Sydney!

Hurrah! We've found a PC with a card-reader! We may not have such luxuries at our next destination, Tonga, so we're going to make the most of it and give you a load of piccies!







Have been in Sydney for a couple of days now. We did the bridgeclimb this morning, which was amazing, and the Opera House is nice (from the outside - the inside is a bit of a disappointment - just lots of concrete and wood pannelling). Otherwise, we're not big fans of Sydney - aside from the lovely harbour, it's just like any other big city. In many ways it's like being in London, especially with all the place names (Hyde Park, Bond Street, etc)! Some of the streets are impressively long - we have sometimes spent over 30 minutes just walking down a single street (although that is helped by it taking 10 minutes to cross every junction!).

Tomorrow we are off into the Blue Mountains, which should make a nice change from the bustle of the city, and then we are off to Tonga!

We will post updates as and when we can in Tonga, but we may be a bit more limited in our internet access.

"Don't get heatstroke at Ayers Rock"...

...that's what mum said. Fat chance, we were more likely to get frostbite!

We've just arrived in Sydney from Ayers Rock. Had a great time there, but the weather wasn't quite what we were expecting - 1.5 degrees for our first trip to the rock meant my shorts weren't quite the best attire.

We went out to the Rock several times, for sunrise, sunset, and to walk around the base (we didn't climb it - it's disrespectful to the aboriginees, plus we were already shattered!). Sharon found the base walk rather tedious, but then I always said she had the attention span of a budgie (Hello Smokey!) . The walk is rather circular, with flat rock on one side and outback on the other for three hours! The rock was very impressive in the way it changed colour at sunrise and sunset - well worth visiting.

We also walked around the Olgas (Kata Tjuta for the politically correct...), which was a bit more exciting, and as we were the only people there was a bit more atmospheric. We also saw a lot more bird-life, which kept Sharon happy - hundreds of zebra finches making strange squeaking noises.

Went to an observatory last night and had a talk about general astronomical stuff (that's as much detail as I can remember!). We did get to see Jupiter and some of its moons through a telescope, which was very cool. The sky in the outback is amazing - without light pollution, the sky is just full of stars, and the milky way shows up really clearly.

We've now arrived in Sydney, and just been out to Chinatown for some food. Annoyingly there is no way to add photo's from the internet place we're in, so you've been spared another picture of Craig in shorts.

Thanks for all the comments, it's nice to know that people are reading this, and that we're not just updating it for nothing!

Still alive!

We've just returned to Cairns from Kuranda, a village up in the rainforest. We took a scenic train journey up there the other day, and came back via a cable-car that went over the rainforest canopy.

While we were there, we went to "the Aviary" where Sharon spent the entire visit with a giant black cockatoo on her shoulder, Birdworld (as you can see, Sharon had a lot of input into this itinerary!) and a Butterfly Sanctuary. We also visited the Koala gardens (guess what we saw there... It also had kangaroos, wallabies and all the other classic Ozzie animals), and "Batreach", where we saw lots of fruitbats - Greg, we tried to bring one back for you but we weren't allowed.

We went on a short jungle trek, where we were promised freshwater crocs and giant blue Ulysses butterflies, neither of which bothered to turn up. We returned to the hostel, and found a kuckaburra sat on the fence (not laughing though). This hostel was Sharon's first real test at roughing it, so as a reward for her ordeal, Craig brought her breakfast in bed.

Stopped in at an Aboriginee park this avo (we're getting the hang of the local lingo). Had a go at boomerang throwing - oh dear... The only thing that got hurt was the ground (and our pride).

Having a great time so far. The Great Barrier Reef was Great (and a Barrier Reef!), and we found Nemo. Our only problem so far has been ordering a beer - what is a schooner?! The barmaid seemed shocked at the idea of a pint...

Hi from Australia - Cairns!

(Sorry, dodgy PC won't let us rotate the picture - but Sharon probably looks better that way round anyway)

We arrived in Cairns this morning which was a great relief after the humidity of Hong Kong - it's lovely and cool here.

