Bonjour.

So working in a field, in the rain, in shorts and a pair of wrecked trainers, picking peppers is not fun. In fact it is terrible. It is so gay. People are saying, "oh but its good to earn money, and you are finished by 2pm....." FU(K off. My back is buggered, my hands are constantly dirty, my legs and arse are sore and numb. It isnt worth it. Neil reckons it will get better. Cant actually see how. More torture and mind numbing does not get to a bearable level of acceptance.

So as you can tell im not that happy. Bundaberg is utter shit. Nothing to see or do. Went to the tourist info, all it had were brochures for other places. Whats all that about????? If it wasnt for Colin needing the cash desperatelly, i would be straight outta here and back to the beach. Hope Iain can give some hope of work up the road.

Rant over. Not much to report. It is going to be a long 2 1/2 weeks, especially as we leave Australia in about 12 weeks, of which two are with my folks and Wendy in October. So actually taking away today, i reckon its 69 (er) days to see the whole Queensland coast, scuba dive, jump outta plane, swim with sharks, nail the surfing and generally dick about. Too much to do, and not long to do it.

I better go im depressing myself, and i might need to rant. Again. Its not all fun and games.

Peace, Dav x

Her is Livingstons answer to Joe Mangle. This is Joe, a lad that Neily boy met en-route to Bundaberg. Funny lad.

Our first night in Bundaberg, bit of a hick town, but its our home for next 2 or 3 weeks. Onlky easy place to get work.

Not too clear, but a nice sky at dusk.

Hows it going back home, or Spain, england shire or where ever you are in the world?

In bundaberg, staying at a working backpackers. Everyone who stay there has to work in the farms, so it is all set up for us. Pretty cool, reasonably quiet, but when people are getting up for work at 5am, one kinda gets woken up too.

Im working like a slave at the moment, and believe me it is not good. I have to get up before 6 am and pick peppers for a meesely buck a barrel. My body is buggered and im poor. Feels like im a fecking potato farmer in Ireland or something. Not good at all. In fact im struggling to emphasise (or however it is spelt) how shit it is at the moment. "oh boo hoo, i have to work", but i think prison life would be more fun. Even with a daily buggering from Mohammed, the prison bitch.

On a brighter note, im only here for three weeks, then i shall be enjoying the Great Barrier Reef for the duration. Why did i make that sound like a brighter note, another three weeks and i will be walking like a cowboy, and not because of "my cell mate" Mohammed.

Meeting loads of new people, which is fantastic, except for a couple of proper belters. To be expected i suppose. Been getting the craic with a Livingston couple that Neil met on his way up to bundy. Sound bloke Joe, and his bird Dana. Decent scottish people, so its easy having a laugh. He used to be a Celtic fan, but now he is a jambo. Makes me like him a little less, but a torrent of Dav galliano abuse make it better. Well at least makes me feel better.

So in 3 weeks we are off cruising the coast. Neil and Katie are selling there car, so i think they want Marr and my fine self to chauffuer them about. A tight squeeze in the POS Casio, but a bit of craic none the less. Talking about a Neil. We got up for work yesterday, and were sitting about waiting for the bus to pick us up. Neil then pulls out a pair of boxer short from under his shorts. The fud had meant to put them on, but had forgotten and just put his short on with them just resting on his lap. It was like some comedy magic show, but how can you do that without realising in the first instance. He is not normal. We had a laugh. He surried off to put his boxer shorts back on. Proper cracker.

Tony, Jodie and Iain are leaving the day for a coach journey that will take in the rest of the coast, before they all fly home to europes new Costa del Sol, Inverness. Glad to see the back of them. Only kidding. Kinda. Not really. Sorta am, but not. Im telling on you, im telling on you, your face is like a stinky poo, sorta way. Nah jokes aside, friends make good times great times, so they will be missed. (happy birthday to Iain for tomorrow, 24/7/06)

Anyways, better go to bed, its 1300 hours, and i need to get an early night for work in the morning. In fact it is neartly the night before when we start, so i dont know. Rage.

Will think of some good craic, and email soon!!!!

Too da loo the noo.

