Sunday 28 October 2007. Day 69. Campervan – Coffs Harbour

We leave Coffs Harbour via the much famed big banana, a total disappointment, it’s not very big or impressive, nowhere near as good as the lobster, the crab or the octopus we’ve previously seen on or journey. Stop at Coles for supplies, then head on as we have lots of kilometers to travel to reach Brisbane tonight. We pass beautiful Lennox Heads before stopping at Byron Bay for lunch. WE eventually find somewhere to park, then grab some lunch at a café in the town. Afterwards we wander down to the beach for a bit, before heading off via a very long and windy road back ro the motorway, only to find there is no way on at this intersection. By luck we happen on the entrance a few kilometers and some right hand turns further on, continuing northwards towards Brisbane, stopping for the occasional rest and to fill up with diesel.

Eventually we arrive and find our way to the chosen campsite for the evening just behind another Maui van. The grumpy woman at reception grudgingly allows us to have a site and we set up camp, finishing the spag bol from last night.

Saturday 27 October 2007. Day 68. Campervan – Cessnock, Hunter Valley.

Spent the morning exploring the Hunter Valley, which was made up of beautiful hills, fields and its vineyards, helped by the sun which decided to come out today. Visited Brokenwood first, then on to the Small Winemakers Centre, followed by Tyrrells, Bimbadgen (complete with Spanish bell tower) and lastly Lake’s Folly. The first and the last were by far the best and Lake’s Folly only had 2 different wines available so we bought a bottle of both. BY lunchtime we had amassed 7 bottles in total (they have to be finished by the time we hand the camper back as we have more than enough to carry already), plus some pitta crisps, banana bread and chilli jam. We were lucky enough to spot a kookaburra on the way out of the small winemakers centre, and managed to take some pictures quite close up without disturbing it.

Left the beautiful Hunter Valley to head to Coffs Harbour (home of the big banana), several hundred kilometers further north. Stopped off at Bulahdelah for lunch, where we had a surprisingly good lamb burger (Ieuan) and egg and beetroot wrap (Lou). During the afternoon we got pulled over for speeding on the Pacific Highway, Lou was at 118kph in a 100 zone, (73 mph in a 62). Fortunately despite all that we’d heard about Australian Police fining you for 1kph over, the nice police woman let us off, telling us that she didn’t want to spoil our holiday. We proceeded at the designated speed limit for the rest of the day, unlike the other road users.

Ieuan spotted a Kangaroo attempting to cross the road, despite numerous Koala signs we don’t manage to spot a wild one. Arrive at Coffs Harbour were we don’t wee the big banana but do find our campsite. Lou cooks spag bol for tea and we drink the first of our Tyrrell wine purchases.

Friday 26 October 2007. Day 67. Campervan – Katoomba, Blue Mountains.

Up early to do the chores (yes really, this is a holiday) a leave site before 9am to take advantage of the break in the rain. Head to ‘scenic world’, (http://www.scenicworld.com.au/) where we catch the steepest railway in the world (50°, it used to be used for hauling coal up the mountain) down the valley then followed a rainforest boardwalk to the rainforest room (just an empty wooden room) before completing the boardwalk to catch the cable car back up the mountain, which gave us great views of the 3 sisters and Katoomba falls. We then took the skyway cable car with see through bottom across the valley which went right over the falls (we managed to avoid being squeezed into an earlier one which was jam packed with a group of Japanese tourists).

Returned briefly to Echo Point for a final close up view of the 3 sister, this time only hindered by the masses of flies, used the free (but useless) internet, visited the local chocolatery, then rushed off to try and catch the zig zag railway near Lithgow. Made it just in time, and did the 1hr 40 minutes tour including the viaduct, signal box & workshop.

Then we drove off towards Cessnock, with Ieuan spotting a group of Kangaroos by a lake (our first ones), we arrived at a river town Wisemans Ferry to find that we have to take the ferry to get across the river, once across the river we have to endure an hour or more of windy forest roads as the nightly gloom gathers, before we are able to reach the motorway, at which point we are able to make better progress. Reach Cessnock at about 8pm and have a lovely Thai meal in the restaurant attached to the camp site.

Thursday 25 October 2007. Day 66. Campervan – Sheralee Holiday Park, Rockdale (Sydney).

Left Rockdale, spent some time doing a loop through the city on the motorway as the exit we wanted was 1 way. Spent a couple of hours driving there in the rain, stopping at Leura for lunch where we found a nice café for a sandwich (Lou) and Spag bol (Ieuan), plus a giant candy shop where we bought a years supply of sour sweets amongst other goodies to rot our teeth.

Arrived in Katoomba and went to see ‘The 3 Sisters’ which were shrouded in cloud which would occasionally clear enough to get a glimpse and the cameras would then start clicking madly, before it would all close back in again. We walked down the path so we could climb right down to the 3 sisters and got some good views from there underneath the cloud. Went to Coles which was dirty and rough and full of rednecks before heading to our campsite for the night. We had pasta and some very average pesto, before going to bed hoping for better views in the morning.

Wednesday 24 October 2007. Day 65. Campervan - Sheralee Holiday Park, Rockdale (Sydney).

Wake up early, thirsty and hungover, and go back to sleep for a few hours. Lou heads into Rockdale for an appointment to have her eyelashes tinted, where she waits 15 minutes (being ignored apart from at the beginning being told that they would be ‘with you in a minute’) before walking out. She goes to the internet café where she meets Ieuan and they head to town. Have lunch, do some further shopping, purchase memory sticks get all photos taken so far burnt to dvd. Lou spots weirdo old lady in string top with nothing on underneath standing at traffic lights for half an hour looking very dazed and confused in her brightly coloured mismatched outfit.

