Well, I decided its probably time to update this! Not much has been happening since we arrived in Oz, but we're back on the road now so I'll fill everyone in on the last two months....
We arrived in Melbourne at the beginning in December and ended up staying for 7 weeks. I love this city, but unfortunately didn't get to see much of it till nearer the end as our first priority was getting jobs! Luckily it was easier for us to get work than we expected - there were loads of people in our hostel having trouble looking for jobs. I managed to get a job in a restaurant in St Kilda (by the beach) almost straight away - due to my fantastic CV obviously ;-) - and Louis got a christmas job at French Connection (some would call him jammy) a few days later. Got to admit, working was a bit of a reality check, but managed to get some good hours in and earn some pennies to further our travels!
We planned on looking for flat share for a month or so, but because it was Christmas there was nothing about - unless you count the dive which was advertised as a furnished double room; actually a mattress in the middle of the floor in an empty room with dirty covers, in a dodgy area, with a slightly peculiar flatmate. So we stayed in the mighty Urban Central hostel for 2 weeks, which was lovely but pretty expensive as are most hostels in Melbourne. Lucky for us, Louis' friend Ryan from the Uni football team happened to be living in Melbourne so we met up with him for a drink, checked out his beautiful apartment in the CBD which he shared with 3 others, and in a few days we moved into our new bedroom - their living room floor! Brilliant! Saved us so much cash, and we had an amazing time living with the guys over Christmas and New Year, despite having to work constantly.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years wherever in the world you were. Christmas in the heat was slightly strange - Santa needs snow! But 9 of us still managed to have a traditional Scottish/Irish Christmas dinner in the flat. The plan was to do it the Aussie way and go to the beach after but alcohol seemed to take over......
On New Years eve a group of us got together for some drinks then hightailed it down to St Kilda beach, where the boys participated in some skinny dipping in the freezing cold sea after the bells - a tad cold for me! Luckily I still made it in for my 8.30am shift on New Years day (grrr) - after all, it was double pay!
We both finished up work mid january, and managed to see the Melbourne sights before we left - namely Neighbours night! Sadly none of the 'iconic' Neighbours stars were there (Dr Karl was in Aberdeen at the time - typical!), but we did manage to meet (and pick up/kiss) a few stars!
Next stop was Adelaide, via the Great Ocean Road. We were joined by Laura and rented a classy automatic Camry (free upgrade) to cruise along the coast to Adelaide, camping along the way. Passed through some cute towns and saw some of the sights; waterfalls, 12 apostles, gibsons steps, the round the twist lighthouse(!), the blue lake etc. Got to Adelaide in fours days, where we were met by Louis' friend from camp Anna, who stays 2 and half hours outside Adelaide, who were staying with for a week. Had an awesome time out at Annas - got to see the real Australia! She stays in the middle of nowhere on a huge farm/ranch by the Murray River. Had a relaxing week of luxury at her house, being feed and treated! Spent most of the week chilling out, in the river, waterskiing, eating, playings with the pups, and spotting kangaroos!Great fun! It was hard to do anything that energetic as temperatures averaged in the mid forties the whole time we were there - over 50 degrees celcius in the sun at times!
Way too hot, even for moi, and not very good for the land - the area has been in a severe drought for the last 3/4years. We went to see Stage 3 of the 'Tour Down Under' (same idea as Tour de France) in a nearby town... caught a glimpse of Lance Armstrong as he zoomed by! And, as South Australia is well known for its many wineries we obviously had to visit one - the Jacobs Creek winery! I was in heaven, free tasting of anything...yum! Also went out on the boat with Anna and her Dad and did some fishing - not that we caught much - and stayed in her friends beachhouse for the night, which was lovely. 
We spent two nights in Adelaide city before leaving South Australia, and went to stay in a hostel that our friend Gordon worked in (who we met in Hawaii, a fellow Scot). Had a great time catching up with him but have to say it was the most uncomfortable 2 days in my life! The heat in Adelaide was proper unbearable, and the dorms had no aircon or proper fans. I couldn't actually lie down in bed, the sheets were roasting as was everything we touched. Hottest night in Adelaide for 25 years. Spent the first night up and down all nights, had two cold showers in the night, and ended up managing to sleep for a couple of hours wrapped in a cold wet towel with a wet flannel on my head! In my bikini. The second night the hostel put some fans in the room to help, but unfortunately they just circulated the hot air so it blew in your face. I hope at least I managed to sweat off a few of the Christmas pounds! So we spent most our days chilling out at reception with Gordon and the air con :-).
We are now in Sydney! Flew here 4 days ago and were relieved to land in a cool 30 degrees - perfect temperature! Stayed in a pretty crap hostel the first night, then moved the next day to stay on our friend Claire from Melbournes living floor for the next 5 nights - we have made many kind friends :-). Been to see some of the sights - Darling Harbour, Kings Cross, and Bondi Beach - but trying to save the big things for when we get some visitors on Thursday - Mum and my Auntie! They're coming out for about 2 weeks, and will be in Sydney for 5/6 days so can't wait to see them! Even better, they have rented an apartment for a week so we get to stay in that with them - luxury yay! The apartments looks pretty swish so excited for that. Hopefully get more of the touristy stuff done with them - harbour bridge, opera house, Blue Mountains, etc. Also going to drag Louis out to Palm Beach outside Sydney - where Home and Away is filmed!! Can't wait!
We have a few days left to chill in Sydney when Mum heads down the coast to Melbourne, then we head off on a 5 day surf trip to Byron Bay! This is our treat to ourselves which we have been planning to do all along. Hopefully we'll be riding the waves in no time, and can surf our way up the coast! From Byron Bay we plan to make our way up the East Coast to Cairns, and find somewhere to stop and do some work again for a month or so. Will keep you updated! More photos on facebook...
