Priscila Queen of the Desert - Our version!!

As we had the car and all our stuff in Melbourne - we had to drive (yes - DRIVE) all the way from Melbourne to Brisbane. It took us 21 hours over three days and a total of 1200 miles!!! Here's a map of the journey -

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=1947996001884676757,-34.585060,144.829110%3B9460054066703842167,-33.751250,150.950040&saddr=Melbourne,+VIC&daddr=Cobb+Hwy+%40-34.585060,+144.829110+to:-33.94336,146.469727+to:Westlink+%40-33.751250,+150.950040+to:Brisbane,+QLD,+Australia&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=2&sz=5&via=1,2,3&sll=-32.64171,148.96347&sspn=14.848475,29.047852&ie=UTF8&z=5&om=1



Anyhoo - it wasn't so bad - the cars here are usually huge and all have massive engines - here's ours - its a Vauxhall Omega but with a 3.8 litre engine!!! It cruised (purred) all the way which made the whole journey so easy.












The Murray River disects the state of Victoria and New South Wales. Crossing this river was quite a lndmark in the journey but only a third of the way!





What a relief to FINALLY get to Sydney - we actually stopped off the prior night and we were quite fresh by the time we got here. Poor Ray had to navigate through the Sydney motorway network which was VERY nerve wracking.

Our next stop was Coff Harbour just south of the Gold Coast. We stayed at a holiday resort and our cabin was on a lily pond - hell did we sleep that night!!

At last we started to see signs for Brisbane - we never thought we would ever get there - it was taking so long - the ozzies drive so much slower that in the UK and there are speed traps everywhere. Our average speed was 60mph.

We thought we'd stop off at Surfer's Paradise - well we couldn't possibly NOT!!! Here's a piccy of the beach. The Gold Coast (which is the playground for the Ozzies) is only 40 mins south of Brisbane - essentially this is now on our doorstep!

This is our first glimpse of our new city. What a relief to finally get here. We were so tired but got so lost trying to find our hotel - and this was even WITH Sat Nav!!!

First impressions - we love it - and we think this is where we'll stay (although we did say that about Melbourne). Its very hot here and VERY humid - sleeping is very difficult but we're just getting used to it.