Just rolling along....

After my delightful stay with Peter I was forced back into the real world...of travellers. Onto Bondi Beach where I spent a relaxing few days on the beach, catching up on my sleep and oh heck, a little bit of partying. I met two awesome English girls, Amy and Katie and from then we have almost become inseparable. Not by their choice. Ha! Suckers. That's what they get for being friendly. So not much to tell for the first week. I can honestly say that the most exciting times were walking through Woolworth's Bakery section. Ah, Tim Tams and sticky buns. Sigh...Just beautiful! Donuts here are $3, for crying out loud!!!! -- forcing my donut addiction or "DA" as it's most commonly known into "CT" - Cold Turkey. Oh the sacrifices a traveller has to make.

I went back to the crap hostel I started I had stayed in first for a night because basically I'd already paid for it. It was just as bad although I did learn some important lesson from the experience. A hostel will offer anything to lure you in. Don't fall for it. This one offered free breakfast, free internet and a free prostitute.... (Yes, they are THAT abundant! - Don't worry, I gave mine back). Leave a hostel when there is no need to wear bug spray outside, but absolutely neccessary inside. And finally there is no was to buy the cheapest bottle of wine in a shop (common on, I'm on a budget) and still hold the respect of the cashier. It is amazing how quickly a smile can turn into a raised eyebrow.

Kelly and Matt, two friends of Suzanne came to rescue me this time and took me to their place. A REAL bed again! Yes, I'm a sell-out traveller and I don't care who knows! They were kind enough to let me stay the rest of the week while taking me on tours each day. It is good to know locals! They had a nice dinner party the night I arrived, where we spent the night discussing the complexities of Anne of Green Gables. It's very big over here. I detected much dissapointment from my lack of knowledge on P.E.I. I will learn one day. Matt and Kelly took me to Botany Bay where James Cook first landed on Australia and shook up the natives a little bit. I have to be honest, I'm so used to Canadian, American and English history where there were huge confrontations and thousands of people died, that when I read the plaque which was a quote from Captain Cook's diary I was a bit...amused. It went something like "Today was a landmark day - we confronted the natives. Although they were all but TWO, they would not budge. One of the natives was holding a sack, which he then dropped and picked up again......." You get the point. And this was an EXCITING day. Kelly then took me to Kiama to see the blowhole, which wasn't blowing, then onto the Melbourne Cup, "THE EVENT THAT STOPS THE NATION", that we sort of missed. I did bet on a horse, Makybe Diva, and lo and behold, she won! I then proceeded to collect my winnings of $2.00 (I bet $.50) Once again, I'm on a budget.

Sorry for basically uninteresting email. Hey, it can't be exciting ALL the time! It was a lovely week, but I'm off to Cairns with Amy and Katie. This is where the adventure really begins....