Berida Manor Bowral

... wave will invariably push you further in towards the beach. So whenever there is a lull in the waves you have to paddle like crazy...hence why my shoulders were killing me by the end of the day the third and fourth day. I got one good green wave with the help of an instructor, and then tried a few more, but eventually I just couldn't get out past the breaking point, so I stuck to surfing the white water off the breaking ...

Disembarkation was extremely fast - we were on the northern outskirts of Melbourne by 7.30am. The trusty Navara wheezed all the way to Wodonga, where Keith convinced a wonderful guy in the Nissan Service Dept to have one of his mechanics replace the fuel filter ...

... is such a buzz! We had 4hrs of surfing on the Sunday (same as the Saturday) then drove back to Sydney and some free beer and pizza in the Scubar before heading home. Met some great people and I would definitely recommend Surf Camp (surfcamp.com.au) to anyone. The instructors were brilliant, really patient and the layout that surf camp have got is great. The rooms were basic, but you were barely in them, and they keep you well-fed throughout the whole trip.

... We walked up to the boundary with Fairy Meadow beach (nice name, I know) and then back to the harbour. The seafront at the North beach is an expensive looking place in stark contrast to Coniston beach to the south which lies right in front of a massive steelworks, which is what the town was originally built around. After that, we went to check into our campsite, Corrimal Beach Tourist Park. Nice place a bit north of Wollongong city centre ...

... Riding a scooter in the rain 2000kms on country backroads is just plain crazy. Never let it be said that I live a beige life. Garry and I departed (in the rain) at 6.35pm from Sydney. We managed to avoid the worst of the peak hour traffic and the rain turned into drizzle and then stopped altogether about 20kms down the road. We were literally riding off into the sunset and the temptation to detour through the twisties at National Park was resisted. The ...

... snorkeling around and catching lobsters with a big glove on one hand. We Canadians are still partying hard. I'm slowly working my way towards a Visa with permission to work so I can stop being a paying customer at the bar, and rather a paid employee! I have another Aussie friend who can get me a job at a bar making between $18-22/hour...and because I'd be considered a Resident of Australia for tax purposes, it works out that I'd get most ...

... for a late dinner on Crown St. Thai food again, it was delicious! We went to Scubar that evening. It is a real backpackers bar but my friend from high school, Sam Schroeder was there. It was great to see him, catch up, he is in law school here. Another friend from Trek was also there, Nick Menzies. He is all grown up, as I hadn't seen him in about 7 years. He has been living in a hostel in Bondi for the past 3 months. Great to see him too. It was a fun night! Sunday I got picked ...

... up. However there are some incredibly stupid people out there which is why I have the job. I might talk to over a hundred people a day and my target is to sell an average of three a day. When you get a sale you have to write it upon a white board on the wall. Then its all high fives and pats on the back which is weird but hiliarious. Usually every half an hour or so I get asked where in Ireland is my accent from which is then followed by some redneck telling me ...

... Next week I am going to an AFL match (Australian Football League). Its a mix of rugby and football, they play it with a small rugby shaped ball. Its huge here so Im looking forward to that. Two of my flatmates Wayne and Leeanne went to Melbourne to watch the Grand Prix - they said it was awesome. They brought me back an official programme so that was nice of them. Thanks guys! Im not sure if you heard but it was the Sydney ...

... In between movies ( I watched 7 in total), and after 5 1/2 hours, I lifted the window shade and got my first glimpse of Australia's northern coast. It was very exciting to know that I was now looking and flying over Australia and that Sydney was now only 3 1/2 hours. Arriving in Sydney was in the dark of night, however I was able to recognize the lit outline of the Opera House as well as the Harbour Bridge. I tried to get a picture ...