Today was all about getting to Sydney. I took only one tiny detour and that was halfway through the five hour drive to stop for coffee. The ‘free breakfast’ at the hotel had been DIY instant coffee, DIY toast and cereal, so I’d skipped that to save time. Goulburn is what Australia does superbly: Small […]

It’s weird seeing Christmas decorations in warm bright weather. Even more comical is that Australians use snowflakes as decorations – paper ones, of course, the real thing is rare indeed at these temperatures. Australians continue to be friendly types, smiles from everybody, understanding when I don’t know which coins to use or they can’t handle […]

I’ve driven through three lakes today, a dozen kilometres on the lake beds. Which reminds me, I need to find an Australian dictionary and look up the word ‘lake’. The nearest any of them got to water was the mirage from the heat haze on the road. But I’ve jumped ahead a bit. Skip back […]

Australian is a simple language. “What’s the difference between a Hamburger and a Hamburger Lot?” The hamburger comes with salad. If you go for the lot it comes with egg, bacon, cheese, onion and the salad. I went for the lot, no salad. By then I’d already driven 400km, and it was still only 12.30. […]

Driving any distance in the UK is nasty. Heavy traffic, constant roadworks, bad weather, idiots hogging the middle lane. It’s a pain and I hate having to do it. Despite that I opted for the 10 hour drive to my next hotel instead of the 3 hour route I could’ve taken. Australia must surely be […]

I slept well, the best of the trip. I did wake up at around 5.30am, which given the timezones was a good sleep in itself. I rolled over and managed another two hours. Coffee then I hit the road. The road was not a fun place. The first two hours I averaged under 40km/h, and […]