We took a train from Sydney to Albury in order to intercept Carol C who was stopping in nearby Wodonga as part of her Olympic Medal Golden Tour (hereafter known as the OMG Tour). It was certainly some distance away from our recent Japan Rail experience but the train almost left on time and the conductors didn't bark at the passengers too much, so it was almost a really pleasant journey. Carol C was able to shake her new fan base long enough to pick us up and ...

Some years ago DH had made a pilgrimage to Sydney Australia in order to participate in the World Police and Fire Games but, given the extraordinary volumes of beer that was apparently part of the championship diet of the Metro Toronto Police contingent, her memories of Sydney are shrouded in fog. She was going to take on the tour guide responsibilities but after stumbling through a number of pubs in the Kings Cross area, it was time to hit the Tourist Info booth...

Hard on the heels of the Brunei we found ourselves in Sarawak which was originally part of the Sultanate of Brunei but it was ceded to the British adventurer James Brooke as a reward for help in putting down a rebellion and Brooke ruled it as his personal kingdom and he was even made a Rajah by the Sultan (I suspect the Sultan had heard of soccer hooligans and decided that a title and patch of land in northern Borneo was a small price to pay for peace and quiet)....

Most guide books and tourist sites will suggest that Brunei, and Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) in particular is barren of anything interesting to see or do. And It's true that there is a limit to the number of things to see (and the biggest sight around, the Royal Palace, is off limits), but we found Brunei to be source of fascination. It was less about the sights and more about the history and status of the tiny sultanate (it was also our first ever Sultanate so...

We had a bit of a slow start to our time in Kota Kinabalu and we missed the local governors birthday party (who has a birthday party at 7:30 in the morning?) but by the end of the day we had seen everything KK claimed as a highlight. Our own highlight was a small Sikh temple that was hosting a wedding- not only did we get a complete tour of the temple but we were introduced to the bride and groom, posed for numerous photos, and were invited to join them for the w...