Hello from Brisbane! We have finally escaped the rain - at least for the time being! The humidity here though comes as quite a shock! It was 80% today and is set to stay at that sort of level for the rest of the week! I have no idea how I will cope in Asia! Brisbane city is much smaller than either Melbourne or Sydney. The shopping is pretty good and I have replaced much of my wardrobe already! On the Southbank there is what is known as 'City Beach'. It...

Hello! Australia Day, 26th Jan, should have been a brilliant day! For most Aussies it's bigger than New Year! Their very own public holiday when it's neccessary to be over the top patriotic! The morning was great - we headed down to The Rocks where various stages were set up and people were performing around every corner. It really reminded me of fete de la musique in Angouleme, everyone relishing in the atmosphere and celebrating together. At around lunch ...

Hello again! Or maybe I should now be saying g'day! Our last few days in Melbourne were by far the best! Billy Eliott was amazing! The critics were entirely correct by judging it as spectacular! We had cheapo seats which were supposed to be majorly obstructed but a clear view was had by all so no worries! We went back to the hostel fairly early that night as the next day we were to be driving the Great Ocean Road! We picked up the car aroung 9am - given ...

Hello from sunny Melbourne! This city feels so familiar yet totally alien! There is a real European cafe culture mixed with all the Aussie quirks! It's really random! And the weather!!!! I was warned that it was pretty changeable over here but barely 25 deg to 40 in a matter of days is pretty ridiculous! Still no rain thank goodness but having left a pretty warm Perth the drop in temperature was a bit of a shock initially! The jumpers were out in force a...

Hello again! Happy New Year to everyone! Hope all of your celebrations were great! I'm still struggling to believe that there has been snow at home when I'm sat here in shorts and a vest top! We are still in Perth and fly to Melbourne on Weds - so excited! It should be a little cooler over there which may be a welcome relief! We spent NYE at a Casino come club which was brilliant! Being my first casino experience I felt a little lost at the poker or roul...