Back again!

Been gone from here for a while as school has been so busy. Last week I had the kid's school production after school so I was late home 2 nights. I was so shattered by Friday I went to bed at half 6!

Had a great night last night - went to Australia day celebrations. You paid $40 and all food and drinks were included. We sat out in the sun drinking beer then danced all night. I really neede a good night out but I'm feeling a bit ragged today!

Also wnt to the orphanage yesterday morning. We had a laugh with the kids - they are so cute. But they were all a tired and sick with colds so they were quite hard work. I know the picture is not the best of me! But please bear in mind it's pushing mid 30C-40C at the moment and I was sweltering. Thought I'd put it in anyway.

Poor me

Feeling very sorry for myself. I've only been back for 3 days at school and I'm already ill. I had to take the day off yesterday and today. I hate being at home ill - there's nothing to do and I can't go out. Anyway enough moaning!

I'm not trying to count away my days but we only have 3 more weeks until half term holiday. I know we are so spolit! We're planning our trip to Singapore and Kuala Lumpa. I'm very excited to visit Malaysia. From speaking to people who worked there last year they think it's great. Everyone speaks English and it looks beautiful from photographs.

Anyway I should get back to lying on the coach. Gareth has got me the new Ugly Betty series and I am halfway through 24 so lots of TV watching to get through. I will try to get out this weekend and put some photos on here!

Coming to an end

I'm very sad as I have to fly home tomorrow and this is our last day (possibly ever) in Australia. We went to see the cricket yesterday. I thought I would be bored out of my mind but we met up with a load of other teachers from Saigon and had a good laugh drinking beer in the sun. I can't believe I sat through 8 hours of the game and they still had 2 more days left to play. It's an insane sport for sure!

Loving Sydney

New Year in Sydney was wonderful. We ate the most amazing prawns and oysters at our friend's house before going out to see the Harbour Bridge fireworks. They were fantastic and went on for ages. It was a great night but I was so shattered from a mammoth walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi and was yawning shortly after midnight. I'm not young enough to party all night any more!On New Year's day we went to Manly - a very nice beach but closed because of the crazy surf. It's also quite disconcerting to swim when every beach has its own shark watch helicopter circling all the time. We had a walk through a bush area which was great until I noticed all the massive spiders hanging in webs above us. The one in the photo was right above my head - not sure if he has massive eyes or pinchers?. I had some delicious octopus and chips as we watched the sun go down in the evening. We took the boat back into Sydney.
Today we went to the Blue Mountains by train. It was good to get out of the city and it was spectacular, with the most amazing views. We saw the famous 3 sisters - the rocks in the photo and walked through rain forest and creeks. We went up the mountain in the steepest funicular railway in the world. It was very freaky. I thought we were going to slide all the way down again and slip straight down into the rain forest below.

Back in Sydney

I can't believe how quickly our holiday is passing by. It's been really hard to put on photos as everything seems to shut here over Christmas holidays. I thought the cities would be more like London or New York but there is a really small-town feel. It really is like being back in Guernsey but with good weather.

I just got here with plans to put on photos but forgot my camera lead so I'll have to put them on another time. We had a great time in Melbourne. We went out for a goodbye meal with Gareth's mate down by the beach after spending the day at the botanical gardens. It's boiling hot now around 40C. I really don't feel cold anymore! We flew into Sydney yesterday very early so went into town for lunch then had a nap in our hotel. We met up with our friends from Vietnam to go to a moonlight cinema in the park. We all had big beanbags and a picnic. A very good evening.

Today we're at Bondi beach and plan to take a walk around the area. Tonight it's New Year's Eve so we're going out for a meal with our friends then off to see the famous firework display over the opera house.

Yesterday Mike - Gareth's friend took us for a drive along the Great Ocean Road. We went to a golf course to see some kangaroos, saw some koalas in the trees along the way- they are so cute but really lazy, swam in the freezing sea and saw the 12 apostles (the rocks in the picture). It was a great day out and really relaxing. It was good to see a bit more of Oz than just the cities.The pictures below are from when we went to the zoo. At last it's been a bit hotter and we had a scorching Boxing Day walking around seeing the animals.

Bad start to the holiday

We're now in Melbourne. I've not been able to put on any blog stuff because I have been in bed most of the time. I came down with tonsilitis (not sure how to spell it) and have been in bed most of the holiday. It's so depressing when you're in such an amazing country not to be able to see it. So Gareth has been sight seeing alone. I managed to walk through the park so there are a couple of pictures! I took myself to the doctors and he gave me a load of drugs so I feel a bit better today and am out of bed. Hopefully I will feel even better for Christmas day tomorrow. We're off out with Gareth's mate today. He picked us up from the airport yesterday andtreated us to croissant at his apartment where we met his Australian wife. Looking forward to actually doing something today! It's very very cold here - hoping for warm weather next week. I should have brought my winter clothes.

Pictures of Sydney

Sydney

This is such a beautiful city. We arrived yesterday morning but were shattered from the flight so didn't see too much. We got up early today to go and see all the major sights. We walked down to the harbour to see the bridge and opera house. It was cool to see such famous sites on real life! It was a really overcast day only about 20C but we were really relieved to have a bit of cool weather the heat in Ho Chi Minh is unbearable at the moment. We did a bit of shopping this afternoon. I was so pleased to sit down at the end of the day we did so much walking my feet were killing me. I fell straight asleep. I'm trying to put on some photos but the computers here are really crap and have no way of reducing images. I will put some more on tomorrow!