This is a sports mad country so this seems like a good chance to give a halftime report on 'being here'. There's no real suspense - Australia is a winner, but here are a few of the judges' observations.

Plus points scored for:

1. Kangaroos - when you've seen one (I have !!!) you definitely haven't seen them all;

2. Beer nuts - little things but still great

3. Hyde Park - in contrast to the underwhelming CBD in Sydney, this is a terrific oasis on the edge of the high-rise offices;

4. Federation style homes - charming little bungalows almost all of them with beautifully manicured front yards and flowerbeds;

5. RSL's - the community clubs in almost every suburb and town. Wonderfully welcoming to any visitor. Sign a chit and you're in.

6. The "space between places" - nothing is on top of anything else over here. And all that space is filled with pretty amazing scenery.

Judges special award at half time goes to the Sydney suburb of Eastwood. Which we visited for supper last night. It's like a one-stop trawl around every Asian food culture - Vietnamese (where we tucked into huge bowls of soup & rice paper rolls) plus a variety of Chinese Korean Malaysian & Thai. Korean frozen yoghurt is recommended as a desert, though you might want to avoid the "taro" (yam !!) flavour yoghurt.

Points lost for:

7. Bizarre bird noises all around - rather unsettling for a Brit not used to being screeched at in the woods or woken in the small hour by garden fowl.

8. Bossy roadsigns - there's a "do this"/"don't do that" round every corner.

9. Surfer beaches - I don't get them, unless they are a public facility for suicides?

10. Gambling hardware - In every RSL club & pub - even the tiny Commercial Hotel bar on Main Street Gulgong - there are glittering fruit machines crammed into every corner, & betting terminals with multiple TV screens bright flashing lights and God knows what else.