The daytime flight to Sydney was brilliant. Looking out of the porthole of the 747 400 transported us into the mysterious world of oddly shaped salt lakes, myriad acres of desolate red desert and a clear view of Ayers Rock.

We arrived yesterday at about 20.00hrs. having gained a couple of hours. Joe (Rod's nephew) and Kim, who shared Christmas 2006 with us back home in Bury, had kindly agreed to collect us from the airport. They live a ten minute drive from the airport and will be our hosts for the first part of our visit to Australia.

Today we had a walk along the beach at Botany Bay.