Well we got up early and went for another run!! I happen to be getting quite good at this exercise merlarky and ran quite fast. When we got back to the van and I had used up most of my inhaler...... we then decided to go on a really fantastic trail through the woods that took us to the most beautiful deserted beach - fantastic. Saw my first fat Koala in a very unsuitable skinny tree and he looked very dopey.

Went to Emu bay for a look around in the afternoon, I am still amazed when I see a harbour,bay etc at how clean and crystal clear it always is, it's like tap water and you can see all the fish etc below nothing like Southampton Docks! We took a couple of arty photo's then headed into Kingscote and set up camp for the evening. I cooked dinner and did enough for five thousand as my friends would vouch for if reading this..... obviously my mums fault

Got up early again for another jog and I decided I would maybe/probably attempt the half marathon with Clare and Toby, so we thought it would be a good idea to get some sponsorship again (don't worry it's not until June) and I thought I would donate the money towards Cancer Research as my Stepfather now has been diagnosed with the disease so get your wallets and purses at the ready!!!! Shit I can't run for buggary but I'm gonna have a go.

Did quite well at my run today but need to up the distance - I will be the next Zola Bud if it kills me.

Can't understand why my thighs are still the same shape? surely I should be looking like Naomi Campbell my now.

Anyway after I had regained some sort of composure I had a shower and packed up the tent - Toby and I have now become the tent occupiers as we find the van far too hot in the morning's. We then headed down to American River but the weather was really awful and quite cold so we just stuck our heads out the door then went straight to a cafe for some hot coffee. Beau had made a booking for the following day to catch the ferry back to the mainland so we drove back to Penneshaw campsite - situated next to the ferry terminal for the rest of the day. We spent a couple of hours in a debate about S&M and how Beau thought it was wrong and they were all freaks whilst Clare and I argued that each to his/her own as long as it didn't affect other people, this went on far too long and ended up getting nowhere. Beau went off for a walk and came back with a lovely coloured shell that he had picked off the sand and then placed it lovingly on the dash board for the night. In the evening we went down to the Pizza bar for dinner then came back to some wine and plenty of fags ( something I really need to pack in if thinking of doing the marathon) maybe after this packet..........

Clare told us that Nigel and Leanne have had a little baby boy which was really fantastic so Toby and I ran down to the nearest phone box to find out if our friends Tracy and Darren have had their baby yet - but still no baby (I reckon on a girl)

Hoorah no jogging today so we just packed up the van and headed down to the port ready to catch the ferry - I was sat in the front of the van with Beau and decided to have a look at Beau's lovely shell only to find out when picking it up that it still had a horrible hairy looking crab/monstor thing hanging out of his little house. The poor thing was half dead due to being out of his rock pool and having to sit in a hot van all night! so before we did anything else we all went down to the beach to go and find an appropriate pool to rehome it in, this was quite funny seeing 4 adults saying goodbye to a little hermit crab.....We later went down the ferry port to wait for our transport which ended up being nothing like the first ferry we caught and was a very basic boat that carried the huge lorries full of cattle. We had to sit outside (no option) and the crossing was really very bad which meant the poor cattle were getting very distressed and shitting everywhere, all over the cars and vans below. We all felt very very sick (shouldn't have had to chocolate drink before boarding) and were glad to get on the other side where both Clare and I were promptly sick - which made us feel instantly better so went off to find some food!!

Went to the nearest town - Victor Harbour which seemed quite nice and went looking for a hostel for the night as Beau was feeling a bit ill, had a mans cold!! I had smoked my last cigarette that morning and was determined to smoke no more so was feeling a little smug. The BP was not a nice place and had as much atmosphere as a 90th birthday party, it was empty which didn't help and was quite spooky. We were all quite tired and just wanted a bed to sleep in so Beau crashed out for the rest of the day whilst Toby and Clare went to the cinema, I sat in the kitchen reading my new Stephen King novel.

Woke up early again and went for a jog which I found a little easier that before and managed to do 40mins which is the longest time yet!! did some sit up's then packed and left that horrible place. Clare and I went and used the only Internet place in town then joined the boys back at the van at lunch time. Toby had found a second hand guitar which was really good, so now we can learn some songs and start singing in the evening's. The funniest thing was Toby went and sat in the park after he had bought it and was just messing around when someone came and gave him 50 cents - fantastic! he is making us money already....

