Day 38 - Saturday 9th January 2010

We were up, packed and back up the Strip to the Venetian for brunch , and we wanted to have a 3D photo in crystal done as a souvenir ( we are soooo touristy at times!!). We then jumped in a taxi in order to collect our bags and get to the airport by 2pm as our flight to Los Angeles left at 3.

By the time we got to LA we had decided that if it was at all reasonable we were going to try and upgrade our tickets for the flight back to Heathrow - the thought of another 11 hour flight squeezed into tiny seats with no chance of even a nap (let alone a sleep) was too much on which to end such a fantastic holiday.

I can tell you now that they welcome you into Premium economy with a couple of glasses of champagne and that's all I am saying!!

We caught the shuttle coach down to Gatwick, a train to H.H then persuaded the taxi driver to ignore the 'Road Closed" sign at Church Road ( apparently it had been closed for a few days because of the weather) and we were soon trudging our bags thru the snow and up to the flat.

Sadly, this will be the last blog as we are now back home where reality ( and a huge pile of post) are waiting! Luckily we have good friends who had braved the weather to fill our fridge with essentials - thanks Chris and Elaine.

The snowy scene awaiting us when we returned home

Day 37 - Friday 8th January 2010

Woke late (hardly surprising) but had to get going as we wanted to see all the themed casinos, boarded an open top sightseeing bus (which seemed like a good idea but was absolutely freezing) so got off at first stop - Treasure Island, or Ti's as it is now known.

We bought a sweatshirt each and decided to walk the Strip, going in and out of as many places as we could - some are absolutely incredible and cover huge amounts of land - our favourite was the Ventian with a mini Venice (inside and out) complete with canals, gondolas, cafes and Leonardo inspired ceilings!

Caesars Palace had Rome while the Mirage had a zoo for the white Lions and Tigers and several pools for dolphins. The Luxor was egyptian inspired and its entrance is the Sphinx with various 'Mummies' and hieraglyphics dotted around and, The Bellagio , of course, has the fountains!

We made it back to Ti's in time to watch their outside show which involves sirens (female variety looking like pole dancers) luring young pirates (male variety looking like Chippendales) onto their ship and then having a cannon fight with the pirate ship!! Got that? Very entertaining and helped along by drinking some, really moreish, rum coffees!

We had managed to get half price tickets for a show at Winns Casino so we decide to head straight there and have dinner first and then went to watch Le Reve, which was kind of like Cirque du Soleil in a lake! The tiered theatre seats were sited in a circle around an enormous lake from which the dancers and acrobats emerged on platforms where they then performed the dream (le reve) sequence in their various skills. Jon and I were mesmerised at the sheer 'magic' created by the spectacle and could have watched it several times over - absolutely brilliant! We rushed to buy the DVD (we felt sure there must be one) but no - they only produce a CD for the music!! The only photos I had been able to take ( they were very funny about camera use) was of the final stage - we are gutted as it would have been fab to watch at home.

Still we did see Elvis on the way back to our hotel!!

Day 36 - Thursday 7th January 2010

Today we start our return journey, but we have been told that there is still a lot of snow at home , so we head off for the shops to buy some warm clothes for our arrival in the UK.

There was extensive, additional and time consuming security procedures in place at the airport check in (on account of recent events over the Christmas period) but we were finally on our way and heading to Las Vegas - where timewise we actually landed before we had left!!

We were staying at Circus Circus, which is one of the older Casino hotels but still had plenty of activity - we had a quick look round and then went to bed for a couple of hours.

Refreshed to the point thta we decided to go down to the casino for a bit of a flutter and didn't get to bed until 4am (so much for trying to correct the body clock) following an obscenely large hot dog and an ice cream!!!

Well it is Vegas!!

Day 35 - Wednesday 6th January 2010

We were up, packed and on our way by 9.30am and stopped at our 'biker' cafe for breakfast before heading off to the airport in Cairns to drop off the car.

Our flight to Sydney was at 1.30 and we lost an hour again due to the time change but arrived safely back at the Sheraton in Darling Harbour - and also another bottle of bubbly to welcome us in our room - they certainly know how to encourage you to return!!

