G'Day to all again......we are nearly up to date with our goings on, just another update after this one to catch up....sorry we have been really lazy but...well....its just too hot!!!!!!!

We left you the last time as we were leaving Surfers Paradise and heading to Brisbane so lets start there.........

Got to Brisbane on Australia Daya nd they take it really seriously over here....and by that I mean its an all day drinking session! We landed on Mark & Jemimas doorstep around 11am, Frankie was already there and being the great hosts that Mark and Jemima are they had the barbie ready to go for a big brekkie....awesome!!

Need to add this story in as both myself, Jemima & Frankie could not stop laughing for about an hour after this happened........Greg was on the balcony and Mark was in the kitchen when we heard this unbelievably loud noise, sounded like an atomic bomb was heading straight for the apartments.... Marks face was a picture and headed straight for cover in the bedroom in a state of sheer terror.... Greg then followed running to the back balcony, ducking for cover with a similar look of terror on his face...the noise got louder and louder and louder then eventually passed overhead...what none of us realised was that a fighter jet done a low flying fly-by over Brisbane for Australia Day....honestly if you could have captured their faces you would understand, they thought their lives were over, some sort of terror attack!!! We all came out of it unscathed though...well apart from Mark and Greg!

Laura and Woody both turned up from Sydney and the next door neighbour Kev joined us as well and we all headed out to the Spring Brook Hotel for Australia day where they hold cockroach racing of all things!! We all decided that rather than cockroach racing we would just head straight to the bar and start the drinking...had a great day in there although the place was totally packed to the rafters and there were pipe bands playing so we settled in with not a problem. Even met an old chap from Motherwell who was playing the bagpipes and he played our wedding song, Highland Cathedral, for us!!! Headed off later to another pub and as you will see from the pictures it got pretty messy after that...headed back to the flat and ordered 8 pizzas between us....totally stuffed our faces.

Next day we were up with the larks and headed to the Botanical Gardens in the city to laze in the sun and play a few games of cricket...oh and have some wine as well...well done Laura for thinking about the booze!!!

Headed out to a club called Family that night for a 5 hour set of Roger Sanchez, had another awesome, drunken and extremely late night. The set by Roger Sanchez was amazing and I think we managed to finish the party in the early hours of the morning....only to be awoken by Mark a couple of hours later...so as we were awake we decided to get ready and head down to the river for some lunch and of course the obligatory hair the dog or 2 or 3......! Seems to be some kind of pattern to this weekend!!!

We would like to say a big thanks to Mark and Jemima who put us up over the weekend and during the week as well....you definatley know how to treat your guests...ply them with bevvy!!!! Jokes aside we had a great time and your hospitality was much appreciated.

During our stay in Brisbane we also met up with Gregs dads cousin Anne and her family...what can I say...treated like royalty...given the master bedroom with en-suite and looked after like a king and queen. Stayed with Anne and Alan along with Pamela and Craig for a couple of nights as their first Scottish visitors since they came to Oz....I have to say though you havnt lost the Scots in you....never a night without a beer or wine in hand and Anne cooking up a storm in the Kitchen or BBQ. Thanks to all of you for an amazing stay, we really couldnt have been treated better and the hospitality will be returned if you ever make your way back to Scotland!

Also got treated like royalty when we met up with Michael, Tracy, Hannah and Matthew who is Gregs aunt Jacqueline's, husbands brother!!! Had a great night chatting about their move to Oz, our travels and Scotland....oh and got cooked the most amazing salmon dinner along with some wine. Thanks to all of you for a great night and a great feed....oh and has Matthew mastered the back-flips yet without the pillows????

CRIKEY - Australia Zoo was our next port of call and totally worth it just for the Crocaseum itself. Watched the elephant show, then they had all the snakes out along with birds of prey but obviously the main attraction was the Crocs......they had them eating out their hands...well nearly, think they would have lost their hands if that was the case and bouncing out of the water for their dinner...really cool! Also caught sight of a 10m reticulated python (which is big enough to have a go at a human...honestly)...thought it was fake at first as it wasnt moving at all...its wee tongue wasnt even flicking...then found out that it had ate a goat a couple of days ago and it lies completely still until it has digested it....a goat!!!!!!!! Managed to get close enough to pat a cute Koala and the camels were a bit crazy we think, they didnt seem to be eating anything but had a huge line of foam around their lips like toothpaste....maybe needing the looney bin!!! Have to say the rain barely stopped the whole time we were there....and by rain we mean sheet rain...have a look att he pics....totally drenched!!!!

Last spot for this update was Noosa which is a small town North of Brisbane set on the Noosa River with an in-let to the sea. The place is really beautiful and very quite...only a handful of pubs and a street full of cafes and restaurants. We spent most of our time here relaxing on the beach or on the river on a speedboat.....or a slowboat to China as it should have been called, must have got up to...what...10kms an hour...woooooooooo!!!!! After all that excitement we decided we needed to get off our bums and do something so headed to Noosa heads and completed a 10km hike up the coast and through the woods...where we met a huge Monator lizard (have a look at the pics, Im not exaggerating!!)...but luckily no snakes!!!

Well thats us done for this instalment.....next one should be completed soon for Fraser Island and The Whitsundays and that will be us up to date again...well until the next installment!!

As always take care and catch up with you all again soon.

Luv,

Amanda and Greg xxx