Next stop USA!!

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last couple of days. We’ve been travelling down to Sydney from Noosa, so pretty uneventful really. We had a 10 hour journey on Wednesday and then on Thursday me and Andrea met up with one of my relatives in the afternoon - the sprightly Noela.

So tomorrow we are leaving Australia for the land of the fatties, the big U. S. A. We’re both really excited - our flight tomorrow afternoon can’t come round soon enough. We’re flying to Los Angeles and then we have another mammoth drive up to Eugene in Oregon, where we should arrive on Sunday night. We’re hoping to get straight into the American lifestyle and have some pancakes on Sunday morning at one of those diners on the highway - hopefully they do actually exist and it isn’t just in the movies!!

Before we leave Australia we made one of those cheesy lists of our best bits. It takes the form of an alphabet. There are a few letters missing where we couldn‘t think of anything good to say, so here goes:

A- AVALANCHE PEAK. This scared the hell out of both myself and Andrea, but the more we look back, the more we are pleased that we did it. Some simply incredible views. The only time so far when I couldn’t get my camera out for the snaps.

B- BLUE MOUNTAINS. Just beautiful. A massive surprise only 3 days into our trip.

C- COFFEE PALACE. If it hadn’t been for the noise this place would have been great. Free pancakes and great location in the heart of St Kilda and moments from the beach. A few nobheads in the hostel let it down for us.

D- DUBBO ZOO. Kangaroos, turtles, monkeys, meerkats and giraffes. Although we continue to wait for our first croc sighting.

E- EMILY & PAUL. Our fantastic New Zealand hosts. I’m not missing sleeping on the floor though guys!! ;)

F- FALLS CREEK. Stands out as one of our favourite places we have been. Amazing views, great walks and a fantastic lodge. It couldn’t have been much better.

G- GO BUSH. Our New Zealand Bush experience. Remote, beautiful and lots of fun.

H- HEATWAVE. Someone put the temperature up in November when we got to Australia. It got us into the habit of 5am starts for running. We won’t miss that in the US.

I- INTERNET in McDonalds. Considering I’m sat in McDonalds with a Big Mac and surfing the web, I feel it should be given a special mention.

K- KIWIRUN. How could we not mention it!! The best two weeks of our trip. Some great people and great sights. A must for runners across the world.

L- LIZARDS. We have a soft spot for lizards after owning a bearded dragon for a year. We probably ended up spending half our time in Australia looking for them!

M- MILDURA. We had to mention Mildura for being the worst place we stayed. The crappy cabin along with the intense heat and not a massive amount to do in the town meant that our stay there wasn’t particularly enjoyable.

N- NEW ZEALAND 10000 CHAMPS. It’s not everyday you get to say that you are New Zealand 10000m Champion! A very special day.

O- OUTBACK. One of our first experiences in Australia and one of the most memorable. How will we forget the vast, open and desolate landscape.

P- PENGUIN PARADE. The sight of 30 or so little penguins sprinting up the beach was so cute. I wish we could have got some good footage of it.

Q- QUEENSLAND gold coast. A city of contrasts - the beautiful natural beaches meet the skyscrapers of ‘surfers’s paradise’. Worth a visit, but don’t stay too long.

R- ROADTRIP. Essentially the best way to describe our trip so far. Without our trusty vehicles we wouldn’t have had the flexibility to do half of the things we have done so far.

S- SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK. We will always have a soft spot for the Olympic Park, particularly since we are such big fans of the Olympics. It was amazing to be able to see the park and how it is now being used. If London can do the same come 2012 they will be doing very well.

T- TONGARIRO CROSSING. One of the highlights of our North Island New Zealand trip. Fantastic views of Mount Doom (Lord of the Rings Reference) and the dormant volcano. Running it was slightly unconventional but what else can you do on a running tour!!

W- WILDLIFE. We would never have said that we were wildlife fans before coming to the southern hemisphere, but with the massive variety of animals native to Australia, you just can’t help but get into it.

X- XMAS DAY in batemans bay. We were both missing home on Christmas day this year. We managed to cheer ourselves up with a dip in the sea and a lunchtime bbq. No good tv though! Where’s Noel Edmonds when you need him!

Thanks to everyone for reading the first 3 months of our blog. We hope you enjoy the next 3 from the US!!