Saturday 11th February, and we're off

Up nice and early, co's we're off today. So up to the kitchen for a quick bite to eat, (comprising of toast, with stolen jam, stolen coffee, stolen tea and stolen sugar) ummm, I would say these were borrowed actually !!!!.  The weathers holding, so as soon as we're done, it's everything out the tent and back onto the bike. I really don't know how Lin doe's it, but she packed that trailer to the hilt and we just about got the lid down. The bikes brimming with stuff and we still haven't got food, gas bottle or lighting, we can't even find anything we want when we need it.  I think, at the next camp site we're gonna have to have a big turn out and a few things are gonna go.

OK, so we're fully loaded and it still ain't raining, the bike starts on the button and we're away once again. We head off down Highway One, or Paradise highway (same road, just got two names). Now this is a road just made for a bike. Long sweeping curves, one after another, left, then right. The Speed limit is a bit of a pain and ranges form a meagre 40km/h (approx 30mph) to 100km/h (Approx 55mph) so it not to long before I'm getting a jab in the ribs and a whack on the back of me helmet.  I try stroking Lin's leg to soothe her a bit and just get whacked harder.  I'm gonna be a mass of bruises by the end of this trip. We stop at a place called Burrill Lake about one for a quick bite.  Daft ain't it. I pulled over, forgot to put me foot down and layed the bike down. Looked over me shoulder and theres Lin, legs in the air, Ar*e on the floor, laughing.  Happy days. Anyway, into the cafe (laughing makes Lin hungry) to refuel. Lin had a steak something or other witch came in a stack and I had a egg and bacon stack. (I think the plates over here are just to small).  Job done, its back on the road. Up and down mountains and through small towns, we seem to be well out in the sticks now and the scenery shows it. Lots of Oooo's and Ahhhhh's going on, and that's just me (really must get that vibration sorted out). Lin's packed the camera, so just use your imagination
(we may never see it again). We finally end up in a town called Eden and its well named. We've booked into a b&b for the night (cu's we ain't got no gas, food or lighting, somethings gotta go). It over looks a huge bay and we've spent the evening watching the storm clouds roll in. The thunder is deafing and the lightening across the water will be a memory forever. The house we're in is amazing, huge, spacious, with glorious views. (Lin wants it).

Right, I'm fed up writing this thing, I'm off to do some reading for a change.

Lots and lots of love Lin and John xxxxx

This was our room at Corrcoran Cottage B and B. This picture, does not do it justice. I WANT this house John, please. lol..........

The view from our bedroom window.

The view from outside our bedroom window, and taken from the veranda. Lin spent a lovely evening reading on this veranda. Whilst the Editor in Chief, wrote the blog !!!

The veranda, looking out over Eden Bay. This is where we watched the storm come in. Beautiful.

The glass balcony, where we stayed. Yes John, I still WANT this house.

Across the bay at Eden, so aptly named.

Croc Smith, on the balcony.... Not a care in the world !!!

Friday 10th February, Still in Kiama

Bloody hell, what a night, Did it rain?. Woke up time after time with the rain beating on the tent. Sounds like someone throwing pebbles down a tin roof. No sign of water, so used the excuse to snuggle up to Lin, (just to make sure she's safe). Up at severn thirty and the rain still aint let up, Sod that, not driving the bike through this weather, so gonna book in for another night. Since its early here (and still evening in the uk) we Skype all those we can get hold of.  Roxanne won't answer, Kouy can't get to a computer, Steven's out collecting money (thats me boy, we might need it) can't even get hold of Sophie,  Billee and Row not on line!!!!. We then get lucky and have a chat with Billee for a bit, nice to see at least one of me girls. Nicky's on line, so have a natter with her and John, just to catch up with life in Turkey.

Midday and the rain finally ease's off, so pack up the poncho's and its off to check out the blowhole. Yep, its a blowhole. That done, its off into town for ice-cream, It may  be raining here, but its still bloody warm, (it could melt the knacker's off a bronze statue). Another walk round town, (Lin looks longingly at the shoes and I drool over the gas fittings). OK,  back to the tent and catch up with the blog and have a bit of a rest, the night is still young?

