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 […]

Did I say I’d be sleeping on an A380? Hmm. About that.. Even getting on it took a while. The gate lounge opened so I grabbed my bags and walked up to the security checkpoint, started emptying my pockets. The guy asked to see my boarding pass then told me to go away again for […]

Ah, air travel. It’s just superb at finding ways to annoy you. Halftime in the football I go to check in for my flight. The travel agent’s website gives me a check in reference, I find the Singapore Airlines site, go to their check-in page and it tells me the check in reference is the […]

Sat on a rooftop in Singapore, the sun only partially blocked by the verdant display from the window box, I struggled with a tricky question. Do I use the tumble dryer so that I can wear my jeans today, or avoid the risk of everything shrinking and hope it all dries more naturally. The laundry […]

Singapore is the sixth country of the trip, if you include the UK. I do, I had to do some travelling and had lunch there, which is more than I managed in Cambodia. I’d pointlessly set my alarm to be sure of getting up in time. Disembarking at 9am gave me a chance for a […]