We're back, lots to tell
Apr 12th 2004, 8:29 am
#1
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Posts: 145
We're back, lots to tell
Well that 5 weeks went bloody quick, managed to cram in all we planned, all went very well.
i will be posting my views on Adalaide, Melbourne,Sydney and Brisbane, and all places on route in between.
Any questions on the above, cost of things, people we meet ,i will try to answer as best i can. My wife kept a comprehensive jounal of every day so we have a fair bit of info, hell this could take weeks. Will return after i've had a cuppa........simon and family..
i will be posting my views on Adalaide, Melbourne,Sydney and Brisbane, and all places on route in between.
Any questions on the above, cost of things, people we meet ,i will try to answer as best i can. My wife kept a comprehensive jounal of every day so we have a fair bit of info, hell this could take weeks. Will return after i've had a cuppa........simon and family..
Apr 12th 2004, 8:41 am
#2
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Joined: May 2003
Location: GC
Posts: 3,353
Simon
Glad to hear you enjoyed yourselves - look forward to reading the report
Glad to hear you enjoyed yourselves - look forward to reading the report
Apr 12th 2004, 8:48 am
#3
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Brisbane and loving it!!!!
Posts: 632
Hi Simon
Can't wait for your thoughts on the areas you visited
Nikki x
Can't wait for your thoughts on the areas you visited
Nikki x
Apr 12th 2004, 9:06 am
#4
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Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Algester,Brisbane
Posts: 158
hi
we are on our way to Brisbane as soon as the house sale goes through. can't wait to hear you report
Steph
we are on our way to Brisbane as soon as the house sale goes through. can't wait to hear you report
Steph
Apr 12th 2004, 9:13 am
#5
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Joined: Nov 2003
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Righty ho, here we go.
Firstly flew with singapore airlines, which were excellent, done majority of travelling in a Hertz motorhome, 4 berth transit automatic, winnibago equipt, loverly vehicle, good fuel econimy,
Flew into Adelaide, took ages to get through customs as we had to declare 3 packets of crisps and a tracker bar?
We loved Adelaide, loverly clean neat place, beautiful on the torrens river, great parks, good transport,easy to get around.
Igot ropped into joining in on an act in the park with a canadian performer 3 hours after we had landed, this was part of a festival that was going on in the park, great laugh at my expense.
Glenelg is nice, but we prefered Semaphore, nice uncrowded beach, no probs parking at any nice places, areas we checked out were.
West beach, glenelg,seaton,klemzig,northfield,and a few others. all in all very impressed, city has all you would need shop wise,we stayed at west beach caravan park which was loverly, all the people we met here liked Adelaide.
This was a great start to our holiday...........
Firstly flew with singapore airlines, which were excellent, done majority of travelling in a Hertz motorhome, 4 berth transit automatic, winnibago equipt, loverly vehicle, good fuel econimy,
Flew into Adelaide, took ages to get through customs as we had to declare 3 packets of crisps and a tracker bar?
We loved Adelaide, loverly clean neat place, beautiful on the torrens river, great parks, good transport,easy to get around.
Igot ropped into joining in on an act in the park with a canadian performer 3 hours after we had landed, this was part of a festival that was going on in the park, great laugh at my expense.
Glenelg is nice, but we prefered Semaphore, nice uncrowded beach, no probs parking at any nice places, areas we checked out were.
West beach, glenelg,seaton,klemzig,northfield,and a few others. all in all very impressed, city has all you would need shop wise,we stayed at west beach caravan park which was loverly, all the people we met here liked Adelaide.
This was a great start to our holiday...........
Apr 12th 2004, 9:32 am
#6
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Stefian, Brisbane was our last port of call, flew home from there.Only had 3 days here but done our best, all in all very nice, spent 1 day on the south bank which has a man made beach and lagoon, lots of stalls selling crafts, nice parks, we stayed in Aspley which was ok, and also in Toowong near the city, little bit run down lots of old wooden buildings around here,
We liked Redcliffe, smallish place, another great lagoon area with picnic areas, some street cafes, of course it depends on what you want, Bribie island was great, but house prices there have gone mad according to a family we met in a park, they had emigrater 24 years ago and love the place. had a nice river trip on good friday, looked very nice along the banks with parks full of people doing barbies and sports in the parks.
