'I don't know whats going on....'

Hi all - hope the new year is shaping up well for you all.

Here's a little update to how our travels have gone since Sydney. Before we left our kind hosts in Sydney we went to watch Australia v India in the New Years test match - the atmosphere was a lot tamer than the Headingley party atmosphere, but the ground was an amazing arena for cricket - 35,000 people - mostly Australian, so the atmosphere was still very good! The Indians gave the Aussies a run for there money - they didn't turn upto the first test, but we saw some good cricket and the Aussies being frustrated by some good Indian Batting - we're off the the Mecca of cricket next week the MCG! 100,000 people capacity and supposedly electric!

Before we left Sydney to head to Canberra, Elaine and Jez took us out for the day to see the sights of Sydney properly - I absolutely loved Sydney and the sights were fantastic - especially the ladies on Manly beach!

We said good bye to Elaine and Jez and we thank them for their time and hospitality. Without them we would have missed a big part of what had made our trip special. We then headed to Canberra to the Indonesian embassy to get our 60 day visa - we found that the visa system is a farce - we should have gone to the embassy in England, although the visa is only valid for a month when issued - so we need to re-think our strategy, wither leave Indo and return on another 30 day visa, or add another country to our itinerary - any suggestions?

On our last morning before we left Canberra, we discovered that a funnel web spider had made its way into our car - it can kill a man in 90 minutes! - you should have seen our faces! Canberra was a pretty non descript place - just Government House and civil service offices - pretty much it.

We were aiming to hit Melbourne at the weekend so we could join the girls for a house party and BBQ that they were having. We spent a few nights camping on the coast and drove through a bush fire on the way to Melbourne.

When we met the girls in Sydney, they said we could stay with them in St Kilda for a bit while in Melbourne. St Kilda is like Headingley - young people and nightlife.

Our plan was to get to Melbourne early so that we could have time to sell our car as Melbourne is one of the hardest places to sell, due to the market being a buyers one, with it being a major exit point for Australia.

On the first night we gave our car a really good clean and then chilled out and watched a couple of DVD's with the girls, before getting an early night for the party the following day.

The house the girls are staying in is amazing - it is Victorian with wood panel walls and antiques everywhere - the owner is an antiques collector. Antiques and party, I hear you say!?

We got up and Hayley took us around St Kilda's hostels and notice boards to put up notices advertising our car. We then nipped to stock up on food and beer for the BBQ and then decided we'd crack open another Hahn and start the boozing early. By the time people arrived we were quite drunk but the party was still tame at this point. We cooked food and before long the party was pumping, especially the music - after a while, Brett a friend of the girls turned up and thought it would be good to get some poppers! Once you pop you cannot stop! It was piss funny watching people pass them round. At about 2am everything just went crazy and the lounge was full of people dancing on the antique furniture, with drinks everywhere.

We were the first drinking and the last to stop - we were still up at 5am having another BBQ finishing off our slab of beer.

The next couple of days after the party, we relaxed and took it easy. On our last night before we headed to see the guys we'd gone to Fraser with, we went out with Fletch - one of the other guys that lived with the girls. Carly and Fletch were the other two tenants and were really nice guys.

We started at the pub where Fletch had worked up until the week before, before he left after having an all night lock in! It was a typical night - boozy and we seemed to get very pissed and separated all leaving separately.

By the time I had wandered back and found my way around St Kilda, then broken into the house through a window, Rob has been gone about an hour - he'd been put in a taxi, with no money, by an Irish guy and been kicked out of the taxi somewhere in St Kilda. He'd been walking around trying to find the house. I went to look for him and could hear him shouting for me. I'm surprised we didn't get arrested. We were shouting trying to locate one another at 3am, when the police drove to the gate of a park I'd been walking past - I dashed into the shadows as we've heard the cells here aren't too pleasant out here! I found Rob sitting in the middle of a roundabout one street away from the house.

The following day we went to the cinema with Carly and Fletch to watch I Am Legend, before heading upto the mountains to Matt's house to meet him and Ryan for a roast that Matt's mum had cooked

We'll update before we fly out of Australia on the 12th Febuary to Indonesia, but from now on, photo's will be posted less often as I am having to post them home, so be patient but keep upto date with the blog - and keep in touch - its good to hear what you guys are upto.