After freshening up a bit we walked into along the harbour and chose a restaurant for our last meal in Australia - we decided on the Blue Fish as we wanted fish and chips and they had an award for the best in 2009 - rightly deserved as they were delicious - and it was still warm enough to sit outside.

We will be sad to leave as Sydney was definitely our favourite city.

Day 34 - Tuesday 5th January 2010

Finally got a photo of us in our diving gear!

Looks quite impressive but as I said yesterday I think I will stick with the snorkelling!

Today Jon was going fishing so we had to be at the marina by 8am so he could enjoy a bacon butty first!

Having seen him off on the 'Dragon Lady' with about 6 others I drove up to Silky Oaks Lodge outside Mossman, as Joanne had told me they had a fantastic spa ( unfortunately they didn't have anything for me) but it was a lovely place set in the trees overlooking a river.

Back to Port Douglas for shopping - surprise!!
Found a jeweller who mended my necklace and got chatting about silver and jewellery making - he been doing it for 30 years - and he showed me his 'magic' silver solder paste in a tube which he says has completley changed the way he works ( Debbie take note!).

Had a swim in the pool at the hotel and then met up with Jon at the marina where he was swapping fishy tales with his new buddy Terry ( birthday boy) and had a few drinks with them.
Amid much chuckling it seems Jon had caught a 15' shark but unfortunately the photos are on Terrry's camera so I cannot share this amazing feat with you!
Apparently Jon had the first catch but it was only half a fish as the shark had bitten through it whilst it was on the fishing line!
I am sure Jon will dine out (or drinks at The Star) for many a month to come.
Packing tonight as we are returning to Sydney tomorrow as we start our journey home via Las Vegas.

Day 33 - Monday 4th January 2010

We were up with the lark and ready for collection by 8am to go to the Marina in Port Douglas, and once there, we boarded the Calypso catamarran - got signed up and issued with our equipment ready for a briefing from Sabrina, our guide. In no time we were being told how to use our equipment, the process of getting down to the seabed, dealing with problems and all the hand signals needed to understand what our guide wanted us to do!!! Brain ache before we even put a mask on!!
We were in the first group and at 11am our dive on the great barrier reef began - slight hicccup for me when Sabrina wanted us to take our mouthpiece out, drop it, retrieve it, put it back in and then blow the water out - needless to say I didn't quite manage it in that order so Sabrina and I returned to the surface for her to calm me down!!
After that it was just sheer magic to be able to go all over the reef viewing the most amazing coral and the fish who live there - we did have a problem with an aggressive trigger fish but thankfully Sabrina shooed him away ( told us later that they can bite when they think their young are threatened).
When our time was up we returned to the boat and had a great lunch - saw the photos and then went to a couple of different sites to snorkel ( think i am a snorkeller rather than a diver at heart!).
When we returned to the hotel we had a really quick shower and change and we were back out to the Tjapukai Park for an evening show and dinner - really good night and, again, excellent food.
By the end of the evening we were absolutely shattered but will need to be up early again for Jon to go fishing.

Day 32 - Monday 3rd January 2010

Up at 8am and drove to the Tjapakai, where we walked through the park and watched the aborigines telling us about their history and showing us the skills that they are taught from childhood - didgeridoo, bush foods, boomerang and spear throwing ( which they insisted we had a go at) needless to say I don't think I would be any good as an aborigine!

We followed this with a quick visit to a simulated opal mine and learnt how they mined for opals - didn't buy any as they all seemed to be extremely rare and therefore extremely expensive!!

Then on to Hartley's Crocodile Adventure Park - this was truly amazing , scary and

very interesting all in one go, especially as the guy is standing in the water wrestling a piece of cow with Hagrid, the croc, whilst telling us all about the people who have been killed by being stupid around crocodiles!!

Forget 'Jaws ' this is one very dangerous critter!

By now we are dripping with the heat so have to drive immediately back to the nearest bar for a drink.

Stayed in Port Douglas for our evening meal and then off to bed - it's our dive to teh reef tomorrow!

Day 31 - Saturday 2 January 2010

Up at 6am and loaded car, woke Jo to say gooodbye and then we were off to the airport.
Good run through and we were soon on the plane and away - very slick!


