Nov 01, we drove south to Canberra (the capital of Australia) sounded like a good enough start?? Our travel books talked about a Canadian pub there that actually sold some Canadian beer - well after almost 9 months without true Canadian beer we were quite pumped to check this place out. But apparently someone notified them that we were coming - the chance of long term squatters was at hand - so they torched the place.

But one night in Canberra seemed to be just about enough. It was beautiful but not very entertaining. We did explore the war memorial and we commend them on the display!! But there were no beaches so we took flight!

We rang our friend Stuart on the way to Melbourne "We will be there in 4 hours can you make the bed up please!" (It only took one month of mooching off the parents and we were hooked like we were back in the University days!!!)

Stuart was more than hospitable and we were lucky enough that he allowed us to enjoy this side trip to his house in the hills of Victoria. (Yeeeaaa Haaaawww!) His gorgeous home is located near Mansfield. We were very excited to see each other and spend some days together. He lives at a very serene location in the hills - the birds, wildlife and scenery takes your breath away.

He took us on a driving tour through the hills - first was the Kangaroos - he says there wasn't many but we disagree, a couple hundred in 5 km of suburbs is alot! Next we got to see some of the hilltribes of Australia. (Can you say Deliverance???)

It was quite an experience - the hilltribes resemble L'il Abner and the hillbillies of the Tenessee Hills in the U.S. - you know the redneck, shanty kind. Apparently this area was quite thriving and large during the gold rush of the 1800s - well it hasn't changed 1 iota and the population (though down in numbers) looks like the same people still live there now (exact).

The views of this area in Victoria were amazing and the hospitality was out of this world. Stuart and his family hosted an Aussie BBQ and we got to educate each other on the ways of our worlds. Very enlightening!

We left Stuart's place with our first (kinda) plan - sort of - so on Nov 03, we were off to Melbourne to meet up with Dave and Marissa, (some American friends we met on Fraser Island -  yup the ones that did not get voted off) and then well what happened next is a bit of a blur...

"I guess we will head towards the Great Ocean Road, maybe Adelaide then maybe the Barossa Valley"..." hmmmmm.... what do you think?"

"I dont know - lets just drive......."

You see we talked with someone in order to sell the car and were going to return to Melbourne by Nov, 7th. The plan was to sell the car and then use the money to fly up to the Whitsunday Islands. It was Sean's favourite spot and he wanted to get back to the beaches not stay in the cities.

The Great Ocean Road is one of Australias true wonders.  As the name suggests it is a narrow road following the rugged coast of the deep blue sea. It is nature at its best - Fair Dinkum Mate. We loved the drive and were even more surprised to see a mother Koala and her baby sitting in a branch of a Gum tree over hanging the Great Ocean Road!

Nov 05, 02 one day in Adelaide - hmmm - when we get to the cities we dont seem to stay very long. I guess a city, is a city, is a city after all and we really didnt come to Australia just to see cities. Yes, they do have a lot to offer but we are more excited about the other things Australia offers - like the Barossa Wine Valley. (Another trend in our travels?)

One of us actually wishes he missed Adelaide altogether, since his day was spent looking for opal rings. Fun enough  - when you are just looking but it started something that could not be stopped!! That night we headed north and stayed in Barossa Valley.

On Nov 06, we did our own wine tasting tour - hitting all of the hot spots - well actually all of the wineries we know from home. We stopped at Wolf Blass, Jacob's Creek and Penfolds. Hey, maybe all that wine tasting could be our excuse for the actions of the next few days....

After a few bottles of wine we just started driving towards Melbourne (key point "towards") sticking to the semi-original plan. Which was to sell the car in Melbourne and then fly around OZ. After about 350 kms we came to a screeching hault - even though we had lots of day light we couldn't drive any further, we actually had to stop out of confusion...

Maybe we should step back and tell you the whole story.

We have known for a while now, that we would be leaving Australia on November 24 (maybe you did'nt know -  but we knew). So we also knew that our time in OZ was limited - we had to sell our car plus fit in all of the things that we have not done in Australia yet(ie. our drive in South-East Australia). We did not want to leave with any regrets so we had to make sure that we were "both" happy.

Back to the first crossroads (Nov 06), it wasn't all bad - we were pleasently surprised to find our room had pay TV. Concidering most of these little towns have three channels(of which two are the same) this was a quite a treat. Dinner in the hotel room was our only choice. In between our movies we discussed all the pro's and con's of the road that lay ahead.

It was decided, we would wake up early in the morning, carry on towards Melbourne (495 km's) - perhaps stop at some tourist spots - then drive (700kms) to Sydney to sell the car. Flights were cheaper from Sydney and the car should sell for more cash anyway - we hope???

