We’re travelling up the eastern coast of Australia, heading about as far as the Whitsunday Islands before turning around and returning to Brisbane (which we’ve already bypassed) to sell the car and catch onward flights. The Australian weather hasn’t been particularly kind to us at any stage really: it’s either been way too hot, or […]

“Queensland – The Sunshine State”, reads the subheading propaganda on the local car’s numberplates. Sunshine? My *rse! We’ve seen nothing of it! Given the almost continuous overcast skies and rain to which we have been subjected in New South Wales, we decided to head north across the border and into Queensland–The Sunshine State–and I’ve got […]

Being a technologist (should that be ex-technologist?), I often delight in seeing the implementation of modern technology in everyday environments. Equally, I often wonder if the general public ever stop to think about how such technologies work. For instance, most people can understand how the Royal Mail deliver a letter*, but don’t have a clue […]

Last night we were forced to make imaginative use of a campsite barbecue to cook spaghetti bolognese because our LPG camping stove has developed a rather worrying gas leak. Today’s mission, therefore is to get it fixed. As has been customary for the last two and a half months of our lives, it’s currently weeing […]

We were on our way to Byron Bay and had already battled through six hours of Easter holiday traffic to get within sniffing distance of it. Last night, the Squifter cooked-up a magnificent sweet and sour chicken on the promise that I would deliver spaghetti bolognese to her lap tonight. I thought that I had […]

My friend Jackie, who last year married an Australian and moved to Sydney, has just had a baby, Harry. Congratulations Jackie and Andrew, he is very cute. Jackie invited Dave and I to spend a couple of days with her, Harry and a friend at the family beach house on Copacabana (the Sydney one, not […]

After a couple of downright miserable nights in a very wet national park some way outside Sydney and a further night in a self-proclaimed “International Guest House” my friends Andrew and Mel arrived back from their holidays to their flat in Balmain, just a fifteen minute bus ride from the Central Business District. Hot on […]

No trip to Sydney would be complete without smearing an overpriced ice-cream around your chops at Bondi Beach, mate. I’m somewhat surprised and pleased to report the high level of topless activity on Sydney’s most famous stretch of sand. As I walked the stretch, Claire avoided unecessary movement by placing herself on a bench and, […]

I don’t need to write that the Sydney Opera House is one of the world’s most iconic architectural masterpieces, nestled between the Botanic Gardens, the central business district and it’s Circular Quay and the equally iconic Harbour Bridge. What better way to enjoy Sydney than to experience the symphonic orchestra performing one of the world’s […]

With wet, muddy tent strewn across the back seats of our car, we made our way towards the suburb or Balmain, just outside central Sydney. My old university friend, Andrew, and his wife, Mel, had very kindly offered to put us up for a night or two. The timing couldn’t have been better as we’re […]