Dav x

Hiya all! Well not alot has happenned since we left Brisbane on Monday. We drove to Noosa, which when we arrived was absolutely beautiful. Beaches, relaxed atmosphere, groovy places to frequent, dolphins swimming in the bay and surf. Life is bliss. So we booked into a cabin for 5 days, so we could make the most of the place. But in typical holiday fashion, the weather has turned bad. It isnt raining, but it looks like it could at any moment. It does rain alot at night, so its chilly and damp in the mornings. Pretty shit to be honest. Added to this is the lack of decent surf. So our 5 days has been a bit of a waste, and dent in the wallet.

Went to Australia zoo yesterday, which was ace. $43 bucks however was steep as it isnt the biggest zoo in the world. The crocs and tigers were ace, as they do shows with them. In fact the tigers and cheetahs are all hand reared, which is pretty funky. Loads of things to do, so it was a good day well spend. Shame big Steve Irwin wasnt here, would have given him a lesson on wildlife.

Apart from the zoo, we have spent most of the time in the swimming pool. Its heated which is good, as the temp gets a bit chilly in the shade, or when the clouds are out in force!!!!

Not much new news, as i said before our plans for going home are sorted so its not long till we leave Australia. Better make the most of it.

Enjoy the pictures,

Look forward to hearing from you, so email me back, Dav x

This little bundle is a mother koala holding her baby against her chest.

One of the keepers at the zoo gives a cheetah a stroke.

This Reticulated Python is approx 7meters long. It cant be handled as it now regards humans as an easy food source.

Crocodile show was pretty sweet. The crocs are not nice guys.

Steve Irwin had better watch out!

Tigers are ace.

They would not win games of hide and seek.

She aint small.

Iain giving it a wee stroke.

So soft and cute!!!!

Colin getting up close and personal.

Cute Koala

A cheeky wee parrot.

A rather large snake.

Brisbane in the shadows.

Brisbane arts centre i believe.

View down the Brisbane river.

Brisbane skyline.

Tony pondering the best way to lose at cards.

1st day in Surfers paradise and we go for a pint in an irish pub!!!

Hello from sunny Brisbane.

First thing first. To all those who keep going on about the weather in Inverness being "amazing, sunny as hell....Like" well we aint seen rain in 3 weeks, and hardly a cloud either. It has been sweet as. And from what I have heard it is likely to stay like this untill we leave this incredible country. As for leaving, we have finalised our plans for returning back to "europe's new sunshine destination". Colin and myself depart on 16 Oct 2006 for Singapore. We stop there for 8 weeks, then jump back on the jumbo and arrive in London village. So I will definitely be home for Christmas. So get the Tennents and Merrydown on ice.

I believe the plans of the wanderer Neilo are roughly the same, but couldn't tell you exacts. In fact he might hide away on a boat to Canada. You just never know. But Im sure whatever happens, Christmas and New Year will be nothing short of a fast track to the local AA meeting, followed by periods of depression, self - questioning and a spectacular spiral to misery. So I for one cannot wait.

Anyways back to Brisbane. This is a lovely place, but very slow. In fact we saw a plane take off yesterday, and it was going so slow we thought it might actually fall out the sky. Seen most of the sights, but to be honest there aint a lot to see. So tomorrow we leave for the Sunshine coast, then to Bundaberg for work. Best place to do some fruit picking as the pay is decent, and its all set-up for travellers. Should be good to put a bit of graft in and earn more beer tokens. With young Iain birthday coming up, the beer tokens will need to be recouped. Cant have the boy missing out on a traditional Inversnecky style boozefest, just because he is in Australia.

Speaking of the boy Iain, an interesting story from our first night in Brisbane. We stayed at the City backpackers, nice place. Just so happened it had a bar. Nice. Pints all round. A good evening was had by all, a bit of a late one, but once in bed, all would be well. Except that the lad sleeping in the bunk above Iain either had to much to drink, or forgot to put on his rubber pants as he pished himself. The urine proceeded to strem down on Iain, like a golden waterfall. You can imagine the rest, but we are still laughing about his evening of watersports. Quite ironic it happened to him after his tent pissing incident. Karma. She has a sense of humour.

So that was the first night in Brissy, but to be honest it been reasonably quiet since. Colin, Tony and myself went out on saturday and had a top time. The clubs in Brisbane have been some of the best yet. If anyone comes over, they should definitely sample the delights of the Fortitude Valley on a saturday night.

Anyways, supposed to be holiday home hunting, so shall have to go. If I think of anymore stories, piss or non-piss related I shall endevour to tell them.

Good bye for now, Peace, Dav x