When you are not on a coach tour ("seven countries in seven days…") it should not be surprising that the pace of life and events is more rational and the arrival of (in quotes) exceptional things to see or do is more rationed. Which does not mean that the quotidian is any less valuable as an experience of what it is to live in the places you have temporarily inhabited.

Or in plain terms, when it rains you stay indoors and wait for it to stop raining. Even on the other side of the world.

It rained a lot in the last 2 days. For UK readers I had better define "a lot". I mean "a f*** of a lot..". Places within a hundred or so miles of Sydney have been flooded - some have declared local disasters. People have died.

Meanwhile I went shopping in lovely carpeted, air conditioned malls in a place called Chatswood (shoppers heaven might be a better name). And if you put in the hard yards around the malls, I'm here to tell you that even with high costs in A$ terms and a crap exchange rate, there are bargains to be found.

The economy here is supercharged by comparison with the UK. Exactly what underpins all this spending (and the affordability of what seem to be very high prices) I can't say. "China pays for all of this…" is a version of what several people have told me.

It's more unsettling to hear from a local construction company exec that he can make more money flying in civil engineers from Europe than hiring locally qualified staff. That sounds to me like the beginnings of a bubble. And we know what bubbles tend to do…

Musings apart TJ threw a barbi today and a great time was had by all. The rain more or less held off, the food and chilled drinks hit the spot and the dogs (which were a bit of a centrepiece - it's a long story…) were mostly well behaved.

Tomorrow the sea (or at least a ferry across the harbour…)