Whoops! End of the holiday!

Keeping up to date has been harder than I thought it would be! It's now Tuesday 4th September and we are back in KL (at KLIA actually) with 5 hrs on our hands whilst we wait for MH004 to London Heathrow at the end of our holiday. The last entry was over 10 days ago and I was trying to catch up then. So there's nothing for it bu a very rapid resumé of what's happened in between (hurrah you say!)

Perth WA - 1oth-16th August

Visited the south western tip of Western Australia visiting the Cape Leuwin (where the southern and Indian oceans meet) and the Margaret River wine region. Saw amazing Karri forests around Pemberton as well as the Gloucester Tree over 60m tall - we climbed it. Went to Rottenest Island off Fremantle - saw Quokkas (Wiki it here) and dolphins. Met up with Marion's cousin Douglas and met his family (wife Bekky, and Rachael and Tom) in Boldivas.

Canberra ACT - 16th-20th August
Flew to the Australian capital on 10/8. It's a 4.5 hour flight and that's only the bottom half of the country. Met up with Paul Blessington and his family (Margaret and kids Richard and Louise). Best friends at school and not seen since our wedding back in 1989! Toured the city - quite unique and a bit odd really as a completely planned, built-from-scratch place back in the 1920's. Paul insisted I join him for his regular 5km race (yes RACE) with his running chums. It's OK for him but I haven't run for at least a couple of years. Still happy to play sweeper - no one was behind me! Knackered for the rest of the weekend. Lola went sailing with Richard on the Saturday - nothing is more than 5 mins cycle away - and we went to Louise's school to see a play. Highlight was a trip to the Snowy Mountains for a day's skiing on the Sunday. Went to the Mnt Perisher resort - and pretty good even by European standards. Tiring day! Saw loads of road kill (squished kangaroos) on the way back. Very common apparently!

Toronto NSW - 20th-27th August
Caught the (intercity) train (ha ha - not very fast at all!) from Canberra to Sydney, then a commuter double-decker to Toronto where we met up with Roz Skinner - a friend from our Twickenhan days (and the ski fit group). She has only just moved back to Oz after over 30yrs in the UK. Has a lovely house on the shores of Lake Macquarie. Visited Sydney - of course - where we did the following:

• walked from the Spit Bridge to Manley Harbour (nice)
• caught the Manley ferry back to Sydney Harbour (quintessential)
• walked the city and darling harbour (very touristy)
• climbed the harbour bridge (very expensive but an amazing experience - a must-do)
• went to the Opera House and saw a dance production (awesome)
• walked in the surf at Bondi Beach (dude)
• sailed on Lake Macquarie on a 42' ex- Admiral's Cup racing yacht (so there). Trouble was there was no wind!

We had very pleasant stay and it was great again to catch up on an old friend!

Cairns Qld - 27th August-2nd September
Flew to Cairns in tropical northern Queensland and it felt like we were in another country! A 3hr flight and it's only halfway up the eastern side! Stayed in the YHA on the Saturday night (and experience!) and picked up our rather nice 4-berth motorhome from Britz on the Sunday. Drove up to Port Douglas then Cape Tribulation, exploring the beaches (extremely fab) and the rainforest along the way. Highlight was a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef where we snorkeled at three different sites on the Outer Reef. Absolutely amazing and unforgettable! And jumping off the back of the boat some 40km off shore took some doing at first. But there it was - just like all the photos and Jacques Cousteau films you've ever seen. Right there in front of your goggles! Moved inland to the outback and the Atherton Tablelands, and explored that region (Mareeba, Dumbalah, Atherton) where we:

• visited a coffee plantation (Skybury - you can buy it in Sainsbury's)
• drove along a dirt track for 80km
• watched the Atherton Maize Queen festival
• visited the world's largest curtain fig tree
• walked around a volcanic crater lake
• drove the spectacular Gillies Highway

Back at Cairns YHA for our last night. Tip: go the food court in the night market and wait till after 8.30pm when all the stalls reduce the menus to $5!

Brisbane Qld - 2nd-3rd September

Sunday was our 18th wedding anniversary and also a very early start to catch the 6.00am flight from Cairns to Brisbane (PS it was also Father's Day in Australia but my family wouldn't let me celebrate it). But these regional airports do have something going for them - proximity and simplicity! Bed to push-back in less than an hour! Arrived in a sunny Brisbane to meet up with my cousin Aedah who has lived in Brisbane for the last 7 years. Went to North Stradbroke Island in Moreton Bay and picnicked on the beach. Another fantastic place and yet again we had it all to ourselves! Just as the ads in the UK say "where the bl**dy hell are yer?" Moreton Bay is quite a special place for wildlife as it's where the cool-ish South Pacific Ocean meets the warmer Coral sea. So right on cue we saw Humpback whales and dolphins. The former in at least two pods, and they were fin slapping and breaching. And we had a grandstand view from the beach. The breaching is quite stunning to watch as theses magnificent creatures launch themselves out of the sea and crash back with explosive force. The dolphins were also amazing to watch, apparently just plying in the surf and riding the waves. Quite amazing for us Brits, but probably an everyday thing for the locals. There were also Dugong herds in the bay, but we didn't see them. However we had a treat on the drive back to see swarms (the sky was black with them) of very large bats feasting on the evening bugs. In fact they may have even been Flying Foxes. Monday 3rd and we explored the city of Brisbane. A weird sort of city - not at all planned with old bits and swanky new bits side by side, but with its fair share of gleaming business towers and apartments, massive malls, old colonial buildings, and a fabulous city park on the South Bank, complete with a city beach.

In the evening we have a farewell dinner with Aedah at the Breakfast Creek Hotel, one of Brisbane's most popular watering holes. Then it was off to catch the midnight MAS flight to KL....

That's it...

Tuesday 4th September - here I am whiling away another hour at a free internet station catching up. I will edit the text and throw in more photos when I get back to UK later today.

Cheers!!