Sydney - Melborne - Adelaide

Staying in Sydney was heavenly - I had the luxury of my own room and bathroom, and a flat to myself all day whilst my friends Colin & Keira were out working. I even had my own private, 25m swimming pool - well it was shared by all of the flats but no one ever used it. As I've been to Sydney before there was no pressure to see all of the sights, so I spent most of my time relaxing & swimming! The weather was pretty awful so I didn't feel too guilty doing nothing.

I spent my birthday here, in the day I met up with Rich & Dunc - two guys who I had met in NZ and who are now living in the city centre. Then in the evening I went out for a meal with C & K and another friend, Rob. It was great, as I haven't been to a proper posh restaurant for months, probably not since America, and it was a fun evening.

I did do a couple of things in Sydney - when I was here just over a year ago I had seen absolutely everything - but I returned to the aquarium which I find more interesting now since I've been diving. I also went to a digeridoo show and learnt some interesting facts, like how the word digeridoo is not an aboriginal word, and they are made naturally by termites, not humans (apart from the cheap ones made in China). I also went to see the Lord of the Rings exhibition which reminded me of NZ.

The three of us drove to Melborne, and had a great weekend. Colin being the 'flashpacker' that he is insisted on a hotel, but it worked out well and we got it fairly cheap by sneaking me in to the room. We had a great weekend, it was the Melborne comedy festival so we got tickets to see an English comedian, Ross Nobel. We also saw Kylie's gold hotpants in an exhibition of her clothes and walked round the beautiful parks. After the weekend Colin & Keira went back to Sydney, and I booked myself on a tour to Adelaide.

The tour took 3 days and went via the Great Ocean Road - lots of spectacular rock formations & beaches to mess about on. It was a really fun group, all backpackers who wanted a good time. We also visited the Grampians and went on walks in the mountains. We walked through a rainforest, and I even walked right through the middle of a tree! We saw loads of wildlife, including Koalas, Emus, Kangaroos, an Echidna and Kookaburras, all close up in the national parks. As it was a backpacker's tour lots of drinking was involved, but it was good fun and we continued the friendship after the tour had finished in Adelaide, spending an afternoon recovering together on the beach and lots of nights out on the town.

Out of the three cities - Sydney, Melborne & Adelaide, I think I like Adelaide best. Sydney is the better looking - its stunning harbour must be one of the best in the world - but Adelaide has a really nice feel to it, has lots of green parks and the locals are friendly. Our guide said it is the best because no convicts were ever posted here, therefore the gene pool is much better!