Australia

Coming to Australia and being back in 'The West' was pretty strange at first. We landed at Melbourne airport and almost cried when we had to pay $17 for a 15 minute bus ride into the city.

Our grief was overcome when we saw the smiling face of Timothy Rocks waiting for us at the station. Jim is a friend of Josh and an all-round legend who flew out to join us for a couple of weeks on the road. We stayed one night in a hostel but after doing a few calculations realised it would be cheaper to rent a campervan so we could drive, cook and sleep all at the same time!

We rented this old campervan that even had some Belfast-style riot gear on the front to protect us from kangaroos and remind us of home. It was only equipped with a tape deck but we raided a few charity shops and got a bag of classic cassettes to help us through the long rides.

After hanging out in Melbourne for a couple of days, going to a music festival and checking out all the cool street art, we hit the road and headed towards Sydney. Me and Tim took shifts behind the wheel and ate up the miles; between the cities Australia really is just barren plains!

When we got to Sydney we parked the van in the suburbs and jumped on a boat that sailed us straight into Sydney Harbour, WHAT A VIEW!

We headed for the Opera House and poked our heads in to have a nosy. It turned out that middle-aged heartthrobs 'Il Divo' were in the house that night and the place was packed with people all dressed up in their Sunday best. We asked if there were any tickets left and some posh older ladies standing nearby overheard us, as they had one spare. They showed us the ticket and the price on it was $200! We just laughed but gave them some banter anyway and told them to enjoy their evening.

Just as we were leaving about ten minutes later we saw them again and Tim shouted over, "We'll give you $30 for it!" So as things worked out, we each chipped in ten bucks and got to spend a night at the opera in our flip-flops and swimming trunks, feeling like champs. Tim went in for the first four songs, I went for the next four and Josh for the last four!

So yes, the Opera House was unbelievable but Il Divo on the other hand are truly awful!