Phew - it's been a hectic over the past week or so! Hence the lack of blogging.

We are now in Sydney, but more on that later when I describe what an amazing set up we have here, thanks to Hinesh and Tanya.

Whilst finishing off the East coast, it all got a bit samey-samey so both of us were in agreement to sail through. We took some people's advice on board and didn't stay at Surfers Paradise or Byron Bay, and we're thankful for that because they were way too commercial and backpacker-y. Instead, we arrived in a small flower-power town called Nimbin. Now, Nimbin.. where do I start? It was like being transported into the 1970's, with all the whacked out hippies - and all with a small population of 400. The town is infamous for pot-dealing (Relax, Mum & Dad), but it was so surreal how this place worked. It was so unbelievably liberal and 'free-spirit', it took some time getting used to. The YHA hostel we stayed at was, by far, the best accommodation we've had in Australia. The room was cosy, and the pavilion at the back of the hostel was used as the ultimate chill-out area. It was also refreshing to find some cool backpackers - and I don't mean cool as in "chavvy", I mean cool as in "Wow, some intellect - nice." As much as we could have stayed there forever, we had plans.

After Nimbin, we drove a good 7 hours where we ended up in Newcastle, (only an hour north of Sydney) using it primarily as a base. I have to say, it was a good feeling to know we would be seeing two good friends the following day in Sydney. We suprised Hinesh and Tanya at their door, no other way of doing it, right?! We realised we'd hit the jackpot as soon as we stepped into their flat. It's an open plan, modern flat with a spot-on balcony at the back. Could it BE any more perfect for two backpackers? We're happily settling in there with our new inflatable mattress. After almost 4 months of backpacking, we're looking forward to being 'normal' again, and live the way other normal people do. We bought Hinesh and Tanya the Jamie Oliver easy cookbook as a house-warming present, and have all vowed to cook something from there when we can. Luckily for us, they both tend to eat home every night and happen to be great cooks - score! :)

From what we've seen in the small space of time we've been here so far, the actual city centre is like London, and unfortunately so is the weather.. It can go from one extreme to the other in the space of a few hours. We've got some events coming up for Christmas and New Years in the following week, as I'm pretty sure all of you have too, so we're psyched for some good times.. :)