Alex's travel blog

Mt Abu, India

Kyoto's not just about targets for reducing carbon dioxide emission. That was the only reason I'd heard about it, but then I found out it's one of the most popular tourist attractions in Japan. When you arrive, it's not immediately obvious why. It's big and is formed of a monotonous, never-ending grid of streets lined with uninteresting, functional buildings. However, it was the capital city for most of Japan's history. There's a palace, a castle and LOTS of temples and shrines - literally hundreds of them. Some are big tourist attractions and very impressive, like the one below, which I visited in the afternoon after arriving. Others aren't even shown on maps - you just find them unobtrusively sitting among the modern houses on back streets. It's impossible to walk for too long without seeing some sort of temple.

So on my first full day, I decided to just wander randomly. There were a few temples shown on the map that I'd aim for, but hopefully I'd come across some other good stuff. It would also save me paying for a bus pass! The first one I visited had a 'zen garden'. This was simply a rectangle filled with gravel, about 10 metres by 5 meters. The gravel was raked lengthways to form grooves. In one corner, there were two conical piles of gravel. That was it. It sounds stupid, but I thought it was kind of cool, and sat contemplating it for a while. I saw loads of temples during the rest of that day. Some were undoubtedly beautiful, but after a while they blurred into one in my mind and I got kind of bored. It was too hot and I had done too much walking. Towards the end of the day I was walking around the grounds of the imperial palace. The palace itself is contained in an inner wall, and you can't go in without permission. While walking round it I got kind of bored so rebelliously jumped over the small gutter so that I was walking right next to the wall. A loud alarm went off. I returned to the main path and tried to pretend it was nothing to do with me. I expected armed Japanese guards to rush out at any moment, but nothing happened. I guess it's just meant to scare off tourists.

On of the best things about Japan, and in fact all the countries I've been to since then, is the random food. It was great picking up things from street stalls that you can't even identify, buying unusual biscuits from the supermarket and so on. One thing the Japanese are brilliant at is pre-prepared takeaway meals. Check out the lunch I had on the first day.
Oh yeah, another thing I forgot to mention: At the supermarket I used in Tokyo, they give everyone a flower at the checkout.

On my second day in Kyoto, I decided to have a temple-free day. One of the things I visited was an old castle (although it didn't look like your classic western castle - more like a normal house). I felt a real sense of history inside. I saw the room the military leader used to rule from, where pivotal orders in Japan's history were given from. All the walls were made of beautifully painted paper screens. This was lovely, but I still got the impression that Kyoto wasn't living up to expectations - nothing so far had absolutely amazed me.

It was quite scarey, but I thought there was something I had to do to complete the full Japanese experience. I visited a popular public bath (see previous post for description). Although I knew what to expect, I hadn't quite prepared myself for walking into the changing room and being confronted by all the naked, old Japanese men. I realised I kind of had no choice, so I reluctantly took my clothes off. But that was the most difficult part over with. No one paid anyone else any attention, and I didn't have my glasses on and couldn't see anyone, so I was in my own little world. The baths were fun - there were some water jets which you could use to get a back massage which was very nice. Not quite so nice was the area where you apparantely go if you want to get an electric shock. There was no warning (not in English anyway) so it was horrible when I strayed into that area - I didn't know what was happening to myself. There was also an ice cold pool, which was very invigourating. To be honest, I don't know why the Japanese find it so relaxing. I couldn't stay for long in the hot pool - it was too hot.

The third day transformed my opinion of Kyoto. I visited all the more famous touristy temples, and they just got better and better. There was a huge orange one which had lovely gardens surrounding it, including an elaborate bridge over a lake (below). There was one with a MASSIVE gate that you could climb up and get a good view.
Outside one, a schoolboy came up to me and questioned me in very hesitant English:
"What country are you from? How long have you been in Japan? How do you write Kyoto?"
"How do I write it?.....oh! How do I like it!"
I did my best to answer as clearly as possible, but he looked very confused. When this was done, the teacher seemed very pleased and made me have my photo taken with some of the children. Later on, another person came and asked similar questions. I was delighted to oblige, but now I kind of hoped he'd be the last one.

Later on, I passed a temple which wasn't listed as a main attraction in my guidebook, but I decided to have a look inside. I'm so glad I did - it as amazing! You could actually go inside this one and the buddhas and decorations were just breathtaking. A little further along, I stumbled across a terrifying giant buddha rearing up above the surrounding buildings. I then came across a nice park area, then came to some old, narrow streets full of character.