It was nice to have a plan, but after 4 movies Sean was in no shape to drive. It wasn't till a couple hours into our drive when the navigator finally woke up. And as it happens this was just 30 km's too soon.

Upon his awakening the first thing he noticed was the road sign depicting all the diferent routes one could take???

30 kms goes by way to fast - no turn is made - the next thing we know we lay awake in a small cabin in an even smaller town - atlases and maps spread out all over the place. Melbourne long forgotten, and Sydney more like a swear word than an option - we were now deciding between Byron Bay and Brisbane.

On the third day of driving (Nov 08) we are now heading towards Brisbane - it is familiar territory for when we try to sell the car plus it is a great port of departure if we head out on our ocean journey??

Yah right - there is a 'bush fire' - can you believe that? Now instead of heading directly to Brisbane, we have to try another route so we start heading for the gold coast instead. It is 90 min south of Brizzie so we shoud get there sooner???

No deal - all the crossroads add too much time to the trip, now we have a problem, we needed to be there on the Friday so things (ie. Transport offices and businesses etc) were open! 400 kms, we were not going to make it!

We were only 250 kms out side Brizzie when we had an epiphany, we were going to spend as much money getting to Witsunday Islands as we would if we went to Figi!!

After a few sessions to try and calm down we decided we would get to the city - check out flights and go to Figi!! Now we just have to call Liz and Dave, have them meet us in Byron Bay for the weekend and then off to Figi!! (Oh my God - is Sean freaking you out too?)

Poor Dave answered the phone and we bombarded him with options for the weekend. And even more unlucky for the Liverpool duo was that they had both us call them and a friend from the UK visiting.

We stopped in at Liz and Daves house and they are trying to plan a last minute trip to Fraser Island - what the hell - we have no plan - Fraser involves sun and water - just what we are looking for..."we're in!!!"

Dave had to work on Friday so Fraser Island would have to wait for one more day. Normally this might not have been good for us but by now we are champions at last minute plans!

We all drank a bit of wine at dinner and none of us were in any shape to finalize any plans for the weekend, ".....let's just put it off until the morning....."

We all drank a bit of wine at dinner and none of us were in any shape to finalize any plans for the weekend, ".....let's just put it off until the morning....."

Well our plan came together around 11:00 on Saturday morning (Nov 09)- after a big pancake brekkie and a few calls - the 6 of us were off to Fraser Island for some sun, water and 4 wheel driving.

Aaron provided the camping gear (can't vote him off), Dave provided the driving (can't vote him off) and the rest of us held on for the ride. We went swimming in fresh water lakes, gazed at the stars on the beach, saw dingos and drank some beer. What more could two lost Canuck's ask for but PARADISE!!

It turned out to be an amazing 28 hour retreat, just what we needed - now that we have that out of our system and we now have some direction.......well at least we have a plan for tomorrow!

After just 12 days we covered over 6000km "Hats of to the wagon!!" Our commonsense (Sherry) helped us to book a resort package in Malaysia (wait til you hear the deal that we got!) starting on Nov 17.

We drove to Sydney on Nov 12 (another 1000kms) sold our car and got ready to say goodbye to Australia. Selling the car was a big thing for Sean, he did not want to get stuck with it and have to give it away. The good thing about how our plans worked out was that we saved alot of money. We didn't fly around Australia and the trip to Fraser was relatively inexpencive compared to the Whitsundays and Figi. Plus the deal that Sherry got in Malaysia is awsome!!

We sold the car on the first day but didn't have enough time to get to a bank and convert it to Travelers cheques. Being the guy you would think it would make sense that Sean carry a couple thousand dollars around the streets of Sydney.

Confidently Sherry explained "Sean you are way too irresponsibe, you might forget where you put the money or even leave it in your pockets through the wash. You better let me carry it!"

"There's no arguing with that, but why are you snickering?" cautiously Sherry was handed the money.

In a flash she is gone! Sean starts calling out and looking for her in every pub he can find but she was no where to be seen.

"Someone had to be watching when she took the money and they kidnapped her."

The police were just about to be called when Sherry came skipping down George Street, weaving in and out of traffic! "They must Have drugged her?"

"What happened to you?"

"Oh just a little pit stop"

"What are you hiding behind your back?"

"A Car!"

"Yah right, seriously what is it?"

"I'm telling you the truth, look!!!"

It was hard to tell which gave off the most light, the stunning opal ring on her finger or the huge smile she was wearing!!

Sure enough sitting on her finger was a brand new opal, not a boulder opal not a crystal, black or white opal from back home... No Sir... a genuine first rate "Ford Laser Wagon - Opal - 1.6litre" all wrapped in White gold!!!

Just imagine if this trip lasted till Febuary, who knows what she would be wearing next!!!

(We do have photos but we are no where near organized enough to put them in)