On the Road

Hello from the Pacific Highway! First things first, sorry for being a bit lame with the blog but it appears Australia is lagging behind Cambodia in the free Wifi stakes...plus we've been having too much fun! Now on to the main event and to the introduction of the latest addition to our crew...Our camper van Bruce! For all the techie folk out there he is a 1985 Nissan Urvan, with pop-top, manual transmission and dual petrol / LPG fuel system...but to us he is our new home and friend! He is a bit old school both inside and out, plus he has a column-shift gear stick where it is built into the steering column. This has meant Rhiannon hasn't actually driven him yet, but she's been working her magic on the interior! We ended up staying a few extra days in Sydney to be all our housekeeping done as well as sort out Bruce, but it did mean we did the usually touristy stuff as well as go and see Warhorse at the theatre! It was a truly awe inspiring performance that neither of us will ever forget...thanks to Mama and Papa Stackhouse for the tickets as an early birthday present for Alex! We then said goodbye to Sydney and the friends we'd made in a short stay there, including a great bunch of Germans...we will now fight anyone who tries to reinforce the stereotype that German people have no sense of humour, it is certainly not the case! Alex battled his way across Sydney and was rewarded with a drive over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with the sun blazing and the stereo pumping out the new Daft Punk album (thanks to Rhiannon for that early birthday present!). Since then we have been motoring up the east coast on our way to Brisbane, dropping in on some beautiful costal bays and communities, including the jaw dropping Seal Rocks and Hat Head. We even had time to visit the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie! This weekend we will hit Byron Bay for a bit of a rest as we have done the first two thirds of the 940k's (yes we're working in metric now!) in a little under a week. Lots of love, thinking of you all...Alex and Rhiannon x x x PS For all you animal lovers we have seen a fair few critters so far. Obviously Koalas at the afore mentioned hospital but also possums, a dingo, galas, a dolphin (or porpoise, it's hard to tell!), a fruit bat which made Rhiannon shriek as it dive bombed her head, pelicans and a fair few kangaroos. Unfortunately all those roos have been lying by the side of the road, so we're yet to see a live one. Fingers crossed we will buck that trend very soon! Update! - we have now seen 3 alive kangaroos to balance things out a fair bit...two were chilling in the grass by Bruce out our latest camp spot up in the hinterland