Rain, rain, rain. Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. Yes, ladies and gentleman, it's the wet season, and guess what? No irony here; it's wet. There was some irony yesterday, however, when it stopped raining long enough for me to take a shower in the morning. How convenient. So, I'm in Cape Tribulation. It has been tsing solidly for the past 36 hours, during which time we've had about four times as much rain as London gets in one month. Not to be deterred,...

I now have a definite answer to the question "where is the most exotic place you have thrown up?". That would now be without doubt the Great Barrier Reef. Twice. I thought I didn't get seasick. Evidently I do, and without blaming anyone, it's all my mum's fault. Those pesky genes again... So I'm avoiding eating anything until I'm safely back on dry land. Or wet land (this is Cairns). I have been on a boat out at the Reef all day, and the trip out this morning wa...

What's the maximum category a cyclone can be? I'm pretty sure it's five, which is what we're facing today. I have flown into the biggest cyclone ever to have hit Queensland. It's 8am and I've already been evacuated from a seemingly sturdy hostel that has easily dealt with a category four cyclone to a school hall that looks like it'd struggle with a light breeze. It has a tin foil and corrugated iron roof and it is slowly filling with people after the university w...

Before I start rambling on incessantly let me first thank Fiona, who offered me not one but two airbeds to stay on after the first one deflated every night! So we begin with Australia Day, which I know almost nothing about. It's a day to celebrate Australia. Beyond that I'm not sure. Anyway, there were things happening all over the place: classic cars aplenty, two dollar sausage sizzles (basically hotdogs), an air show and a big concert and fireworks at Federati...

Today I finally got to Melbourne! Again! I also had free accommodation sorted, which made me feel very pleased. So we started by going to another memorial and lookout point for the town, followed by a trip to find a giant merino sheep with a shop inside it. As you'd expect. Our final stopover was Glenross, the town of Ned Kelly's last stand. This guy was a bushranger and mentalist with a suit of iron armour and a knack for killing policemen. He also had some ma...