Well we arrived in OZ 2 weeks ago now and have been enjoying ourselves, though to be honest the weather hasn't been all that great and it's a bit weird being back to the two of us again!

Getting to and from the buses has been a bit of an effort as well when we're used to the Kiwi bus dropping us off and picking us up everywhere! We're getting used to it again though.

First excursion for us was the Koala sanctuary in Brisbane - it was lovely but how many Kangaroos can you see without getting bored? Stayed in a bit of skanky hostel there so we weren't too enamored with Brisbane to be honest but hey then we started up the coast!

Noosa was the first stop and had a lovely beach and town, also had free wine on arrival! We got chatting to a few people there and had a lovely evening in its very nice & cheap bar!

Then onwards and upwards to Rainbow Beach where we did Fraser Island from. We did Fraser in a 4x4 bus which was needless to say a very bumpy ride! So we went through a load of rainforest and beach to Lake Mackensie which had the clearest waters i have ever seen - it was exactly like a postcard and the sand made your hair and skin as soft as a babys.

From there we headed to the Town of 1770 a tiny little town with a nice beach and a very lively hostel called Cool Bananas! We met a bunch of kids from the home counties and had a great night - even though i had to keep biting my tongue to stop from laughing every time Alice would turn to Hugo and ask his advice on using Daddy's credit card for a $13 box of wine!!!

Next day we went Scooterooing! Basically going out towards the beach on scooters while Kangaroos hopped along side of us, then out to have a beer and some wedges on the rocks watching the sunset before heading back to town to get our next bus.

We went overnight on the bus to Airlie Beach where we were to pick up our ship The Romance! the next afternoon. Very busy hostel with live music both nights we stayed.

The Romance was fantastic - despite feeling extremely seasick in parts it was a completely amazing experience - saw some of the most gorgeous beaches in existance and Scuba dived the great barrier reef for free as part of the package we got. We had a great bunch of people with us - there were only 12 of us in the end but that made for easier chat and we spent most of the time laughing about something or other. Was really sad to leave the ship after 3 days and im still swaying like i should be on a boat and me and Sarah have been rocking ourselves to sleep the last 2 nights!

We did go out with the group on the boat the night we got back - had a good old drink with them, a bit of a dance and a late night dip in the pool!

Now we're on Magnetic Island at a Base hostel which means its nice and lively and right on the beach. We're in these little triangular huts with bunks in them over looking the sea - absolutely gorgeous - and they have free kayaks so we'll be taking them out tomorrow.

Its getting very scary how little time we have left, but nevermind i can already hear the call of my own bed and a few drinks around a barbie with the people i love most in the world.

Wanaka was lovely - didn't do anything for 3 days! Just what we needed - had acouple of walks down by the beautiful lake and a look round the shops. Went to the pub a couple of times and watched a couple of films - all good.

Then to queenstown! We stopped off on the way to see puzzleworld, which was needless to say puzzling! There was a room that made you look like a hobit or a giant depending on which corner you stood in and one that was one a very weird slant and had us all falling over! The maze was the best though and me and the boys beat the girls to the end no problem!

Queenstown is the busiest New Zealand town we've been to so far and to be honest its still not that busy! Theres more shops and more bars but if you cant do any more adventure sports theres not all that much to do in the day!

Have to admit though i don't think theres anywhere else in the world where you can be looking out at the town from a british pub to see the mountains looming in the background and a skydiver looping his through it all!

We got in to town and settled in a bit then headed out to see the midnight showing of Star Wars! Actually ended up being good but i wasn't too happy queuing for an hour to get in just so they could have the gl;ory of being the first in the world to see it - but hey! it was another experience!

Then came Murrays birthday - a haze of drinking games, dancing and drinking cocktails from tea pots! Fun was had by all!

Next day though our heads were not exactly happy with us and due to the ice skating earlier in the day our legs weren't either!

Just been chilling ever since - we've got our last night out together tonight and luging before that ( sort of like go carting down a hill) then away to Christchurch and following that hello sunshine and Austrailia - bring it on!!!!

Not much to report since Wellington, the film was crap but we had a lovely ( and cheap ) meal first and enjoyed spending about an hour afterwards taking the film and Orlando Bloom to pieces!

Headed of to Picton and Nelson the day after - long ferry journey - 3 1/2hrs - we played pictionary the whole way and us girls beat the boys to a pulp much like the night before when they taught us poker and we crucified them!! Good job there was no money involved!

Stayed in a nice place in Nelson with our own courtyard and ensuite between the six of us.

