Clare writes: Well, what to say about Fiji? We chose it as a destination because it sounded idyllic - a paradise island - but by the time we were due to go there we were sad to leave Australia and not expecting very much. We followed the backpacker trail to the Yasawas group of islands, but i think we had rather a different experience than most. It began ignominiously with a night in a shabby fly-infested hostel with broken air con, then the manager there mess...

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, Miami beach wasn't on our itinerary, but here we are a minute from the surf in, alright - not THAT Miami beach, but a resort with the same name on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane. We had an okay few days in Brisbane - quite a laid back city with lots of nice places to walk along the river - floating walkways, mangrove boardwalk, botanic gardens etc. The South Bank is not dissimilar to London, with big new arts centres and their equivalent o...

Clare writes: After a couple of nice days 'the Sunshine Coast' North of Brisbane is not living up to its name - yes - it's raining again!! We had one nice day on the beach at Dickie Beach (UV danger - extreme, burn time - 6mins) but the next day the weather cracked and all we saw of the Glasshouse Mountains were wierd, spooky grey shapes rising out of wet grey forests and garlanded in whisps of cloud and the next rainstorm. We stayed last night with my old ki...