yes thanks bcworkz, i did try going down the search and replace route but didnt have much luck, and decided the best way to do it would be the same as your suggestion of doing a database sql dump. only problem is my access to the old database has been cut off. i now just have the wordpress export xml file available, which upon opening in a text editor does indeed still have the double line breaks in the posts.
might give the search and replace method another go, was trying to do it in notepad++ but couldnt figure out the right way to do it.