Petrol was cheaper here than anywhere else, 82cents litre,
spent most of the river trip talking to a bloke and his wife, he emigrated 40 years ago, only been back to england once in all that time, loves the place. our verdict, liked it but needed to see more to really get a good idea.
We liked Redcliffe, smallish place, another great lagoon area with picnic areas, some street cafes, of course it depends on what you want, Bribie island was great, but house prices there have gone mad according to a family we met in a park, they had emigrater 24 years ago and love the place. had a nice river trip on good friday, looked very nice along the banks with parks full of people doing barbies and sports in the parks.
Petrol was cheaper here than anywhere else, 82cents litre,
spent most of the river trip talking to a bloke and his wife, he emigrated 40 years ago, only been back to england once in all that time, loves the place. our verdict, liked it but needed to see more to really get a good idea.
Apr 12th 2004, 9:40 am
#7
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Joined: Dec 2003
Location: Tyabb, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia
Posts: 563
Re: We're back, lots to tell
Originally posted by carryon
Well that 5 weeks went bloody quick, managed to cram in all we planned, all went very well.
i will be posting my views on Adalaide, Melbourne,Sydney and Brisbane, and all places on route in between.
Any questions on the above, cost of things, people we meet ,i will try to answer as best i can. My wife kept a comprehensive jounal of every day so we have a fair bit of info, hell this could take weeks. Will return after i've had a cuppa........simon and family..
Well that 5 weeks went bloody quick, managed to cram in all we planned, all went very well.
i will be posting my views on Adalaide, Melbourne,Sydney and Brisbane, and all places on route in between.
Any questions on the above, cost of things, people we meet ,i will try to answer as best i can. My wife kept a comprehensive jounal of every day so we have a fair bit of info, hell this could take weeks. Will return after i've had a cuppa........simon and family..
hey what about Melbourne, thought that was gonna be next after Adelaide.
cheers Andy
Apr 12th 2004, 9:55 am
#8
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Posts: n/a
Originally posted by carryon
Stefian, Brisbane was our last port of call, flew home from there.Only had 3 days here but done our best, all in all very nice, spent 1 day on the south bank which has a man made beach and lagoon, lots of stalls selling crafts, nice parks, we stayed in Aspley which was ok, and also in Toowong near the city, little bit run down lots of old wooden buildings around here,
We liked Redcliffe, smallish place, another great lagoon area with picnic areas, some street cafes, of course it depends on what you want, Bribie island was great, but house prices there have gone mad according to a family we met in a park, they had emigrater 24 years ago and love the place. had a nice river trip on good friday, looked very nice along the banks with parks full of people doing barbies and sports in the parks.
Petrol was cheaper here than anywhere else, 82cents litre,
spent most of the river trip talking to a bloke and his wife, he emigrated 40 years ago, only been back to england once in all that time, loves the place. our verdict, liked it but needed to see more to really get a good idea.
Stefian, Brisbane was our last port of call, flew home from there.Only had 3 days here but done our best, all in all very nice, spent 1 day on the south bank which has a man made beach and lagoon, lots of stalls selling crafts, nice parks, we stayed in Aspley which was ok, and also in Toowong near the city, little bit run down lots of old wooden buildings around here,
We liked Redcliffe, smallish place, another great lagoon area with picnic areas, some street cafes, of course it depends on what you want, Bribie island was great, but house prices there have gone mad according to a family we met in a park, they had emigrater 24 years ago and love the place. had a nice river trip on good friday, looked very nice along the banks with parks full of people doing barbies and sports in the parks.
Petrol was cheaper here than anywhere else, 82cents litre,
spent most of the river trip talking to a bloke and his wife, he emigrated 40 years ago, only been back to england once in all that time, loves the place. our verdict, liked it but needed to see more to really get a good idea.
Most people that get here only need a couple of days to make the "decision" "
The price of petrol stayed at 82c all over Easter too !!