Clare and I had bought some second hand jumpers as the weather is really very chilly in the evening's and we are all really surprised at how cold it is for the summer time. We then drove to a campsite called Policeman's Point which was on the way to Mount Gambier, our next destination. We were the only people on the whole campsite so had a good choice of places to pitch our tent. Clare cooked us a wonderful dinner that we all munched down with gusto then played a few tunes on the new guitar - Clare and I did the washing up in the laundry room and found it was a great place to sing - great acoustics. It took nearly 45mins for her to get the courage to sing in public (me) but when she did it was amazing!! she has a fab voice.

Got up at ridiculous o'clock again for another run, this time on the beach but without Clare as she was really tired - later drove to Mount Gambier

The town of Mount Gambier is built around a huge old volcano, you can drive up to the top and see the most wonderful blue lake that has formed in the bottom. We found ourselves a campsite to park little Betty in and settled down to a wonderful meal cooked by Toby's own two hands !! it was really very good aswell so Toby can't get out of doing any ooking in the future as he seems more than capable..

Had more renditions of some obscure guitar tunes played for the next few hours.

Got up early for a jog around the lake which was about 7km, alot of it being up hill. I failed miserably and couldn't run for the whole 40mins and had quite bad asthma so I walked some of the way then ran for the last 10mins.

Not feeling so good today and suffering from a really bad headache that is making me feel sick etc so just had a slow stroll around the town. Really very freaky people in these parts, this was noted by both Clare and myself whilst walking around a shopping centre looking for a birthday pressy for Beau. I saw a few bearded women and some very very strange looking men all of whom were listening to the local 'Country and Western' band they had playing live in the centre.

Had another wonderful dinner made by Beau - really eating very well!! oh and some more guitar strumming

Couldn't run today as my head hurt sooo much but couldn't sleep cause I felt guilty about not running - how bloody absurd is that

Everyone is feeling low, the weather is shit which isn't helping so we packed up after b'fast and drove down to the town to have a look at a BP that used to be the local jail. It was a really interesting place but very expensive so Toby made the decision of driving to the next town and stay there for the night which was fine by us. Rained very hard all the way which was like being in England, and found ourselves in Warrambool after a few hours all wanting to have a lay down and rest. The first BP was a pile of shite so we found another one just down the road for the same price which was really nice and right next to the beach.

We had a real bed with a duvet!!! god it was lovely and the place was huge but the best bit was they had a massive TV with free DVD hire- cool.

Beau had lost his only pair of trousers and wanted to buy some more - he didn't want to go on his own so I volunteered to go with him so him. Thought it would be a difficult event but turned very easy much to my surprise! and Beau had himself a lovely new pair of action slacks. It rained all afternoon so we just ate and read then went to our lovely beds.

Well another day of not going for a run but this time it was because the weather was so awful and it was great being snuggled up in a fluffy duvet whilst listening to the rain outside.

Clare and I had the best morning ever sitting in our sloppy clothes - we watched Bridget Jones Diary (I thought was fab) then Shrek and LA Confidential - all day!! whilst it rained again and was quite cold outside.

Two bus loads of kids arrived at 10.30pm and then ran around the place till 1.am completely pissing us all off and enforcing the idea of not having children.

Went for a jog today, without Clare Bear but found it hard again and walked back for the last 10mins - not getting any easier for me.

After B'fast we went back into town so that Clare could get a couple of things for the bifday boy, Toby found a music shop to get Beau some fiddly things for the guitar and then got trapped in the town for the next hour as we watched a carnival parade past. The best bit was a big group of bikers on their Harly's and leathers drive past , I want a bike......

Set off for the Great Ocean Road stopping at the 'London Bridge and 'Twelve Apostles' - very beautiful but would have been more spectacular at sunset or without all the stupid tourists that always do stupid bloody crappy things and pee me off!!

So after the apostles we carried on along the most bendy road ever in the world, which was pretty nasty for the person sat in the back (me) and felt very sick. The scenery was spectacular though and we stopped off to see some falls etc. The weather was getting grotty again and I certainly didn't want to spend the night in a tent if it was going to rain again, but Beau and Clare said they would - ha ha suckers. Oh bless them, after Beau making a few passing comments on how we said we preferred the tent so we should sleep in it kind of thing, he agreed with Clare that it was only fair they slept in the tent.

