Hi all,
Sorry this is so late (again!), its getting harder and harder to find time to write these epics! I’m afraid this is no exception to the last few – long and detailed! The short version is we had a lot of fun down under – and are considering living full time in a campervan!
Wow, what a difference to Thailand! Our Australia leg of our trip has been really busy! We have done a lot of travelling around and seen a huge amount despite our short time here! We arrived in Sydney and headed straight to Coogee Beach where we had booked our hostel. Coogee was really nice - a sweet village right on the sea. It was fairly quiet when we were there because it was the middle of winter - would you believe it rained most of the time we were in Sydney....... I mean its Australia!!!! So much for the Summer Bay and Ramsay Street Propaganda - who knew there actually was a winter in Australia! We spent a really nice (and rainy) day in Sydney, went to the Paddy Markets and bought the obligatory Boomerang, then on to Darling Harbour for lunch. It was really nice - a bit soggy though!! We headed to the aquarium there which was really cool - especially the seals and the ocean tank, there were huge sea turtles, sharks, manta rays and loads more! We were lucky enough to get a break in the weather just long enough to get the ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular quay - we got some nice pics of Sydney Harbour bridge and the opera house. We met a friend from college - Coman for dinner and drinks. It was so nice to meet up with a familliar face! We went to a cool pub for dinner - they specialise in gourmet pizzas, Seb went for Kangaroo on his, Coman had Emu! Both were really tasty! The emu in particular was really nice!

The next day we flew out to Perth. We were a bit delayed which was a bit of a pain! But, could you believe it, we ran in to Gemma Moran (a girl I was in school and college with!), she was on her way to Perth too! Such a coincidence! Such a small world! We stayed in a really cool hostel which was a converted from an old fire station in Fremantle. We met up with Paddy, Sean and Bernard which was so nice! They are in great form and living in a really nice house in Fremantle with a really cool guy from Scotland. They have a huge back garden with grapefruit and lemon trees! We all headed to watch Ireland get slaughtered by the Aussies in the Subiaco Stadium. It was my first international rugby match, so I didn’t mind the poor result too much – I was just delighted to be there! We went out to an Irish bar after and partied with all the Irish in Perth! Paddy went on to a club with a few friends he had met in Melbourne and ended up running into the whole Irish team! They were all hammered! He has photos with all the lads – he says it was the best night of his life! Seb, Paddy and I rented a car and drove south for a few days and went to Margaret River. It’s a big wine region. We spent a whole day driving (seb did the driving – Paddy and I did the drinking) sampling the wares from the different wineries, we even took in a chocolate factory and a cheese factory. We had such a nice dinner of wine and cheese that night. Not sure what the rest of the people in our hostel thought! We went to watch the Soccaroos play Italy in the one pub in the town that was showing it (imagine an Ireland match playing in only one pub in a small town!), we were all geared up in our Aussie shirts, but unfortunately the big screen was otherwise engaged! The local Monday night Karaoke was on! It was a pretty serious affair, people doing their regular rountines (all woeful), there were dances and actions, and a horrific duet of Evanescence Bring me to Life. The match was being played on a tiny 14inch screen above the betting shop! We scarpered to the hostel!
We flew back to Sydney and decided to rent a campervan and drive up to Brisbane to catch up with Colin and Clare. It was the best idea – not only was the cam

Hi all,

I am so sorry it has been so long since I last updated you! (Although, maybe you are glad of the break???). We have been really busy since my last mail. The quick summary is that we went to Koh Tao, did our Open Water and Advanced Open Water scuba diving courses, then travellled to Oz via Singapore, and are now in Perth visiting Paddy, Sean and Bernard!

Koh Tao was just gorgeous! It is quite a small island and is a 2.5 hour ferry ride to Koh Samui which is a large island that is close to the mainland. The beaches in Koh Tao were just beautiful, nice sand, lovely clear water and some palm trees lining the shore for shade! Although while we were here, we didn't see too much of the beach! We had decided to do the PADI Open Water course. This involves a lot of theory (can you imagine trying to actually study in the sun???), a pool session to get used to the equipment and practise a few skills, and then 4 open water dives. The dives were so much fun! We had to practise more skills during each one, but these were really easy - eg how to clear water from your mask, how to pick up and clear the regulator if it falls out of your mouth, how to share air with your buddy if you run out of air. Then we just swam around looking at all the marine life! We saw some really cool fish - we saw a purple spotted sting ray and a few moray eels and.......more sharks! They were the black tip reef sharks again - but they are so cool!

