I got back yesterday from 10 days in Cairns, a week in Sydney and a 2 day stopover in Singapore. I promise I will write up the trip report over the next week or so, and post the link here. I am too tired and disoriented to do much more than note down a few highlights at the moment.

This is my first experience of Jetlag, and not one I am enjoying. Managed to hold out until 9pm last night (after aprox 90 minutes sleep in the previous 36 hours) only to find myself bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4am.

Overall impressions : Australia is wonderful - I loved nearly everything. I started having serious thoughts about the possibility of emigration (Yes I know holidays aren't like real life) - looking at job vacancies and housing prices.

Highlights: Snorkling on Great barrier reef - no amount of Jacques Cousteau programs can prepare you for the sheer wonder of it.

Rainforest - I found it enchanting - the noises, smells, strange animals etc.

Birdlife - I am not a great birdwatcher, but the mornings in the sydney apartment watching the antics of the Rainbow lorikeets , cockatoos and galahs were brilliant.

I am currently trying to make sense of, and label, some 2000 photographs (arn't digital cameras wonderful!). This task alone is going to take some time (but something to do at 4am).
Then to write up a travel journal - I have about 20 pages of handwritten notes, but was not very diligent in writing up things on a daily basis - so have about half of Cairns and most of Sydney trips to remember and put down on paper.

As it is about 3am Singapore (and Tim's brain) time, I will stop this rambling for now.

Tim,

So glad you liked us!! Australians never get tired of hearing how wonderful their country is and I'll bet that you were asked a million times "And how do you like Australia?" by Aussies when they met you.

We tend to take our fortune at living in Australia for granted!

Really looking forward to your trip report as I am just planning a month in Australia next March and also a few days in Singapore!

I am looking forward to the report too...big birthday coming along in a few(too few!) years and Australia is looking favourite. You said you liked "almost" everything, which suggests there was something you were not too keen on?

Well you don't want to say everything was wonderful , it would make the Aussies bigheaded !

All the negatives were minor, or nothing that could be helped, but as you asked !

I disliked waking up at 2am and having to visit the Emergancy room of the local hospital with renal colic and suspected kidney stones, but I can hardly blame Australia for that (and the medical treatment I recieved was excellent). Because of this, I spent the next week on high doses of painkillers and anti inflammatory drugs - this meant that I was not quite able to do everything I had wanted , but this could have happened anywhere so it is irrelevant to my impressions of the country.

The few times I encountered Australin flies, I found them particularly intrusive and persistent.

I was disappointed in most of the Australian beers I tasted.

If I am really being picky, the music of John Williamson being played on the Kuranda scenic railroad was some of the worst I have ever had the misfortune to listen too

It's a long way from Italy !

As I said, the negatives were very minor, and far far outweighed by the positives. Overall I was deeply impressed, and will almost certainly visit again for a longer period.

It's good to hear that you had a good time in Australia. Cairns and tropical Queensland is one of my favourite regions. We all hate the flies, but have learnt to live with them. Picnics are mainly 'waving of hands' affairs. The action is called 'The Great Aussie Wave.'

Elly

It sounds like you had a good trip Tim. We've had some great beer so far. I'm not certain they would be up to the UK standards but they are definitely very similiar to the microbrews we have in the US. We've been sticking with the microbrews and not been drinking the brews from the major breweries.

Yeah, the flies are pretty bad. We experienced them out in the bush a lot. Fortunately they haven't been bad here in the South.

I also love OZ. We're definitely going to have to come back in the future. There is so much to see and do.

What about Fosters? We love that beer.

Ginger

Fosters is a Victorian beer, but pretty much available everywhere.

My husband's choice of beer is Coopers from South Australia which can sometimes be difficult to get.

Beer in Australia is quite expensive compared to European prices. Micro Breweries are very popular.

Elly