Dec 17th - Dec 18th - Days 31 and 32 And so with a twinge of saddness I headed to Brisbane airport and the monster journey back to England. Said my goodbyes to Tim and Hels and headed for my plane to Sydney and the first leg of my journey. All went well really, bags checked through to London in Brisbane so that was one hassle removed and even cricket to watch in Sydney International. The flight also went okay, long and boring, interrupted at regular intervals by food and drink breaks. First stop Singapore, to refuel and change a few passengers. The next leg, was a mammoth leg, all 13 hours of it, but again thanks to a little sleep and a couple of cheesy movies went relatively quickly. And so arrived back in England ... read more

Dec 15th - Day 29 Woke up this morning with shopping in mind. Not my favourite thing but had to be done, and in the end wasn't that painful. Across the road from the hotel is the famous Paddy's Markets and this was crammed with all manner of souvenir stalls. So with most shopping done headed to Pitt Street to see what the malls had to offer. These were mostly regulat shops so I found myself back at the markets several more times during the day. Shopping all but done, decided to investigate the aquarium in Darling Harbour. It had been raining since early morning, so being an indoor (mostly) attraction it was very busy. The place was buzzing, with loads of excited children and tour groups, so seeing stuff took a bit of patience and ... read more

Dec 13th - Day 27 I realised (with a slight panic) today that I had so much to see and so little time, so with that in mind I strode along Pitt Street on route to Circular Quay and the ferry to Taronga Zoo. The ferry was just a hop really, but it was good to get on the water and see the harbour from a different perspective. The zoo itself was quite large and sprawling and had a good collection of animals, but, some of the cages were a bit small for the number and types of animal in them. The worst was the Snow Leopard cage that had 4 animals in a pretty small enclosure. There was a sign warning that this animal was dangerous, so obviously to alleviate the boredom they attack the ... read more

Dec 11th - Day 25 Had booked the Skylink shuttle to the airport and this got me there with plenty of time to spare. The flight to Sydney passed in no time and before I knew it I was on a train bound for the centre of the city. It was then a short walk to the edge of Chinatown and my hotel. The room was quite small and a little cell like, but home for 5 nights, and was okay really. Sydney is the home to the dreaded funnel web, so as long as this stays away then I'm happy wherever I am. After a short rest headed to Darling Harbour and a look around. It was very pretty and bounded by large skyscrapers. Had a beer and watched the crowds and storm clouds approach, ... read more

Dec 9th - Day 23 Another very hotday to day, touching 41 degrees, so it was with some trepidation that I hit the city. First stop coffee and a muffin, followed by a walking tour of the city sights. Most of these were based along the North Terrace and included the art gallery and museum. All very grand buildings. Its quite ironic that South Australia is the driest state yet it is full of fountains and green parkland. I guess the city is an oasis of sorts, but with water being so scarce are people really facing the problems? Continued my walk across the Torrens River and into North Adelaide, passing close to the infamous Adelaide Oval. Looped along the river, stopping briefly to recover and cooled by a breeze off the river, very welcome and ... read more