Very wet as I headed onwards and upwards moving up the coast of Queensland. Called in at one of Australia's most visited attractions, the wonderful Australia Zoo, formally the home of Steve Irwin. As you can guess the place is choc-a-blok with Crocs, most of them captured in North Queensland from areas where they were proving a danger to humans. It's not good just relocating the Crocs as apparently they home. The place is full of all kinds of fauna from around the world all in very animal friendly enclosures. The show is stunning. Like the Lion King with real animals. How on earth do they train a Crane to fly in across the park, land in the stadium, strut around and eat a few fish and then walk off to around of applause. Popped into the animal Hospital as well. Quite bizarre seeing a Koala snuggled up in a sleeping bag, a Wombat with a plaster cast and a fruit bat being given oxygen.

From beautiful Byron Bay moved on up towards the Gold Coast. Took a final trip up to the lighthouse and the cliffs at what is the most easterly point on the Australia mainland. It really is a magical place and from the cliffs you can look down on pods of Dolphins playing in the water below, and Stingrays flapping by. The Gold Coast is a bit of a contrast. It is like someone has taken an avenue in New York and plonked it down on the edge of the Ocean. It is quite a surprise to see the skyscrapers in the distance as you head towards Suffers Paradise. Today arrived at Brisbane, yet another city founded as a punishment settlement for repeat offenders. The city centre is held in a loop formed by the Brisbane River, the same river which brought such terrible flooding into the heart to the state capital just one month ago. The devastation was quite appalling, with the destruction still much in evidence along the waterfront. But the city is fighting back with teams of contractors digging through the mud and reconstructing the buildings. I can tell I am sub-tropical now as I have a lizard on my veranda and there are some massive fruit bats flying about.

Headed north again this time towards the beautiful Port Macquarie nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Hastings River. Another beautiful stretch of coastline in the way up. Went for a walk along the cliffs and met a rather large Lace Monitor coming in the other direction. Now Lace Monitors are not poisonous, but have rather unhygienic eating habits due to the way they feed, which is usually by sticking their head up a dead Kangaroo's bottom and eating the insides, so a bite gets very infected. Needless to say I gave it a wide berth. Today ventured even further north taking in the Waterfall Way. I saw one, which is hardly a "Way", but it was a nice one. Also passed through the town of MaClean, which thinks it is in Scotland. It has an annual highland games and pictures of Nessie in all the shop windows. The image is slightly spoiled by the 35 degree heat. If they wanted reality they could at least have simulated driving rain and a howling gale. Arrived in Byron Bay this evening and climbed up to the lighthouse just in time for a fantastic sunset. Was a bit freaky coming down the the dark.

Left the City of Sydney and headed north towards Newcastle. Not the Tyne version but Newcastle Upon Hunter. It's much the same as it's namesake back home except for the fact it's 30 degrees warmer and the girls wear more clothes. Oh and you can understand the accent which helps. It's a bit more industrial than Sydney, instead of Cruise Liners in the harbour there are Oil Tankers creeping out between the heads. On the way up dropped in at the Australian Reptile Centre where they have a big Alligator breeding programme. Obviously they think that Australia doesn't have enough dangerous species already and they want to up the numbers by breeding non indigenous reptiles as well. And very successfully by the numbers in the lake. They also had the usual deadly serpents and spiders to thrill the kids.

Yesterday left the heat of the city and ventured west into the Great Dividing Range and more specifically the Blue Mountains, so 60KM west of Sydney. The last time i was here, in 2000, it was thick fog and I couldn't see a thing, but Friday you could see for miles, a truly spectacular view. From Katoomba you can gaze over a vast basin filled with millions of Eucalyptus trees, all giving off that peculiar blue haze which gave the region its name. You can be dropped down the worlds steepest incline railway 415m to the bottom where there is a forest walk, or for the intrepid the start of the climb back out. I took the cable car out. Today just wandered around the city taking in the views. It was to hot to do anything else.

