ɹǝpun uʍop ɯoɹɟ sƃuıʇǝǝɹƃ

Hello,

Well it has been along time since I rocked and rolled as Led Zep once said but since leaving Norwich on Sunday (15th) at 11 am I have been travelling all the way to Melbourne in Australia. Now that is a distance of 10,417 miles as the crow flies but I am not a crow so it was probably even further. We got to Heathrow without too much of a hassle; went to the wrong Holiday Inn to park the car but that was all. Checked in with Asiana Airlines with far too much ease. We went up to the desk handed bags over picked up boarding cards and bang that was it. The flight to Seoul was fairly event free as you would hope on a large intercontinental flight really. I watched City Of Ember on the very small screen and listened to a Marillion Concert from 1984 and slept for most of the journey only to wake up for food and drinks :-).
We landed in Seoul at about 16.00 rocal time and it was -2 outside. Now I have not packed that much in the way of winter clothes so the trip back could be fun as we have two days here.

As we had 3hrs in the airport we decided to hit the concourse running as it were, looked for somewhere to eat and pass the time. Starbucks looked promising so in we went: two coffee's prease and a chocorate muffin...... rittle to the reft...... rittle more...... We were enjoying the coffee and in walked two American students, well I say they were students that is the only excuse I can offer for their complete lack of anything vaguely associated with a brain. One was most upset that they did not do "Double chocolate frappachino's" and thought that as it was a franchise the menu would be the same all over the world..... rittle to the reft.

Seoul to Sydney was much of the same but much more crowded, I guess that Australia is a more popular destination than S Korea. On the approach to Sydney I was given my first shock of the trip. It was cloudy and raining! Fucking Crocodile Dundee and his Australian Tourist Information films had lied to me. It wasn't hot and sunny ALL the time, I want my money back. The check in at Sydney was a little more laborious as it was not run by the ever efficient South Koreans and too many people trying to get a sheep on as hand luggage. A quick hop over to Melbourne from Sydney was by far the shortest part of the journey but the most harrowing. Having a window seat meant I could easily see the devastation caused by the recent fires and the pockets of fires still burning. This really brought home the magnitude of the disaster as the areas of scorched earth were huge, very sombering.

We checked into our hotel and decided to get out and about as we would be fast asleep if we just laid there. So off we went. Melbourne is an great city, like London it mixes the old Victorian buildings with modern high tech offices and apartments. We took a wander, saw some shops and found a bar that was also a brew pub. James Squires who apparently opened Australia's first brewery and was a convict so good for him a man after my own heart. The beers were very palatable and the kangaroo filled cobbler was also good value. (this is a meal not some local drunk) Back to the hotel for a good night's sleep in a real bed, you will not believe just how welcome a real bed is until you spend over 36 hours away from one being forced to sleep in a seat upright.

Today is our first real day in Australia and we are currently in St Kilda which is a suburb of Melbourne. I'll post about our adventures there later and put some photo's up when we arrive back in Merry old England as we have not brought the cable over here with us. D'oh. (we had to buy a memory card as we left that in Norwich as well)

One piece of vaguely interesting news about Melbourne that I have discovered is that it was founded by a Mr John Batman. How cool is that? I wish I had a name like that, mine seems so mundane now. Read all about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Batman

See ya later kiddie winkies - until next time toodle pip.