We drove into Sydney today. We overnight here and board the Diamond Princess tomorrow for New Zealand. We dropped off the car after having logged 11,500 km. (the Europcar agent was astounded). Also did 1,000 km. in Tasmania with another car.. Driving wasn't too difficult. A bit stressful in the cities but the GPS saved us. The drivers here are not bad except in Melbourne and Sydney where they are very agressive. We had a Hyuandai Accent. Not much power on the hills and I really missed cruise control (tough to keep a steady speed but no tickets). Good fuel economy -- about 14 km/l or 7.5 l/100km. Price averaged about $1.50/litre. Our ground touring involved a mix of ocean and inland routes. Some of the inland routes were quite interesting while others somewhat more mundane, but our objective was to experience Australia in all its various forms and we did that. The weather has generally been good -- very little interruption of our touring due to rain. It was a little on the cool side for a couple of weeks in mid December, but the days were generally OK with cooler temperatures at night, which was actually good. A really satisfying part of the tour was the people. Virtually every Aussie we met was friendly and the service good. In fact, we can't recall a single location where we were not met with a friendly face -- in stores, restaurants, hotels/motels, tours, etc. This was a good vacation -- long but interesting and satisfying. Now it will be relaxing for 2 weeks -- with no driving.