Q: How does a backpacker earn $100 in Sydney?

A: Earn $3000, spend it on a car that isn't roadworthy and sell it as scrap metal.

We just received the final mechanical report on the car and the news is not good. I have a piece of paper with a long list of fatal problems printed on it. It's a good thing we had it fully checked out as apparently it would have been very dangerous to drive over long distances. We've spoken to the dealer and not surprisingly he's refused to give us our money back. We did a little research into his licence and he doesn't seem to be registered with any of the main motor trading associations in New South Wales. So that's that. We have neither the time nor the money to pursue it any further and if we did or enjoyment of our trip would no doubt suffer. It's at times like this that it's important to review your strengths and plus points. In our case:

1) We still have 8 months left on our VISA
2) We have plenty of cash left (well not exactly plenty, $4000)
3) We're intelligent (stretching it)
4) We're resourceful (oh dear)
5) There's always our natural charm (eeek!)

Fortunately David is probably asleep in San Francisco right now and has no idea how badly we've messed up the road trip plan after just 4 months in Oz. David, if you read this before you catch the aeroplane tonight - we're sorry, pick you up at the airport at 7am in the Vampire (seemed fitting since it doesn't work well in direct sunlight and has sucked us dry). We're going to have an emergency meeting of the fellowship tomorrow night to discuss contingency plans. We're not sure yet what this will mean for the remainder of the trip. It may mean coming home a little sooner than we'd have liked or moving on to another city or country even. Whatever the decision we'll keep you posted.

Below- my favourite lines are at the bottom

6) Our sense of humour (priceless)