Uluru

For those who have never been to Ayers Rock or Uluru as the indigenous call it, it is definitely worth a visit. It is expensive though so we decided to do an organised tour from Ayers Rock to Alice Springs which took in Uluru, the Olgas and Kings Canyon.

Rather than write too much about the trip I will let the photos speak for themselves. What I will say is that the trip ended up being the highlight of our time in Australia, where we felt most inspired. Of course we got to meet some great people too including Hannah and Ellie from the Uk who deserve a mention not solely because they shared their beer and and cider with us.

We may not have enjoyed a glass of champagne as the sunset behind the rock like my Mum and Dad did but thanks to Hannah and Ellie we did get to have a 'tinnie'.

Rain rain go away ...

After dropping Ian off we headed further up the coast to Airlie Beach with a plan of heading out on a sail boat for a few days to the Whitsunday Islands.

All booked up, the day of departure came and low and behold so did the rain. Trust us to pick the wrong weekend for it. With only a few hours of sunshine each day we battled with the wind, waves and Mike throwing up over board for the next two days.

It wasn't bad though. We got to sail again which was fun and stopped off at different sites to snorkel where we saw stingrays, turtles and the biggest fish you have ever seen.

Clapped out camper, piglet, the monkey and a fairy

From Melbourne we headed back to Sydney for a few days ahead of Mike's dad, Ian, arriving in Oz to join us on a three week journey up the east coast from Sydney to Cairns.

The morning we met it was clear Ian had brought the bad weather with him as Sydney turned from 30 degrees sunshine to torrential rain. Not one to let the rain get us down - well we are from the North - we headed out and about in the city anyway on a whirlwind two day tour to show Ian the main sights.

First stop was of course Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and the Harbour bridge. I think its safe to say Ian had a unique experience of seeing it in the pouring rain but he didn't let that deter him as he signed us all up for the harbour bridge walk the next day.

Melbourne with Kelly

After escaping the arrival of the Geordie Shore crew we arrived in Melbourne for the Easter Break. What a different city it was...

Staying in the Fitzroy area near Brunswick street we embraced the cafe culture, laid back approach and super cool vibe in contrast to Sydney's fast-paced, image obsessed atmosphere.

Needless to say Melbourne was more our cup of tea, and that was good as it is the place to have one.

Sydney

After our chill-out time in Fiji we landed full throttle in Sydney, staying at Wake-up hostel, a notorious 'party' place for the first few nights.

Our first night there we headed to meet Neil (yes Neil of South America fame - he keeps popping up in this story doesn't he) for a few drinks and a catch up in Surrey Hills - a cool, boho area of the city.

Our secret rendezvous was in 'prohibition bar' Shady Pines - an underground, Texas saloon where we downed a few 'tinnies' before heading back up the alley to embrace a street party which was the culmination of an exhibition showcasing street art around the city. Complete with DJ, drinks and arts 'dahlings,' we exchanged travel stories and Neil began his 'move to Sydney' campaign on us.