Will the last Englishman out of the country turn the lights out please ?

Wine women and song. Well, ok, wine, and maybe song.

Last night in our Park here in Sydney, tomorrow we are off on our travels again. We are off to stay at Tranquil Vale Winery in Hunter Valley (Lizzie, dont worry, we will not drink it dry, we'll leave some for you in Feb). It's run by an English couple, you can read all about it at :

http://www.tranquilvale.com.au/accommodation.htm

Looks real amazing, so looking forward to it. A proper bed for a night, luxury ! From there, it's back to Sydney to pick up the keys to our new house, yipeeeee. Quick dip in the pool, go and buy a bed at Ikea, bed down for the night, then up early to hit Brisbane. From there, probably will head for Noosa, just so we can see what Dad has raved on about for the past 6 years for. The pics we have seen so far do look real amazing.

Had a minor disaster today. Went to the local shopping mall. Parked in a bay (This van aint easy to maneuver let me tell ya), and the woman opposite pulled out. Lovely, I can have 2 bays, as the van is real long. When we come back, paying no attention to the overhead sun shields, which are like big sails on their sides, I drive straight forward, and attempt to leave the car park. Now, I was screwed at this point, but also very very lucky. I was now in an area of the car park where the van is nearly 1 metre too tall to be in, but had hit nothing ! The area of the car park we drive into is uncovered, I paid no attention when I went under these cover things. The air conditioner should have been ripped off the roof, but I had managed to find the one way into this covered car park that would allow me to keep the van in one piece. Trouble is, 1 way in, 1 way out. Had to reverse, and by the time we got to the space we came through, someone was parked there. An hour passed before another woman came back to her car to release us from the car park. Freedom was sweet.

Funny thing about Aus. While we were there, 2 different people came up and asked to help. One woman was going to get all manner of stuff moved for us so we could get out. When did that last happen in the UK ? Not to me in the last 10 years, defo. Everyone is so nice here. We get up in the morning, everyone says hello to us at the park here, it's just a really really nice life.

Tonight's dinner is Chicken skewers, chicken thighs, and beef sausages, all on the good old barbie. We bought a disposable one today, the the camp ones are rubbish. All the real campers here have their own.

We may not update for a while, as there is unlikely to be Internet access in the Hunter Valley, but we think there is in the park at Brisbane, so hang on a few days, and we will be back on line. Jode, that means you have to wait for a picture of K in her thongs, but let me tell you, it is worth the wait. Still not smoking my the way, that's nearly a week now. Feel so much better for it, not.