Just did some shopping today at a huge shopping centre, Pacific Fair in Broadbeach.  Bree and I caught the bus in, Shaz and Shauna were coming in later and the rest of the group headed to a local football game.  For a large shopping centre there really wasnt anything there, though I did manage to find a top/dress for next to nothing.  We ran into Shaz and Shauna while we were there, but we had finished shopping and they were only beginning.

Headed to Movie World today.  Of course I am scared of heights and wouldnt go on most of the rides (I am such a party pooper lol) so just sat around and watched for most of the day.  However I did go on the Wild Wild West as that is my favourite ride...I could go on that over and over again!!!

I had an unfortunate thing happen to me while at the theme park, I wont go into here, but it resulted in my getting quite upset and leaving the park.  Luckily all my mates were really supportive and decided to leave with me.  They had gone on all the rides already so it wasn't a huge set back.

That night I didnt feel up to going out, but we all went to dinner at the surf club and it was SO good!! Bree and I went home afterwards with JUdd and Kaiya while the rest headed back into Surfers Paradise.  They didnt get back until 5am, and Shaz and I stayed up talking for a little while before going back to sleep.

Bree and I checked out at 10am and caught a taxi to our new accomodation, the Surfers Tropique Resort.  The resort was located between Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.  It was a nice and quiet location away from the hussle and bussle of Surfers Paradise.  Shauna had already checked in for us, so we grabbed the key and had a look at our apartment.  We were across the hall from the other apartment so that was good too.

Bree and I then relaxed on the balcony while we waited for more people to fly in.  My cousin Shaz was flying in around lunch time, and not long after that our friend Maz and her boyfriend were also flying in from Sydney.  Shauna and her boyfriend went to pick up Shaz in the jeep they had hired, while Bree and another travel mate, Pat sat, chatted and waited for everyone to get home.

Bree and I also went searching for somewhere to eat and we came across the Northcliffe surf club.  It was right on the water with large bay windows open so that you could smell the ocean while seated inside the club.  We had some breakfast which was really nice, and just sat around and took in the beautiful views.  Also it was only a 10 minute walk from our resort which was a bonus also!!

Shaz finally arrived at 1pm, and the first thing all us girls did was go grocery and grog shopping!! We drove to broadbeach and got the amenities, then stop at the bottle shop and stocked up! 

We then got ready and went to dinner...at Hooters!! Not the best food really, and the girls weren't very entertaining, but it was still fun!  We then headed to a pub a few doors down and this was really nice.  A band played all the latest music and there were young people everywhere.  We decided to have a few drinks here before heading into Cavill Ave.

We were lucky enough to get a maxi taxi and headed into Surfers.  Our first stop was Shooters bar (it was free entry before 11pm, yay!), which is country themed, with wooden panelled and cow skin stools!! Good music there, so we had a dance before heading to the next club.  There are so many clubs in surfers Paradise that are walking distance from each other, so it is very convenient when you want to try a new atmosphere!

As it was Shauna's birthday, we let her decide where she wanted to go to next.  We almost went to "The Drink" but it was $10 entry and the exact same music as shooters, so we decided to go to the Bourbon Bar instead.  Before I could enter the bar, a fight broke out with two of the girls within our group.  I was the only one outside, the rest of the group had already entered the club, and lil old me could do nothing to calm them down.  So it ended with the two girls exchanging punches!! Rather dramatic end to the night.  Unfortunately the two girls were sharing the apartment, which I was also in, so it ended up being 8 of us in one apartment and 2 people in the other for the night.

Luckily, the next day the girls sat down, apologised to each other and made amends.  Definitely an interesting start to our holiday!

22 hours on deck!

