Date visited: 13th-15th April We boarded the overnight sleeper train to Kuala Lumpur as first class passengers this time round: a) To have our privacy back b) to sleep on a bed than on a backpack and c) to keep our sanity incase we repeated the kid-carriage from the journey previous... Unfortunately this time round, our carriage was bang over the wheels of the train, add to this a very old cranky railway and even the best brand of ear plugs are challenged. We struggled through the night arriving in Kuala Lumpur with barely a few hours kip between us. KL was 'okay' but I wouldn't say as 'pleasant' as Singapore - neither as green or as clean, still, for Asian cities it isn't bad. We used the day primarily to do odd-jobs rather than sightseeing. ... read more

Date visited: 31st March-2nd April The flight to Singapore - about 7 hours, passed quite well. Our seats were at the front of a block so we could stretch out. The meal on-board was gorgeous - a chicken dish in mustard sauce with kumera mash, complete with salad, chocolate cake, cheese, biscuits, chocolate and wine. (These are economy seats by the way) Who could want anything more?!! The arrival to Singapore couldn't have gone more smoothly. We arrived at the pristine airport, complete with relaxed background music, fresh flowers everywhere and an empty immigration control. They stamped us through with a smile before we were showed our taxi. Taximan got us to your hotel within 15 minutes, where we checked in, showered and slept hard. The humidity of Singapore took some adjusting. 27 degrees at 3am ... read more

Our first destination, Broken Hill is truly the last sizeable town of New South Wales before the REAL 'desolation zone 'begins (heard of the Simpson desert?!). Broken Hill had a 'town-built -on a-desert- feel-to-it. On the outer residential streets you could easily find yourself on the road to nowhere again, but as easy as leaving this town, you can enter it suddenly driving from total nothingness. Our hostel did the job. Stuck in a 70's timewarp but functional. The owner amused me - she took delight in us rushing into reception at high speed just in time before the heavens opened. Call this good timing but we stayed in Broken Hill on the only night they had rain for years. LOTS of it. A vicious thunderstorm which we saw building all day finally climaxed late afternoon. ... read more

Date visited: 19-21st March The highways felt very busy after the empty-driving' in New Zealand. Quite a shock to the system. At least the car was a solid brand new Nissan which was a pleasure to drive through the traffic. Eventually the traffic eased off a bit as we approached Katoomba, perched high on a hill it seemed with fine views of the rainforest canopy and blue mountains. Katoomba certainly had an end of the road before Wilderness begins' feel to it. The streets were quiet and packed with cafes and arty shops. Where were the tourists? The temperature was cooler than in Sydney but still a pleasant 23o. We managed a walk in this area which took us deep into a canyon in the Blue Mountains national park. The path was steep at first before ... read more