As we travel around we are becoming more and more aware of how ignorant we really are about the variety of magnificent scenery Australia has to offer. This was certainly proved on our quick trip from the ferry wharf at Port Melbourne to Inverloch, a small town on the South Gippsland coast. At one point the road passes along a ridge, with fantastic views of the rolling hills from each side, country scenery as good as you would find anywhere. Not far north however, is the “Latrine” Valley, including a long section of condemned freeway caused by floods and mine subsidence. We were here for the Inverloch Jazz Festival, spending 4 days in a house with our friends Grant and Jeanette Clayton. The jazz was good, the weather (generally) good and the company good fun. Highlights ... read more

We are now ensconced in the south east corner of the state, with a bit of a theme involving our title. In the small towns (very attractive, too) the agapanthus is the preferred means of front fence decoration for many people. Sometimes white, sometimes purple, sometimes mixed. More prevalent on your typical country road, however, is the carcass of the small furry marsupial. For a state with so few cars there are a lot of squashed animals by the roadside. And the convicts - since Hobart and the rest of Tasmania received about 73,000 convicts during the years of transportation it is hard to avoid their inevitable mark on the place. We were lucky enough to stay near the Hobart waterfront, which was fantastic; lots of area, lots of people, lots of places to go. We ... read more

We had a great back-to-basics start to our trip, spending 3 nights in the Snowy Mountains, cooking on an open fire and going on various walks. Driving on almost-deserted roads, we caught the chairlift up from Thredbo and walked to Mount Kosciuszko along the steel mesh pathway across the bog. We were prepared for the weathered mountains and low vegetation, but not having been here in summer before, we didn't expect to see so much water oozing out of the hills and running away. It is a fascinating landscape. We carried all the essentials - water, sunscreen, insect repellant (unfortunately no beer though) - but unfortunately left our commonsense behind, so we managed to get quite sunburnt anyway. Luckily the following day was overcast and drizzling a bit, so while it curtailed our walking a bit ... read more