Yas-a-was in Fiji, don't you wish you were?

So instead of the expected 2 weeks relaxing on a deserted paradise beach, we discovered the day before we flew that we were actually in Fiji for a grand total of three weeks! We're gonna need a lot of books...

Still, we thought there were worse place to be stranded for 3 weeks :)

Our Fiji ticket let us island hop to lots of different beaches in the Yasawa archipelago on the Yasawa flyer

unobtrusive eh?

And aside from getting involved with a local Kava and dance ceremony...

Visiting some deep, dark underwater caves...

Picnicing and partying with some new friends on Long Beach...

Partaking in an interesting visit to the local Church service one sunday...

And climbing up to really high places to take panoramic shots... 

...we just spent the days reading, eating, sleeping, swimming and enjoying the tropical beaches:

After lunch we always had afternoon tea and cake to look forward to, no matter which island we were on. please find below a picturesque example of a Fijian tea shop:

Jenny and Bill after a refreshing swim in the cave

Sydney: sometimes they come back for more...

Our flight out of Oz was from Sydney, so we hauled ourselves back there just in time for the Sydney festival - a huge street carnival with lots of circus acts, music, bands and general paarty type things. It was loads of fun!

Sax in the City (get some ideas here Wonderbrassers!)

Och Aye the Noo

The highlight of the night though, was getting to see The Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, who were headlining one of the stages. What a nice surprise!

You can't see us, but we are swing dancing! It was a cracking way to say goodbye to Australia after our brief visit. Next it's onto Fiji for beach fun!

A-delayed post. Arf.

We went to Adelaide for a day to return Bertrande (boo hoo, we'll miss you old friend!). It was VERY hot and all our pictures melted. Sorry.

Man playing 'Dancing Queen' on a didgeridoo - how abba-riginal!

Ah its good to be back on the open road!

Matt, Bertrande and the Open Road

We set off into the outback for some mountainous adventuring in the Grampians. Bruce, not Ned gave us a bed in Ned's Bed's and we spent our first evening watching (and joining in) some Aboriginal dancing : S

Cutting down a tree to get some honey...

...Oh no the bees came and got us argh!

After drinking tea and watching Harry Potter back at the hostel, we were fortified to hike ourselves up to the Pinnacle of the Grampian Mountains the next day.

At the start of the clambour

Nearly there now Jen...

Gasp...we finally made it to the top, and the scramble was definitely worth it for the view. Down we go!

After some icecream

we went for a drive about to see some of the rest of the local scenery.

Hall's Gap from on high

Jen on a rock

Obligatory waterfall pic

Kangaroos!

On to Adelaide!

The Great Great Ocean Road Trip.

After our extended Christmas stay in Melbourne we decided it was time to hit the open road once more. Ah the smell of adventure! With the companionship of Bertrande, our faithful steed, we set off on our five day long drive up the Great Ocean Road, through the Grampians and onward to Adelaide.

First stop was Torquay - a beach more reminiscent of Barry Island than Australia, except with surfers instead of donkeys. Anyway, we had a celebratory lunch of fish and chips at the seaside.

And five minutes drive brought us to the famous Bell's Beach.

After a brief stop over at Lorne (with a bath!) we journeyed on, spotting Koala's on the roadside. There is a suspicious Koala here somewhere, can you tell which one it is?

We took a detour down to visit 'Australia's most significant lighthouse'. Or something. Here we are at Cape Otway:

Ooh mister lighthouse keeper!

The main attraction of the trip was the rock formations along the great ocean road itself. We stopped to look at The 12 Apostles, London Bridge and The Loch Ard Gorge:

The 12 Apostles

London Arch (it was a bridge, but some fell down)

It started to get dark, so we decided to find lodgings for the night. After driving through some scary hillbilly towns and finding no luck (ie near Port Fairy, with one house and a dog) a kindly innkeeper in Warrnambool sent us to his friend and we spent the night in our own room above a pub for less than the price of a dorm bed!

Next Bertrande took us to The Grampians, stay tuned kids!