We went out that evening to a local 'pub' that had as much atmosphere as a funeral parlour and wasn't made any better by me loosing 3 games of pool - so out of practice, wouldn't have happened in Nepal. The pub was supposed to have a disco starting at 9.30pm and Clare and I wanted to stay and listen but the DJ didn't start setting up till gone 10pm and we were both getting quite drunk by now. I was pleased with myself as I didn't have a cigarette, not even fancy one whilst drinking which was my biggest test.

Oh dear it pissed down all night and blowing a gale whilst both Toby and I slept like logs.......

We made them get out of bed so we could pack the tent away before it started raining again, so they crawled out looking very miserable and tired. Funny thing is the sun came out as soon a we had put the tent away - oh dear Beau is grumpy monster today.

We set off for another fun-filled adventure carrying along the Great Ocean Road which was even more bendy so Clare started feeling pretty sick as she was sitting in the back today so we stopped at some falls for a looksy which were very pretty. Found a campsite just outside Torquay for the night and I cooked dinner for the evening and then settled down to an evening of singing and guitar playing.

Beau's bifday tomorrow!!

The 3 of us got up early for our morning exercise, Clare and I have started Power walking now as we are both suffering from bad backs and think it's from all the running - might not make the half marathon after all!. Toby and I started blowing up balloons in the tent as soon as we got back (all 30 of them) and then stuck them to the outside of the van. It wasn't a good idea as they all started to blow away, so we ended up running around the field chasing balloons first thing in the morning. We ended up piling them all into the van on top of Beau and then when he opened up the back door we caught him on camera with all the balloons flying out and a dopey grin on his face - It's birthday boy Beau!

I gave him our pressies with consisted of a fly swat, a Aussie hat with corks, 2 new pairs of ear plugs, capo and a slide for the guitar. Clare had booked him up a surprise surf lesson and a double room at backpackers so we had to get a move on as we had to be there for 10.0clock. We turned up on time and chucked all our bags in our rooms ( we had a double as well) and then went next door to the surfing place to get Beau sorted out. Toby decided he wanted to have a go as well so they both got themselves a couple of wet suits and boards ready to hit the water... Clare and I followed them down to take to photo's and video of our two surfing studs... mmmm lets just say wet suits didn't do them any justice!

We left them doing there thang for a few hours whilst we went shopping for curry ingredients - Beau loves his curry. At 2pm we went back down to the beach to pick them up and found the bay they had moved to but couldn't find them amongst the surfing dudes in the water. Clare noticed 2 figures laying on their boards out for the count on the sand which turned out to be our fit young hero's!!!!

They were absolutely knackered, so we took them back to the BP where they could rest there weary bones for the rest of the day. I used the Internet and found out from my mum that Clare had had a baby girl!!!!!!!!! wahey fantastic new - but she had gone through a terrible birth from what my mum had written, but mother and baby are ok. Later that evening Beau cooked us a lovely curry which was hard work due to the amount of people in the kitchen, but it tasted wonderful - can't get decent curry in Aussie, my dad would not approve. Toby and I went down to the payphone to call Darren and Tracy but just had the answer machine so she must still be in Hospital. Presented Beau with chocolate birthday cake which we all demolished.

We left the BP at 10am and headed towards Melbourne stopping off in Geelong for a look around, very very pretty and looked continental down on the sea front. Clare and I finally used the rollerblades that we had on top of Betty and attempted to give it a go - I found it quite hard as I was only used to rollerboots and was glad to hand them over to Clare who found them equally as hard.

Decided to carry on up to a small town called Queenscliff for a look around and found it a lovely place so decide to stay. We found a company down on the bay who did a afternoons snorkelling with seals and dolphins which we all thought would be fab so decided to do it the following day. I was quite worried as I was really scared of going in the water with all the fish etc but wanted to see the dolphins, will have to wait and see....

We then all went on a little walk along the harbour and pier where Clare and I came across a puffer fish on the pier walkway all puffed up and still alive, we felt so sorry for the little tinker and decided to try and get the thing back into the sea before it died. It was quite funny as we were surrounded by men fishing off the sides watching us whilst we tried to pick up this big bag of air on a little piece of paper acting like a couple of squeamish girls as soon as it wriggled!! We managed to get it back into the water but it went off swimming upside down (not a good sign) After our daring rescue attempt we went back to the campsite for some dinner and a listen to Toby's Spanish tape he had, then had an early night.

