Just a quickie to say hi from Sydney!! It'll be a little hard to get from here to Portland in time for Saturday, but we'll be thinking of you all from our cosy lil corner of the Coogee Bay Hotel while watching the Rugby World Cup final :)

This city has turned into a seething mass of rugby supporters, many of whom feel somewhat disappointed that their team hasn't made it to the final, but regardless of who you support it looks like being a good match. For my part I would love England to win, preferably by scoring some tries for once.. Johnny Wilkinson is pretty sexy for a rugby player, but his boot is taking a bit too much fun out of the game. May the best team win.. and please let them be wearing white & red *cough*

As for a travel story, did you ever hear the one about a Pommie girl how hooked up with her best mate's brother's best mate from New Zealand? When his visa ran out she decided to go to Australia with him for a year.. but somewhere along the way they decided to settle in Coogee and haven't moved since.. apart from the odd weekend away on a nice pair of motorcycles.

Next year they're getting married on a tallship in the Bay of Islands in NZ, finally obliging the rest of the Pommie girl's family to finally come to the southern hemisphere and see what all the fuss is about!!

:)