Got the monorail and did a circuit of the city centre, with an annoying and unscheduled 10 minute stop between 2 stations, then headed home. It was raining by the time we got back to Rockdale, despite this we walk back to the van and make 2 curries for tea, play cards and go to bed. We leave Sheralee tomorrow and head for the Blue Mountains.

Tuesday 23 October 2007. Day 64. Campervan - Sheralee Holiday Park, Rockdale (Sydney).

Do some laundry and pack up Ieuan’s Mum’s birthday present to send off. Go into town for Lou to get her hair cut at “Muse” in Surry Hills as recommended by the Time Out Sydney Guide. Ieuan goes to look for record shops but isn’t very successful in part due to a bizarre road numbering system where you can have 2 properties in the same street with the same number, what’s that all about? Afterwards went back into town for some lunch, dodgy chicken sandwich for Ieuan, convincing him that he was going to get salmonella poisoning.

After shopping we headed to our favourite wine bar “One Alfred Street” to meet Nolan for drinks. One glass and most of a bottle later (Cabernet), Nolan finally arrives, we order a further bottle (Tempranillo). Sometime later Nolan’s mate John arrives and we order yet another bottle (Montepulciano). Somewhat tipsy (well at least Ieuan and Lou were) we all head on to Sailor Thai for some tea, where we ordered a mixture of fish, beef curry and chicken dishes to share, along with another bottle of wine (type unknown, or at least forgotten by the authors).

After this bloody good scran, John headed home, whilst Nolan took Lou and Ieuan for a final drink for the night, just about finding a bar which was still open although closing anytime now, and a somewhat startled Nolan finds he has a relative working behind the bar. Quickly supped a large glass of wine (perhaps we shared a bottle??) before catching the train home and stumbled back to the van.

Monday 22 October 2007. Day 63. Campervan - Sheralee Holiday Park, Rockdale (Sydney).

Get up, clean the van and do the washing up etc. Sort out all our purchases to send home and pack them all away into the holdall. Go to the internet place to finish writing and typing up the blog. Started very hot but clouded over by early afternoon. Went to Goffy’s for a burger lunch again, with Lou managing to tip her chair off the small ledge behind her as she sat down, so landing on the floor, much to her embarrassment. Luckily there were no serious injuries.

We finished typing at about 5pm and headed into town, spent some time browsing the Kinokuniya bookshop, Sydney’s largest bookstore, making a few purchases and then went to track down an Indian restaurant in Surry Hills recommended by Nolan. After an extremely steep hill climb we found "The Clove" and went in. Ieuan ordered Aloo Chat to start, but was then told sometime later by a casually dressed older Indian fellow that they had run out, but that they had some very nice fresh samosas as an alternative which Ieuan reluctantly agreed to. The fellow later returned to check whether Ieuan had enjoyed them, which made us suspect that either he was the samosa maker or that they were about 2 weeks old and refried.

Walked back to Museum Station and got train home. Back in the van we spent a good half hour killing all the bugs that had somehow managed to get in.

Sunday 21 October 2007. Day 62. Campervan - Sheralee Holiday Park, Rockdale (Sydney).

Did some laundry, chat to the neighbours about the rugby result, empty the poo capsule and top up with water.

Really hot today. We catch the train into Sydney and out via the North Shore to Chattswood, as Ieuan wanted to go to the Camper shop there to buy some flip flops. From Chattswood, we jump in a taxi for what we thought would be a short jaunt to Manly beach, arriving half an hour and $40 later!

We look for a place for lunch and eat at “Burger Me” where we have the biggest burgers we have ever seen, overlooking the beach. Ieuan manages to mis-identify the burgers which means that Lou end up eating Ieuan’s burger which has hot tomatao salsa and jalapeno peppers on!

We go and sit in the sun on Manly beach, watching the world go by, until we end up in the shade of the big trees behind us, and we are sick of having towels (and therefore sand!) shaken inconsiderately in our direction (and the culprits were mainly brits)!

We wander through Manly to the wharf, pausing only for Ieuan to purchase more flip flops, and then catch the ferry back to Sydney Harbour. We watch loads of yachts and some jet boats go past, and see lots of beautiful coves and inlets around the main bay and harbour.

On dry land, our new favourite wine bar was shut and the centre of town seemed to be pretty much closed down for the day, so we walked down to the station and got the train home. At home we cook pasta and pesto / jacket potatoes for tea.

Saturday 20 October 2007. Day 61. Campervan - Sheralee Holiday Park, Rockdale (Sydney).

Calmer this morning but there are lots of big sticks on the ground everywhere. We do some washing – the sheets and towels and then head off into Rockdale.

Today we have decided to get our travel diary typed up in to our blog, and can’t wait!! We spend from 11.30am to 6pm at the internet place, typing up the diary and adding photos to our blog.

The main highlight of the day was finding out that we can have a whole day’s unlimited internetting for only $8 (about 3 quid!) plus we have lunch at Goffy’s next door, which consisted of huge, delicious burger with salad and beetroot.

Once we finish typing for the day, we walk home via the “local” Coles supermarket which takes about 40 minutes to reach, and it’s dark by the time we get there. It’s another 30 mins home from there, as we cannot identify any possible shortcuts in the dark, by which time we are knackered!

We arrange to go out for a meal with Ieuan’s mate Nolan and his girlfriend tonight, and they offer to pick us up as Nolan coincidentally lives only a couple of streets away. We head through slow, heavy traffic into Sydney and go to an Italian restaurant in Surry Hills, waiting in the pub opposite until a table becomes available. Had a great evening and a nice meal – pesto with gnocchi / risotto and a parmesan and rocket salad, and bought a bottle of wine from the pub as it was BYO.

Head home via the far quicker expressway and show Nolan and Steph the van!

Friday 19 October 2007. Day 60. Campervan - Sheralee Holiday Park, Rockdale (Sydney).