What a day!

Went for a power walk in the morning whilst Toby slumbered the morning away claiming injury.... then went down to the harbour ready for our afternoon of snorkelling.

We got ourselves kitted our with wetsuits, flippers and masks and then boarded the boat ready for the afternoons adventures - absolutely shittiing a brick and really want to go back to the safety of my tent. We were given a brief on how to use the snorkels etc and then taken to a wonderful man made harbour type place out in the ocean that had been built in the war but never finished but now a huge flock of ....................... had taken residence. The water was quite shallow and extremely clear - perfect for snorkelling, so we all got ourselves ready by spitting in our goggles and then slowly getting in the water. I was now very nervous and the others were already swimming around waiting for me to move my butt. I slowly lowered myself in the water which was surprisingly cold and then tried to relax which I was finding really very hard, the good thing was that the wetsuit meant we could float quite easily but it was hard to stay in an upright position whilst I was learning to lower my head in the water and breathe. I actually started to panic a little for the first few minutes as I couldn't get to grips with breathing and swimming under the water but I had all three of them around me at all times helping and making me relax and actually start to enjoy what was happening below me. I didn't get scared to death when I saw some fish as they were really very pretty so when the instructor said we were to swim through a hole in some rocks into the blue yonder I was a little bit daunted but ready to give it a go. We all swam through and I even touched some seaweed and slimy rocks, something I would never had done before!! Big panic, a big old boat went past and I caught all the swell, the water went into the snorkel so when I came up I could get my head above water as the waves were quite big which meant me flapping around madly whilst the others held onto me and told me to calm down. They were all being really really nice and I just know I couldn't have done it without them...

We all swam back to the boat after half an hour then headed off to a wild seal colony that were gathered on a old bit of platform where we could get back in the water and swim with them all, now that was fantastic and they were all so inquisitive especially the baby ones who swam really close whilst sumersaulting and watching us with as much interest. I was really starting to enjoy myself and was by now very excited about swimming with the dolphins, so off we trotted to the wide open sea with all our eyes peeled. We soon came across a group of about 6-8 of them and were told to jump out the back of the boat and hold onto the rope they had trailing behind, we were not allowed to let go or be fined a lot of money - dolphin protection regulations, and we were not allowed to touch them. It meant the dolphins would stay wild and we weren't intruding, but letting them come to us if they chose to. We were told that they have a protective coating that protects them from disease so I don't understand how some of the company's eg Monkey Mia lets you feed and touch them - very very bad.

Anyway I'll step off my soap box....... We were holding on for dear life whilst these dolphins swam around us and below us, we put our heads under water with the snorkels on so you could see them sooooo clearly and they came so very close. I saw a baby dolphin with it's parents swimming either side and to be honest when they swam directly below me I became really emotional !! it was such an experience one which I will never ever forget. Afterwards we all bundled back on the boat and watched as the dolphins swam at the bow, jumping and diving - they were close enough for me to touch.

After we had sailed around for a while we anchored near a deserted beach and had some fruit whilst some of the people climbed on top of the boat and jumped in the crystal blue water. We then went back to the harbour and grabbed our clothes all very excited and completely gobsmacked about the whole thing. Beau admitted he had became very emotional and was still feeling quite tearful - at least I wasn't the only one!! We were all hungry by now so we went to the local fish and chip shop to grab ourselves some goodies then went back to our campsite to talk about our best day........

Can't thank the others enough for looking after me - specially to Big Beau as he was probably the last person I expected to be looking after me when I was scared!! but Clare and Toby were with me holding my hand all the time and I love them all for making me feel less shit scared and enjoy the day. Now let's go Scuba diving.........

After our usual routine of packing up we went down to the shoreline to watch a replica of the 'Lord Nelson' do a sale past as it was the 200th anniversary for the discovery of Port Philip Bay - can't believe they only found this place 200 years ago!! We then drove to Melbourne, we all found it quite strange being in a big city again and driving was a bit scary.... we made our way down to the ferry terminal where Beau and Toby went to book some tickets to Tasmania. We were all a bit half hearted about being in the City and were all a bit daunted about the whole thing.