Huh! so much for that. Need to go into town once again to eat. We decided earlier that it would be easier to eat out rather than cook in the kitchen. So we wait till it rains, put on bright yellow poncho's just to make sure we look really daft and head off for the Italian that's does really good carbanara. Well fed once again and alls right with the world.  Gonna leave tomorrow, come what may so we head back for a reasonably early night, so we get the daft thing (poncho) looking just right again and off we go.

Why is it that a really good meal never stays that way for long. Heres me, 2.30 in the morning, burping, farting and god knows what, looking for the sodding Rennies by torch light. Oh well,  so much for the joys of camping.

If you could all be here, life would be perfect. Love ya. Lin and John xxxxxx

This is the walk down into Kiama town, beautiful, long and  a good fitness test for anyone.

This is the view and the next cove, still in Kiama, this was taken from just opposite our tent. Yes, we were on the top of a hill!!! wherever we stay seems to be on top of a hill. Still it keeps 'us' fit.

More 'Blow hole'

A view from the beach, taken from down the hill and nearer to the town.

And yes we know we looked daft, but they kept us dry. Thank gawd for the £ shop , hahaha.

Kiama Thursday 9th February

We're woken up to strange and new sounds (no, Lin knows all the ones I make) Their got something dodgy living in the trees out here and it sound like whatever it is, its mating, then getting let down. Anyway the day starts cloudy but soon brightens up. Having said that, every bit of us aches. Ain't been on the bike for a while and it shows. The two of us are wandering round like ninety year old and even our ar** cheeks ache. Cant get me leg over the bike, so we've booked in for another night and hope it gets better. Sill, theres stuff to be done and Its not long before the trailers emptied, contents scattered all over the place. (we know the toothbrush's are in there somewhere) (maybe). Takes about two hours to sort through all the stuff, don't get rid of any, just rearrange it and stick it all back, oh well, least we found the toothbrushes. that sorted, its into town for a look see. Not a big place, but just right for our first port of call and Its not long before the hunger monster starts calling, so still holding each other up, we hobble round town till we find one of those gourmet cafe's, in we go, I get the big breeki and its a sweet potato stack with the trimmings for Lin. Good food, but we found they use small plates and pile things up here, so I can't see me corn thing, Co's its got the toast on it and I can't find the toast Co's its got the eggs on and the eggs are under the bacon, were me sausage is, Fu** knows. Lin's in the same state. She looks at me as if to say, "do I eat it  or climb it". I leave her to it, I've got me own problems. Right, that lot tucked away, we're off, shuffling down the road like a couple of pensioners on speed. Lin's found at the shops that sell the shiny stuff and shoes, so she's happy and I've found a place that doe's gas bottles and fittings. Just shows you were our heads are at. Anyway, I won't let Lin anywhere near the wallet and I find that none of there fittings will fit the new cooker I bought or the gas lamp I brought over, so nether of us are smiling. So with that, we stagger up to Woolworth's (yes, they survived  here) to get supplies. That done, its back to the tent. Just writing up the bloggy thing, when Lin gets a "must have food" panic attack, so its up to the kitchen to see what we can Russel up. Cooked up a really nice piece of fillet steak, onions and mushrooms. (steaks really cheap out here, so I don't think its gonna be the last time).  Its just started to rain again, so with Full bellies, a coffee and a smoke and we're off to the tent for what we hope is a peaceful nights sleep

P.S. Lin Say's I only say nasty things about her and not about me, So, Lin's got great tits and my farts stink. Right, that should even things up  

Love and miss you all and your forever in our thoughts..............yea, even Row

Its heaven here, Kiama, Kiama, Kiama.

Freedom, Wednesday 8th February, we are on our way.....

Right its been a busy couple of days and I'm not gonna spend forever trying to catch up, so I just gonna give a brief rundown up to today.