Went into Sydney to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art next to the Harbour Bridge. Looked at some of the Young Artists and Crossing Currents exhibitions and bought a few bits and pieces from the shop, including a nice book called the Kangaroo for Lou.

Walked round Circular Quay and down to the Opera House, and then went to look for a recommended wine shop nearby. Found it and purchased a couple of bottle of local wine, then stopped at the wine bar next door where we undertook some wine tasting (full sized glasses I would add!!) and had a very nice selection of red wines, recommended by the hugely enthusiastic waitress.

Several glasses later, we headed back through town to Town Hall station, where we caught the train back to Rockdale and did the long, hilly walk back to the van. Lou cooked spag bol for tea. It got really windy later in the evening with sticks dropping from the trees above at an alarming rate. Ieuan got summoned outside by the hippy lady next door to come and take down the neighbours awning which was bashing about in the wind, about to snap – very neighbourly of him!

Thursday 18 October 2007. Day 59. Campervan - Sheralee Holiday Park, Rockdale (Sydney).

Empty the poo tank and have showers etc. Ieuan chats to the weird Germans opposite who insist on parking inches from our van crossways in front of it in order to empty their waste water directly into the drain in front of us! Chat to a young couple who are here looking for work and have been working in Melbo. They have a cheaper campervan from “Wicked” campers. Not sure how successful the bloke will be in finding a job judging by his grubby shirt, and the large stain we saw him deposit on it when ironing it on the manky “Sheralee Campsite” ironing board and the manky “Sheralee Campsite” iron.

We walked up to Rockdale Station (20 mins) and got the train to Sydney (another 20 mins) where we went on the internet, shopped and had some lunch. In the afternoon, we wandered round the shops and Ieuan met his mate Nolan who lives in Sydney for a drink.

Lou put her new Oraton sunglasses in to the opticians to have prescription lenses fitted (7-10 days so they will be sent to us in Cairns) and then we wandered down towards the harbour bridge and the Rocks area for a look round. Checked out some restaurants for dinner, and ended up eating at the Sailors That at the Rocks, although not at the main restaurant but in the more casual “Canteen” upstairs, which had a nice atmosphere and great food – beef stir fry, beef with vegetables and chicken peanut and red curry.

Got the train back to our new redneck home.

Wednesday 17 October 2007. Day 58. Campervan – Batemans Bay – Wollangong – Sheralee Holiday Park, Rockdale (Sydney).

Ieuan went to do some internetting whilst Lou washed up. Then went up to Tourist Information to find out about nearby “hanging rock” which Ieuan thought we may want to go and see today. We were informed that the rock eroded some years ago, and so no rock was there to be seen, and all that was left now were a few streets called hanging rock township, much to the amusement of the chap behind us in the queue who couldn’t hide his laughter. With that off the agenda, we headed towards Wollangong for lunch, reaching there about 1.30pm.

After some commotion, we got parked and went to look for the pure and natural café, which we found, but didn’t look great, so we ate at a food hall, getting Thai for Ieuan and a salad for Lou. Explored some of the local music / clothes / outdoor shops before leaving to get on the Grand Pacific Drive towards Sydney.

We followed the appropriate signposts for the drive and found ourselves taking an in-depth tour of every single Wollangong suburb and speedhump before we finally made it out of town after about half an hour, and joined a proper road.

We drove across the impressive sea cliff bridge (built out from the side of the cliffs) and up Bald Hill near Scarborough, stopping to take some pictures from a lookout high up and to watch a hang-glider glide over the beach below.

We reached Rockdale – our destination where we would camp whilst visiting Sydney – 13km outside Sydney by about 6pm and spent the next hour driving up and down the Princes Highway looking for the right turn off to the campsite, despite phoning for a second set of directions after the first half an hour!

Eventually found it and we are allocated a pitch, only to find some Germans already on it, plus it’s too short for our van anyway. We move across the road into a bigger pitch and cook chicken curry for tea.

Tuesday 16 October 2007. Day 57. Campervan – Lakes Entrance – Eden (killer whale museum) – Batemans Bay.

Wake up to a fine view of the fish gutting station next to the van.
The wind has started up again. We pack up and head off, stopping at the internet place and post office, and also driving up to a lookout point for 90 mile beach.

Driving is really hard going due to the wind, and we drive for a few hours through miles of eucalyptus forest, with hardly any other traffic on the road, hanging on to the steering wheel to keep the van straight!

Reach Eden where we stop for a sandwich at the deli and are served by a very strange lady who doesn’t look up, then go and visit the much hyped Killer Whale Museum. Admittedly, there were a few references to killer whales and the fact that a killer whale used to reside in the Eden waters (Tom) and help fisherman catch other whales, which was made into the centrepiece of the museum (with his skeleton preserved inside) but most of it was about other types of whales and the general coast of Eden, not particularly thrilling.

We left there and drove, via the longest roadworks in the world, which whilst inconvenient, did allow us to get a picture of a house nearby which had a very attractive set of furry rocking horse type horses attached to the low walls on either side of the drive, to Batemans Bay. We found our pre-selected caravan park miles over the other side of town and set up camp at our pitch next to a small mechanical digger.

Went to use the internet and to the drive thru bottle shop (off licence) or “bottlo” as it’s known, where we met a man whose mother is from Coventry! Went to the recommended local Thai restaurant for tea, which was ok.

Monday 15 October 2007. Day 56. Campervan – Mornington – Waters Edge Holiday Park, Lakes Entrance (via Bairnsdale, redneck country)

Topped up / emptied the van then headed into Mornington. Internetted at the Salvation Army internet cafe (hampered by the 2 thick girls at the counter who didn’t seem to have a clue what they were doing and look like they had just landed from Mars when asked about anything to do with the internet rather than the café!). Had lunch at Pure and Natural again – very nice!