We found a really cool campsite and once again we got away with only paying for 2 people!! fantastic. We then went down to the cinema where I was hoping to watch 'shallow Hal' but Toby wanted to watch 'Behind Enemy Lines' which I have to say was a pile of shite.... But I ate enough Pic a mix for 10 people which made up for the bad film - ooops promised the dentist I would stop eating sweets.

Bla Bla I hate shopping, I hate shopping.......

Didn't find anything for Toby so it was a wasted day and do not want to be in the City anymore.

Went out to the big lights in the evening for a couple of drinks and ended up getting a little bit wobbly but not as much as Beau and Toby who only had 3 pints and were both really very drunk. We were going to go and watch a live band that was advertised but when we went to the pub it turned out to be one bloke with a premixed tape whilst he sang along - cross between Neil Diamond and Leo Sayer - very funny.

Walked around town looking for a present for Toby again but just couldn't find anything he would want or really needs - I thought women were difficult!!

What on earth am I going to get him?

I hate shopping!!

Didn't do anything special really .... went into town again whilst Toby went to the Skateboarding thingymajig - aha came up with an idea of what to get Toby and made a few phonecalls to sort out a surprise........

Oh I am a clever clever girl he will really like this

Went out in the evening with Jilly, Vicky and Jon who were in the vicinity - Clare had made contact with them a few days previous and found our they were heading our way and that it was Jilly's b'day, good excuse for a bloody good piss up!! Went to the backpackers they were staying at and had loads of cuddles before we headed to a Chinese restaurant for some nosh and had a fab time - Clare and myself got a trifle drunk and she wanted to go onto a nightclub with the rest of them after we had spent a couple of hours at the pub and some cracking games of pool. We spent another 1/2 hr looking for the nightclub to drop Clare for her dancing but we couldn't find the bugger so we went back to the caravan site and then straight to bed.

Didn't really do much today but read quite a lot of my Stephen King novel which wasn't that good.

Oh my god into town I go again - but this time I bought a couple of pressies for Toby, wash bag ( he had lost his a while back) a cook book......and a new cap all of which were really hard to find for some reason???? I want to know why you can't find a man's wash bag without products in them and why do you pay loads more dosh to have an Adidas cap WITHOUT the name 'addidas' written all over it- grrrr

.Beau and Clare came back from town at about 10.30pm quite drunk! disgusting, I had been sat all afternoon worrying about them and they staggered back giggling like a couple of teenagers! - lucky devils

Fantastic we finally left the campsite but had done well for not getting caught, only been paying for 2 people all this time....

Make our way into the Grampians which was breathtaking and headed for a tourist information place to get some info on treks. We then camped up in a beautiful campsite surrounded by mountains and wildlife, both Toby and I saw our first Kookaburra sitting in a small tree next to the tent - what a fantastic looking bird, a lot bigger than I imagined. It was really very friendly and came very close to us which was fab and one point we were surrounded by pink and white macaws, red and blue parrots, Kookaburra's and loads more birds that I didn't know. Clare and I went to the little shop over the road and just as we got to the other side a huge group of kangaroo's (big ones) came lumbering across the road and walked past us, all of them coming so close we could have touched one. The wildlife is second to none in Oz but in the Gramp's it was just amazing to look up in the tree's and see a mass of colour from wild birds that we usually see in cages back in England. Later that evening we met up with a young lad who was camping opposite us and we gathered around his fire for a good yarn and a play on the guitar. Us girls decided to go to the loo at one point but Clare was wrapped up in her sleeping bag so decided to hop all the way to the toilet block whilst I filmed her journey. Well I can honestly say it has to be the funniest clip of video ever in the whole world as all we did is laugh hysterically, especially when I filmed her on the loo and she caught me ( click here to view video (592kb))- should have heard the scream!! Oh how old are we.....

Actually kept dreaming I was suffocating in the night as it was so windy it was blowing all the sides of the tent inwards - I woke up with the the tent walls covering my face and head. Got up a few times in the night to retrieve our stuff that had blown across the campsite so I didn't really have a goodnights sleep, Toby thought it was fantastic that the tent was eating us alive saying it was like being in the stomach of a whale.... mmm now how is that supposed to make me feel better?

Clare and I worked out a trekking agenda for the next 9 days covering nearly all the Grampians treks - not bad for Sheila's. Then made our way to Natimuk where were to do the climbing etc for Toby's birthday - very difficult to arrange anything concerning Toby as he has to know exactly where he is going and why...little bugger.

