This is not a metaphor: yesterday i woke up at the end of a rainbow. Normally being awoken at half past six would not go down to well with me, but when you've slept under the starlight on the roof of a katamaran in the Whitsunday Islands it's really no hardship. Our sailing cruise was the final day of an adventure which has seen us travel from Sydney to Airlie Beach via stunning scenery, amazing wildlife, brilliant parties and amazing people. But it's better if ...

As i'm sure i've mentioned, Australians are not great at celebrating Christmas. But i'll give them their due - they sure know how to party at New Year! Following an eighties expulsion on Christmas Eve and a damp squib at Bondi on Christmas Day, anything was gonna be an improvement - especially if i managed to remain on the premises until the end of the night! Predictably, this didn't happen. Following six cans of lager and two litres of goon (to the uninitiated...

Even when travelling the world was a distant dream, Rachel insisted that we had to spend Christmas Day on Bondi Beach. There was no way we would wish Jesus happy birthday anywhere else. Even when the weatherman announced that there would probably be rain, we wished and hoped that he would be wrong. When we awoke on Christmas morning to see cloudy skies we assumed they would blow over. So we packed up our boxes of wine, jumped on the train and crossed our fingers....

Things in Australia are slightly strange. Drinks that would come in 330ml bottles/cans in the UK are sold in 375ml bottles. Chocolate bars are extortionately expensive - often more than two dollars each - even if the exchange rate were better they'd be more than a pound each. But these are small fry compared to the two major differences between Sydney and back home... Firstly, you are not allowed to get drunk in bars and pubs. Should you display any sign of bein...

The late Bill Hicks once described the beach as being 'where dirt meets water'. For a long time i would have been inclined to agree with that sentiment. But against all the odds i have become a convert... The beach in Sydney is far more than just a stretch of sand which separates the ocean from the promenade. Here, the beach is where the city and the sea meet. Everyone is on the beach - young and old, active and lazy, tanned or pale, beautiful and less so. Whil...