Australia

Pictures are: The Melbourne skyline from Brighton beach, Laura and Rich at London arch (great ocean road), Nina and Laura at the 12 Apostles (it was very windy), girls night out in Mordy, and a scary looking Tasmanian devil.

hey everyone - just Nina posting from now on! I am currently in Singapore and can't believe that I have only 3 weeks left!

After saying good bye to Glenn at Lima airport (very tearfully) I flew for an overnight stop in Buenos aires and then onto Melbourne via Sydney. So a lot of flying over that week but the best flight was the Melbourne to Sydney route where there was a mix up over the vegetarian meal I had ordered meaning I didn't get one. So they organised some other food for me, and gave me a bottle of wine on the house (later donated to Laura and Rich). Result!

Laura met me at Melbourne airport and from then on over the next two weeks it was fun, laughter, sun, beach and hanging out with my lovely little sister and her lovely husband. I had such a good time and REALLY appreciated the home comforts provided - as nice as the hostels were that we stayed at, they can't compete with Laura and Rich's fab home.

It would be a really long post (and probably boring for the readers) if i listed everything I did so here are the highlights..(in no particular order).

- Australian Open

I went on the last Wednesday of the tournament and got to see Federer, Serena Williams and Venus Williams play, who (sadly) lost her match. I was really lucky in that the matches were dramatic - Federer was down one set in his match, as was Serena and their comebacks were pretty dramatic.

- Great Ocean Road

Laura, Rich and I drove down the Great Ocean Road on the weekend and stayed at Apollo Bay. We managed to see the 12 Apostles (although i only counted about 5), London Arch and various beautiful beaches. We swam on the beach at Anglesey on a gorgeous warm day. About the only thing that detracted from my enjoyment was the sight of 5-10 year olds practising their surfing and making it look pretty easy (its not fair!).

- Healesville Sanctuary

So I managed to see..deep breath... wombats, kookaburras, kangaroos, koalas, tasmanian devils, bats, goanna, echidnas, platypus, turtles, emus... Basically all the Australian animals you could imagine are here and some of them are pretty weird looking (particularly the platypus). It is a lovely place with large open spaces for the animals and birds to be in - and it was pretty lucky to survive the bushfires that were raging last year.

- Gold Class cinema

How could going to the cinema be a highlight? Well, me and Laura have been talking about going since our last visit and have never made it. Laura kindly took me this time as a fab birthday pressie (thanks Laura!) and it was awesome. The cinema is basically a massive sitting room with huge reclining armchairs paired up from which you can order drinks and food through the show. We saw 'up in the air' (George clooney film) and had a bottle of sparkling wine and a cheese platter bought to our seats in the middle of the film which was ace. Overall, a very luxurious and relaxing experience - it is very nice to be waited on!

I also went to an outdoor showing of the Godfather at the botanical gardens with Rich on a night when Laura had to work. it was very very warm and comfy lying on the rugs and cushions watching a classic film that I had never seen before (really want to see godfather 2 when i get home!). I think ordinary boring cinema has now been totally spoiled for me!

- Mordialloc: Beach, bikes and bubbles

I spent quite a lot of time cycling to the beach at Mordy and also trying some of the other beaches down the coast (including Brighton beach - much nicer than its UK equivalent...). The weather was pretty hot, so a dip in the cold water was much needed after even a short bike ride. The only thing that marred my enjoyment slightly was the 'joke' that Rich made when I arrived about having seen a stingray in the water (after i enthralled them with my stingray story for the 5th time) at Mordy beach. This made me slightly paranoid, but I never saw one, and I think he made it up!

It was also cool to spend time with friends of Laura and Rich - Amy, Derek, Ellen, Pete, Sarah and Matt - most of whom I had met before on the last visit and at the wedding. The boys tended to stick to beer and the girls to 'bubbles' on a night out -which I thoroughly enjoyed - and I had an ace time hanging out with them in Mordy!

It was very very sad to say goodbye to Laura and Rich (more tears at the airport!) but I am looking forward to seeing them at christmas and returning their generous hospitality - although I cant guarantee the weather in the UK will be as good!

Nina xxx