Then to Mahanipua to a place run by an old bloke called Les with a beard as long as him! We palyed footie on the beautiful but cold beach and then set about making costumes. We had an air guitar competition in the evening and we decided to dress up as rock cows as the band the cowpats! Sounds worse than it was - our driver seems to point out cows every two minutes on the bus so we thought it might get us the prizes! It did! We had so much fun and made much more effort than anyone else fuelled by the happy hour jugs of beer! Won for best dressed and best performance which means we now have to decide who out of the 6 of us gets to do the canyon swing and the river sledging.

Bit worse for wear yesterday we arrived in Franz Joseph - famed for its glacier - went up to see it and most of them have signed up for a proper glacier walk but i have to say i was not willing to pay$75 to walk up a block of ice for 4hrs!

Off to wanaka tomorrow where we get to stay - shock horror - for 3 whole days!!

Just did a sky dive at Lake Taupo - was absolutely fantastic and i have never been so scared in my life! You could see for miles and when i wasn't scared about my shoes falling off it was just indescribably amazing.

We've been in NZ for almost 2 weeks now and it is lovely if not a little cold. Did a bit of jumper shopping in auckland and bumped into my friend Clare who we met by chance 3 times in America as well as here and we're meeting up for her birthday in Christchurch.

Jumped on The Kiwi bus 8:30 Monday morning and off we went - the day basically consists of stopping to do various walks around gorgeous hills, mountains, caves and coves. It's so untouched here it's absolutely beautiful.

We then stop every afternoon/night at a lovely youth hostel/lodge thats usually small and friendly with a bar and a happy hour that lasts at least 3! Theres no getting round that either because thats the way you get friendly with people - theres a certain amount of chatting on the bus but not an awful lot until the drink gets flowing!

We started off with a bus that had about 25 ppl - we're down to about 15 now but its all the better for it . We all get on so well now and are sharing dorms. Night before last we went down to a place called River Valley - the middle of nowhere, but thats where the best Rafting and Horse Trekking is - i passed on the rafting since i have already done it in England and i decided to save money i'd just do the things i've never done - not an easy task in the adventure country of the world - its not easy to keep saying no - but hey!

Anyway this place was fantastic - fire in the middle of the lounge and a roast dinner! I was in heaven until i woke up the next morning (after horse trekking) in so much pain - i have muscles i didn't know i had!

We're in Wellington now - going to the cinema where Lord of the Rings was premiered - Sarahs rather large obsession knows no limits! Although i did get quite excited when our guide yesterday told us that him and his horses had been in both Lord of the Rings and The Last Samurai!

Arrived in Fiji to rain rain rain! It was gorgeous anyway to be fair - tropical paradise. We stayed at The Beachouse a really cool little place tucked away on a beautiful private beach with hamocks and views galore.

Despite the weather we got a couple of days of intermittent sunshine and sunbathed for our lives! The water was warm but shallow so managed to have a bit of a swim. Mainly though Fiji was just relaxing - got through 2 books in 2 days and spent hours just looking out at the beach and daydreaming!

The terrential rain had its benefits though - made a load of mates in the bar playing cards and drinkin games - all actually seemed to come from down south! They had plenty of advice about New Zealand and OZ since everyone seems to be travelling the opposite way to us!

We did everything in San Fransisco - Fishermans Wharf, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, The Haight (hippy bit!), Berkley, Union Square ( the shopping bit), Golden Gate Park, Chinatown!

The weather was gorgeous, even had a paddle one of the days but just about avoided hypothermia! It was freezing!

We managed to get everywhere but had kind of a hectic pace to begin with which we slowed down in the last few days to avoid complete meltdown - 10 days of 24hrs around the same 5 people can cause everything to get a bit strained!

That was a blessing though because we ended up really relaxing towards the end and it was really sad to leave the other three when we did.

The last night we ended up finding a gorgeous curry house - special night so it was $5 all you can eat and it had an Irish pub attached to it for later! Que a beautiful biriyani and a couple of pitchers of beer!

Well we spent a day in Vegas at the Bellagio and Paris deciding on the kind of life we want to live when we make our millions - you never have to leave these hotels to do anything - everythings inside the building! Ooh and i won $10 worth of quarters on one slot machine! Didnt bother with more than one - decided to take the money and run!

L.A. was a bit of a bust really - was in bed ill for the majority of it just hearing tall tales as everyone came back from their days and nights out to fill me in. We had a lovely girl Jenny in our dorm who was a stilt walker and fire eater out here to be in a porn film! Talk about allsorts! We also met a girl called Emma from Hastings who was lovely and kept Sarah company when she wasn't working - she was on her way to the cook islands and was the only one of us brave enough to try beef jerky! (apparently it tastes like peppered shoe leather!)

Did manage to see a bit of Santa Monica beach on the last morning which was really pretty and clean looking and yet had the largest homeless population i've seen yet just living on the beach.