Looked round, rained, got wet, saw rusty iron bridge, saw over sized Thames barrier, got burned, looked round some more, rained, got wet, bought nail bar, got wet (Co's it rained), hired a car Co's we keeped getting wet. OK, so how's that for brief.

Just to sum up Sydney, not quite what we expected. Just like the City of London, busy, over priced and too many tourists, (mainly Chinese) and I've never seen so many beggars in one place. Anywhere.
So at long last, its time to leave. Up at 6.00am and off to the warehouse with hammer and nail bar in hand. Got there 7.30 on the dot to meet the customs and give them their due, they arrived shortly after. Bang bang, crash crash and its not to long before the trailers out of its box and customs are inspecting me cowboy boots. (for signs of cow I suppose). Now its time for the bike. More banging and crashing and finally she's out. (Bit of damage to the screen and a few scuffs on the wing mirror's) Then the customs officer pipes up whats that?. Laying at the wheel of the bike is an unopened bottle of white wine. Lin go's into overdrive, "not ours, never seen it before,don't know how it got there," I'm to busy looking for the corkscrew on me penknife. Free wine, why not?. Customs officer reckons I'd better not Co's I don't know whats in it and I figure maybe she's right, I've seen some of the stuff them Chinese put into bottles, some of it ain't good. OK so we we cruse through customs, pay (yet again) to have the crate disappear and its on the road back to the hotel to drop off the car and get the rest of our gear. Car go's back no problem, but as soon as we pull up outside the hotel on the bike, would you believe, a traffic warden strolls along. Now these bastards are the same the world over and we're soon getting "you can't park that there, no, not even for 5mins and not up there ether, that's a loading zone", well, he See's we're getting a bit hostile (Lin's good at that) and decides nipping off round the corners a good idea, They maybe ar**holes but this one was a smart ar**hole. Lin go's up and Down comes all this stuff. Well, I'm looking at this gear, thinking, where am I gonna get the tools to put big wheels on this bleeding suitcase and Lin's going like the clappers, packing all this stuff, knickers, sandals, handbags getting rammed into every nock and cranny, Still makes me eyes water thinking about it. Much to my amazement, all the stuff finally vanishes, and at long, long last we leave Sydney, travelling down highway one, trailer groaning and Lin looking back longingly at the last of the handbag shops. Now highway one is one of Australia's major roads and the first one I've found with hundreds of sets of traffic lights, so after about an hour of driving at 55mph we swung off onto the the great pacific road and through the State National Park and along the coast road, (still ain't seen a kangaroo). The next hour was spent going Ooh and Arrr, at the scenery and Ohhhh Sh** at the twists and turns in the road. Lin nearly falls off with hunger, (aint had time to eat) so we stop at a 'pull-in' for hot chocolate with ice-cream and hot dogs and (I think me ar** is alight) mustard. We're on top of a bloody great hill and hangliders are swooping all around us. I think it was the hot dogs that keeped attracting them. Oh to get back on the bike and off again.

A man and his thoughts !!!

The view from the top.

No John , you can't have a go, now get back on the bike lol !!!!!

Another hour and we pull into Kiama, the target for today. (They got a blow hole here but Lin says that's private !!!) Into the tourist office and found our self's booking into the Surf beach holiday park, sounds crass but what a great place, got the lot. Pool, laundry, free to use kitchen (galley), all clean and very well kept. So tent up and into town for dinner. (Lin's got the hunger monster again). Back to the tent just in time Co's it sodding fell down. Well that's it, been a long, busy day, so off to bed and listen to the rain

Love you all and the missing you feeling, just don't go away, me heart hurts xxxx

One of Kiama's non human residents. These little gold critters were well established here and great to watch, they only let you get so close though, then they bolted..... Who could blame them ???

The 'Blow hole' !!!!  (yes, I know you knew what flipping Crocodile smith meant when he wrote this in his blog.

Editor in Chief (aka) Croc Dundee Smith

The Kiama landscape.

Our little home, ahhhhhh ( the tent !!! not the caravan, oh how I wished !)

1st Feb Wednesday Pinch, punch first of the month.