Went to Coles, then left Mornington and retraced our steps back down the now familiar road out of Mornington, and drove for several hours towards Bairnsdale, where Ieuan had chosen a nice looking campsite for us to stay overnight. Got to the site and did a round in the campervan looking for the office, but all we could see were rednecks and layabouts, so we completed the circuit and drove out of the park and left hickstown. Hot footed it towards the next decent sized town, Lakes Entrance, at the edge of Ninety Mile beach. It looked far better, although most of the town is taken up by motels, hotels and caravan parks, and we choose a site near the front called “Waters Edge”, which is opposite the site of the forthcoming National Firemans Competition which is in the process of being set up (or “firies” as they are called here, along with “ambo’s – ambulance drivers!). The lady on reception is extremely grumpy.

Our allocated pitch is fantastically located next to the fish gutting counter, so we hope that no one staying there has had a good day fishing. We go for a quick walk into town before coming back and cooking tea. The strong winds from earlier seemed to have dropped completely and there is now no wind, which is strange.

Sunday 14 October 2007. Day 55. Campervan - Phillip Island MotoGP Circuit - Mornington

Last day at the GP today (and therefore last day with no power we hope!!). Pack the van up so we can leave asap after the race, and also decide to move it to an empty field just by the access road, where a few other cars and vans are, so that we can make a quicker exit.

Go and find our seats on the siberia stand – it’s quite windy but the sun is out so it’s not too cold and we settle into our seats – Lou with a padded seat cushion, Ieuan doesn’t want one! About 50,000 people are here today (up 150% on last year due to the fact that the World Champ is an Aussie). We watch the support races and the main races, plus a jet display an open topped car procession of the MotoGP riders (our very own Chaz Davies (pictured) seeming quite bemused by it all), as well as stunt riders (some better than others!) plus our 3rd opportunity to see 3 Aussie bike heroes (Doohan, Beattie & Magee).

The racing is dry but in the 125’s Bradley doesn’t do that well, coming 16th with Pescek first. In the 250’s Lorenzo of Lorenzo Land comes first by a mile and came and planted his Lorenzo land victory flag right in front of where we were sitting! In the bike bikes, Stoner led from the off, and with Hayden chasing, but Hayden went out after a while due to a bike problem. Rossi challenged but ended up 3rd, with Capirossi 2nd.

The Aussies were loving Stoner's win, (including the drunkards sitting in front of us who were so drunk, they missed sitting in their fold up seats every time they stood up then sat down again!) so we took the opportunity to make a quick exit whilst they all swarmed up the track towards the podium.

We get to our van and take 15 mins to get out of the circuit, and after that, the roads were pretty clear. We got to Mornington in a couple of hours and booked into a nice campsite, did some laundry and had tea.

Saturday 13 October 2007. Day 54. Campervan - Phillip Island MotoGP Circuit

Wake up early and Lou does the morning tea / coffee preparation duties. Ieuan chooses to further cultivate his crusty dreadly status by not having a shower again, as he also has some cracked skin on his feet which he doesn’t want to get dirty and the manky showers, and also doesn’t want to aggravate his infected bite wound or sprained ankle!

Clean up the van then head over to the track, where we watch some of the practice, then head over to the visitors centre for a hot drink and snack (wedges and dip).

Stand around watching more stuff – it’s a lot busier today with lots of weirdos and rednecks. The F-18 jets come out again for another display and we see peacocks and wallabies at the visitor centre. Have a jacket potato for lunch, then watch the motogp qualifying. Head back to the van and chat again to the young couple from last night, who are at Uni doing degrees to work in the lucrative mining industry. Ieuan gave some advice about the chaps bike exhaust, which was rejected, and we got in the van to find that as we had left the water pump on all day, we didn’t seemed to have even enough power to switch a small light on left! Switch the pump off, and get the head torch ready to use to make tea, when suddenly the light comes back on, but soon goes off again. Starting the engine seems to give us some power, but not enough for anything more than a light or 2 and for the fridge to run.

There are loads of fireworks going off all night, plus some bikes being ridden about, but nothing too rowdy, even from the hoons out the front.

No rain so far and lots of fires around tonight. We cook chicken stir fry for tea, and have a bottle of Phillip Island Sauvignon Blanc. Get invited out to the fire by the people from last night, who have started up a fire in last nights pit. We are also joined by the bloke from next door (with the generator) who is very chatty, has some great stories and knows quite a lot about bike racing.

Friday 12 October 2007. Day 53. Campervan – Phillip Island MotoGP Circuit

Wake up about 7am to find ourselves encircled by small tents (well a couple anyway). We still have no power as Ieuan has yet to befriend the man next door (who has brought everything you could need to camp for a year in complete luxury) and ask if we can buy or borrow some of his generator power! We stay in bed with a freshly made hot water bottle for another hour until the van warms up a bit, listening to the rain and wind pelt the van. By about 9am, the rain stops and the sun comes out, so we get up and pack the bed away and go up to the showers, where Lou bravely has a shower (not that bad actually) whilst Ieuan declines a shower (doesn't want to catch anything) and instead cultivates his crusty dreadly look.

After some breakfast, and some painfully slow washing up (using hot water from the kettle) we head to the track for a look around. It’s very windy and full of groups of hoons and Bogans, with very few women in sight.

We take a slow walk round the circuit, watching some of the practicing and taking pics, buffeted by the strong winds. We located our allocated seats in the aptly names “Siberia” grandstand where we realise that our seats on the end of the row mean that we act as a windbreak to the freezing winds coming in off the sea a few hundred meters away.

We watch some F-18 jets do a short but impressive display, and Ieuan twisted his ankle, then had a variety of food for lunch – souvlaki, pizza and jacket potato.