Looking for something a little different from your every day hotel...then this might be the place for you. Lanarch Castle is located on the beautiful Otago peninsular 30 minutes from the city of Dunedin on the south island. The surrounding area is scenic with albatross and penguin colonies near by. There are two options of accommodation - themed rooms or stables. The ride up to the castle is a little hair raising (winding roads up and over the peninsular) but worth it once you arrive. Entering through the gate you will see lots of trees and vegetation and following the road you will come to pristine landscaping and finally a first view of the castle. The lady at the gate asked to stop at the bottom of the steps leading to the main entrance of the castle. As soon as we pulled up a lady (wearing a long tartan skirt) opened the door to greet us. After checking us in and giving us directions to the stables and she met us at the stable doors. Leading us through the stables and past the one horse...OK a large model of a horse...and up the stairs she showed us to our room. After pointing out everything...including a shared fridge with a bottle of milk for tea/coffee...she asked if everything was to our liking. That was a first! The upstairs of the stable has been converted into 10 rooms with shared toilets, showers and a small reading area. The toilets and showers are more like you would find in a gym though they were very clean and served their purpose. Our room had a double bed and two twin beds and towels, toiletries and extra blankets were provided. The downstairs still looks like a stable with one stall being used as a reading/TV area and another had a very old computer supposedly hooked to the internet for a price (it was not working when we were there). And don’t forget the stall with the horse!! The other part has been converted into a kitchen and dining area where they serve a full made-to-order breakfast which was included in the price of our room. It is very rustic and all in keeping with the ambience. The castle is not actually a true castle but a large family home built to resemble one. Built in 1871 by a rich businessman, by the 1960's it was sitting in ruins before the present owner purchased it in 1967 and over the years restored it to as close to the original plans as possible. The main building of the castle is now a museum which is free to hotel staying guests. There is also a gift shop and a cafe open during the day. Optional: 3 course dinner in the castle dining room sitting a large table with other hotel guests. The menu is usually Scottish themed. The cost is around NZ$60 (US$45) per person and though expensive, the food, the experience and the ambience made it well worth it. All of the staff are exceptionally friendly and helpful. The lady that checked us in was also our dinner host/server. She was very knowledgeable about the hotel and told us stories including one about a stable room being haunted (not ours thankfully). I would recommend this place to anyone wanting something a little different than a generic hotel stay. I only have two negatives for this place. One being the internet not working - especially if want to research local activities. The other is that for those not wanting to pay the high price for dinner there are no other options other than to drive back down the winding road and into Dunedin. One hour roundtrip and even more scary in the dark!!! And one last thing…the weather can be temperamental here. When we visited it was cold and rainy and at one point the clouds hid the views of the peninsular. However it gave the castle and gardens a kind of mystical feel. I just wish the sun would have been out when we made it out to the roof.

Vacations was a great place to stay to mingle with other tourists from all around the world, great friendly customer service. The staff were exceptionally friendly. We stayed 5 nights & breakfast & dinner are included in the price, so it is really affordable. There is only a cold shower, but honestly, you don't need hot water over there, it is very hot... The beach fales are nice & cool, with the ocean breeze making it that more cooler @ night, because it is very hot there... All your gear is very safe, they have a security guard @ night, but there is really no need.....Dont expect 5star hotel though, as it is a taste of samoa, traditional fales, with shared bathroom facilities, but it is a MUST DO experience, my daughter & I enjoyed it. There are tours around Savaii Island, but we didnt do any.. We done the big walk to 'swim with the turtles' my daughter enjoyed that, we walked their with a few girls that work @ Vacations (who acted as tourguides for us THANK U Sape & Tusi) it was fun. Got some traditional weaving souvenirs for family on our journey... It was a nice restful place to go, they have a bar, which is open pretty much from after breakfast being served... But there are other Resorts close by, where you can go & see Fia Fia nights @ a small cost/donation... My daughters favourite breakfast was their Samoan Pancakes... very nice... You have a fresh hibiscus flower on your plate with each breakfast... I even got a tattoo of one on my ankle back in Apia to symbolise our first trip to Samoa!!! hahaha... well worth it.... Also Saleloga Market has a way better variety of traditional samoan souvenirs ie, Tapa, bangles, lava lava's alot more affordable than in Apia :) A big thanks to all the staff @ vacations for making our 5nights a very enjoyable one!!! Especially to Sape, Poulini, Tusi & Lani :) Cara misses you all already!!! One more handy tip, it pays to hire a car, as taxi's can get pretty expensive :)