We had a great time in Hong Kong. We sussed out the public transport - ferries, MTR and buses ( but it did take us 40 mins to find the bus stop for the 629)!

In our last few days in HK we went to the Po Lin Monastery which has the world's largest seated bronze buddha sat on top of a hill (above). We took a sampan ride in Aberdeen harbour (no, not the one in Scotland) and went to Ocean Park where they have Giant Pandas and we watched a dolphin show. Craig's highlight was the 'Sea Jellyfish Spectacular' although being photographed with a man dressed in a foam turtle suit came a close second!

Sharon's bearing up with Youth Hostels very well although so far we've always has a private en-suite room so we're not sure if it counts...

We arrived at Cairns Youth Hostel at 5:30am, just in time to watch England throw away a 1-0 lead over Sweden. Weren't they rubbish.

So far, Cairns is nice and the people are friendly. We're off to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow - are you all jealous??? Steve P - we'll let you know if we see any sharks. We saw some in HK but they were behind glass and there were no reports of any fatalities!

Hello from Hong Kong

Well, we arrived with all our baggage you'll be pleased to hear! We've done a fair bit of site seeing on our first day - Victoria Peak, Kowloon, HK history museum (yep, that was Craig's choice!) and afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel (where we used up three day's food budget).

Far from being high tech in Hong Kong, we're yet to find a cashpoint that will give us money and it took us about half an hour to get the PC to let us update this blog! But the food makes up for it - lots of dim sum.

Sorry this is a bit short but it is absolutely boiling and there is air conditioning in the room so we're off to cool down.

Next update will (probably) be from Australia...

Goodbye!

We're about to set off on our travels! I've just got back from work, I'm half-dressed, half-packed, and have about 20 minutes left before we leave for the airport - so obviously I'm doing important things like updating our blog!

So farewell for 6 months, we'll see you in 2007! First stop is Hong Kong.

Expect an update over the next few days to tell you what luggage didn't turn up at the airport...

Episode III - Revenge of the Mongolian Visa

OK, so we're rubbish at this being witty thing!

Only a few days left now before we're off on our travels, just time for the Mongolian visa saga to unravel. The problem is that the visa only lasts for 3 months. We leave Mongolia on 9th September which means we can't apply for it until 9th June but we need our passports back by 15th June so we can be on our way to Australia. Confused yet? The basic point is that we have a visa to get and not much time to get it in without missing our flight to Australia.

So, knowing that the fate of our Australia trip is resting on her shoulders, Sharon begins the process of applying for the Mongolian visa. Unfortunately the pressure is all too much for poor Sharon... After mucking up about 8 forms, covering the living room with paper, getting very animated and throwing all the toys out of the pram, she finally manages to complete one of the two forms successfully - it's a good job she doesn't have the pressure of taking penalties for England. Craig stepped in to calm the situation but was so relaxed, he forgot to sign his form.

The following day at the Post Office, we double, triple check the forms and still fail to notice the blank signature box. As far as we're concerned, everything is fine and we hand the envelope to the cashier, pay the postage and start walking home.

Five minutes down the road, Craig's face turns rather white as he realises his faux pas - our trip to Australia might just have been written off because of the lack of 12 little letters in a box. We race back to the Post Office (impressive for two people who think exercise means walking to the pub) only to see the post being collected and driven away :-( The visa form is gone...

Luckily, a quick call to the Visa Agency confirms that all is not lost, Mongolia is so keen to get tourists that one missing signature is not going to stop them putting a stamp in our passports - surely the saga is over?

But, no! There is still time, it would appear, for the visa agency to have a turn at mucking things up for us (we obviously didn't do a good enough job ourselves)! It seems they have applied for the visa too early (they were kind enough to confirm the fact by email) meaning it would run out a day too soon. A phone call to their office does nothing to calm Sharon's already fragile nerves.

Will the visa be issued correctly?

Will the passports come back in time?

Will Sharon turn into a gibbering wreck?

Don't miss the next thrilling instalment...

P.S. In case you're wondering, the photo has nothing to do with the visa, Sharon just likes it!