Great Ocean Road by Emma

Today we went on a trip to the Great Ocean Road, a famous road along the South coast of Australia. On the way the driver, Max, stopped at a spot on the road surrounded by trees, where he knew that there were wild koalas. As he looked through the trees, at the top of one, there was a mum koala and a baby koala, (sooooooo cute !!!!!!!). Here are a few pictures that we took......

We also saw some parrots.

We carried on driving on a long winding road, and we saw a massive hedgehog waddling across the road. After a long time, we got to the 12 Apostles. These are big cliffs that have been worn away by the sea, but there are still some rocks remaining. Here are some pictures....

We thought this one looked like a face...

I found the day very long, and a bit boring at times as it was a very long drive, but I enjoyed the koalas and thought the 12 Apostles were stunning.

Christmas in Oz by Megan

Christmas in Australia was amazing, but didn't feel like Christmas. We all really missed our family and friends, and our Christmas traditions like the christingle with our friends like... the Barkers, the Jordans (and Michelle), the Allsopps, and our annual trip to the cinema on Christmas Eve with the Stones, the Platts and the Daniels! I especially missed Christmas dinner with my Nanan and Grandad! As well as all of those, I also missed going up to Scotland to see our family and friends there over Christmas. My class mates were also very much missed! Although it sounds like I didn't enjoy Christmas, we had a great time; it was just very different. On Christmas Eve we flew to Melbourne. We took a taxi to our hotel, and then went over to the shop to buy stuff for a picnic on a beach on Christmas Day. Emma and I also got 5 dollars to spend on my mum and dad for a little gift for Christmas morning, and they did the same for us (or so we thought!!) When we had finished, we went back to the apartment, then set off to Federation square to watch 'carols by candle light' on a big screen. This is a concert that is broadcast on Australian television, and is a Christmas eve tradition in Australia. It was very busy with people sitting all over on picnic rugs. People were selling light up candles for charity. During the concert, the people who had bought a candle stood up at the back and made a human candle! It just looked like a line of light. Ha ha ha!

We went back to the apartment around 11 o'clock, and got to bed ready for Christmas!! In the morning we gave gave each other presents. My mum and dad went over the 5 dollar rule and went to the 30 dollar rule! We packed up our picnic and went to the beach at a place called St Kilda. The beach was very busy, and had lots of English people there who were over for the cricket! Lots of people had Santa hats and outfits on, and some people had mini Christmas trees which they had stuck into the sand! We think we might have been on television, as a news reporter was interviewing the group of English people next to us about their Aussie Christmas, and Emma and I stood in the background.

It was really hot at the beach, so we all went into the water after lunch, along with everyone else at St. Kilda it seemed!

After a long day at the beach, we got the tram back to the city centre. We walked long the river before going back to our apartment.

The television in Australia is rubbish; the Christmas film in the evening was JAWS, which we watched whilst eating lots of chocolate and popcorn. (Maybe not the best choice of film to watch whilst on holiday on the coast of Australia!!) On Boxing Day my dad went to the cricket at the MCG, where there was a world record crowd of 92,000 people. He really enjoyed it even though England didn't have much to play for.

My mum, Emma and I hit the Boxing Day sales. It was so crowded we had to queue for the escalator in one of the main stores, Myer, which we thought was like our John Lewis. The streets were very busy with street artists and buskers. Emma and I sat down to watch an artist creating pictures on canvas using spray paint and brushes. They were finished quickly, but looked really effective. When we were all shopped out, we took our books and some drinks to sit down by the river. It was also very busy, and we watched a comedian doing a act trying to escape from some chains. I really enjoyed my Aussie Christmas...looking forward to my Aussie new year now!!

Wet 'n' wild by Megan

Today we went to wet 'n' wild which is a water park on the Gold Coast of Australia. As soon as we arrived, we left my Mum at a spot near the wave pool, and my dad, Emma and I went to our first ride in the park. We chose our first ride to be a water slide that you raced each other on. You sat on a foam mat, HEAD FIRST! When the green light came on you pushed against the side and set off. At the bottom, you got a mouthful of water. It was really fun!

We went on that a couple of times before moving on to something else. Our next ride was made up of green tubes that went in loads of different directions. There were 2 different types of tube; open and closed. On the open tube, there was lots of lumps and bumps inside, which made it great fun.

