- PEOPLE: Doddery old bus driver; many more Aboriginal people - AREA: Small ghost town with lots of tourist tack - WEATHER: Blistering heat (at last!) Mon 5th: Woke up at 6.15 just in time to see sun rise - a strip of deep red and then the glowing sun. The landscape was red sand with a lot more trees than I was expecting - big patches of them followed by little shrubs. A bit like the South American desert but much more colourful. Midday arrived along with Alice Springs. My hostel pick up wasn't there so I hooked up with [View Full Entry]

---

---

- FOOD: Breakfast in the sun overlooking the Opera House; reunion with Lisa at an Italian; such good wine and port at Barossa Valley - and all for free! Fantastic platter of meat and cheese with honey and choc cheesecake for desert. Haigh's delicious chocolate; hot dogs and tea by a cozy fire; Chinatown grub; bacon and egg for Father's day; expensive microwaved chicken burger. - PEOPLE: Reunion with Sophie who I met in Brazil and Lisa who I met back home; Sophie's nice parents who made me feel very welcome; jobsworth koala keeper; cute little baby Millie; deaf old man [View Full Entry]

---

---

- FOOD: Good food at Coogee with Hunter Valley 'Cockfighter Ghost' wine - AREA: Half hour walk to Bondi beach from Bondi Junction; impressive sea but not so impressive beach; coastal walk to Coogee beach past big cemetry and little coves with great splashy waves. - PEOPLE: Depressed Oz dormmate; last night with Ruth, Kelly and Mia and goodbyes again. - WEATHER: Grey and windy but at last the sun appeared. Wed 31st: I wasn't able to collect my bag that I'd left in the pizza place until later on so went back through rush hour to my hostel, had a [View Full Entry]

---

---

- FOOD: Lunch overlooking the blue haze of the eucalyptus trees; pizza at Tom's and good wine. - PEOPLE: Some unfriendly train staff; tourists in a hurry; a security guard who mistook me for a suicide jumper!; drag queen hosting Bingo; Tom and Amy making me feel at home. - AREA: Double decker train to the Blue Mountains; fantastic view from Echo Point of the blueness and Three Sisters; Giant Stairway (not so giant); peaceful walk until the touristy coalmine; a scratchy lyrebird; rainforest walk through cool shaped trees; not worth it Skytrain; loud parrots; Erkensville for the 'Priscilla [View Full Entry]

---

---

- FOOD: Kelly's chilli dinner for me - so nice to have good home cooking; nice Oz wine; Sunday roast in a local pub - ahhhh. - PEOPLE: Reunion with Ruth and Kelly of Brazil fame and Tom of UK fame; strict bouncers who ID lots; snap happy tourists at the Opera House. - AREA: Hostel like a mini apartment; R&K's gorgeous Darlinghurst flat with views of the CBD; a big night out in King's Cross, Newtown and Darlinghurst; excellent shops; Pylon Lookout on the Harbour Bridge; pretty Botanical Gardens; Manly Beach (in the cold wind); Opera House at sunset. - [View Full Entry]

---

---

- FOOD: Very good Thai chicken salad. - AREA: Trendy St Kilda's with outdoor cafes and bars, palm tree lined streets, quiet beach; Chapel Street with it's changing shop scene; Richmond; BAD overnight bus journey. - PEOPLE: Trendy, beautiful people; spoke to Rogan; very large lady next to me on bus with tiny seats, guy with mental health condition shouting about wanting to bash someone's head in all night, bus driver whose first time it was. Fri 26th: I took the tram to St Kilda's to hang out with the trendy, beautiful people that live here as I obviously fit in [View Full Entry]

---

---

- FOOD: Big meat pie with ketchup - VERY good; drink in nice St Kilda bar. - AREA: Great Ocean Road - Bell's Beach (the best surf), Anglesea (kangaroos eating the golf course), very pretty town of Lorne, koalas, ruined rainforest with very tall trees, colourful parrots, helicopter ride over the magnificent Twelve Apostles; Loch Ard Gorge with it's colourful rock and stalagtites. - PEOPLE: Jimmy the tour guide - such an old Oz boy! Whinging American girl who slept nearly all the way. - WEATHER: The sun managed to just about shine for us. Thur 25th Aug: An early start [View Full Entry]

---

---

- FOOD: Good Greek restaurant food; 7-11's everywhere; Russian cafe for lamb and apricot pie; Gluttony restaurant for delicious octopus salad and Coopers Ale. - AREA: Very strict customs; back to manky hostels; more run down than NZ; Rialto Towers view of the city; posh shopping street; St Paul's Cathedral; Greek area; safe streets; noisy pedestrian crossing; retro Fitzroy and Collingwood. - PEOPLE: First impressions are that they are not as friendly as the Kiwis (but then who is?!) and they ask "How you going?" a lot!; Brits and Irish galore; crap Info woman; some rough sleepers, beggar [View Full Entry]

---

---

- FOOD: Ham and mustard muffin. Cranberry, brie and chicken pie. Caribbean chicken with bacon and banana, carrot cake, brownie, Ziggy Stardust coffee - double expresso with raspberry syrup, steamed chocolate milk and marshmallows (all from the brilliant 'The Coffee House'). - PEOPLE: Boy racers and drunk kids. Friendly hospital staff who looked after a very poorly Lou. Nice Escape van woman who let me off paying full price for ANOTHER windscreen chip. SAD goodbyes to Laura, Lou and Torangoa... and to NZ. - AREA: Perfect capital city. Our last evening spent between A&E and having a goo [View Full Entry]

---

---

- FOOD: Apple crumble muffin - so good. More pot noodles for dinner. - PEOPLE: Strange hostel man who made us feel we'd arrived at The Shining hotel (but he let me have a room for 15 bucks) - AREA: Speedy drive on long, straight road across the country to the lovely Dunedin. Scenic Otago Peninsula to watch the shy (and very rare) yellow-eyed penguins. Disgusting fish smell in the van (clutch going). Oamaru to see the little blue penguins. Thur Aug 18th: Got the windscreen fixed at last after a huge stone had been flung our way by a huge [View Full Entry]

---

---