G'Day

The Josh Franco Section
We are in Australia. This is where Neighbours happens. I met Batman.

First
Photos!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

G'Day sports its been longer than a kangaroos tail since the last time I was in touch but we've been busy, busy, busy here in the land of Oz.

So we arrived in Sydney two weeks ago now. It was a bit like returning to Earth after a short trip on another planet. Everything seemed the same but there were subtle differences that were kind of disconcerting (Damn you dirty apes!). The first day was spent basically fighting off exhaustion from the travelling and the time zone changes but soon enough we were back on our feet and seeing the sights. Sydney is a vibrant and happening kind of place and if you want to see it all you can't spend all day lying in bed with the 26 other people (and their occassional sexual partners) that you share your bedroom with. Yep we're in dorms now another big change from SE Asia. For our first few days in Sydney we did all the usual tourist stuff. Yes everybody does it but that's because it's brilliant. We checked off Sydney Zoo, The Opera House, Sydney Aquarium, more than a couple of museums, The World's Biggest Screen at The I-Max as well as walking across The Harbour Bridge. Because they're so famous all these sights seem strangely familiar when you first look at them but it doesn't make them any less impressive. After the near constant sunshine of Thailand and Bali we were also reminded that there are different types of weather. Here we experienced both rain and cold. We had pretty much forgotten how to cope with these things as was made evident by me struggling to walk around in my flippy floppies.

Hermit Crab Racing - Buy a crab, give it a name and then let it race. We partook in this extremely strange and incredibly fun sport at the Friend in Hand pub just outside the city centre. Nic's crab was called Mrs Crab Apple (Simpsons Quote - Bonus Points) and mine was Crabio Aurelio. As well as crab racing there was hula hoop competitions, balloon blowing up comps (Nic came 2nd) and the near constant spraying of guests with a garden hose. Nic's decision to wear a white t-shirt did not prove to be a good one. Still, after Crabio failing in the first heat (If he's anything like his namesake probably due to injury) Mrs C managed to scrape through to the final. Here she turned on the heat and managed to win Nic a free t-shirt by coming in 2nd Place. Mrs Crab Apple we salute you - a true hermit crab champion.

After crab racing we hopped on the train and headed out of the city centre toward the blue mountains. Despite having nothing to do with the great pop champions Blue this was again a really nice change of pace. We stayed in the town of Katoomba which is made up almost entirely of cafes and 2nd hand book shops. From this base we enjoyed the fresh mountain air and set about exploring the area on a hop on hop off tram trolley. We went for Devonshire Tea in a tea room with the world's largest collection of tea pots and a controversially large number of Gollywogs, went on a few walks and enjoyed the views from the clifftops overlooking a valley of rainforests. We also went on the Scenic train which has the world's largest incline for a railway (52 degrees) which was actually kind of exciting if short. This took us down to the rainforests where we again went for a walk and explore. The evenings were spent by the fire in the cosy front room that doubled as the guest common area. For Halloween we went to The Edge cinema to see The Box. Not only a great film but we even got a free large popcorn I think because the girl behind the counter was hot for me.

After the mountains it was back on the train (actually a rail replacement bus) and back to Sydney. Instead of staying in the centre this time we stayed in King's Cross which is pretty famous as home of a number of hostels and the city's red light district. There were a couple of gentlemen's clubs and many hungry hungry hobos but the area didn't seem all that bad. I had one strange confrontation as a man approached me in McDonalds:

Hobo - Guess what I hold the World Record for? Go on. Guess. I bet you won't get it.
Me - No idea.
Hobo - Cutting.

At this point I was preparing to be stabbed. It turned out he was (apparently) the Guiness World Record holder for cutting down sugar cane. From the look of him it didn't pay well. He also informed me he boned the 1973 Miss World a year before she won the title and was close personal friends with Ali. He did have some newspaper clippings to prove his claims but nothing to show the man mentioned in the clippings was him. Yes he was probably just a nut job wanting attention but I like to think he truly was a real life Forrest Gump. With our couple of days in Sydney we went to a few of the museums and galleries we missed the first time around. We also went on a day trip to Bondi Beach. To be honest we weren't sure what the fuss was about. It's just Brelades with jellyfish. Back in the city we also did some serious prep work for the East coast section of our trip booking with a guy at Wicked Travel who weirdly knew three people from Jersey I know (James Prendergast, Stef Downey and Joe McKenna if you're interested).

From Sydney we flew to the Gold Coast and then got the bus to Surfer's Paradise. We went to the beach (again not sure what the big deal is) but here we were mainly basing ourselves for some theme parking. First was Warner Brothers Movie World. There weren't a huge number of rides but the ones they had were of the highest quality. Superman - The Escape left me shaking the first two times on it (4.2 positive Gs and 1 negative G if that means anything to you). I also got my photo taken with Batman and The Flash and these will be appearing as my profile picture soon I can assure you. We also went to Wet & Wild which was certainly wet as it rained most of the day. This didn't matter though as it kept people away from the park and the queues for the rides nice and short. Our favourites were the kind of drop in tubes involving building up momentum and rolling up and down ramps before coming to a stop.

Whilst having lunch on our first day in Surfers we were approached by a couple of babes in gold bikinis. Of course this is a very common occurence for me but usually they don't ask me for money. These girls were called the Meter Maids and they spend their days going around collecting money and using it to fill parking meters to stop people getting tickets. They're basically super-heroes. Some day I will get a golden thong and do the same in Jersey.

After Surfers we got the bus and then the train to Brisbane. Here we had a day and a half to explore the city. On the Saturday we had a casual couple of drinks in the bar which after meeting some nice Irish people descended into Soulja Boy dancing at 3am in some random club. In case you were wondering I've still got it.

We are now in Noosa and preparing to hit a Bush Camp where I will surely become even more Ray Mears like, drive 4x4s on Australia's largest sand island and head to The Great Barrier Reef.

Missing you,

Steve & Nicki

xxxx