The last day of our travelling! We started with a reasonably timed breakfast than off to the bus station for the bus ride to Singapore. The bus ride was fairly uneventful - Malaysia is quite well developed with good roads - the place is a little sterile when compared with other countries we had visited.

We arrived in Singapore in mid-afternoon. If Malaysia is sterile, then Singapore is positively antiseptic. Apart from the odd giveaway, you could be in any western city rather than Asia. The problem we also had was that most of it was closed (Sunday and Chinese New Year) so we decided to head out to the airport. We were too early to check in so we looked for somewhere to eat. The options landside are fairly limited but we saw a sign in the lift for a basement food court - this turns out to be the staff canteen which consists of lots of individual stalls selling various types of food - we had the Indian - although the Chinese half were closed due to the new year.

We boarded the flight (initially to Darwin) and endured an uncomfortable flight through the night - they only turned out the lights for an hour (it was a cheap flight). We had a wait of 4 hours in Darwin - time for breakfast at least. The airport was a little small and basic but at least was comfortable. The next flight was another 5 hours and we arrived in Sydney where we were met by Rick (Fran's brother) - where we are staying for 2 weeks.

We feel like we are now on holiday rather than travelling - and being in Australia will let us back into the western world gently. It was wonderful to unpack our bags for the first time and sleep in a comfortable bed. It is beautiful weather here about 30 degrees everyday, and we are enjoying sitting out on the deck at Rick and Diane's house overlooking Pittwater drinking wine!