We had decided to hire a car again at Cairns as there was a bit of a mix up over transfers , and we felt that it was actually a good plan to have a car whilst we were here.

The photo is of the barrier reef taken from the plane.

Once settled into hotel we drove into Port Douglas and booked Jon a fishing trip and both of us a dive down to the barrier reef! Guulp!! only ever done snorkelling before!! anyway thats a couple of days off yet.

Had a drink in the Marina and a look at the shops in Port Douglas ( really good) and there are lots of bars and restaurants here too.
Drove back to the hotel for a few cocktails, courtesy of our new status as 'Priority Guests' and then went to bed - it is extremely hot here and drains all the energy.
Going to see the Tjapakai aborigines tomorrow.

Woke briefly at 6am, desperate for water, but managed to get back to sleep until 10 when Tom came round to take us back to the golf club to collect our cars - unfortunately Pete didn't think he was fit to drive, so Jon and I went instead.

Thankfully we got Pete's jeep back in one piece and following a quick sandwich Jon and I went for a walk in the reserve, as Tom had told us there were some koalas there.

After walking quite a way Jon spotted one and we clambered through the barbed wire to get a better look and I managed to take some half decent photos this time!

Happy to see one we set off for home and then we heard the distinctive call of another koala, so the, now intrepid expert, koala tracker (Jon) went off in search and to our amazement there was another one just waking up! We have christened these Keith and Katy and are absolutely amazed to have seen 3 wild koalas in one week - fantastic.

We got back and jumped in the pool for one last swim and then went to pack for the next leg of our journey - 4 days in Cairns.
Pete had cooked a lovely lasagne as our last meal after which we all retired to the 'cinema' for one last film night - Batman tonight.
Eventually siad our goodbyes as we are leaving very early in the morning.

Day 29 - New Year's Eve 2009

Not much activity from the 'hangover' people so Jon and I decided to go back to Browns Plains to get him some shoes for the dinner tonight - 7 pairs later!! ( Jon got his shopping badge) we set off back to the house. We stopped on the way to see if 'our' koala ( now named Kevin) was still in the tree but he was nowhere to be found - think he may have moved on.

As it was still quite earl,y and a nice afternoon, us girls decide to for a drive up the mountain - great walk on the Skytour up in the canopy of the rainforest. Found a wonderful little village up in the mountain and decided to bring the boys back tomorrow for lunch - we had no time to stop as we had to be ready to go to the Gold Coast by 5pm!!

Mary had booked us all tickets for a New Year's Eve Dinner Dance at The Links Golf Club - where we had a great meal - although they have a weird system of 2 main course choices but they deliver them to the table alternating each dish to alternate people and everyone has to swap if they don't like what they have been given!!! Can't see it catching on in the UK!!

Vast quantities of Champagne and a fab fireworks display later we set off for home - An enormous limo had been arranged with more Bubbly inside!! a perfect trip to end the night and just to make it complete Jon and I, Jo and Ant all jumped in the pool when we got back for a much needed cool down.

Day 28 - Wednesday 30th December

Jon and I were up early and decided to go into Browns Plains ( we had been told that was the only place to get a replacement clasp for my bikini!!).

Bigger news tho' - on our way along the Mundoolan road Jon saw something climbing a tree, so we stopped and searched and to our delight spotted a koala perched high up in eucalyptus tree.

This was amazing and although he was so far away and I only had a compact camera we managed to get a sort of image ( koala shaped blur in tree) as proof of our find!

The shopping centre ( or Grand Plaza) was an eyeopener too and we found some really good pieces to use as moulds for silver clay jewellery.

We decided that as we now had the car we would go to a koala sanctuary at Lone Pine near Brisbane.

1 hour, 1 argument and more than 1 use of the F word the sat nav was about to be hurled at great speed throught the open window as we travelled ( for the third time) along the same motorway ( incurring a toll fee each time!)
We eventually found it and it was worth all the trials of the journey. Jon and I have become totally captivated by these gorgeous animals and spent a couple of hours watching and photographing until we had to leave at closing time, stopping on the way back to look again at 'our' koala that we had found that the morning.

A fantastic day and I think the others had a great day too as they all rolled home at 8.30 very merry from their afternoon with friends!!