I was so grateful to have stayed @ Vailima Lodge!!! I travelled with my 14yr old daughter, who fell in love with Dora & Uaita (the owners of Vailima Lodge). It was our first time in Samoa, Vailima is one of the nicer villages in Apia, very friendly people. The rooms are of top quality, it was like a home away from home. Food was exquisite, we were quite spoilt... Dora & Uaita also went out of there way to ensure our stay there was a comfortable one, taking time out of their busy schedules to show us a few sights (which was not included in our great price) Vailima is only $6 tala from Apia, it is a very nice drive also...it is a 10min walk to Robert Louis Stevenson Museum & waterfall, which is also a must do.... great scenery...Lovely fresh water swim.. Another MUST DO, is the Kwikstop Fish n Chip shop in Vailoa!!! The best fish n chips in SAMOA, my daughters favourite place to eat!!! So all & all Vailima Lodge was great, I would recommend going there to anybody travelling to Samoa.. It was so great we are planning another trip in April 2009..... Once again a big 'fa'afetai lava to Dora & Uaita' for their great hospitality. Alofa Tele Trace n Cara

Melbourne

q!!

Tout le monde nous disaient, n allaient pas la bas, il fait trop froid et en plus il n y a rien a voir, mais c est mal nous connaitre, on a survecu a la frontiere de Bolivie et Chilie, c est pas Melbourne qui va nous impressionner?

Canberra

q!!

Comme vous pouvez voir sur les photos, une personne etrange est parmi nous, un chauffeur routier!! C est le premier a nous prendre en stop depuis tres longtemps, il faut souligner aussi qu il fut d un grand secours a notre traverse du sud de l Australie. Nous avons trouve important de vous le presenter!!

De nouveau sur les routes, les autostoppeurs se succederent et hop, nous voila dans la voiture de Stedman, un mec vivant a la capitale Canberra (vous saviez vous??), ce n etait pas du tout sur notre programme de visiter cette ville, mais Stedman nous invita a passe la nuit chez lui et le lendemain de nous deposer sur la route de Melburne, alors pourquoi pas!!

Apres une petite visite des grands monuments, du musee de l art moderne et de la meilleure vue de la ville, nous nous retrouvames dans son salon en train de deguster un excellent diner et d echanger nos histoires...

Yamba

q!!

Yamba, Yamba ca sonne africain, non?!! Peu de gens connaissent cette magnifique petite ville, je pourrais meme dire ce petit village perdu en bord de mer, un paradis pour les surfers, un espace aussi pour quelques grands requins blancs :), une promenade pour les dauphins, et enfin une escale pour certaines baleines, malheuresement les baleines sont passees pendant que j etais autre part, les requins quand ils m ont vu, ils sont partis en courant, ya que les dauphins qui me narguaient pendant que je pechais avec mon ami Dale.

Que je m explique: si certains suivent, on a rencontre Ivan, il nous avait propose de passer quelques jours chez lui, on a voulu lui faire une petite surprise pour le week end et on a donc debarque dans sa ville le vendredi soir. Le seul petit probleme, quand on l appela, aucune reponse, donc en resume on etait comme 2 cons au milieu de rien avec rien juste 2 gros sacs a dos...

Et pour corcer le tout la nuit qui commancait a tomber!! En urgence je commenca a faire du porte a porte et la, j apercus ce mec avec sa biere a la main, sa copine assise a cote de lui sur les escaliers, devant sa porte. A 1 metre sur sa droite un petit morceau de jardin assez grand pour y plenter une tente me titilla les yeux, et la, histoire de me faire prendre pour un fou encore une fois et voila Arnaud sur son cheval blanc: " Bonsoir mr, bonsoir madame, est ce que je peux vous poser une petite question??" Eh ce fou qui me reponda "vas-y!!" "Ca te derangerais si je mettais ma tente dans ton jardin ce soir?" "Tu tombes sur un bon soir ya pas de probleme!! OK"

Et la petite histoire commenca...pour les presentations, voici Dale le peintre du village et sa copine Nikki, un joli petite infirmiere, il etait l heure de manger, et comme par hasard, un ragout etait dans le four, nous fumes invites a manger et au fil des discussions on apprena qu ils connaissaient Ivan, ils avaient son numero de portable, mais il etait toujours injoignable, le probleme pouvait etre resolu le lendemain.

Mais vu que c etait le week end, Dale et Nikki etaient partis pour faire la fete, alors pourquoi pas nous, on alla tous ensemble chez des amis a eux pour boire quelques bieres de plus, Dale devait par la meme occasion mettre en place les preparatifs de l enterrement de vie de garcon de son pote, Dale etait le cuisinier de la soiree.

