21/2/09 We were late leaving for the airport, because our hostel changed its airport shuttle company overnight and their first one didn't leave until 10.45 am. That was OK for us, because our flight wasn't until 13.55 anyway, but the people who had already bought tickets for earlier lifts had to have them refunded and then get taxis in. Now a couple of months ago, around New Year in Cairns, I lost my penknife. I was sure it was somewhere in my bags, but couldn't...

20 - 27/1/09 Our first couple of days were spent looking all over the place for hostels that would let us work for free accommodation. First of all we went to Bondi, but had no luck, so we went on to Kings Cross. Nothing there either, so we tried some in the CBD/Chinatown. Still no luck, and to add insult to injury, free parking was extremely hard to find, and when we finally found somewhere, we came back to find that we'd got a $135 parking ticket for parking in...

16/1/09 This day was spent driving between Canberra and Melbourne, but we actually slept somewhere nonrth of Melbourne rather than in the city itself. 17/1/09 We set off early to Melbourne in order to get as much out of today as possible. The first place we found somewhere free to park was the area of Fitzroy. It's a very interesting place, filled with quirky shops, secondhand bookshops, ethnic restaurants, pubs and some coffee bars. It had an atmosphere quite l...

15/1/09 We set off early and arrived at Canberra mid morning. The first place we went to was ANZAC Parade and the Australian War Memorial. This turned out ot be a bit like the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta, in that it was a museum/art gallery inside. It had large exhibitions about the part Australia played in WW1 and WW2, and some smaller ones about the Korean War, the Cold War and others right up until the present war in Afghanistan. There was also a tomb for t...

13/1/09 The next morning we began our journey down to Canberra. We stopped for the night at Port Macquarie, a place with beautiful views over its harbour and beaches. Before we arrived here, however, just as we were about to pass through Coffs Harbour we saw a sign advertising a Surfing Museum, so on an impulse we went in. We didn't have enough spare change for the $5 each entry fee, but the owner let us in anyway! It turned out he was a famous surfing star a few...