The next ride was one where you had to sit in an inflatable, and you swirled around whilst in the tube. I ended up going down backwards, as the inflatable twisted. The last ride we went on before lunch, was the black hole, and if you hadn't already guessed, yes, it was pitch black!! I had to blink a few times to believe my eyes were open. Emma sat at the front of the inflatable and I sat at the back. It was very scary!! My heart was pounding the whole time!!! After that we stopped for lunch, then went on our next ride. It was called the kamikaze. Emma and I loved it!! We took our inflatable up to the top and got ready to drop. It was amazing! If you would like to have a look here is their website...wet'n'wild.com.au There were lots of other rides we went on in the afternoon, but my favourite one was one where you sat in a row of three and went down the tube. It was very fast and very high up. I loved it!!

I loved wet'n'wild, and would definitely do it again!!

Byron Bay by Emma

We have just spent 3 days in a resort called Byron Bay. Byron Bay had lots of people with funny hairstyles, tattoos and ear piercings. There were also lots of old people trying to be cool with dreadlocks - riding on skateboards and surfing! When we arrived, we went straight to the beach. To get to the beach we could use a short cut behind our apartments over some sand dunes. This brought us out at a really quiet, but beautiful stretch of beach. As far as I could see, there was glittering water and frothing waves. We didn't know this at the start, but there were lots of small purple jellyfish in the water that afternoon. To sting you, that type of jellyfish wrap their tentacles round a part of you, and give you a sting. It wouldn't kill you, but a lady told my mum about them, and said that it would be very painful. My mum quickly got us out of the water. This was very disappointing, as Megan had just found a body board floating in the ocean, and we were having fun trying it out. I made some sandcastles on the beach instead, and Megan practised some gymnastics.

In the evening, we went for a walk into town, and we saw lots of people busking on the streets. My Dad particularly liked a couple of men who were playing blues music. One of the men was using what looked like a plastic cone to make his voice sound funny. The next day we had more fun at the beach playing rounders. I was wearing my goggles as the sand was blowing in my face.

After tea we drove to Cape Byron; the most easterly point in Australia, which seemed really funny, as Australia is a huge country, and we were right on the edge of it.

There was a lighthouse which had a huge bulb in it. On our last full day in Byron Bay, we got up early to go to the main beach. Santa had come to visit the boys and girls at the surf club, and he had shorts on!!

Megan and I went body boarding (there were no jellyfish that day for some reason...)

After that, my Dad and I played with the ball.

We then went back to our apartments, and the four of us spent the rest of the day playing in the pool. Byron Bay was AWESOME!!

Ferocious waves by Emma

We have been in a town called Noosa for the last few days. Noosa is a lovely place; I would like to live here because it has nice people, it is clean, the houses are pretty and the beaches and rivers are beautiful.

When we arrived in Noosa, we went for a walk to see what was what. We walked along the main beach, and looked around some shops which were very expensive! The next day we go up early to go to the beach. The best thing about the beach was the gigantic waves. It was the first time ever we have seen people surfing in Australia. (No stingers here!)

Also the sand on the beach was warm and soft, but sometimes it burned my feet. Megan, Daddy and I tried body boarding which was great fun, but sometimes I did not like it because the huge waves dragged me under the water.

Near the end of the day the waves were the biggest they had been. Sometimes we had to dive under the waves so that they would not hit us, and drag us under. I did not want to get out of the water. When we got back, I had a swim in the pool, a dip in the jacuzzi, then we had a barbecue. I loved our first full day in Noosa; IT WAS EPIC!!!

Today we got up early again, as we had decided to only stay at the beach for the morning. The waves were even bigger than yesterday; too big for me really. I stayed in for a short time with my Dad, but then came out to play on the sand.

After a quick lunch at our apartment, we went down to the river and hired a boat. Megan and I took turns steering the boat around the twists and turns of the river.

After a while, we dropped the anchor and my sister and I jumped off the boat. We didn't stay in for long however, as the water was really cold. We had another dip once we got off the boat.

Some of the houses beside the river were amazing...

We have just had roast turkey for dinner, which was delicious! P.S My Dad shaved his beard off yesterday, and he looks plain. He is now growing it again.