Apr 12th 2004, 10:15 am
#9
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Ye, sorry Andy i should keep them in order, but i was answering them as they come.
Melbourne, well i'm afraid we wernt very impressed at all, city was just that ,another city, nothing that made us sit up, stayed in an area called coburg, bit grubby, went out for an indian meal here, it was pants, chicken was awful, preston area dirty, rubbish the same as here, met the one miserable person here driving the tram, sent us of to get ticket from newsagent, said we had 5 mins,soon as we got of he drove off, all the suburbs we passed through to the city from preston were dirty graffitti ridden, just looked like inner london to me, the place was bleak, dirty buildings, a river trip didnt lift our spirits at all, loads of building work going on{never saw anyone working though} derelict warehouses, sat and chatted with a guy who emigrated 18 years ago and was leaving that weekend to go to Darwin, told us Melbourne was not safe at night, and he was sick of it.
Now i know there are nice parts, apparently south down on the mornington peninsular, meet a couple from Frankston, they like it down there. Pleas remember its just how we saw places, Melbournites dont get offended, but after Adelaide this was rubbish.
Visited varieous places between Adelaide and Melbourne, Robe, mount gambier which is nice, Beachport great, port fairy beautiful beaches, peterbough, apollo bay my favorite place on the great ocean road, these places were as good as we thought ,if not better, but all small towns, except mount gambier.
so we left Melbourne a little deflated, Sydney was next, would it live up to the hype?.....
Melbourne, well i'm afraid we wernt very impressed at all, city was just that ,another city, nothing that made us sit up, stayed in an area called coburg, bit grubby, went out for an indian meal here, it was pants, chicken was awful, preston area dirty, rubbish the same as here, met the one miserable person here driving the tram, sent us of to get ticket from newsagent, said we had 5 mins,soon as we got of he drove off, all the suburbs we passed through to the city from preston were dirty graffitti ridden, just looked like inner london to me, the place was bleak, dirty buildings, a river trip didnt lift our spirits at all, loads of building work going on{never saw anyone working though} derelict warehouses, sat and chatted with a guy who emigrated 18 years ago and was leaving that weekend to go to Darwin, told us Melbourne was not safe at night, and he was sick of it.
Now i know there are nice parts, apparently south down on the mornington peninsular, meet a couple from Frankston, they like it down there. Pleas remember its just how we saw places, Melbournites dont get offended, but after Adelaide this was rubbish.
Visited varieous places between Adelaide and Melbourne, Robe, mount gambier which is nice, Beachport great, port fairy beautiful beaches, peterbough, apollo bay my favorite place on the great ocean road, these places were as good as we thought ,if not better, but all small towns, except mount gambier.
so we left Melbourne a little deflated, Sydney was next, would it live up to the hype?.....
Apr 12th 2004, 10:56 am
#10
Location.. in my office
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 109
Originally posted by carryon
Righty ho, here we go.
Firstly flew with singapore airlines, which were excellent, done majority of travelling in a Hertz motorhome, 4 berth transit automatic, winnibago equipt, loverly vehicle, good fuel econimy,
Flew into Adelaide, took ages to get through customs as we had to declare 3 packets of crisps and a tracker bar?
We loved Adelaide, loverly clean neat place, beautiful on the torrens river, great parks, good transport,easy to get around.
Igot ropped into joining in on an act in the park with a canadian performer 3 hours after we had landed, this was part of a festival that was going on in the park, great laugh at my expense.
Glenelg is nice, but we prefered Semaphore, nice uncrowded beach, no probs parking at any nice places, areas we checked out were.
West beach, glenelg,seaton,klemzig,northfield,and a few others. all in all very impressed, city has all you would need shop wise,we stayed at west beach caravan park which was loverly, all the people we met here liked Adelaide.
This was a great start to our holiday...........
Righty ho, here we go.
Firstly flew with singapore airlines, which were excellent, done majority of travelling in a Hertz motorhome, 4 berth transit automatic, winnibago equipt, loverly vehicle, good fuel econimy,
Flew into Adelaide, took ages to get through customs as we had to declare 3 packets of crisps and a tracker bar?
