Spending the last few hours in Australia enjoying the signts and sounds of the city.

Walked down to Bondi Beach, where he surfies were all out in force. There are some beautiful cliff walks down here, but for some bizarre reason the coast is dotted with various works of modern art, part of Sculpture by he Sea. I'm glad I found out as it was inwardly tutting about people dumping their rubbish on the beach.

Spending the last few days of my short holiday in Sydney, a city you really do have to love. Even in its rather smoggy state, thanks to the fires in the Blue Mountains, it is still a glorious place, full of energy and character.

Staying at Bondi Junction this time, a little way out from the centre but with a gorgeous view. Yesterday visited the Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour, which has some amazing vessels. One is a replica of James Cook's ship HM Bark Endeavour, the vessel he was traveling in when he landed in Australia and claimed it for George III. Its a tiny vessel, difficult to comprehend 90 people traveling on it for three years during that expedition.

Today took the ferry over to Manly and walked the Coastal way to Spit. Some great views and it gives you a real sense of the size of the harbour.

Took in the sites of the Capital region starting with a visit to the Parliament, built into a hill overlooking the city.

You can just go in and wander around, although security is tight. There are some interesting old objects in such a new building, ranging from a 1297 copy of the Magna Carta, to the desk Queen Victoria used to sign the Commonwealth of Australia into existence.

The Old Parliament Building, half way down the hill, now holds the Museum of Australian Democracy which is fascinating.

Today dropped back to the coast and stopped off at Botany Bay, where James Cook first landed in 1770. He was met by two natives how basically told him to go away. He didn't take much notice.

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Continued following the state line up the course of the river. Back into Victoria to pass the Hume Dam, now charged with regulating the level of the river annually. Funny being in a state full of Victorians. And not one in a frock coat or dressed in crinoline.

The terrain is very different here as I head up into the Australian Alps. Some impressive hydro electric plants on the way up. The water is piped through the mountains where it is used for electricity before being used to fill the reservoirs and irrigate large chunks of three states.

Eventually left the river and crossed the pass back into New South Wales. Some beautiful scenery with snow, appropriately enough, capping the Snowy Mountains. Finished the journey in the national capital Canberra.

Back to the course of the mighty River Murray. (It's compulsory to use the word mighty when mentioning the Murray).

Stopped off in Echuca, once the home to the rivers biggest fleet of paddle steamers. There are still quite few, now chugging up the river with cargos of tourists rather than bales of wool or logs.

The ships are original, and still powered by steam, so quite impressive that they are still working after a hundred years or so.

The city is also home to fleets of houseboats hired out for trips up and down the river. It was quite entertaining to sit on the river bank, watching the bucks parties loading up the tinnies, and launching themselves into the water.

Now in Aubury, just over the border in New South Wales.

Took a detour from the Murray to travel down to the goldfields and the city of Bendigo.

Stopped at Wycheproof where I climbed the local mountain. Not a big deal as it is a grand total of 49m high/ It does however stand out from the surrounding plains and provides a wonderful view of miles and miles of cornfields.

Went down a gold mine today, no free samples unlike the coal mines in the UK. Cheapskates. Very interesting and gives a flavour of life during the goldrush. The population went from 800 to 20,000 in 1851 with more gold found here in the 19th Century than anywhere else in the world.

Continued my voyage inland along the course of the River Murray, Australia's longest river. At 2,375 km it traverses a large part of the east of the continent and drains an awful lot of land.

The early settlers used the rivers to explore the interior and set up communities all along the river. Part of the joy of exploring new countries is to come across vibrant and thriving communities, living lives in places you never knew existed,

Such is the Riverland, a string of towns along a section of the Murray, each with their own character and purpose.

Now in a new state, Victoria, and the town at the top, Mildura. Some lovely old buildings. Popped across the border into Wentworth, located at the confluence of the Murray and Darling Rivers. They welcome people with a tractor on a pole. They like tractors up here.

Had a relaxing couple of days in Adelaide. Visited the botanic gardens and took in a couple of museums. The museum of immigration was particularly interesting as it detailed some of the stories of some of Australia's immigrants as well as the effect their arrival had on some already here.

Took a trip down to Geelong on the tram, for a refreshing walk by the sea. Didn't get as far a Brighton, but hit the outskirts of Hove.  Refreshing trip apart from the flies. I had forgotten how tenacious they are in Australia. Not like the polite flies in England, these ones are straight in your face, no holes bared.

Said goodbye to the Southern coast and headed back to Perth to catch the plane east.

