We were welcomed into Sydney by one of Dave's best men, Ricky, and from the start it was class and sophistication as we took the ferry across to Ricky's pad in Manly. The views from the flat were unbeatable and it was a great place from which to explore Sydney and the surrounding area. The hospitality of Ricky and Courtney was average. Only joking Ricky, it was top notch! We started off by "doing the Manly walk (Oi!)" which took us along the coastline ...

We did not really know what to expect from our trip to the red centre but what happened certainly was not what we expected! We started off our trip by arriving in Alice Springs. The hostel, Toddy's, was nice and comfy and we made the most of it before the camping out trip on which we were about to depart. The group was quite mixed and I was earwigging as the French tourists had hired a French guide, extra to the Engish guide, Jerry (who also doubled as cook, driv...

After the night flight to Darwin we bedded down in the wrong guest house for 2 hours (good old Lonely Planet Guide did not realize that the YHA had moved so we were phoning one place but asking to be taken to another). The annoying little man in the wrong hostel tried to tell me that it was 'no worries' but I did not really want to pay twice for one night. Hmm. This did not deter us, however, and we headed off for a walk round the area and down to the beach. We h...

A nice easy flight was just what we needed for our stop in Singapore was due to be a short but sweet visit. Luckily, the flight was perfect and after finding the hotel, we set off to make the most of the 30 something hours we had before our flight to Darwin. The hostel, Sleepy Sams, was our first and last stop in a dorm rather than a private room, it was very nice with air con, nice decor...and hundreds and hundreds of beds! Jo, however, would change the nam...

Back in Hong Kong we arrived, through the back door this time though. A bouncy, bumpy and 6 hour late bus ride across the south of China brought us to the gates of Hong Kong and once through immigration we sailed to Kowloon and back to the same guesthouse we had stayed at a month previously. A quick walk around the local park and off we went to the temple street food market where you can buy all sorts of watches, clothes, trinkets and the like, but no food. So a ...