Headed back to the van just as it started to hammer with rain. Bought more firewood at Lou’s insistence. Later, we prepare to start our fire, and immediately are invited to join a group who already have a fire going nearby. We decline as we want to have our own and cook our sausages, and cross our fingers that we will get it started, and if not, will look very stupid!

We get the fire going, and not long after, as Lou prepares the sausages, Ieuan is joined on firewatching duties by a little old man with a long beard, from a small tent nearby. We chat about Australia and the bike racing, and the sausages, and when the little old man goes to get a new drink, shortly afterwards, the rest of his clan come an join us round the fire (presumably having been given the “ok” to come and join the fire by him!!) They lend us a griddle to cook our sausages (the old man practically cooks them for us really!) and we have a nice evening chatting with them and weathering some spots of rain, until the rain starts again properly and we all think it’s time to retire.

Thursday 11 October 2007. Day 52. Campervan – Cowes Caravan Park – Cowes.

Up early for usual chores – shower, wash up, fill up van with water, empty waste water, empty the poo tank (although no poos are allowed in it!) and then go to Coles to stock up on food, then use the internet.

Ieuan went to queue for an autograph from Ant West, GP rider who was in Cowes for an autograph session that morning, whilst Lou went and purchased sausages for bbq-ing at the GP. We stopped to get our gas bottle refilled, only to be told it was probably still pretty full, so didn’t, hoping it wasn’t going to run out over the next few days at the GP!

We stop off at the Phillip Island winery to buy a couple of the wines we tasted yesterday plus Ieuan buys a bottle of port, then head rounds to the GP circuit. Surprisingly, it’s not busy yet, although we do have to queue for ages to pick up our tickets. We are given a list of rules as long as a snake (a traditional Australian expression…(Lou says)) to follow, including no eskies, no bottles, no alcohol, no firewood over 30cm, no “structures” to be taken into the GP circuit and on and on….none of which are remotely followed by anyone at the event as we see whole tree trunks being rolled out of vans and mini tents inside the circuit, not to mention the fact that everyone is drunk on their own alcohol every night!

We go and choose our own camping pitch in the “Highside” campground, as due to an oversight on the booking front, we didn’t manage to book ourselves into a powered site! Ieuan insists on a nice quite site next to a respectable looking family, with 1 caravan, 2 trucks, 1 large tent, 1 gazebo, and their own generator, on the basis they will not be rowdy. Later that day, a truckload of about 15 hoons roll up and park directly in front of us, taking about 4 hours to unpack their various monkey bikes, alcohol fridges and other paraphernalia, and set up camp. They claim we cheated (rolling up in the camper, Ieuan say's he'd rather have cheated than take as long as they have!) As we walk around the camp, we notice that some people seem to have bought their 3 piece suites from home and set them up next to the cooking area under giant gazebos/tarps!

We buy some fire wood for our fire tomorrow or Sat (Ieuan is reluctant to agree to Lou’s insistence that we get into the swing of things and have a campfire!) and then Lou cooks spag bol and we have a nice bottle of Phillip Island Merlot. We have a few games of cards then go to bed, noticing that some people have pitched their tent practically under the back wheels of our van, with their campfire alarmingly close!

Wednesday 10 October 2007. Day 51. Campervan – Cowes Caravan Park – Cowes.

Walked into Cowes along the beach to use the internet, then went to hire bikes to go and explore the island. We set off, cycling about 8km up and down the rolling (and tiring!) terrain until we reached the Phillip Island winery. We tasted the wines on offer, some grown and made locally, some just made locally, buying 1 to take back. The woman at the winery was surprised at how far we intended to cycle, we then realised we didn’t have any lights to enable us to come back in the dark, after watching the local penguins come in at dusk which we intended to do.

We amend our itinerary and from the winery head, via the GP circuit, over to the koala conservation centre, where we get up close and personal with a rather large koala as he decides to cross the board walkway in front of us! Spot some more koalas in the trees – mostly they don’t seem to do much. The mossies are huge so we douse ourselves in mossie spray.

With sore behinds, we remount our bikes and set off back to Cowes to hand in the bikes (about 12 hours earlier than planned, although unlike in Japan where we handed the car back early and were given a part refund, we don’t get offered a partial refund here!! We have lunch, and work out that we have cycled around 20km, which isn’t bad.

After lunch, Lou wants to look in a nearby clothes shop, much to Ieuan’s delight, however as we get there, who should emerge from the shop but MotoGP rider Loris Capirossi! Lou grabs a couple of pics and Ieuan waits until he gets off the phone then pounces to request a photo with him, which Lou duly takes. Loris goes back into the clothes shop and Lou shops nearby for a bit, before we move on to a cheap hardwareshop for van provisions. Lo and behold, we then spot Loris in the same shop as us, Ieuan pounces for a second time, asking him if he felt guilty about winning a previous title at the expense of punting his teammate off his bike during a race! Loris said no, it’s all about winning! (He realised that I wasn't being totally serious when asking the question, (the event in question occured in 98 at the final round of the 250cc championship in Argentina and was crucial))

That evening, we go to some rock formations called the Nobbies, which have hundreds of gulls nesting on them, and thousands of tiny gull chicks, then on to the “Penguin Parade” where you can watch penguins coming in from the sea to nest on shore. We waiting half an hour or so in the “VIP viewing are” before seeing hundreds of Little Penguins (about 30cm high) make their way cautiously across the beach and up an old river bed to the sand dunes and burrows behind. (http://www.penguins.org.au/content.asp?pg=54) We also spot a wallaby on the hillside nearby.
We drive home in the darkness, make tea, play cards and retire for then night.

Tuesday 9 October 2007. Day 50. Campervan – Torquay Holiday Resort – Torquay – Great Ocean Road.

Up at 8am after a lovely toasty nights sleep due to the new queen sized bargain duvet (a tenner) from K Mart.

