Saville Park Suites - Chatswood

... bottle of booze, please!"<br> <br><br> <br><br> The hostel I stayed in in Sydney is called the Blue Parrot and really has a family home feel about it. There is a large TV room where films were shown every night, a big kitchen where I got back to my cooking after six months of eating out and the fellow backpackers were all really nice and there was always someone going out every eveningif a night on the tiles tickled your fancy. My first companions in my dorm room were a ...

... and Nel was able to have a Manicure and Pedicure which was very much welcomed. We followed this with lunch before boarding our 12 hour flight to London.<br><br>This flight was the exact opposite of the last leg; why is it that people with personal hygiene issues fail to realise that enclosed spaces and their habits don&#8217;t mix? The flight was full, and the lady sitting next to us had body odour guaranteed to kill at 150 paces! It ...

... kangaroo meat! Tasted great and was a fab way to start our ozzy experience. <br><br>2 bottles of wine later we decided to go out kangaroo spotting down the back track (Jack and Pandy live about 45mins outside of melbourne on a farm).. so off we went kangaroo hunting in the dark, half drunk and with Pandy who was 8months pregnant! I think we only saw 1 or 2 from a distance - no success in seeing any we could chase down the track! <br><br>Tuesday morning we awoke with a ...

Long time no update... I know. First things first, it has been a wild ride before I even arrived here. The last time I wrote I was getting ready to leave and now I am here and have been here since June 23. My internship placement came in about 2 days before I had to leave and required a change to a casual wardrobe that you might expect to find at a factory or in my case a national park. A huge shopping trip ensued ...

... forward to what memories this unique country would offer. My first stop would be the Hunter Valley, one of Australia's most well known wine producing regions (think Shiraz). Only an hour and a half outside of Sydney, this region is a quaint valley nestled against hills that trap moisture coming in from the Pacific Ocean and create an ideal climate for growing grapes. Over the course of the afternoon, I enjoyed wine from a couple of boutique ...

... the rock! afterward, we clambered up, over and squeezed under massive boulders, making up castle rock, to reach a caged ladder, suspended catwalk and boardwalk, all bolted to the rocks, up to a caged platform, where we could see yet more views out to esperance. after our short, but tiresome time in the porongurup ranges, we were only really up for a short drive and stop over in the stirling ranges before heading east to esperance, which would mark the end of our tourist time ...

... the free drinks it was a bit expensive so I didnt drink anymore. There was some karaoke gojng on which was fun. Me (under duress!) and Sophie and two Swedish friends of hers were going to sing Dancing Queen but luckily it ended before they could get round to us. Am moving back to the Wood Duck tomorrow while I wait for post and bank card to arrive. Then I can be off on my adventures properly!

Since my last entry, I have moved back to Sydney and accomplished a goal I had set out about a month earlier to do. I was poking around on the Australian Cheerleading Association website and found out that UCA was holding a cheerleading camp in Sydney from April 9th-12th. I was fairly determined to make this happen so to make a long story, short, I found a way to attend and flew into Sydney from Melbourne on the 7th. I hooked back up with Calvin and Sarah (who I ...

... into the opera house, its acctually 5 seperate<br>buildings and is made up of several million white and cream tiles on<br>the outside, the type you put in the bathroom!! After a bit of shopping<br>we went out to the blue mountains, which were nice, a bit cloudy but we<br>still got some good views. We went to aquariam also, where we found<br>nemo! (and dory and all the other characters aswell) After a 12hour<br>train journey we then found ourselves in Melbourne. It was here ...

... audiences. One of the perks of travelling at the moment is the rugby world cup, by the way. It's great popping into a pub or a backpacker cafe to see the international audience cheering their team along. I personally count my All Blacks Jersey as one of my most prized and worn posessions. Go the All Blacks!!! Next stop was lovely Belingen, a laid back alternative town with lots of art and hippies. The YHA there was great and I met a bunch of lovely people there: Karen ...