A couple of hours later we drove into the campsite that was situated next to a lake or should I say a large field as the lake had dried up 2 years previously. The campsite was pretty basic and Beau was not happy about staying there but we erected the tent anyway then headed off into town for a look around. Clare found a backpackers that looked really nice so I went and had a look around - wow, absolutely fantastic. It was an old house originally owned by a couple of old ladies who taught piano and was built just under 200 years ago, the place was still done out in the old fashioned way and was full of character. The garden was like being in an old English country garden and had chickens and ducks etc. I fell in love with it straight away and grabbed the rest of them so they could have a look, Clare was excited because of the piano in the lounge area. We spoke Lee to who owns the place with her husband, Tim. Lee who turned out to one of the rare special people you sometimes come across in your life and someone you would never forget. She is 36years old and has to walk with a stick, she has to have morphine injections administered from her husband because of the pain she is in from her back and has to urinate from a tube made from her intestines coming out of the side of her tummy. She got sick 3 years ago and has now had 12 major operations, she unfortunatly won't be getting any better. Lee used to run 100k's all the time before she fell ill but can now only walk a few metres a day- BUT she has the most resilient and amazing personality even with all the adversity! she really makes you sit back and think about how lucky we have it and would I be as strong as she is being. Her husband, Tim is of the same cloth, he is fantastic, witty and adores his wife.

Makes you think when you moan about little things and then watch Lee who doesn't moan about anything but she just takes the piss out of herself having to hobble around everywhere - have to rethink my priorities.

Well we all ended up staying the night and playing Leo Sayer songs in the lounge before Toby and I retired to our double bedroom. Lee gave us the expensive room for the same price as a dorm room( birthday treat for Toby from her) it was beautiful and felt like being in a country cottage.

Wahey Toby's b'day

Got up and made everyone a cuppa then waited for the b'day boy to eat his breakfast before handing him his pressies. He was really chuffed with all of them especially the miniature crunchies Clare and Beau had got him!

We then went down to the climbing place to meet our instructor for the day who turned out to be a blonde called Nicky - mmmm don't remember them telling me about this!

Toby had now guessed what our day had install for us and seemed quite excited about the prospect which was good... Beau and Clare had both decided to give it a go so after we had collected our climbing gear we headed down to the large rock we were to climb. We all had a really good day and even Beau did some absieling which was fantastic even though he was shitting himself at the top - he was a very brave soldier. The climbs got a lot harder as the day wore on and us girls couldn't do the last couple - as far as I could see there was no way you could haul your arse up that flat surface towering vertically into the sky ..... so after 7hrs of climbing and jumping off the top of a large cliff we decided to call it a day and go back to the BP's

Thought of the day - must do squillion sit up's each night to have any hope of having a stomach like Nicky's - she had a stomach like a wash board.

We got back to the wonderful house for a BBQ that Lee and Tim had prepared for us that tasted wonderful and then Lee put the finishing touches to his b'day she had baked before presenting him with it, sparklers and all!!

Lee started looking in pain by the end of the evening so she said her goodnights and retired. Tim asked us if we would like to stay another night free of charge, so that they could go and visit some friend's 2hrs away and we could look after their house!! they trusted us enough, which was really very nice. We all had a fantastic evening and decided to head for our beds at midnight.

Wow had a huge lay in which was soooo nice and then had some breakfast (supplied) and watched an old black and white movie starring Alec Guinnesss - fanbloodytastic. Lee and Tim couldn't get intouch with their friends which was a real shame, Lee hadn't been outside her town in 4 years due to all the hospital stuff she had been through.She couldn't be in a car for more than 2hrs and then would need her morphine shots, they tried ringing up until midday then decided it was going to be too late to leave. They were disappointed and we were disappointed for them, but they said we could still stay the night free of charge as they had messed up our agenda as well ( as if we had to have our arms twisted behind our backs to stay another night!!!!!) we decided to go into town to buy supplies for a curry ( Lee had said she loves curries) so Beau and I went into town to stock up and bought a couple bottles of wine and a thankyou card for Tim and Lee. Beau cooked a wonderful beef curry for all of us and a treat for them .

Got up early to prepare for our first day of the trek but didn't get into Betty until 9ish - said a huge farewell to Lee and Tim thanking them for there hospitality and giving out lots of hugs, I will miss those tinkers.

