Dear reader, There are no two ways about it: the south-west of Australia is gorgeous. It's also in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Which is maybe why it's so gorgeous. Because to get there takes wayyyyy too long. And not just because the authorities decided it

This blog is in need of some serious TLC. One post for 4 weeks in Sydney?! Puh-leeze... If you've been waiting for a catch-up post though, this sadly isn't it. Because we just arrived in Perth after a loooong time on a train and there'

It's been 2 weeks since we've arrived in Sydney, this post is long overdue, I agree. But to make up for it, here are a lot of pictures. Very little writing though since BabyPaw is teething (the never-ending story), it's ridiculously hot and the

There's no two ways about it and I'm sure most Adelaidens (Adelaiders?) are aware of this shortcoming but the city isn't very happening. It's pretty and has an unusually high measure of parkland in proportion to its size and number of inhabitants

I promise this is not turning into a flying blog but we went ballooning over the Barossa valley the other day thanks to our friend Tom who 'smuggled' us into the basket. He's really a wine maker in the Barossa but he's recently started

It was 42 degrees Celsius yesterday here in McLaren Vale. You'd really think we could come up with something cooler to do in that weather but no, we went flying. In an open top plane. A biplane to be exact, built in 1992 but after exact plans from

Not too many people know what exactly it is that gets celebrated today but a quick look on Wikipedia tells me that it's the landing of the first fleet in Port Jackson, i.e. Sydney Harbour, in 1788. We're celebrating this momentous occasion in Robe, a

Technically, we've just completed the drive known as the Great Ocean Road since it runs from Torquay to Warrnambool and we passed through there sometime around lunch yesterday. (We only stopped long enough to decide that we'd stay in Port Fairy instead. No offense Warrnambool but

The Anglesea Golf Club is famous for having its very own population of Eastern Grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus). The animals live all around the course and can be seen especially in the morning and around dusk grazing on the fairways and lounging in the shady roughs. Apparently they get hit

When you're travelling for a long time, it goes without saying that there are always 'down times', i.e. days when not a lot is happening. Melbourne was very much 'down time' for us because even though it was a very pleasant stay and

We planned our trip through Australia to make sure we coincided in Melbourne for the great debut of a new reggae band. I mention not the name yet as some of you will recognize the leading man and driving force behind this new revival of Reggae happening down under. Without

What with the floods in Queensland and the Barmy Army invading Sydney, we decided to head further south and are now residing in lovely, leafy Melbourne for a week. There is no central tourist focus point here like the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge in Sydney but it'

Among the many quirks and oddities about Australia, one is invested with much pride by all Australians: the fact that all the animals on their coat of arms can be had for dinner. This may not sound like much but imagine the Brits having a lion steak for tea. Or

I had this whole post prepared about Oprahmania down under and how all the Aussies got their knickers in a twist about a famous person visiting and telling them how wonderful their country is. But as the days slipped past and her Winfreyness was relegated further and further back in

Sydneysiders, that's what the good people of Sydney call themselves. Now that we've taken possession of our cute little apartment in the middle of trendy Darlinghurst, we might be tempted to call ourselves Sydneysiders too but it's just an address really. As soon as

Queensland, and North Queensland in particular, is to Australia what the deep south is the US – the butt of every joke. "Banana-benders" is one of the milder nicknames bestowed upon the inhabitants of this tropical state. (The worse ones generally include cows and some form of sexual conduct.

I'm going to make myself wildly unpopular with any Australians reading this by admitting that I wasn't as impressed by the Great Barrier Reef as I had expected to be. Maybe because we came from spectacular Bali where the underwater wildlife is incredibly rich or maybe