We loved Adelaide, loverly clean neat place, beautiful on the torrens river, great parks, good transport,easy to get around.
Igot ropped into joining in on an act in the park with a canadian performer 3 hours after we had landed, this was part of a festival that was going on in the park, great laugh at my expense.
Glenelg is nice, but we prefered Semaphore, nice uncrowded beach, no probs parking at any nice places, areas we checked out were.
West beach, glenelg,seaton,klemzig,northfield,and a few others. all in all very impressed, city has all you would need shop wise,we stayed at west beach caravan park which was loverly, all the people we met here liked Adelaide.
This was a great start to our holiday...........
What a shame you did not get to my neck of the woods. I live in Noarlunga which is beautiful.
Apr 12th 2004, 12:07 pm
#11
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Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Algester,Brisbane
Posts: 158
Thanx carryon for your verdict.
we are actually going further south, but it's nice to here that people stayed.
Steph
we are actually going further south, but it's nice to here that people stayed.
Steph
Apr 12th 2004, 12:13 pm
#12
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Sydney
Posts: 222
Originally posted by carryon
Ye, sorry Andy i should keep them in order, but i was answering them as they come.
Melbourne, well i'm afraid we wernt very impressed at all, city was just that ,another city, nothing that made us sit up, stayed in an area called coburg, bit grubby, went out for an indian meal here, it was pants, chicken was awful, preston area dirty, rubbish the same as here, met the one miserable person here driving the tram, sent us of to get ticket from newsagent, said we had 5 mins,soon as we got of he drove off, all the suburbs we passed through to the city from preston were dirty graffitti ridden, just looked like inner london to me, the place was bleak, dirty buildings, a river trip didnt lift our spirits at all, loads of building work going on{never saw anyone working though} derelict warehouses, sat and chatted with a guy who emigrated 18 years ago and was leaving that weekend to go to Darwin, told us Melbourne was not safe at night, and he was sick of it.
Now i know there are nice parts, apparently south down on the mornington peninsular, meet a couple from Frankston, they like it down there. Pleas remember its just how we saw places, Melbournites dont get offended, but after Adelaide this was rubbish.
Visited varieous places between Adelaide and Melbourne, Robe, mount gambier which is nice, Beachport great, port fairy beautiful beaches, peterbough, apollo bay my favorite place on the great ocean road, these places were as good as we thought ,if not better, but all small towns, except mount gambier.
so we left Melbourne a little deflated, Sydney was next, would it live up to the hype?.....
Ye, sorry Andy i should keep them in order, but i was answering them as they come.
Melbourne, well i'm afraid we wernt very impressed at all, city was just that ,another city, nothing that made us sit up, stayed in an area called coburg, bit grubby, went out for an indian meal here, it was pants, chicken was awful, preston area dirty, rubbish the same as here, met the one miserable person here driving the tram, sent us of to get ticket from newsagent, said we had 5 mins,soon as we got of he drove off, all the suburbs we passed through to the city from preston were dirty graffitti ridden, just looked like inner london to me, the place was bleak, dirty buildings, a river trip didnt lift our spirits at all, loads of building work going on{never saw anyone working though} derelict warehouses, sat and chatted with a guy who emigrated 18 years ago and was leaving that weekend to go to Darwin, told us Melbourne was not safe at night, and he was sick of it.
Now i know there are nice parts, apparently south down on the mornington peninsular, meet a couple from Frankston, they like it down there. Pleas remember its just how we saw places, Melbournites dont get offended, but after Adelaide this was rubbish.
Visited varieous places between Adelaide and Melbourne, Robe, mount gambier which is nice, Beachport great, port fairy beautiful beaches, peterbough, apollo bay my favorite place on the great ocean road, these places were as good as we thought ,if not better, but all small towns, except mount gambier.
so we left Melbourne a little deflated, Sydney was next, would it live up to the hype?.....
Apr 12th 2004, 12:20 pm
#13
Me, 2 kids and the wife
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 99
Originally posted by carryon
Righty ho, here we go.