Et me voila le lendemain invite pour cette soiree, une quinzaine de mec, 50 douzaines de bieres, quelques brins d herbes a fumer ou bien quelques cakes a grignoter, juste pour ce mettre la tete a l envers, pour ceux qui me connaissent, c est pas mon genre de me mettre completement epave, j ai pu constater que les australiens eux c est leurs genres, tous sans exception etaient completement dechires!!! J ai passe de super moments.

On oublierait presque mon Ivan, on se rencontra le dimanche apres midi, et on passa 2 semaines chez lui comme des papes. Il est connu comme le loup blanc dans le village, un mec adorable avec la main sur le coeur, ancien rugbymen reconvertit en footballeur le samedi, on assista d ailleurs a 1 de ses matches, a l exterieur malheureusement, comme vous le savez, on etait en Australie, c est par rapport aux distances que je veux en venir, il joue en division departementale, pour moi, le departement c est grand maximum 60km pour le ville la plus loin; 3h30 de route on s est tape, genre il faut presque partir la veille, certains joueurs apres le match, ils restent passer le week-end avec les enfants, c est un autre monde l Australie.

On passa 2 semaines inoubliables, Ivan c est un mec par exemple qui a achete un bateau pour visiter les mers du monde sans savoir naviguer, son pote est reste avec lui le premier mois et voila, rien de plus, il s est demerde pour le reste, il a voyage partout en stop, des histoires il en a des milliers, et en plus un sens de l humour a l Anglaise, que du bonheur quoi!! Et son voisin du dessous en plus, c est un cultivateur de marijane, j aime autant vous dire que les rigolades c est pas ce qui nous manquaient!!!

Pendant la journee on se promenait, on a essaye de trouver du travail, mais la saison etait morte, en hiver les gens y restent chez eux ou bien ils vont faire du ski. Il me donna meme un peu de travail, histoire d offrir un cadeau raisonable pour ma bien aimee et nous prepara aussi un petit repas pour son anniversaire. Des qu il avait du temps libre, il nous amenait quelque part, c etait encore une fois que du bohneur et pour la centieme fois MERCI a toi MY MATE!!

Finally found the perfect weather in Brisbane!!  And what a great feeling it is!

As soon as we step foot here, I knew we were going to love it . . . and we did!!

Brisbane's an awesome place, very dynamic and diverse, lots to do, and it even has a beach in the city!!  So, of course, we had a grand time here.  Visited all the sights around the city, and even squeezed in one of the major tourist attractions here!! 

I'd say our day at Lone Pine, the world's largest Koala sanctuary, was probably the highlight of our stay in Brisbane.  I was like a little girl again!!  It was a blast playing with the kangaroos, cuddling up to the koalas, and even getting our first look at the wombats & dingos . . . had quite a time there!!  A bit pricey for us, but it was well worth it!!

Besides that, not too much excitement, just a relaxing time in Brisbane . . . enjoy the pics!!

Dans ces grandes villes, je peux compter sur Juanny pour nous trouver un endroit ou dormir via couchsurfing. L avantage, quand vous avez un logement, apres vous avez toute la journee pour profiter de toutes les activites possibles proposees par la ville. L originalite de celle ci, a la place des bus pour les visites ou les transports, c est des bateaux, la ville est entouree d eau, quand tu te leve le matin, au lieu de prendre le metro, tu prends le bateau.

J ai vraiment beaucoup aime cette ville. beaucoup de couleurs, d activites, de chaleur, je pense par exemple a cette plage artificielle que la ville a construite au bord du fleuve.

On a eu aussi la chance de visiter le plus grand sanctuaire de Koalas au MONDE, on a pu d ailleurs approcher de tres pret les kangourous, les wallabies, des dingos, des wombats. Un wombat est un melange d un cochon et un sanglier, c est special quoi!! Pour les koalas, tu dois juste payer 20 dollars Australiens pour la photo :( donc tant pis le koala autour du cou, ca sera pour la prochaine fois!! De toute facon il est aussi beau perche sur sa branche!! 

Pendant que j y pense, a ne pas manquer: la video de Juanny se prenant pour un kangourou!! J arrive pas encore a y croire.

So, we decided to take off from Sydney earlier than expected because the weather was just terrible there! 