Sorry chaps, but its me again, just a quick update today.

Its a bit overcast today so, we decide to walk into town and go to Paddys market. They sale everything here and its apparently known all around the world. Well its certainly big. Did I buy??? no, in fact I can't seem to buy out here because they don't sale my flippin size!! So shops and stalls all looked at, so we decide to eat.

We go turkish and having found the restaurant we wanted and then lost it again. No don't ask !!!!  I stop a security guard and get directions. We had gezelme. Its a turkish pancake with all sorts of fillings.Yum yum comes to mind. So dinner done its back to the hotel via the local Starbucks (yes , i know!!!) for some R and R.
Rain calms so we walk into town early evening and decide on the Hard Rock cafe. We walk all around the harbour to get to it, small queue, but seems to be moving. The restaurant is 85% empty as is the bar. We get to the front and are told, sorry no tables, we only have a limited number tonite, so as we walk away so does the group of 8 or 9 in front and the couple behind us.....  They clearly don't want the business, so Hard rock,  up yours!!! .

We walked back along the harbour and had a smashing meal at the Brazara. Its a Brazillian restaurant. You pay one price and the waiters and waitress just bring food to your table all nite. Its a carnivores heaven, they carve the meat fresh at your table and basically you just eat and eat and eat! . The meat and the food was plentiful and top quality. The steaks were just the best, the waitress was lovely, but in the end we had to give in and turn the cups upside down (as you do) to show we had finished.

Walked back to the hotel and off to bed. So, just  another calm and relaxed, lazy day in Sydney.
 Nite all. xx

The fountains walkway, Darling Harbour

Thec landscape round Darling Harbour marina

Naval ship in dock.

The never ending water feature, round and round and round. Darling Harbour.

Tuesday 31st Jan. Broadband, Mobile, IMAX and Tom Cruise

Well the 'Editor in Chief', has  said I can do the blog (cuz he caught me changing a couple of the words he used. What can I say ? I did't think I would get caught, but yes I did, because I cud not make the flipping changes quick enough!!!  lol) so here goes.

Spent most of the day in our office, trying to track down the bike. The ship is no where to be seen, its not on any listing, no one knows its name and actually very few know who customs are or where to get hold of them.  But then success, an email from the agent in the UK.  The bike has changed ships ( bloody hell, how did that happen?).  Its now in China on the 'Bunga rue dua' (no comments please, they have already been said by the Editor in Chief)  but running late.  I kid you not, when this bike arrives it will have done best part of the world and cost just as much !!!! , haha.  Still never mind, bike tracked, boat on way, broadband being bought, uk mobile on boob ! (long story, but usual place if you know me well).  So we get going and walk into town. We do a quick recky of the local phone and internet sellers, buy a mobile and our own broadband thingy (no one knows what a dongle is out here, so 'broadband thingy' became the quest for the day) in a shop called Telstra as they have the largest cover in oZ and we are told can cover outback to........( so we will keep in touch even then)...

Another great day here in OZ, comms are now easier, we have an ozzie mobile and we have full access to our own broadband, sooooo calling, emailing, texting and internet etc is easier, (sorry, but we know you miss us really, so must keep in touch).

The weather is still great and still very warm, although we are warned on TV of floods in some local areas. The place is just full of people and so busy.  We did lots of walking again today and are getting nice and brown. We've also established walking routes that take in the local 'Starbucks' (got to be done!!!)

Toddled down to Darling harbour for an evening meal in a restaurant called Staks. Food great, but service crap!!! can you believe that the waitress went home before sorting out our bill ( yes we had asked twice!!), so then we had to ask another waitress AGAIN. As we looked round, the waitress, had handbag on arm and was off up the harbour< no tip left there.