Firstly flew with singapore airlines, which were excellent, done majority of travelling in a Hertz motorhome, 4 berth transit automatic, winnibago equipt, loverly vehicle, good fuel econimy,
Flew into Adelaide, took ages to get through customs as we had to declare 3 packets of crisps and a tracker bar?
We loved Adelaide, loverly clean neat place, beautiful on the torrens river, great parks, good transport,easy to get around.
Igot ropped into joining in on an act in the park with a canadian performer 3 hours after we had landed, this was part of a festival that was going on in the park, great laugh at my expense.
Glenelg is nice, but we prefered Semaphore, nice uncrowded beach, no probs parking at any nice places, areas we checked out were.
West beach, glenelg,seaton,klemzig,northfield,and a few others. all in all very impressed, city has all you would need shop wise,we stayed at west beach caravan park which was loverly, all the people we met here liked Adelaide.
This was a great start to our holiday...........
Righty ho, here we go.
Firstly flew with singapore airlines, which were excellent, done majority of travelling in a Hertz motorhome, 4 berth transit automatic, winnibago equipt, loverly vehicle, good fuel econimy,
Flew into Adelaide, took ages to get through customs as we had to declare 3 packets of crisps and a tracker bar?
We loved Adelaide, loverly clean neat place, beautiful on the torrens river, great parks, good transport,easy to get around.
Igot ropped into joining in on an act in the park with a canadian performer 3 hours after we had landed, this was part of a festival that was going on in the park, great laugh at my expense.
Glenelg is nice, but we prefered Semaphore, nice uncrowded beach, no probs parking at any nice places, areas we checked out were.
West beach, glenelg,seaton,klemzig,northfield,and a few others. all in all very impressed, city has all you would need shop wise,we stayed at west beach caravan park which was loverly, all the people we met here liked Adelaide.
This was a great start to our holiday...........
what a great insite, we are going to Adelaide at the end of this month for ever and I have been having thoughts about whether we should go to Melbourne, we were only there for a short time a few years ago and I wanted to see more.
Glad to see you had a great time, keep telling the story.
Thanks
Clevs
Apr 12th 2004, 12:29 pm
#14
Home and Happy
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,814
Hi Carryon, Great narrative, looking forward to the next bit. Have to say though, don't judge Melbourne on that. Its not my favourite Aussie city, nor do I live there, but it has got parts that are far and away better than the bits you saw.
We had the misfortune to get stuck in a motel in Coburg last month - and it reminded me of a run-down forgotten UK city. Horrible area, wouldn't want to go back there, and certainly not after dark. If I'd judged on that, I'd never revisit Melbourne, but trust me, the city has some nice bits!!!
Where next? Sydney?
We had the misfortune to get stuck in a motel in Coburg last month - and it reminded me of a run-down forgotten UK city. Horrible area, wouldn't want to go back there, and certainly not after dark. If I'd judged on that, I'd never revisit Melbourne, but trust me, the city has some nice bits!!!
Where next? Sydney?
Apr 12th 2004, 1:22 pm
#15
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Joined: Nov 2003
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Posts: 145
o.k, having left Melbourne we headed east through wonderful lush green scenery, victoria seems very green, stopped at a nice town called Sale, and then on to Lakes entrance, spirits lifted again, this was australia as we hoped. Further on to Eden , which as the name suggests it is, wonderful beach, clean and neat, i was back in heaven..
next stop Batemans bay, again couldn't fault it, and last stop before Sydney was Kiami, also georgeous, i love these small towns, so crisp and fresh..... then on to Sydney
BLOODY BRILLIANT,
We got rid of the motorhome and stayed in an apartment with friends who had been travelling around too, 2nd floor flat right opp Manly beach, its nice here and just further round is shelly beach which was great for the kids to swim in{NO SURF}but you have to dodge the snorkellers.
Sydney itself is great, just getting the ferry from manly to circular keys was a buzz, done that a lot in the week we stayed, had chance to eat out and do more and also visited our friends who live in balgowah, its brill, if you aint been, GO GO GO.