Lou forgot to take towel for a shower, not realising until she got out, which was nice, and then we set off to the Queenscliffe ferry an hour or so away.

The 45 minute journey took us across to Sorrento, cutting a large chuck of driving out of our journey, and from there, we headed to Mornington and stopped for lunch.

Had delicious lunch at the Pure and Natural café – chicken satay and Moroccan chicken, stocked up on food at Coles, and Lou got some new sunglasses to replace the ones she seems to have lost up the Great Ocean Road.

We set off towards Phillip Island, arriving a couple of hours later, and passing the Phillip Island Eco Resort (a collection in tin shacks) on the way.

Looked at some caravan parks and chose a nice one 1km from town and got a pitch right on the beach which was great (see photo).

Unpacked and walked along the beach into town, which didn’t take long, where Ieuan purused motoGP souvenirs. We then ate at an Italian place, where the food was perhaps less than ok, although it didn’t lack custom as hoardes of people seemed to be coming in off of coaches stopping nearby. We walked back to the van along the road, which seemed to take forever compared to the beach route.

Monday 8 October 2007. Day 49. Campervan –Big 4 Ocean Beach Holiday Park – Warrnambool Great Ocean Road.

Woken up by the coldness again due to our thin single duvet, at 6.30am. Get the heater on and warm up the van before we get out of bed.

Lou is assigned to toilet tank emptying duties whilst Ieuan makes pleasant chit chat with another holidaymaker – a farmer from Victoria who hasn’t had enough rain to run the farm for the last 3 years so has sold up and is doing some travelling with his wife. He also comments that you “wouldn’t get an aussie bird doing toilet duties” – a sentiment which Lou agrees wholeheartedly with, he then proceeds to tell us that even little women like Lou drive monster dumper trucks in the mines of Western Australia.

Head off to the big K-Mart and Coles to buy food and a duvet (as well as various other campervan paraphernalia Lou buys to make the van more comfortable!).

We go to the whale viewing platform at Logans beach but no whales are in residence and the wind is pretty strong so we move on, leaving Warrnambool, passing Cheese World and on to the Great Ocean Road.

We stop at the Bay of Islands for some spectacular views, plus a few other lookout points including London Bridge, which used to be attached to the mainland, until the connecting arch crumbled away one day, leaving some tourists stranded on the main section of rock surrounded by sea! They were winched to safety by helicopter.

Saw the 12 Apostles again before stopping at Apollo Bay for lunch, although our favourite deli had just closed. Carried on to Torquay to spend the night, arriving at the Torquay Holiday resort around 7pm. Put some laundry on and used the (frustrating) internet, which was an awful all-in-one arrangement of monitor, keyboard, and seat all fixed together, with a red ball in one corner as the roller mouse and the right click mouse button separately on the keyboard!

Went for a walk past surf alley – every surf shop you could ever want, went to look at the local Thai takeaway, giving the owner a fright as he didn’t see us come in and then had a drink at a cold café nearby.

Back at the van, Lou made tea – stir fry chicken with spring onions and cashew nuts (although we had forgotten to buy stock cubes!), whilst Ieuan opened the sangria (well almost – Ieuan didn’t realise it was “frizzante” when he bought it!).

Sunday 7 October 2007. Day 48. Campervan – Anglesea Beachfront Family Caravan Park to Warrnambool. Great Ocean Road.

Wake up freezing after our first night in the van! Didn’t get much sleep due to the cold. We do our washing up in the camp kitchen, tidy up and set off towards the 12 apostles. The road is very windy with lots of motorbikes going past, and lots of overtaking points, which we made use of (to slow down and let other pass I might add, not to overtake!) but not much general traffic at all, which was surprising.

We drove thourgh some lovely seaside towns such as Torquay and Lorne, then stopped for lunch in Apollo Bay. After some “discussion” we ended up having a great burger in the deli there plus went to the hardware shop and supermarket to stock up on food, hot water bottles and other essential van provisions!

Back on the road, we reached and saw the 12 (now 11) apostles, along with hundreds of other tourists, then carried on past Cheese World to Warrnambool (or Woolly
Mammoth as christened by Lou as it was easier to remember). Warrnambool seemed to be home to the tacky caravan resort and the whale, which meant that every tacky caravan resort, motel and hotel had an even more tacky plastic whale arrangement somewhere near the entrance.

Get to the campsite and part on flat ground this time. Sort out the van and go for a walk down to the beach, via a deserted caravan park with theme park inside. Can’t decide between us if the tide is coming in or out. We come back through the deserted campsite to cook some pesto and pasta for tea, with fruit for desert. Bedded down leaving the heater on for as long as possible before going to sleep.

Saturday 6 October 2007. Day 47. Welcome Mercure Hotel – Pick up Campervan - Anglesea. Great Ocean Road.

We check out of the hotel, leaving our bags in their luggage room, and Ieuan heads off to some motorbike expo whilst Lou goes shopping, unhindered by the usual chastening of “come on”…..

Meet back at lunchtime and have lunch at the Crown Café, stir fry chicken and red curry (curry not great!). Ieuan uses internet whilst Lou finishes shopping, then we head back to the hotel to reclaim our bags and head off.

We try to get a taxi to Maui Motorhomes office to pick up our campervan but the taxi drivers don’t seem to fancy taking us there, so pretend we have too much luggage to get in the car (ridiculous!). Eventually the concierge from the hotel comes out and tells the next taxi they are taking us, and off we go!

A lady from Rotorua (NZ) shows us our campervan, whizzing through all the instructions of what to do and when, leaving no instruction book, and before we know it, we head off to Coles (supermarket) next door to stock up on groceries. The van was new at the end of August so hasn’t done much mileage and is pretty nice.

We drive cautiously out of town towards the Great Ocean Road, reaching Anglesea, our designated overnight stopping place in a few hours. We stop on a slanty pitch and naively ambitious, we cook a combination of 2 curries for tea, which takes hours to make, eat and clean away in the tiny van, although does provide some much needed warmth!

