Lovely lovely week in Australia

Well first of all we had a day like the old days (ie when we all stayed up far too late and shared hangover days). Basically Alice had been very sick in the night and Liz and Craig had managed about three hours sleep each. On top of this Craig was recovering from some sort of vileness (probably the same as the baby). So we all spent a very pleasant and relaxing day chilling and waiting for bedtime.

It was really quite amazing getting used to mod cons. I haven't seen a big fluffy towel for a very long time, and it was great to have a proper hot shower again, never mind a lovely comfy bed with a great big warm duvet (or doona as they are called here). It is also great to see Liz and Craig again and have a proper catch up.

We have been having a great time and done all the proper tourist sites: Opera House, the bridge, and had a great day visiting the Hunter Valley to visit all the lovely vineyards. It really makes a difference when you get to try lots of really good quality wine in one day. Obviously I had a to buy a couple.

Today I tried to go diving. I failed to get onto one of the cruises to the Whitsundays but the ones that went to the great diving sites were sadly full so instead I went on a trip a bit nearer to Sydney. It was advertised as a seal trip to go and play with wild seals south of Sydney. Sadly the seas were huge so we could not make it to the seal location. Instead we stopped at a site with rather large swell. I had been coping fine with the sea on the journey but as soon as we stopped to get our gear together I came over all peculair and was quickly throwing up over the side. Graceful as ever. Luckily I managed not to hit anyone as the wind blew it all back over the boat. Charming as well.

We jumped into the sea and I nearly went in to shock over the cold. Its not quite the same as the 27 degree waters of Indonesia. After five minutes of hyperventilation we went down. There was about 22 people on the trip in four groups and it quickly got quite confused. It turns out I actually lost my dive partner after five minues but I didn't realise properly until I came up. the problem was that we all had matching dive gear so it was a bit tricky to keep my eyes on her. Lovely dive though and lots of interesting fish, wobegon and port jackson sharks. The second dive was much better and we managed to stay together but was incredibly thankful to get back to the surface as I was shaking like a leaf in 15 degree water. In fact I was fairly thankful to get back to the shore generally without any more sea sickness.