Heading for either the Gold Coast or Brisbane, anywhere in the north would be great. No concrete plans, so completely flexible to all possibilities!  What's new?!!

All we'd heard thus far, was that hitchhiking was discouraged, especially since the infamous Ivan Milat, the backpacker murderer! OOOHH!! Scary!

Were we afraid? Nope! We figured if we managed to successfully hitchhike all throughout Latin America and New Zealand, why would we stop here!  Besides, Arnaud is great at sensing the good from the bad, in folks, that is.  Anyway, we couldn't just cross out this option without even having given it a try! 

And that's what we did! We set out from Rhonda's, our host in Sydney, and carried on, as usual.  Well, being that Sydney is such a big city, we figured we'd have quite a challenge in hand.  All there are around, are huge highways, no small roads, which we much rather prefer.  Anyway, there's always a solution, right?!! Of course!

We decided to start off at the freeway on-ramp.  We set down our bags, as our host patiently and curiously waited on the side to see when and if we'd get picked up.  I think she had her doubts, but was immediately reassured and ecstatic when a driver pulled up just 10 minutes after we had put down our bags and started hitchhiking.  Great!  Funny really, because I still can picture Rhonda run up to the driver and thank him for having stopped for us.  Just like a concerned mommy!  Awww!!! Very sweet and wonderful woman!

Anyway, we were on our way!!  And though we weren't going too far, it was just perfect, because our first ride would be taking us to the perfect spot for continuing our hitchhiking adventure in Oz!

We got out in Gosford, and pretty much immediately after being dropped off, we were back on the road!!  So far hitchhiking seems to be working out just fine here!!  So, no complaints, thus far!  And check this out, our next ride was going ALL the way to Brisbane, potentially, our final destination in the north!  How great was that!!

We had a LONG ride ahead of us, nearly 12 hours!  But, hey, luckily time was on our side and better yet, fortunately we were guaranteed a lift all the way north!

Everything was going smoothly, making our routine stops at most "Driver Reviver" sites with our ride, everything was going perfect.  But it was too good to be true . . . When nightfall came and just as we were only 3 hours away from Brisbane, our driver started dozing off, so Arnaud decided that we'd be better off getting out while we could! 

Hey, better safe than sorry, right?!  Yeah so, we decided to camp out in this tiny town called, Woodburn, and continue the next day.

The following morning, things were looking brighter already . . . the sun was out and we got picked up pretty quickly, as well.  We met a great guy,  who was heading for the Gold Coast, but who you'll find out more about a little later on. 

We had thought that we'd be going to Brisbane first, but there was now a change of plans . . . we'd pay a quick visit to the Gold Coast first!!

And once again, unfortunately, the rain even followed us up north!!  Here we finally were at the infamous Gold Coast, ready to soak up the sunshine, but all we got was rain, rain, and more rain!

Luckily we had a coushy place to stay, but believe me it didn't come without any difficulties!!  Arnaud had his work cut out for him here in Australia!!

Now remember, whenever we don't have a contact or guaranteed accomodation, we always try to find a place to pitch our tent . . . preferably in a complete stranger's yard!!  Must sound really unheard of and crazy, but believe it or not, it's worked out perfectly for us 'til now.

All throughout Latin America, in every developing country we've travelled to, we've gotten by pretty well, and have met incredible people this way!! Unbelievable?? Not at all! Generosity is everywhere . . . even in poor countries!!

In wealthy countries, like Australia, however, the reaction to our request is received very differently, though!!  Just imagine having a complete stranger come up to you and ask, "Hi, would it be possible to pitch our tent in your yard?"  How would you react?  Of course, a little more is said, but that's pretty much the gist of it!

I was just cracking up, when Arnaud came back to tell me all about people's reactions.  He heard it all, excuse after excuse.  He was even told, "I can't believe you just asked me that!" or "You can't go around asking that of people!"  Yeah, generosity in rich countries . . . not as common as in so-called poor countries.

In any case, the happy ending to our story did come about eventually.  After over 2 hours of searching, Arnaud came back to say he'd found someone, who agreed to let us set up camp at his place.

Pete, a Kiwi from the North Island of NZ, was stoked about having us!!  He even upgraded us! There we were getting ready to set up our tent, when Pete decides to let us crash in his campervan instead!!  Now, we weren't about to refuse his offer.  No way!