It’s very cold when we go to bed under our thing, small duvet and Lou plans to buy another duvet and a hot water bottle tomorrow!

Friday 5 October 2007. Day 46. Melbourne, Welcome Mercure Hotel.

Breakfast, spot of shopping at Central Mall, Hardware Alley for lunch again (nice brushetta, rocket and parmesan salad, and Moroccan lamb salad. Then we headed back to the Art Gallery where we saw some of the free exhibitions, such as Oceanic Art. Saw a band doing sound checks for that night and decided we may come back later for a listen. Bought some more books on Japanese art.

Went and caught the circle tram, which is free and goes all round the cbd, stopping at some of the major attractions. We travel about two thirds of the way round before jumping off near the launderette where we dropped our laundry so we could collect it and head back to the hotel.

That evening, we headed back down to the Art Gallery to watch “The Emergency” perform, whilst quaffing salmon bagels, brownies and wine! We watched as the local crusty dreadly, complete with long kilt and black pumps wound his way around the room, waving his arms mystically at the walls as he went, in a silent winding dance, which made sense only to him, and no doubt involved him absorbing energy from the walls or some such nonsense! We watched surreptitiously, so as not to feed his attention craving and noticed that his crusty girlfriend also joined in, mimicking his mystic hand waving.

After some technical hitches, the band finished and we went out to eat at Hardware Alley again. A balcony table was prepared especially for us in the window of a small restaurant as it had just begun to rain and the only other table had only partial cover. Food was ok – starter better than main.

We went home past the “Sonic Manipulator” in his tinfoil suit with lights attached, playing music to the incredulous crowd!

Thursday 4 October 2007. Day 4. Welcome Mercure Hotel.

Starbucks for breakfast then use the internet for a bit, before going for a wonder round Melbo. Dropped our washing in at the laundry near the hotel, then went up to “Hardware Alley” for some lunch. There are loads of nice cafes and bars along the alley – we choose one and chat to the Indian waiter about the city, offshoring of jobs etc whilst waiting for our food. Ieuan had a burger and Lou pasta with pesto which were pretty good. Went to the Quantas office to change a flight, which seemed to be inundated with people who has lost their luggage on a recent flight from Singapore! By chance, because Quantas printed off our whole flight schedule for us, we also discovered that our next flight has been changed to 5 hours later than planned, so good job we found out, or we could have had an unhappy 5 hour wait at the airport!

After lunch, headed down towards Flinders Street station and walked across the river to “The Edge” Skywalk – a building where you can get the lift (37 seconds) up to the 88th floor for great views of the city. We are told that water tanks sit on top of the building to prevent sway, and that some floors are residential with an entire apartment on each one. The views are great, although we decide not to queue for the extra bit, which allows you to enter a clear box suspended out from the 88th floor for even better views!

Visit the National Art Gallery of Victoria, although it’s just closing so we spend some time in the shop, spending a small fortune on the lovely bags, scarves, and books of aboriginal and Japanese art we find there!

Head back to the hotel where we change and go and find the tram to take us to Middle Park to meet up with Ieuan’s cousin, Tessa and her husband for dinner. They have a beautiful house, which they are currently doing some work to and 2 great Labrador puppies which they are looking after before they are trained as customs dogs. We go to a reastaurant in nearby St Kilda (after much discussion!) and try and eat at Chinta Blue, which is full, so go to the sister establishment, Chinta Ray, and have some nice roti bread and peanut sauce, plus some good chicken and beef curries. Get some gelato for dessert before heading back in the car, going via the Melbo F1 road circuit, much to Ieuan’s delight!

Wednesday 3 October 2007. Day 44. Melbourne. Welcome Mercure Hotel.

At the airport, a beagle comes round to sniff our bags for contraband food, leaving dog hair deposited on our bags. We declare our crisps and nuts but are allowed to keep them.

Taxi to the hotel where we check straight in at 8am and go to our room to catch up on some sleep. Get up a few hours later and go for lunch at the Crown café next door – Ieuan has very nice stir fry thai chicken and Lou a nice salad (although it took quite a while for hers to arrive).

Have a wander round, buying a local sim card, and look in a few record shops. Do a bit of shopping, Ieuan has his hair cut, and we go on the internet for a bit.

Head back to the hotel to unpack and chill out, before going out for dinner. Look at a few places and don’t like a lot of the menus as they are all quite poncy. Settle for Longrain which is a poncy Thai place, although the décor is very nice and staff friendly. We have a delicious stir fry beef dish and an ok peanut chicken curry, but an awful braised veal dish, which features revolting slimy, overcooked veal, swimming in veal flavoured gravy (nb perhaps others may love this dish, I'm sure it was made well, just not to our taste!!).

We head back to the hotel, passing a very bizarre “spaceman” singing space music from a small platform on the pavement and seemingly dressed in a tin foil suit with lights attached. We later learn that he's called the Sonic Manipulator and buy his CD which isn’t that bad at all!!

Tuesday 2 October 2007. Day 43. Holiday Inn Atrium Singapore – Fly to Melbourne.

Get up early as we have to sort out all our luggage, plus send parcels off. Have buffet breakfast, then Ieuan heads off to internet café to type up our blog.

Lou starts to go through kit, working out what can be sent home, and what can be dumped. After half an hour, Ieuan returns as internet place closed, so goes to use the hotel internet and uses the half hour he bought yesterday but didn’t use as the computer had been left open. By lunchtime, Lou had sorted through the bags and we are almost packed. Went and had pizza at the hotel bar, chatting to the waiter who was from Sandakan!

After lunch, Lou went to the post office to buy boxes, and Ieuan went internetting again! By 3.30pm, we were packed up and ready to check out, and then go and post 2 boxes from the post office. Sent both by surface mail, and then got taxi to the airport.