Got to our first walking spot at about 10ish and started with a short walk to Mt Zero which I found quite hard due to the heat but I loved climbing the rocks. We then did our second walk of the day which took us up to Mt Stapylton which was absolutely fantastic and involved a lot of climbing and was quite dodgy in some parts. Clare got quite worried at the prospect of coming back down as she has a fear of falling over so she was becoming a little agitated . We found some really cool caves and the views were spectacular!! we passed some old people who were doing the same trek and we were all really impressed that they were giving it a go ( not all the way to the top) - I was knackered.

We all made it back down OK but my back was stating to pull so started to get a little worried about that - given up running now as it is causing back problems. After a quick lunch of a b'fast bar and dried fruit we the went on to Hollow Mountain campsite where we sat for a few hours to wait for the worst of the sun to go over before attempting another climb. We left at about 4ish in the end which was still blinkin hot! but this climb was really hard due to the amount of rocks we had to scrabble up. Made it to the top in the end after about 2hrs of hard graft and the views were once again fantastic so we sat on top for a little while watching some climbers before deciding to head back down, oh and Toby got bitten by a huge ant ( on his arse) which amused me greatly.

Finally made our way to a campsite and watched the sun set on the mountains around us which turned the most beautiful colours - pinks and oranges before we flaked out for the night.

Shite day today as my back started playing up after about 10mins of walking on our first trek of the day to Mt Difficult so I left the boys to it for there 5hr walk and made my way back to the van. Clare wasn't in the best of moods that morning as both her and Beau are really not morning people - both seem to be very grumpy and snappy. Only towards to each other I hasten to add.... so Clare had a bit of a strop on and came back with me to the van. She decided she didn't want to walk anymore up the mountains as she found the decent too scary so decided on hiring a mountain bike for the rest of the week, had to make me laugh though bless her as I don't know where she was going to put the thing each day etc. But she said she would cycle onto our next destination bla bla, so off she went to Halls Gap to find out about prices only to return 10 mins later saying she had gone the wrong way ...... god she makes me laugh daft puppy. We sat down and read our books until the return of the boys, then made our way to Smith Mill campsite for a night of getting stoned and talking about absolute bollocks - I have to say that Beau won that night.

Got up early for another day of walking making our way to Mackensie Falls for our first trek of the day. Really worth the effort as whole thing was really very fantastic, after a couple of hours we walked back to Betty only to come across loads of backpackers walking towards us heading off to the falls - pheeeew missed the buggers.

We headed of to Lake Wartook for a quick looksy before driving up to Reed lookout and the Balconies - wow is all I can say, the view reminded me of how it would have looked in prehistoric times, just blankets of green mountains and blue lakes in the distance and not a one man made object as far as the eye could see.

Went back to Halls Gap campsite for the night and had a well deserved shower as we were all starting to hum. I settled down and read my book for a few hours before joining Toby and Beau in the pool which was also in the campsite. I really can't swim and just spend the time messing around which was pretty much what the boys were doing anyway!! they were trying to stand on the floats for as long as possible and were frolicking around like a couple of teenagers.

We then went back up to Reed look out to watch the sun go down for the day and it was really worth it - we had the sun going down in front of us leaving the most wonderful colours and then had the full moon behind us.

Phoned Tracy and Darren and finally got through which was fantastic and found out all about the birth of little Ellen and how the family were - fantastic to speak to her.

Still had a dodgy back so headed back to the van after at least attempting the Boroka Lookout walk so just read my book until the rest of them returned.

We all just did our own thing for the rest of the day then Clare and I had a farting competition as we both had really bad wind, both of us didn't ever fart in public or infront of our blokes until we had all got together but now there is no stopping us!!! Managed to get the Kookaburras to eat from my hand.

Went for another walk in a place called the Grand Canyon which took a couple of hours in the morning before heading to another camp ground for a 6hr walk. This was definitely my favourite walk, it consisted of climbing over under and through some huge rocks, boulders and tunnels which I always really enjoy! the view was spectacular. We walked back a different way through a wonderful forest which had some stunning birds flying around, then walked through a rain forest which had some enormous ferns.

When we got back to the van we moved onto another campground which had some water then went hunting and a gathering for some fire wood - Beau came back dragging a small tree behind him.... it was getting wet and rainy again so it was nice to sit around a big fire.

AUSTRALIA MAR 2002 >