I don't think I got any sleep at all on the plane overnight. I usually find it difficult to sleep on planes anyway, but this Qantas plane seemed more uncomfortable than the Singapore airlines A380 - probably just my imagination though.

After our dinner had been served last night on the plane, we were given an ice cream lolly to eat. As I was wearing my North Face hoody (one of my favourite tops and one which I brought brand new before leaving the UK), I made sure I held a tissue under my chin to avoid any spillages. Unfortunately, after finishing my ice cream I noticed a big blob of chocolate on my top - I thought I had been so careful!

I made a quick dash to the bathroom to try and soak it and give it a wash with some soap. I tried my best but without any means of washing it properly I would have to wait until I got to Alex and Laura's place in Sydney - which was a good seven hours away at least!

The rest of the journey on the plane was spent occasionally attempting sleep, interspersed with watching some of the in-flight entertainment. I did end up watching Buried, which was quite a good film.

We eventually arrived in Sydney around 7:30am, approximately an hour later than scheduled. I sent a text to Alex as soon as we landed, as he said he would stay at home and wait for us to arrive before leaving for work. It turned out that he wasn't going to work today though, so there was no huge rush to get to their place after all.

After all the discussion Stu and I had had previously about how we could get to Alex and Laura's place from the airport - bus, train etc., we just decided to jump straight in a taxi and go straight there. It wasn't going to be the cheapest way, but certainly the quickest and easiest, and we were feeling really tired.

It didn't take too long to get to Alex and Laura's place in Glebe - situated in the south of the city. It was great to get there, to see Alex and finally be able to relax again. We had a nice catch up with Alex and he showed us around his place.

A few hours later Alex took us out into Glebe to grab some lunch. We went to a nice Japanese restaurant called Sushi Garden - very authentic Japanese cuisine, and fairly reasonably priced - although still expensive as we still have Vietnam prices in our heads. Plus, the exchange rate for us this time in Australia is a lot less favourable than the last time we were here.

We had a walk around some of the shops after lunch, as Stu needed to get a new pair of thongs and some other bits. Then we made it back to Alex's around 4:30pm.

Laura came back from work a little later, and it was good to see her too.

That evening Laura made us all a lovely chilli con carne and salad, and it was so nice to be able to sit outside on their patio in the lovely warm Sydney evening. However, I was starting to fade later on in the evening as we were watching tv. I think the complete lack of sleep on the plane was beginning to catch up with me and I needed to get some sleep.

We have the sofa bed to sleep on in the front room while we're staying with Alex and Laura. When they leave for the UK on Boxing Day however, they have let us have their bed - very generous of them. In fact, they have been so unbelievably generous in letting us stay at their place while they are away. We cannot thank them enough.

It's great to be in Sydney again - it almost feels like coming home!

(This will probably be our last blog post until we leave Sydney, as we won't really be doing any travelling while we are here.)