So, we were set for a couple days in Southport.  And since we were just around the corner from the very trendy Surfer's Paradise, we thought we were in store for a real treat . . . spoke too soon!! :(

Our day at the beach would be postponed for now, because the rain refused to let up!!  Still, we had a relaxing time here, and despite the ongoing bad weather, we did get one good day in.  So, of course, we made the best of it, and took a stroll along the beach and soaked up a little sun!!

As far as the Gold Coast is concerned, although it's a tourist trap, it's well worth it, so do visit it; However, make sure it's not in wintertime!! :)

La route du nord etait devant nous, on avait juste a ce faire deposer par Rhonda, notre contact de couchsurfing, une femme celebre dans sa petite ville pour etre la plus ages des diplomes policiers: 58 ans!!!!! Elle nous deposa donc sur cette branche d autoroute et attenda en retrait que quelqu un s arrete, apres 10 minutes, un mec s arreta et la voila qui se mit a courir vers la voiture, elle voulait juste remercier le gars pour s etre arrete et elle voulait aussi preciser que l on etait des gens bien, c etait plutot drole de la voir faire :)

Le stop marchait plutot bien, car il faut savoir que les distances sont un peu differentes en Australie (12 fois la France par exemple) et on devait aller jusqu a Brisbane, et par chance on rencontra ce couple de 50 ans venant de ramaner le petit fils des vacances scolaires, ils habitaient devinez ou?? A cote de Brisbane. Le trajet etait assure, on pouvait profiter des cafes gratuits sur les aires de repos (excellente idee, cela incite plus facilement les gens a se reposer sur les longs trajets, ces promotions sont disponibles uniquement pendant les fetes) Donc on passa toute la journee en leur compagnie, ils s arreterent aussi pour nous montrer nos premiers kangourous en liberte, ce fut un grand moment d emotion!!

L heure se faisant tardive, la nuit tombante, les yeux qui se ferment, le conducteur qui commence a s endormir au volant, il etait temps d etre raisonable et de demander au chauffeur de nous laisser a la prochaine ville, Woodburn!!

Apres une bonne nuit de repos sous la tente au milieu du parc, Ivan nous prenna en stop en direction de Gold Coast, la connection passait plutot bien entre nous, il avait lui aussi voyage un peu partout autour du globe en stop, en bateau... Un anglais se la coulant douce en Australie, et avant de nous laisser en bord de route il nous proposa de passer quelques jours chez lui si on revenait par la!! OK "mate" (mon pote) si on voit de la lumiere, on passe dire bonjour!!

Nous voila dans Surfer paradise, une ville au bord de l ocean, un Nice Australien quoi!! Le probleme etait que cette destination n etait pas prevu au programme et bien sur aucun contact a l horizon. La bonne vieille methode du porte a porte etait revenu au gout du jour. C etait de nouveau un challenge, dans les pays pauvres cela passait, la generosite etait toujours au rendez vous, mais dans les pays riches, cela reste a prouver!!

Au debut les reactions etaient plutot normales, du genre: les gens s arrivaient pas a croire que je leur demandais si je pouvais mettre ma tente dans leur jardin, d autres me repondaient que c etait impossible ou bien interdit par la loi, d autres se fandaient bien la gueule, et ce vieu petit couple accepta ma proposition, mais vu leurs ages assez avances je m attendais a une petite surprise, quand c est trop facile, il y a toujours un petit probleme, car quand je fais du "tap tap", Juanita garde les sacs et moi je fais le tour du quartier, quand je trouve un endroit, je leur dis, ok je reviens je vais juste chercher ma copine et les sacs, et pendant ce laps de temps, il peut se passer plein de choses.

Quand on arriva, la femme nous attendait, mais le mari s etait absente, au fur et a mesure que l on discutait, j avais l impression qu il y avait comme un malentendu, elle croyait que je voulais juste laisser ma tente pour 1 journee et revenir la chercher le lendemain, quand elle comprit le probleme, elle reagissa differament, et je ne voulais pas non plus m imposer, et voila le mari qui arriva et la fille aussi, venu de nulle part, je dirais pour moi c etait fini, je n avais plus qu a chercher un autre endroit, c est pas que les parents etaient contre, la fille etait plutot inquiete que 2 etrangers mettent leur tente dans le jardin de ses parents, c est quand meme comprehensible, donc Juanita se metta de nouveau sur le trottoir :) et moi a la recherche d un nouveau jardin.

