into from the top of the canyon, was quality... and a much needed cool down from the temperature! We had some Irish bird
on the trip, who made out she was a hardened traveller and hiker, whereas, the truth really was that she was s*** with heat (as every irish man
is) and also s*** at walking... didn't stop moaning the entire journey... and i thought us English were bad. Anyways, after the long hike we headed
further South to a few lookouts and finally made it to the alcohol shop where everyone in the group stocked up for the next couple of days....
well, what a night we were in for... our driver was driving along the main highway when she decided she'd found a great place for us to sleep...
she literally pulled off the road, across the desert and into the bush... it was pitch black now... closest light to us was about 20km away...
we set up our campfire... cooked on the camp fire and after chatting s*** to people, we were soon ready to go to bed... well, all we had was a
Swag (which was basically a sleeping bag which was waterproof... nothing esle, so there we were in the middle of the outback with every
deadly animal, including snakes, spiders, scorpions, dingo's etc. and there was us sleeping in just a sleeping bag... terrific... oh and just to add
to it we were just about to go and find a part to sleep in when i was sitting by the campfire and Jade told me to get up, well shouted to me, so
i duely obliged and flew up (jumping as high as a kangaroo), a funnel web spider (the most deadliest spider in the world) was about 2 inches from
running up and inside my shorts.... terrific.... absolute s*** myself, and then we were off to bed... was hilarious... walking along a dirt road
and seeing 18 body bags lined up... in the dark... we had a fit of giggles from seeing it and then had to inspect the floor for any ant hills or anything
else deadly in the area... found our spot, layed the bag out under the stars and we were ready to go to sleep... well the first night was quite possibly
the worst night's sleep i've ever had... was constantly feeling things climbing over me...

Anyways, made it through the night (literally was just happy to have survived) and saw everyone creep out of their bags... went over to the campfire
for breakfast and asked the guide to find me some bushtucker... witchity grubs... there was me and the guide digging in the ground on bush's roots
trying to find a witchity grub... well... with the last dig, we found a huge juicy one... white with its guts hanging out of the side... stuck it on the barbie
and then ate it... tasted like hard egg yoke! Packed up camp and then headed on to Kata Tjuta (the olgas), for one of the hardest walks we did on the
entire trip... another 3 hour walk and more 45 degree heat! Jade forgot to fill the water bottle up halfway round and so we were left to stick our heads
in the sand and collect dew on our arse's for a bit of moisture... after that we got our first glimpse of Uluru (Ayre's Rock)... went to an aboriginal culture
centre and saw a typical abbo laying asleep (probably half pissed) on a sofa... apparantly he was the ranger? Then it was off to watch the sunset, where
we bumped into our travel bumchums katie and nick! They did the tour the other way around and so did our last place first... had a quick catch up and then
had a beer whilst watching the sunset... probably one of the best sunset's we've seen... then it was off for another bushcamp, where this time it had the
luxury of a shower.... literally everyone in the group had one... still couldn't wash off all the red dirt on my feet though... probably the best night's sleep
i've had for a while... still in a swag but much more comfortable than before and was completely knackered from the lack of sleep from last night's swag
experience! Then the next morning we were up and on the move by 4:15am... we had to get back to Uluru before the sun came up... watched the sunrise
and had porridge... then did the longest (or what felt like) walk of my life... 9km around the entire base of the rock.... was hot and i smashed my toe open
halfway round... and then i saved jade's life when we were walking around the trail a huge snake came out of a bush, and was about a foot away from
her leg... guide said it may have been a deadly one... happy days! After Uluru it was just one huge day of driving... stopping at a camel station for a camel
ride and then back to Alice Springs for 5pm... where we spent a couple of hours re-packing and then went out for a few drinks with people on our tour...
felt completely knackered by the end of it!

Woke up next morning at 11am... quite an achievement seeing as though it was a 6 bed dorm... and did washing etc. and then got back to the hostel room
and found nick asleep in one of the beds and katie sorting stuff out on the other... another coincidence.... then it was up at 5am to get ready for a 2 day express
bus journey to Adelaide via Coober Pedy...

