Australia is renowned for being one of the driest countries in the world (apparently its the driest inhabited continent) and is pretty famous for being hot, so our first few days of rain and wind weren't quite what I expected when experiencing the summer in Oz.

Our entry into the country was probably the easiest yet, with little waiting time for passport control and biosecurity not wanting to check our kayaks. I was a little disappointed not to see any beagles, despite posters telling us they were on duty.

While wandering around Sydney, we've seen the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge, walked around the Rocks and China Town, saw the views from the Sky Tower (depite the low clouds) and found Nemo in the aquarium with (nearly) all his friends. We also found out about opals, saw a replica Endeavour and sipped delicious hot chocolates from a Lindt chocolate cafe.

On Sunday we picked up Nikki, our Hippie Camper van who will be our travelling companion for the next month as we travel up to Cairns. She comes complete with air conditioning, a fridge that works as a freezer if set to the wrong temperature we found out, a toaster, an electric kettle and a whistling hob kettle!

We've yet to see a kangaroo and cuddle a koala, but there's time and I did see my first kangaroo warning sign today!