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Hi All - well what adventures we have been having - Australia has been great fun. Just wanted to get a blog out as feels like we've done so much since we last updated ................... Last updated we'd just arrived at Chris's place in Mermaid Beach on the East Coast (about an hour outside of Brisbane). We stayed there for about 3 weeks (thank you Chris!) and had some great times, hiking, bbqs, lots of beers and wines and just generally chillin - also got the chance to catch up with two friends we'd met initially in Laos. We set off from Chris's (reluctantly) on another greyhound overnighter to arrive in the big ol smoke Sydney the next morning. The journey was fine and we found Sydney so easy to navigate round and great public transport that we were at our accommodation pretty early so we headed out for some exploring. Sydney is pretty walkable so we covered a lot of ground that afternoon of course taking in the biggest attraction there the Sydney Oprah House - pretty cool to see, one of those things you've seen on the tv so often you almost feel like you've already been there. As the sun was setting and after a glass o wine we wandered back though the botanical gardens not quite sure how to get to the other side where we were staying but luckily our keen homing senses kicked in and in a roundabout way we got to where we were aiming and headed to bed for a much needed nights sleep. The next morning was Marks birthday so we got up early and were out the door on a 'we are tourists' day out - we went into the Oprah House and took the guided tour around which was very cool - we even got mega touristy and bought the super imposed picture of us at the Oprah House - cheesy but great! Later we stopped for coffees and lots of lovely chocolates (supplementing birthday cake) to keep us going - which they did for a while but then we faltered and ended up in the bar for birthday refreshments - all in all not a bad birthday day.
The day after Marks cousin Daniel and his girlfriend Katie met us in Sydney and we all spent that and the next day doing some more touristy bits mixed in with some shopping and nice eats before jumping in their car and heading to the Australian Capital Canberra (where Daniel and Katie live). Canberra is an interesting city, lots of museums (the war museum was very good). We also got treated (compliments of Katies dad) to going in the Parliament house behind the scenes. So got to see a lot more than the general tour - very cool! Canberra was a great town and as the bag says which we were given by our lovely hosts 'Canberra, a great place to visit' then in brackets below 'despite what people say!'. Our last stop before leaving Canberra was to see two friends that I went to university with, Eve and Nick - Haven't seen them for 10 odd years and it was so lovely, we all caught up over dinner (after meeting their two very lovely boys) and before we knew it we had to be dropped off at the greyhound terminal for our last overnight bus ride to Melbourne.
Melbourne is a cool city - very arty and great coffee and cafes. It has lanes of cafes and independent shops not unlike Brighton - very nice city to walk around. We met up with Marks school friend Shelly over lunch by the river - it's so fun meeting people you know as you travel round - you kind of forget for a moment that you are actually travelling and instead just feels like you're out with friends catching up, that is until you have to pack up and throw the backpack back on. We only had a short stop in Melbourne as we were meeting up with two other friends we'd met in Thailand, Kelly and Jarrod. We all hired a car together and the plan was to travel down the great ocean road then cut up to the Grampians National Park where we would leave them. Jarrods family have a wonderful self sustainable property there and they needed to stay and do some weeding (it's not a small lawn like back home by any measure!) So we all set off from Melbourne together and our first stop was Anglesea just before the start of the Great Ocean Road. We were invited to stay in a wonderful accommodation that overlooked the sea and was set within other national park grounds. In the morning when we looked out the window there was a family of Kangaroos grazing - amazing! Whilst in Anglesea we also took a day trip out along the great ocean road right the way along to the 12 apostles - via stopping of for some hiking then a surprise stop to see wild koalas just hanging out in their preferred tree of the moment. Jarrod also bought some bird seed (in the know) and we had parrots flying down and feeding from our hands. We weren't even half way through our day and then we carried on to see the 12 Apostles for sunset (other sights along the way) - It was truly a fantastic day out, arriving home about 10pm eating some crumpets and going to sleep! After Anglesea we travelled inland a bit to the Grampians National Park area and to stay at the lovely sustainable house in the middle of complete nowhere along with Daisy and her baby (Daisy was hand reared as a baby then set free back onto the land when old enough, so she still comes and visits when people stay in the house - she also had a baby joey in her pouch - so very cute!). The Grampians was amazing - beautiful hikes and evenings spent with the wood burners going and cooking on the agar (felt a bit guilty though having kangaroo steaks for dinner with the lovely Daisy eating here hay outside the window). The day before we left we had a lovely lazy day with a walk around the house area followed by games of Cluedo into the evening - am so much better at Cluedo now than I used to be! The next morning we headed off from the Grampians saying a very fond farewell to the lovely Kelly and Jarrod - wondering where we will all meet up next and who will win the next game of Cluedo. We were headed towards Victor Harbour a small town about an hour or so outside Adelaide. The drive was great, we trundled along at our own pace stopping as and when we liked, the roads were pretty much empty and we arrived at Victor Harbour late afternoon, found somewhere to stay for the evening then realised we were knackered! Before going to bed though we had to sort our bags ready for a flight the next day to Perth - done reluctantly we then chilled and watched tv - very home like! An early start the next morning and a nice drive to Adelaide Airport where we returned the trusty rental car and made our way to our departure point for our afternoon flight to Perth. It was great to have the time to sit and reflect on what a wonderful time we'd had for the last few weeks and the great times we'd spent with such wonderful friends - we are so thankful to everyone we've met along the way, you have made our trip so unforgettable and given us such great memories - thank you so much!!xxx
Right - so that brings you to Adelaide and our departure to Perth - which is where we are now however we will wait until the end of October to bring you up to date with everything we've been doing on the West coast - so ta ta for now, hope everyone is well and as always Mark will be posting pics soon which hopefully you can match to some of what I've written!!!! Happy days - Zoe and Mark x
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