Managed to get up and drag myself onto the bus... finally got to Coober Pedy after 8 hours of sitting and tour guide took us for a tour of breakaways for the
evening and sunset... did an underground mine tour and then had a random evening of sleeping underground in a mine... up at 5am and then did the longest
bus journey to Adelaide... booked into the hostel and slept well with a DVD.... next day had a manic day of sorting car out and trip... was going to pay about $65
a day for a car, and ended up phoning a relocation company (where a car has to be taken to another depot, and you pay a small sum to take it for them) and
managed to get ourselves a 4x4 jeep with camping equipment! Cost us $5 a day between 4 of us, so about 50p each! They also gave us $60 towards petrol,
so had a beaut of a result! Just had to get it to Melbourne in 3 days... perfect, as thats all the time we wanted to spend to get to Melbourne.... so, got up early
to pick up the jeep from the depot and off we went... ROAD TRIP! 4 of us squeezed into this 4x4 with all our bags, and bodyboards, and fins.... 2 backpacks
strapped to the roof as we couldn't fit them in anywhere else and we were off.... drove most the day on the highway... stopped at Portland for a huge
chinese! Wanted to get a doggy bag, but felt like a bit of a gypsy after asking the waitress if the other bowl of prawn crackers she'd given us was free, if not
she could take it right back to where she got it from! Literally crawled out of the chinese after feeling like an elephant and began the search for somewhere
to put a tent up...drove and drove around... nothing.... then out of nowhere came the ideal spot... in a layby off the main road... couple of caravan's being
towed were stopped for the night, 3 german lads with a tent... beautiful... we were off out of the van as the sun was setting and was completely consumed
by mozzie's... hate the lil s***s... so, the clock was ticking to put the tent up... sod the instructions... we got straight into it... a few teething problems, but the
tent went up... the outter cover didn't cover the inside tent... no idea why... ha! And it turned out to the be the biggest tent in South Australia... me and Nick
could stand in it and you could've easily fitted a couple of families in it! We only had 3 thin blow-up mattresses so we turned them horizontal and all slept side
by side on them! Very cosey! Could hear things crawling around the tent all night, but didn't have too bad a sleep that night....

Well, woke up at our camp-spot... still surrounded by a couple of caravans and a tent or two... packed up quickly and was back on the road... left
Narrawong and headed through Port Fairy, stopping at Warrnambool for a cake and free cheese tasting... just entered on to the Great Ocean
Road... followed the road down stopping at The Grotto, London Bridge and the Twelve Apostles... weather was bucketing down for the first
couple of sites but improved for the twelve apostles... blowing a gale so my hair was like a huge afro... as always... then made our way down
through Princteon, Lavers Hill and Apollo Bay and finally got to do some bodyboarding and bodysurfing in Lorne... was good to be back in the ocean...
then stopped at Aireys Inlet for some Fish and Chips and then searched for a camp-spot... found a good place on the beach but some fella
told us that the police, as well as rangers, fine you or move you on... so decided against it... bit of a result really... he said he knew a bit of
'bush' where we could camp and got us to follow him into the wilderness... just surrounded by bush and dirt road we were ready to camp...
tent went up alot better tonight... didnt feel too much like a kite! Pretty good night's sleep, although Jade had pushed me onto the floor off
the tiny blow up mattress or the domino effect had happened starting at Nick! ha.

Soon got back on the road checking out Bell's Beach and sunbathed on a beach in Torquay... then it was off to Melbourne to give the jeep back! Jade and
Nick dropped it back, whilst me and Katie sorted all the bags out and searched for a hostel... ended up meeting Jade and Nick at the other end of the city,
after spending about an hour going into hostels trying to find somewhere to stay until we leave Melbourne... no luck though! Ended up watching
the homeless world cup... interesting... and then headed back for wine and cheese... stingy woman handing it out... and then an early night as I was
shattered!

Time to try and find jobs and somewhere to settle for a couple of weeks.... well that was the plan... and we're sort of getting there... rung around
every hostel in Melbourne and the surrounding area, but nothing... and if there was anything then it was paying extortinate prices for a 12 bed dorm...
ended up phoning 'Jackson Manor' in St Kilda, cheapest one out the lot and it was available for us all to go in a 4 bed dorm together... relief... so
trapsed around the city, bunked the tram ride, and found the hostel... a historic gothic looking building with odd people running it... we couldn't give
a monkeys though, cheap and in a great location... went for a walk when we dropped our bags down, a funky place is St Kilda... and then came back
to chill out for the night... Nick phoned about 200 removal companies to see if there were any jobs going, and it turned out that he worked the next day
and I've got a start on Monday... happy days!

Anyways, keep in touch... take care...

Much love,

Marcus x