Where were we? - Last e-mail was from Noosa we think,a lovely coastal town, bit of a playground for people with a little more money than us so didn't really get the most out of it, but still had fun.

From there we continued south to Brisbane where we stopped over for a few days with Mike and Tracey, friends of James'who have recently emigrated. Brisbane was fantastic - big city but small town charm, very relaxed pace of life and a fantastic South Bank. More importantly, it had Consulates and Embassies which enabled James to try and sort out his replacement Passport, Visas and Tickets (following Magnetic Island).

After Brisbane we hit the 'Camping' phase of our road trip,pulling up at campsites with gay abandon, always turning heads. Our favourite place was Byron Bay, beautiful beaches, great surf, amazing views from the costal walks, plus nice little town to boot.

Did a quick trip inland to Nimbin, a hippy-trippy community in the mountains. "How are you today Brother?" was J's greeting from the tie-died, beaded hair counter girl at the vegetarian cafe. "Umm, fine", he mumbled, bewildered by the array of 'special' cookies, funny-smelling cigarettes and general benevolence. Making a dash for it past the community centre we stumbled across the lunchtime 'African dance - All welcome' session - a motley crew of guys banging things, whilst women in flowery dresses, spun and swirled like dervishes, with ecstatic smiles and eyes clamped shut. You get the general idea of the Town

From Byron Bay, we moved onto Port Macquarie where we treated ourselves to a proper bed in a Hostel - Bloody Marvellous. (In Byron Bay we'd slept in the car with the seats down - plenty of space but uncomfortable as hell and wet - huge leaks inside when it rained). Then our road trip came to a close when we reached Sydney and returned Phoenix to the hire company.

For our first week in Sydney we crashed on Derek and Jacqui's floor (Derek is a mate of J's from university) - Thanks again Derek! We have now moved into a shared flat with 5 others and lots of cockroaches, thanks to Lou (K's old workmate from Kings) in Coogee Bay. There is a pool out back and a beach out front - terrific. It's not as convenient to get into town as Derek's but....

So now we are settled, it's time to earn some cash. James managed 1½ days as a bricklayer's labourer before tearing a muscle in his arm putting an end to that career(the money was great, but he's not as strong as he used to be!) so now he's looking for office work. Kate has got a physio job starting in December in Kings cross, and so is now idling away her last week of freedom mainly on the beach. Weather here is mainly warm but still rains and has some cold spells from time to time. It's very odd seeing Xmas decorations going up in this weather - not quite the same without overcoats, scarves and hats!

P.S. Update on the Cockroach warfare coming soon.