Said goodby to Perth with a twilight trip on the Swan River. I think the captain had done the trip before, but it was a bit worrying when he got the crew to sit on the roof of the boat to see if we were going to fit under the bridge.

For a test I put Sidney into my sat nav and got told it would be 4110 km and would take me 45 hours to drive. I guess flying part of the way was a good idea.

Now in Adelaide, just 1450 km from my flight home and a 15 hour drive to come. Just as well I have 10 days to do it in.

Short day today as I've lost another 2.5 hours by flying east. South Australia is now on daylight saving, and its nice to see the evenings giving out.

Arrived in Albany after a long drive along the coast. Stopped in Denmark for the night but no sign of the little mermaid. Albany has that end of he world feeling you get in these out of the way places. It reminded me of Ushuaia at the bottom of Argentina. Both city's are the last stop before Antarctica.

Visited an old whaling station on the edge if the bay. It was operational until 1978, slicing up whales caught in the southern ocean. It is now a museum dedicated to saving the species it came close to wiping out, but you need a strong stomach to look at some of the pictures.

Drove up to Natural Bridge, a granite outcrop at the edge if the sea. The wind was ferocious and the waves impressive. Not a sea you would want to be caught out in.

Today drove up to the Porongrup National Park for a stunning walk along the ridge with views for miles either side.

Exploring the coasts and forests of the southwestern corner of Australia. Yesterday did both capes in the Margaret rive area. Started with Cape Naturalistie which has some great walking trails and a little squat lighthouse you can climb up. Progress on the path was impeded for a moment by a snake lying across the path, but I rustled some branches and it slinked away.

Finished with Cape Leeuwin at the south western corner of the country, which features a very tall lighthouse and a waterwheel turned to stone.

Today turned my attention to the Southern Forests. Climbed to the top of the Gloucester tree. Easier said than done as the way to the top was by a series if metal pegs sticking out of the tree. Felt highly dangerous, but the view from the top was stupendous.

Traveling in the South West corner of Australia some 150 miles south of Perth. The region has some spectacular scenery and some wonderful drives.

Visited Wellington Park which has a large reservoir, currently overflowing thanks to the wet September in the state. Quite amazing to see the water pouring over the top.

Visited the Dolphin centre in Bunbury, but didn't see any dolphins. Apparently the sea was a but rough for them to come into the shore. THe centre was full of irritating little creatures, it's school holidays, as well as lots of aquatic dwellers such as Octopus and Sea Horses.

Now in Bussellton, home of the longest wooden pier in the Southern Hemisphere. At 1.8 Km it's quite a walk out there.

Turned south across the Indian Ocean and am now back in the Commonwealth of Australia. Speedy entry to the country, and despite not landing utill 11.20pm, was in the hotel by half twelve.

Spent Saturday wandering the streets and enjoying some of the little luxuries that were denied me in Singapore, such as chewing gum and crossing the street on the red light. Visited the Perth bell tower and got instructed in how to ring a bell. The bells come from St Martins in the Fields and still sound pretty good.

Today went down to Fremantle and had a look at the old jail. It was in use until 1992 but is now a museum. Thousands passed through its doors since it was built by convicts in the 1850s. Most Australians have a convict somewhere in the family tree., not like us English.

Last full day in Australia so took a trip down to Litchfield National Park a hundred KM south of Darwin. We stopped on the way down at the Adelaide River to see the famous jumping Crocodiles. And jump they certainly do. The trip is amazing. You take to the water in a small 40 seat boat and set off down the Adelaide river. It all seems so peaceful, just the place for a swim, until you notice a dark shape heading towards the boat like an exocets. It all gets very surreal then as the boat driver dangles a pork chop on a fishing line over the side of the boat and suddenly this monster is alongside the boat snapping and leaping until it can twist its jaws around the meat. It's like going through a theme park and difficult comprehend that the enormous reptile alongside the boat is not some anamotronic put there to please the crowds, but a killing machine looking for food. We saw two massive males, both over 5 meters long, and several smaller females. Very exciting. In the afternoon we visited some waterholes where you could actually swim, they were high enough in the hills that they were croc safe.

Took a trip down to Kakadu National Park, some 300km south east of Darwin. It's a big place roughly the same size as Slovenia. and stuffed full a birds and animals. Being the wet season there is a bit more water around than in the dry season, something bright home when the guide on the boat trip pointed out we were sailing round the dry season Car Park, and indeed we were as yoiu could see the One Way signs just peeking up from the nine feet of water now over the tarmac. The park has a number of ancient Aboriginal paintings of various gods and spirits, etched onto the cliffs, some of which are up tp 40,000 years old. It is also home to 80% of the Crocodiles in the Northern Territory, which is an awful lot of Crocodiles. However most of them were hiding so we only saw one female, protecting a nest.

