Sydney The first thing we did in Sydney was have a very tasty pasta lunch. The second thing we did in Sydney was have a nap. We then took the bus down to Sydney Harbour for our first view of the bridge and the opera house. They were both impressive and striking. The bridge is like a big version of the Tyne Bridge and has a beautiful curve to it and the opera house was gleaming in the sunlight. The opera house has a slight municipal swimming baths quality about...

Road trip in numbers 4950kms driven 3 states and 1 territory visited 2 timezones (Queensland doesn't do summertime) 1 parking ticket (undeserved in our opinion) 9degrees, the lowest temperature we saw on the thermometer (it was colder at night though) $18 the price we paid for a blanket from an op shop (charity shop) to keep us warm 2 patches of snow seen in the alps 5 - the most kookaburras seen at once 1800m the highest altitude we reached 3 places where we ...

Australia has lots of free campsites around which are all listed in the bible that is 'Camps 6'. They vary from just a lay-by with a longdrop, to eco-water-recycling-super-loos and complimentary cups of tea provided by the local lions club as part of the 'driver reviver' scheme, to peaceful little woodland enclosures with no trucks and hundreds of birds. After a little bit we've got savvy to avoiding roadside sites (which seemed to specialise in bad BAD toilets...

Bits between Sydney and Brisbane The travel guides would have you believe that this is all a fabulous area as it is where most Sydney dwellers (Sydneites?) go for their summer holidays. In reality the larger towns have been a bit of a disappointment but looking a bit harder has meant we've found some lovely places. Almost all the holiday resort towns are built around the mouths of rivers. They have various beaches, boating opportunities and good fishing (Aussie...

More wine please... We drove from Canberra to a nearby roadside pull in but suffered a pretty rough night of sleep. A road-train got stuck in the camping area having pulled off the road and not realised it was only for cars. Somehow, and with an impressive series of reversing manoeuvres, he managed to escape; we watched this going on through the curtains in the van, feeling relieved we'd parked where we had. Sadly all the engine revving and reversing 'beeep be...