Je revins quelques minutes plus tard avec un jardin tout joli tout mignon et surtout sans surprise en revenant. Le temps de deplier la tente, l impensable se produisit, Pete le proprietaire de la maison nous proposa de dormir tout simplement dans sa caravane, de replier notre tente et de profiter de sa grande et belle seconde maison!! La seule chose a dire dans ces moments la: "c est du bon boulot!!!"

Australia!! Gidday mates, coming to you live from the land down under, or better yet Oz, as the locals affectionately call it!!

And yet again, another adventure begins, this time where the kangaroos roam free and where going out for a swim can actually be quite deadly!! 

Luckily though (or maybe not!!), we've arrived pretty much at winter, so the sharks and jellyfish will have to hold off on chow-time because we won't be jumping into the ocean any time soon . . . it's WAY to cold!!!

So, our first impressions of Sydney and Australia . . . it sure does rain a lot here!!  As soon as we step foot on this far-away place, there was only the rain to welcome us here!!  Bummer for us, because we were really counting on and expecting some nice sunshine and warmth!!  Nope! Not yet!

Anyway, what may seem as inconvenient for us is grand for others!  And that's exactly the case here! 

You see, Australia's been going through a drought for quite some time now, so I'm sure the Aussies appreciate all the rain they're having!! 

On the bright side, though, we have made it to Australia, so that's great!  Who would have ever thought that I'd be here today! :)

So far, the little that we've seen of Sydney seems to be very nice . . . if only the rain could stop for a bit!!

It rained non-stop for 3 days and we only got out once!!  And though we managed to squeeze in some sightseeing around Sydney, we've decided to hold off and visit it more in depth next time.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that we'll have some hot sunny weather when we get back here!  For now though, gotta take off and head for the north, where we're more likely to have less rain and more sunshine. . . so they say!!

L Australie, si un jour on m aurait dit arnaud, tu vas passer un mois au pays des kangourous, j aurais eu du mal a le croire! Bref notre premiere destination Sydney, malheureusement le bon temps etait reste en Nouvelle Zelande, la pluie nous attendait des notre sortie de l aeroport.

On a ecourte notre sejour a Sydney pour profiter du beau temps au nord, juste le temps de faire 3 ou 4 photos du fameux opera et hop nous voila sur les routes defiant les lois et les opinions des Australiens. Pour les lois, il est interdit de faire du stop dans ce pays et pour les opinions, il y a 5 ans un tueur d autostoppeur fut arrete.

Il recherchait des gens faisant du stop et les tuer au milieu de la foret, donc vous pouvez imaginer pourquoi les Australiens etaient septiques sur notre facon de voyager. Il s appelle Ivan Milat, et le plus drole c est que la police vient de decouvrir il y a quelques semaines qu il n agissait pas tout seul, son frere peut etre etait son complice!!

A suivre . . .

A not so big Caravan Park, with friendly managers. When i was there (may 2008 ) the first day with the camper, our camper renter Apollo forgot the connections on our waterhose. The manager at the office said " no worries " and give me a set to use. Toilets and showers are great, when you drive to the park there is a hardware store two streets further where we bought a broom and the conections for the waterhose. It was our first campervanpark in Australia and we will never forget it. Good value, and all the conections for your campervan are there.

Sadly this is where my trip came to an end.  I had to say goodbye to the enchanting south Island and get ready to embark upon yet another mammoth journey back to London.  This would begin with a domestic flight to Auckland, ajoined with a transit of a whooping 12 hours.  Followed by a 12 hour flight to Hong Kong, plus transit, then my final flight back into European airspace....a mere 15 hours...AARRRGGGGHHHH.  A total of nearly 50 hours without changing my clothes or having the prilivage of sleeping in a horizontal position. 

On the up side up, this torture only seemed to spur me on, and after failing to forget my time in NZ several months on- back in the UK, I decided it was time for action.  So.....in septemeber 2008 I will be leaving once again for NZ, but not for a whirlwind 9 days this time, oh no.  This time im leaving with my life in a backpack, a working visa in my back-burner and all the New Zealand Dollars I can get my hands on!!

Time for the real adventures to begin......   ;)