Then the excitement started, we decided to go to the IMAX cinema, it has the largest cinema screen anywhere in the world. Believe you me it was/is MASSIVE.
We got our tickets, found some seats on the end of the back row section, joining the other 20 people.
You sat as though you were dangling over the top of a mountain. My god it made you feel sick. John suggested we move nearer the middle, so we did ( well he did and led the way and I just about managed it). We saw ''Mission impossible 4, Ghost Protocol''.   Flippin good film especially in IMAX, cuz when Tom C jumped out the hotel window, so did we!!!!! feel sick ??? yes I did, screech?? yes I did and I jumped and twisted about all through the film (lucky John).  The sound, the movement, the picture and the sheer size of the screen, spoils you, it all becomes so real.  I say IMAX all the way.!!!!

The film finished about half eleven, so we found our feet and walked back through the harbour, and up through the city and to our hotel. All in all a fab day, with lots done, lots seen and both of us nicely knackered to end the day. Hopefully we will sleep the nite through, on the belief that our body clocks have finally realised that it and us are now in OZ!!! and we will not want to wake at 2am in the morning!

Darling harbour at night, this piccie dosent do it justice, but I can't get the light right on the iPod. David Bailey, I am not!

Monday 30th January, Sydney, Darling Harbour and Circular Quays

So it's Monday and its up with the lark, (the blighters gets up really early here). Would you believe it?, we're in time for breakfast. Right, its Monday and we can get things done,, everything is open, so back to real life. Out the door and into town to pick up a wireless dongle for the laptop and a new Ozzy Sim card for Lin. (I ain't told her it won't vibrate when she puts it on her boob (thats where she keeps her fone !!!), so we might be back for another phone). Well, we're out so we might as well find out were the boats gonna dock. The paperwork says its gonna be Sydney harbour and the boats called the Hyundai Mercury, so things should be easy and off we go. Down at the harbour and not a boat in site. Ok, not a problem, we'll find the customs office. Once again, we're off. Not a bleeding sight of a customs officer. Lucky enough,(huh!) we bump into two old sea dogs, "no worries mate", (they really do say that) its that tower, just the other side of the harbour, bout a 15 minute walk" F**k me, we walked sodding miles. Its 80' in the shade and Lins puffing and panting like a good one.  If ever I bump into those two old gits again, I swear I'll see if they can do the horn pipe with six foot of oar up their ar*e's.  To cap it all, the customs office only opens when theres a cruse liner in. Guess what? theres no frigging cruse liner in. We've had enough, so burned to a crisp, we carry on walking and guess what appears? Yep, Sydney bridge and the Opera house. The oppo house is not as outstanding as we thought, but it is a bloody long walk from where we are stayin. We head back to hotel at a pace a snail would laugh at and i guess after walking some 4-5 miles in total,........
Finally we're in the hotel and I can't wait for a long, cool shower. I get me kit off only to find I've got another set of clothes on underneath, only this lot is bright white. I look in the mirror and where me head should be, is a giant Ribeaner berry with  a nose on. Something tells me, this is gonna hurt tomorrow
After a lot of cooling down, its off out again. (Figured we may as well keep moving while we can). Saw a nice restaurant while we were out (the Blackbird) and thought we'd give it a go. Lin has a go at the steak with a Cesar salad (misses wendys) and Im gonna have a bash at the kangaroo rump steak in orange sauce.
Well I can't really tell you what Skippy's arse taste's like, Co's the orange was a bit overpowering, so I'll know better next time. Be warned Skippy, Im coming for ya!!!!!!.
Right, its been a very very long day, so back to base, and fire off a few emails before we hunt for the land of nod without touching each other as we are both burnt to a crisp. Night all

Hey you lot, Is Carol(happy birthday carol) the only one reading this thing??????, here's me, wearing me two fingers to the bone, banging this thing out (if you've ever seen me type you'll know what I mean)  so leave a note Only if its to say hi, you can do this using the comment bit at the end of each blog.

Walking round to find the docks, this is between Darling Harbour and Circular quay. The mushroom shaped building is 'The customs House'. I'll say no more !!!!!

Sydney Opera House.

Sydney Bridge

Circular Quay

Yes we are both here, a nice ozzie took this, after our meal at The Blackbird restaurant. Tums full, chilled, cool and happy. Eat your hearts out !!!!