Made it to Aussie!

We have made it to Australia where we have now been for almost a week. We have spent a few days in Brisbane finding our feet and looking on aghast at the food prices and in reaction to that trying to live off budget cheese sandwiches and budget beans on budget toast for our time in Australia. This lasted about 2 days and we just decided we’ll have to pay the market rate for food rather than eat shit. I think the camp pie experience (looks like cat food, tastes like cat food, bears no resemblance to pie) was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Actually since we have left Brisbane the food prices seem a lot more reasonable and we stand a chance of having a half-way healthy diet on a budget. show_random($num=4, $tags=’Brisbane’); ?>

Brisbane was a pleasant place to spend a couple of days with great botanic gardens to chill out in, it’s nice to see a bit of bustle in a city again. There was even some good industrial era architecture amongst the skyscrapers of varying degrees of uglyness.

Once our feet had been found we put them to good use walking across Brisbane with heavy packs on our backs to get a bus to Lamington National Park. We had bought a tent in Brisbane and spent our first nights camping here in the rainforest. There were loads of little pademelons hopping around our campsite eating grass like rabbits, one even had a baby pademelon in its pouch – they’re very cute and not too timid. We also got mobbed by rosella and king parrots when feeding them some grain – at one point I had 5 parrots on my arms and head! The rainforest here is really lush and we went for some great walks in them seeing lots of waterfalls, some great views over the plains and lots of lizards including big black skinks, not seen any venemous snakes yet though which I’m dissapointed about, but Viv isn’t. I also got eaten by a leech on a walk, it got rather attached to me. The nights were pretty cool too as you could hear all the rainforest noises including the eerie howl of packs of dingoes. On our last morning there it pissed it down with rain and we discovered that our ultra-cheap tent ($30) was not ultra-waterproof so we got a bit soggy. show_random($num=4, $tags=’Lamington’); ?>

We arrived in Noosa yesterday and had a fun night last night playing uno with other backpackers. It very hot here and to prove it I’ve developed a highly attractive heat rash all over my body, sure that will get all beach babes flocking in preference to toned and oiled surfer dudes who are abound here.

We have an Australian mobile phone that we can recieve calls on without us having to sign away our first-born child (just to clarify – there’s not one on the way!) to a mobile phone company just for the priviledge of receiving a call. It is 0061 (0)4-31381877 and don’t forget that we’re 10 hours ahead of UK time, be great to hear from any of you!

Right, I’m off to wow the girls with my spotty back.

J-Hob