We had a really nice group in our class for the diving course - and we made some really good friends! After our course was finished we all went to the full moon party together in Koh Phangan. We got the "Party Boat" over at 5 that evening and it was due to collect us again at 7the following morning (by all accounts thats actually early for going home!). The party was mental. We bought some body paint and the two Canadian girls we went with were paintingall of us in luminous colours! That was lots of fun - especially seeing Sebastian parade around with the Superman S on his chest! We even had a symbol for everyone in our group so that we could recognise each other in the dark if we got lost (quite a possibility when there are 4000 people on the beach!!!!). Surprisingly that "sensible" idea wasn;t even mine! The night was great fun - we all had some of the world famous buckets, and were enjoying all the fire shows and the atmosphere. Although from about 2 it started to get a bit messy - people passing out all along the beach - we had one guy beside us for about 3 hours! By the time he woke up, we had renamed him and painted him loads of different colours! I really enjoyed the first part of the night, but I'd had enough by the time the Thai locals started to go through all the passed out peoples' pockets looking for anything of value, and the pill heads were just jumping around! Not really my scene!

The boat home was terrible, it was wet and cold and all we wanted by that stage was to go to bed! We decided to stay on in Koh Tao though and started the Advanced open water course as soon as we had recovered! The Advanced Course involves a few specific dives, including a deep dive (30 meters) this is so that you know how to handle the depth properly and also to check that you dont suffer from Narcosis at depth. Narcosis is where the nitrogen in your body makes you feel drunk! It stops as soon as you ascend a few metres. Unfortunately none of us got Narcosis! It could have been fun - our instructor told us that people act really funny under water and just start laughing hysterically (and often drop the regulator - thats what is a bit dangerous about it!). We also did a night dive, which was really cool. A bit scary at first, but then really nice under the water with just your torch! We switched off all the torches at one point and just sat around on the bottom of the sea watching the bio-luminescence. The night dive went really well until we had to surface and it was so rough

Hello! I have more to report! We are in Phuket town at the moment which is a bit of a dump but we are trying to kill some time before we leave for the airport to fly to Koh Samui. We ended up staying in Phi Phi for the last week. It is such a gorgeous place! It was hit really badly by the tsunami, but they seem to be recovering well! We stayed in a bungalow on the hillside overlooking one of the bays in Phi Phi. Phi Phi is tiny - there are no roads, no cars and the only way to get around is pretty much by foot or pedal power. It is just so relaxed though! The people are really nice and friendly and everyone you pass gives you a big smile! My kind of place! There are loads of backpackers too of all ages! There are a few large bars that are busy most nights. Apache was one of the hot spots (we were at the Phuket Ladyboy Cabaret there last night!), it is open really late and is always jammed. We really liked a place called Hippies too, it is on one of the beaches and you sit on mats on the sand at tiny tables with candles everywhere. Its really laid back, and there are fire shows every night.

Our first night in Phi Phi was hilarious, we were having dinner and watching "The Beach" (such a cliche, but you cant really escape it in Phi Phi - it is played everywhere!), and commenting on how peaceful and relaxed it was even compared with Phuket, when the owner of the restaurant started a huge row with his two daughters. He dragged one of them into the kitchen by her hair!!! The screaming went on for about an hour. All the people in the restaurant were transfixed by the show!! Forget the beach, we were all staring into the kitchen. When she had stormed off we headed over to a bar accross the road with a few people we had met as we stared around in disbelief! The Reggae Bar was pretty cool - it had a huge Thai boxing ring in the middle and a sign up offering anyone who was willing to fight free buckets (like the kind you play with on the beach, only filled with lethal drinks!). We watched a few people give it a go, some serious and some messing. Two cousins gave it a go, and one was pummelled - and had a continuous nose bleed! I'm not sure they were quite so matey after!

We went on a great boat trip that took us snorkelling at all the best spots, we stopped at Maya Beach or "The Beach" (from the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio), Shark point (we saw a shark!!!), Bamboo Island (no bamboo to be seen!), and Monkey beach (no monkeys!). It was a really great day and we saw some really gorgeous fish. But with all the getting in and out of water and on the boat all day I got roasted on my shoulders. I am so ashamed - I am so careful in the sun, but it is so strong here. I blistered and everything. Its not sore anymore, but I may be sent to the local leper colony for all the peeling! I wont be posting photos of that!

We went cliff jumping also in Phi Phi. Sebastian really wanted to give it a go. I was terrified from the minute we booked it! A longtail boat brought us to the cliff and we had to wear rubber shoes and gloves and climb the rocks to get to the ledge that you jump from. (That was my favourite part of the whole experience!). Then the Thai guy gave us instructions about how, when you are jumping, you need to use your arms to correct your fall so that you land straight in the water and not on your bum or tummy. That was all great in theory, however in practise its not so easy when you are busy panicking! He had a video camera as well for the whole thing so I couldn't even panick in peace! We started on and 8metre jump. Seb went gung ho and jumped straight in! Then it was my turn. The guy started counting me in ....one two thre GO...... Obviously I didn't move! I was firmly stuck to the ground! My legs were shaking and I just wanted to climb straight back down! But he kept saying jump jump!!! So we counted again, this time I jumped. I forget everything he told me, screamed and covered my