As the title suggests we have now begun our tour of Australia!

Last night we said farewell to Jo and Paul with a nice meal and drink in Mosman. We'd like to thank them again for putting us up for the night and for being such an easy-going and fun couple to be around. We'll certainly miss them on our travels.

Today has been a really easy drive up the Pacific Highway towards Newcastle. You won't find any Geordies here though, just miles and miles of highways, beaches, lakes and greenery.

Our first port of call has been Lake Macquarie - the largest permanent saltwater lake in Australia. The journey up was fairly sedate, with Sarah following Julie's (we've named the sat-nav) robotic instructions to the letter. We took the scenic route through the coast and stumbled upon the families' wharf!

We've setup camp near Blacksmith's Beach at a fairly basic camp site. $25 AUD for the night (£10) - bargain! We had a minor worry with the power not working properly on the van, but after some 'gentle persuasion' it all kicked in wonderfully.

Sarah whipped up a very tasty spag bol and we opened our bottle of Champagne from Jo and Paul as promised.

The weather has been quite awful today, but we are expecting fairer weather tomorrow.

Next stop, Cessnock and the Hunter Valley!