Clare writes: So this is our last day in Australia and we're doing a few touristy things it was too busy in Sydney for at Christmas - art gallery, aquarium etc. My gig in North Sydney went well last night - more conservative than the Melbourne one so I tweaked my material a bit and had lots of positive comments - which is always a relief and good for the muse! Met some lovely people (again!) and some wierd ones... just like home really! Not sure about interne...

Clare writes: hello, hello... sorry about not being online for a week...we've been heading down through unknown territory and staying in some unexpected places over the last few days... along with the usual tourist tick boxes of Byron Bay and now the Blue Mountains. Everyone said we'd love Byron bay and it was an attractive town with jolly little delis, rugged headland, great beaches.....however.... i had an unpset stomach so was laid up for a couple of days, a...

Clare writes: Well, it's New Year's Eve here already and we're looking forward to tonight's fireworks. The jury's still out on our computer problems but we're managing to get online for a bit most days - apologies to those we haven't communicated with as much as we'd planned. We've done loads of sightseeing around Sydney's massive harbour and beyond - walked out across the Harbour Bridge to Cremone Point, ferry to Manly (Sheila swam from BOTH beaches), and all ...

Clare writes:So here we are in Sydney at last! Rather unfashionably, we took the bus - a mere 23 hours from Adelaide. We were a bit worried what our accommodation (booked back in August) would be like and have been astonished to find ourselves booked into the most hospitable motel in the city, possibly the world! Anthony and Anna-Maria, the management of the City Crown Motel, not only instantly invited us to join in-house celebrations on Christmas Day, but also...