Took the two hour flight across the top of Australia to my last stop before home, Darwin capital of the Northern Territory., a place nearer to Singapore than it is to Sydney. It's getting towards the end of the wet season up here so there was sunshine when I arrived at a balmy 30 degrees. But I have never known a place where the weather can change so suddenly. One minute bright Sunshine and literally the next torrential rain. Not even time to get your umbrella out, not that it would do much good with the force of the rain. And then ten minutes later Sunshine again.

Darwin itself is positioned on a promontory surrounded by water. It's a very young city, founded in the life of my Great Grandfather, settlers arrived in 1862. The city had been flattened twice, once in 1942 by the Japanese Air force and once in 1974 by Cyclone Tracy which destroyed 75% of the city. So there are a lot of memorials and plaques around commemorating those two events.

Popped over the mountain to the Tourist heavy town of Kuranda in the hills above Cairns. To get there I traveled on the Skytrain, on of the longest Gondola rides in the world, which takes you high into the hills, stopping at a magnificent broadwalk at the peak. Totally missed seeing the large python sitting on top of a bush until a ranger pointed it out. It had a rather large bulge in the middle, indicating some poor rodent had recently been consumed.

Managed to make it to Cairna, dispite the best efforts of the weather to prevent me. The poor Cassoway Coast has certainly been suffering over the last month. First Cyclone Yasi blew houses apart and blocked all the drains with debris, and now record rains have flooded the town along the coast. There has been over half a meter of rain over the past few days and the Bruce Highway is still cut off and likely to remain so for a few days. So I had to take a detour via the Kennedy Highway. Being Australia the alternative route was not an easy option as it added 300Km and three hours to the drive from Townsville, making 7 hours in total. I was a bit worried about what state the road would be in but on the whole it was amazingly good and it ploughed through mile after mile of outback. At one point my Sat Nav said “turn left in 365Km”. There were a few dodgy moments when it went down to single track. Fine most of the time until you got a three section Road Train tearing towards you and you have to shuffle over to the side as far as you could get to avoid being mown down. Went through the monsoon trough that is causing all the trouble about half way and it certainly was raining. Now safely in Cairns and the end of my road journey. The promenade has signs telling you not to go in the water because of the Jelly Fish and the Crocodiles that inhabit this coast. So I went for a swim. But only in the artificial Saltwater lagoon nestled on the Sea front with glorious views over the Coral Sea.

The sun came out today so celebrated by taking to the water and cruising around the Whit Sunday Islands. The boat was an Ocean Raft, which promised all kinds of thrills and spille, and it didn't disappoint, with 2m seas to contend with. You could say I got a bit wet. The trip was worth it through for the stunning scenery and pristine white beaches. Even went for a bit of snorkeling looking very smart in my stinger suit, something you have to wear in case any box jellyfish come floating by. Floods bad again north of here which may disrupt my journey to Cairns. The main road is closed at present under 45cm of Water.

Rapidly moving up the coast towards Cairns, much like the rain storm I seem to be caught up in. Queensland has had a bit of a Summer, with floods at Christmas, Cyclone Yasi last month and now more flooding in the tropical North. I had a small taste of it today with lashing rain driving into your body. Grief knows what it would be like up here in a Cyclone. It hasn’t all been wet, Dropped into Bunderburg yesterday, home of aviator, Bert Hinkler. They are very proud of him in the town with a whole museum dedicated to the man who flew from the UK to Australia in small byplane in the 1920’s. When he returned to his home town, he landed in the main park in Bunderburg and taxied up the street to his parents house. Not that’s how to make a return home. The park has many mementoes including his old house, shipped brick by brick from Southampton. Not many detached properties from suburban Southampton end up in the Queensland Rainforest. In the museum there is also a sliver of wood from one of his first planes in a glass case. A piece of wood that has an amazing history as besides being part of one of the first machines to fly, it was also due to go into space as part of the ill fated Challenger Space Shuttle mission in 1986. After the shuttle exploded, debris was found all along the Florida coast, including the container containing the piece of the plane, completely unscathed.

Yesterday stayed in Rockhampton, which is bang on the tropic of Capricorn, so am now officially in the tropics.