We all loved the place, and people had previously compared this to Melbourne, no contest.
Left Sydney very happy, my mate who we met out there arrived home 1 week before us and has already started the ball rolling to go out for 2 years, sydney northern suburbs, only down side is property prices.
Next stop was Gosford 1 hour north, stayed with friends for 2 days, its nice there too, they have just bought a zoo in cessnock, so we spent a day helping out, good laugh. They had their house built 18 months ago, lovely 5 bedroom job, full length veranda, 125 grand sterling, well cheap.
Next stop was Taree, got bitten to death by mozzies, some guy felt so sorry for me he gave me some beers.
Next coffs harbor, its great here, and the caravan park was the best so far, but only stayed 1 night coz i wanted to get to Byron bay, which was quite a let down, camp site was shabby, beach wasn't that good, and it pissed down, i wish we had stayed in coffs harbor longer now. And then on to brissy via surfers paradise, which looked really american, nice though.
Now i'm sitting here with my memories and my photos, looking foward to going back to work at 4.00am tomorrow.
If anyone has any comments please feel free to shoot me down in flames, i will gladly answer any in more detail.
Summing up, Australia is wonderful, most places clean, peple very friendly, food good, VB i love it, and it was cheap by tha slab,
If you have to live in or near a major city Sydney is the best but you wont get a house unless your a multi millionarre, so our winner is ADELAIDE, or if you want to live in a medium ,small town, practically anywhere iv'e mensioned, they are all great.
And by the way there is nothing wrong with the chocolate, and the choice is better, cherry ripe wow,. supermarkets are fine, everything you need, smiths crisps are as good as walkers.
I'm going for a lie down, bye for now!!!!!!!!!!!
next stop Batemans bay, again couldn't fault it, and last stop before Sydney was Kiami, also georgeous, i love these small towns, so crisp and fresh..... then on to Sydney
BLOODY BRILLIANT,
We got rid of the motorhome and stayed in an apartment with friends who had been travelling around too, 2nd floor flat right opp Manly beach, its nice here and just further round is shelly beach which was great for the kids to swim in{NO SURF}but you have to dodge the snorkellers.
Sydney itself is great, just getting the ferry from manly to circular keys was a buzz, done that a lot in the week we stayed, had chance to eat out and do more and also visited our friends who live in balgowah, its brill, if you aint been, GO GO GO.
We all loved the place, and people had previously compared this to Melbourne, no contest.
Left Sydney very happy, my mate who we met out there arrived home 1 week before us and has already started the ball rolling to go out for 2 years, sydney northern suburbs, only down side is property prices.
Next stop was Gosford 1 hour north, stayed with friends for 2 days, its nice there too, they have just bought a zoo in cessnock, so we spent a day helping out, good laugh. They had their house built 18 months ago, lovely 5 bedroom job, full length veranda, 125 grand sterling, well cheap.
Next stop was Taree, got bitten to death by mozzies, some guy felt so sorry for me he gave me some beers.
Next coffs harbor, its great here, and the caravan park was the best so far, but only stayed 1 night coz i wanted to get to Byron bay, which was quite a let down, camp site was shabby, beach wasn't that good, and it pissed down, i wish we had stayed in coffs harbor longer now. And then on to brissy via surfers paradise, which looked really american, nice though.
Now i'm sitting here with my memories and my photos, looking foward to going back to work at 4.00am tomorrow.
If anyone has any comments please feel free to shoot me down in flames, i will gladly answer any in more detail.
Summing up, Australia is wonderful, most places clean, peple very friendly, food good, VB i love it, and it was cheap by tha slab,
If you have to live in or near a major city Sydney is the best but you wont get a house unless your a multi millionarre, so our winner is ADELAIDE, or if you want to live in a medium ,small town, practically anywhere iv'e mensioned, they are all great.
And by the way there is nothing wrong with the chocolate, and the choice is better, cherry ripe wow,. supermarkets are fine, everything you need, smiths crisps are as good as walkers.
I'm going for a lie down, bye for now!!!!!!!!!!!