Checked in our backpacks, plus the large empty holdall we bought for storing stuff at the hotel. Had a look round the airport shops for a mobile hard drive before having tea – veggie Thali for Ieuan and soup for Lou. Headed to the gate to board. Usual seating arrangements – Ieuan luxuriates in the window seat with lots of room, whilst Lou is trapped in the middle with a sleeping Aussie to the right!

Monday 1 October 2007. Day 42. Fly Tokyo – Singapore. Holiday Inn Atrium.

Leave the Holiday inn at Narita on the fun bus to the airport, along with a group of clueless fat Aussies who don’t seem to know where they are going, or have any luggage!

Ieuan directs us to the SAS gate so that we can check in for our Scandinavian airways flight, even pointing out the Scandinavian sportsman in the queue, and it’s not until we reach the front and begin to check in that we are told we are in the queue for the wrong flight and the wrong airline altogether!

After lounging around in starbucks for a coffee and pottering in a couple of shops, we realise the last call for boarding for our flight is being made and we are still 5 mins from the gate! Rush towards the gate and almost last on board. The person in the aisle seat next to us promptly falls asleep as we set off, and remains asleep for most of the journey – which isn’t very convenient for toilet excersions! Lou watches Mr Brooks, CSI and some docus. Ieuan watches an Irish film (when later questioned he is too grumpy to remember what it was). Ieuan has delicious Indian veggie meals on board (pre ordered) plus 2 soy ice creams and Lou has fruit platters (also preordered), and salad wrap from starbucks.

Get to Singapore – feels like home now so we know the routine. Switch mobile phones back on and rejoin the world of communication (no network in Japan)! Get taxi to hotel – taxi driver had ginormous ears and sucked a sweet very loudly during the drive.

Holiday Inn room is ok – not as big as last time, but we get a free drink (not to be sniffed at given the bar prices!), breakfast, and a late checkout till 4pm for no extra cost.

Lou goes to the shop in the mall attached to get drinks and cough sweets and gets given free peanut cookies, 2 nanas and an offer to change our Japanese yen by the friendly woman working there.

Walk down to Clarke Quay to go to the Indian Kitchen for some great food. Walk back and go to bed.

Sunday 30 September 2007. Day 41. Kyoto – Tokyo. Holiday Inn Tobu – Narita Airport

Lou starts antibiotics purchased over counter in Malaysia for throat infection.

Get up and pack, ready to check out at 10am, and go to starbucks for a quick coffee before we leave, using our 2 quid yellow brolly purchased the evening before. Check out and get a taxi to JR station, Ieuan eyeing the driver suspiciously as he thinks he is taking us the long way round, and catch the Shinkansen to Tokyo. Ieuan complains of a constant (imagined) peanut sauce smell along the way, which Lou is completely unable to smell!

Pass the Sanyo Solar Ark building – completely covered in solar panels, get to Tokyo station and put our luggage in lockers so that we can go off and do some shopping and have dinner before leaving for our hotel near the airport that night. Aveda café for lunch, then to Shibuya for some shopping. We do an intensive 1.5 hours shop then meet back at starbucks to watch the huge crossing below – the busiest pedestrian junction in Tokyo.

Catch the tube to Roppongi and go to Erewan Thai for evening meal, locking our new clear umbrellas in the umbrella stand provided! Delicious tea, then jump on the train back to the station to search for the luggage lockers we left our gear in, then go to catch the Narita Express to the airport. Get there with 25 mins to spare, only to hear an announcement saying that “due to a person being struck by a train, the train will be 20 minutes late”!

We arrive at the airport and eventually get a taxi, despite being usurped by a couple of blokes, meaning we have to wait 10 mins for the next taxi to arrive. On the plus side, quite a queue had built up behind us at this stage so at least we were first in the q. We are driven to the Holiday Inn by a decrepit 98 year old driver who we are not convinced is fully in control of the car, or even aware of the fact he is even on a road with other traffic!! Our room is very nice – we go on the internet and go to bed.

Saturday 29 September 2007. Day 40. Kyoto. Kyoto Garden Hotel.

Have breakfast, including a banana labelled as a “new age” banana, then head out to one of the more famous temples. Arrive along with hundreds of other tourists and wonder round the wooden shrines, with balconies overhanging the hillside held together only by wood slotting together and not using nails. Watch people praying, and many catching and drinking “pure” water using giant ladles, plus got some good pics of mad Japanese outfits!

Headed back via Gion – the tradition home of the Geisha and the Maiko, and look for a recommended café for lunch. End up with a Caesar salad wrap in starbucks instead, just as Ieuan is on the verge of getting grumpy! Walk back into town for some shopping at Tower records and other various shops, (see pic of Lou's favourite find) then stop off at Red Rubber Ball café for a cup of tea. Back to the hotel where we change into warmer clothes and head to JR station to book tickets back to Tokyo for earlier than we currently have planned on Sunday. At the station, which is a pretty impressive building, we get the escalators about 12 stories up to the sky garden, for great views of the city. We also watch a local school band performing in the concert hall within the station.

Walk back to town via Joe’s Garage records, and hunt for an Indonesian Café for tea. Eventually find it, but the 10 or so seats are filled with a university party. The mad owner kindly squeezes us in on the end of a wooden bench for a drink, and on delivering the drink, instructs the young Japanese lads opposite us to talk to us, which they duly do! We end up chatting to them and another girl for most of the evening, and Lou is also given a book in English about Kyoto to read! We swap email addresses with 1 of the students, and he kindly orders us some delicious Mexican Gouya, which are meat inside a kind of pastry shell. We later manage to order some coconut chicken and rice which was very nice. We say goodnight and head home, stopping to buy next days breakfast.