Back in Sydney, still the most stunning city in the World. It certainly is anyhow on a day like today, with glorious sunshine lighting the effervescent Quay framed between the steel gray of the colossal Harbour bridge and the pale white sales of the stunning Opera House. Arthur Philip hit the nail on the head in 1788, when he declared Port Jackson the finest harbour in the world, having the previous week turned his nose up at the port suggested by Captain Cook, Botany Bay to the south..I did all the tourist things today, starting with the Bridge Climb. Yes I did it before, but that was 10 years ago. Once every ten years is not excessive and it is one of the great events you can do in the world. It takes three hours, but feels about 30 minutes as there is so much to see. The views are amazing, from the Blue Mountains in the West to the Heads at the mouth of the Harbour. In the afternoon I had a tour round the Opera House and then caught the ferry back to Darling Harbour. I had the Bridge on my left, the Opera House on my right and someone changing a babies nappy right in front.

Left Victoria and entered New South Wales as i head up the coast towards Sydney. It's not for nothing that it is called the Sapphire Coast as every turn on the road reveals another stunning vista of rolling green forests reaching down to golden sands and Sapphire seas. Stopped at Eden for a look around the killer whale museum. It holds the bones of old Tom, a killer whale who, around the turn of the century was renowned for helping whale hunters track down humpbacks for harvesting. He used to drive them into the bay where the whalers would kill them and then allow Tom to feast on the whales tounge as a reward. Onward to Sydney now.

Headed west from Melbourne into Grippsland, home of the ninety mile beach. On the way out of Melbourne popped into Pinoak Court in South Vermont. Just an ordinary suburban which looks much the same as any other, you may think, although the fact it has a load of ‘Road Closed’ signs stored at the bottom of the drive, ready for action, give a clue to this areas claim to fame. For this road has seen so much tragedy and heartbreak over the last quarter of a century it has a solid place in the history of Australia. For it was here that Lucy started choking requiring an emergency tracheotomy from Clive the Doctor. It was here that Daphne went into labour and gave birth without even removing her knickers. And it was here that Scott changed heads before catching Charlene the mechanic, breaking into her mums house, launching the romance of the eighties. Who needs Gold Fields and Colonial History when you can visit Ramsey Street itself. Weather was overcast so decided against heading into the mountains and so stayed at water level exploring the scenery around the great lakes, Wellington and Victoria. Now at Lakes Entrance which surprisingly has the entrance to the lakes at its centre. Fantsitic view over the coast from my motel room.

Headed into the Gold Fields with a trip to Ballatt in the interior of Victoria. Exactly 150 years ago this was the place to be, when in February 1851, Gold was discovered in them hills and a mad dash to grab a piece of it saw thousands flock to the area. It’s a much calmer city now, with a very eclectic Gold Museum filled with interesting snippets. There is a man made lake in the North of Town, where the rowing events took place for the 1956 Olympics, something they are keen to remind you of. According to the Lonely Planet the lake is just a dust bowl now after many years of drought. Well update. After all the rains of recent weeks it is now overflowing, much to the delight of the swans cruising on it. Took a detour to Hanging Rock on the way up. A massive slab of rock giving tremendous views over the countryside. Climbed to the top and had a small picnic.

Made the crossing of the Bass Strait to arrive in the capital of Victoria, Melbourne. Often eclipsed by Sydney, Melbourne has a lot going for it, a very cosmopolitan city with a distinctly continental feel. It has its own part in history, despite being not being created until 1835, when John Batman purchased the land from the Aboriginal occupiers for a bit of flour and a few clothes. Boy did they get the wrong end of that deal. The Old Melbourne Jail was where they hanged criminals, the most notorious of whom was Ned Kelly, who met his end in the jail at the age of just 27. The original gallows are still there. A rather macabre practice in the jail was to take death masks of all the executed bodies so you can see exactly what the condemned looked like as they departed this world. Took a trip 88 floors up the eureka tower for a 300m view above the city. Fantastic looking down on the clouds below.