Wasn't all bad though - managed to see Sin City while we were there and alkthough i still felt like i was going to puke (to use an Americanism!) it was a great film and perfect to see in L.A.

Next was San Luis Obispo a lovely quaint Californian town where i finally got my appetite back and we ate at a lovely little cafe called louisas where you ate at the counter just like in the movies! The hostel was small but friendly and comfortable - we ended up talking politics with a woman from Boston who could not stop apologising for her country having voted Bush back in!

Two days later and we were on the road to San Fransisco - absolutely gorgeous scenery - so green compared to all the desserts and tumbleweed we've had all the way through the south. I had my 60's CD on the I Pod and to the strains of "are you going to San Fransisco...." we arrived at the pier, the Golden Gate Bridge towering in the distance.

Beautiful, the place is gorgeous and has such a laid back quality to it - the perfect city...

To be continued...

Well, ended up on the train to el paso with the girls from the san antonio hostel which was fun - spent ages talking to this bloke who claimed to have worked in the military, the government, security and sony! bit of a crazy really but we had long conversations about getting shot in Roswell because he got too close to area 51!

Got to El Paso for the night and ate on the border in this little cheesy mexican place called The Tap - authentic mexican again! and a pitcher of bud for $5. The mexican pretty much blew sarahs head off and she ended up just eating refried beans and rice! i managed it though and was very proud! we actually went with a french canadian woman called caroline (everyone seems to be called caroline!) early night though cos of the bus at 6 the next morning.

So off to Roswell we went - quaint little town with street lamps with aliens faces on them! Stayed in a motel 6 because there was no hostel - bliss again - and we went to our first walmart - just like asda!

Then Albuquerque in a really really old hostel was good though - a double room worked out cheaper than the dorm and the old town was reallly pretty - got an authentic native american ring - really pretty - had to stop myself buying more! but i did - im being a good girl!

Been ill last couple of days which is hell away from home - actually managed to get 12 hours sleep saturday night!

Was well enough yesterday to go out though and there is nothing like Vegas! We had a free barbeque and keg party at the hostel and every ones really up for a laugh - but wouldnt expect less from a vegas hostel! Ended up playing the bar maid as per usual and chatting to all and sundry!

Then went out to the strip - the monte carlo and new york new york - loads and loads of walking though my feet are killing me as well as my head.

Freemont Experience tonight and more of the strip to be followed by three days of welcome relaxation in LA while sarahs at work - bring it on!!!!

Well we're in San Antonio - arrived at 4am!

We stayed in a hostel that none of the taxi drivers knew existed! We've been in the basement - no windows and 1 toilet between 6. On the plus side though the bus is 80cents into the riverwalk.

And the riverwalk was gorgeous - we did a riverboat tour and learnt all sorts about the old bridges and hotels and this little island on one section of the river called marriage island where a saint performed the first marriage ceremony in 1629 - the oldest history we've seen yet in america!! anyway people come from all over the world to get married there - one every day! oh and tell josh i saw the statue of saint anthony and thought of him!

We have actually got to the point where we miss home enough that we went into a "british pub" - wont be doing that again - they had basketball on playing country music ( which by the way i think is the only music they listen to here in the south!) with bar tables and sold pizza and bud lite! not very british pub!!! oh for those nights in the george chris! (well almost!)

We ate mexican which was horrible - authentic food eh! and got very dunk on iced sangria which had triple sec in it.

We're in heaven at the moment though because we just checked into a motel 6 - only a fiver more and we get a double bed each, a tele and a private shower - bliss!

But it is not to last we're headed to El Paso early hours of tommorrow morning and then on to roswell to see the aliens! and we'll be in Sin City saturday afternoon with a pool and a bar and lifts to and from the strip-all part of our hostel price -yay. hopefully we'llget to see the grand canyon as well.

As for people on this leg of the trip we met a lovely girl from nottingham as we left the hostel today so we spent a couple of hours talking to her - clare - and a bloke from orange county - THE OC! And hopefully we're meeting up with Clare in Auckland because she'll be working there- so it all looks good.

Ask mum if she'll dig out sandys email address though - no sense in being over the other side of the world and not looking her up!

Love you all

Tampa was lovely - nice and relaxing - Sarahs family are lovely - three generations on holiday together!
we went to busch gardens which was great - saw the hugest alligator - scary!
But the trip has begun properly now we're in new orleans - we got a hotel straight away with these austrailians we met on the train. its 5 minutes walk from the french quarter so we went out last night! Bourbon street is amazing - every type of music and bar imaginable and everyones so friendly and out for a good dance!
We're doing a walking tour in a few minutes and then maybe a carriage ride!
Then on to San Antonio tomorrow so cant have too much to drink tonight!