At the final temple I visited, a spring runs out of the rocks; drinking its water is supposed to give you either wisdom, beauty or long life. There are long handled metal cups and loads of tourists leaning out trying to catch the water, which was quite comical. This being Japan, the cups are put into an ultraviolet sterilising machine between uses.

I had to get up at 5.30 the next morning to catch the bus to the airport, for the flight to Hong Kong.

Mumbai, India

At the baggage claim at Tokyo airport, I saw a bald man who looked very familiar. No...it can't be, I thought. I then saw the woman he was with and my suspicions were confirmed - randomly I instantly recognised the shape of her body from behind . It was the Master of Jesus College and his wife! I've had lots of coincidental meetings with people, but this one is my favourite so far. I discovered he'd been lecturing in Sydney, was going to do a lecture in Japan, then was hosting a Jesus event in Hong Kong. What a great job. (He didn't invite me to the Hong Kong event though).

For the first time in 2 months, I was in a non English speaking country. At first it seemed so strange to see all these funny symbols where writing should be. A sign in the train looked like this. But all the staion names were also written out in Roman characters. Getting to the hotel was surprisingly trouble-free and easy. After so many generic backpacker dorms, I loved my hotel room. It was in traditional Japanese style: the floor was covered in straw mats and the bed was just a matress on the floor - during the day you roll this up to get extra space. I was provided with a cotton gown and slippers. Out in the coridor was a vending machine where I could get unlimited green tea. On the top floor was a traditional Japanese bath. To use this, you have to take off all your clothes in the changing room, go inside, sit on a stool and wash yourself, then lie in the communal hot bath. I was pretty relieved that there was no one else there while I was using it.

I had two full days in Tokyo. I hadn't bothered learning any Japanese. Well, I bought a phrase book and learnt 'thank you', 'do you speak English', etc. on the plane, but that's about it. I had persuaded myself that most people would be able to speak English, and I'd be able to get by using that. It didn't really work out like that. On the first morning, I tried to ask the hotel reception for information about how to use the underground system, but the didn't understand me. I headed to the station to try on my own. The people in the information windows didn't speak English, and couldn't even provide me with a map. There was a bewildering away of ticketing machines, covered with that horrible confusing squiggly writing. You could make them use English, but that wasn't much help - I didn't know what sort of ticket I should be buying. The station was in two parts and I didn't even know which side I should be going in to. I had a couple of attempts and got nowhere. I felt like crying. Finally, I bought a single ticket, got to the tourist information centre, and they explained everything for me. During the remainder of the day, I saw some very nice shrines and temples and had a quick look at Tokyo tower (looks a bit like the Eiffel Tower, but red and white).

On the second day I headed to the modern business district, Shinjiku. I had been thinking about getting to Shinjiku station for rush hour: apparantly they employ 'people-pushers' who use big pads on poles to cram as many people as possible onto the trains. Unfortunately, I got up too late. On the right is what it looked like. This is what I'd expected Tokyo to look like, but most of the city is grey, low rise and quite drab. I went up to the top floor of one of the Meteropolitan Government Offices. The view was amazing. It wasn't that there was anything in particular that was nice to look at - more that it gave me an idea of just how big Tokyo is. The land was flat for as far as I could see in every direction. And in every direction the city extended, grey and unchanging, until it disappeared into the haze at the horizon.

Later, I went to the Sony Centre. For some reason I was assuming it would be like an electronic theme park, but it was just a big show room, so not that exciting.

One thing I found cool about Tokyo was the vending machines on the streets, like this one. On it's own, it wouldn't be THAT exciting. But there were machines, no exageration, about every 50 metres on every road. They sold loads of stuff I didn't recognise, which was quite exciting. A popular item was ice-cold coffee in a can, with or without milk. I tried one expecting it to be disgusting...but actualy it wasn't too bad - tasted a bit like chocolate milkshake.

The next day (6th June) I took the bullet-train to Kyoto. This was really fast! Looking at the landscape whizzing by was absolutely bizzare...it was like my brain had speeded up. We sped past cars on motorways as if they were parked. The journey also gave me a chance to see what Japan looked like outside of the cities. My conclusion - it looks just the same as it does inside the cities. I didn't really get into countryside at all. The largest open space we came across was about 200 metres of rice fields. I didn't see any parks or gardens either - any green was provided by scrubby grass on patches of wasteland. Even the rivers were unattractive - they were confined to concrete channels. The track was above the ground for 90 percent of the journey - I guess there was just no space to build it along the ground. It seems that you don't go to Japan for natural beauty...although to be fair I was travelling through the most densely populated part of a densely populated country.

Mumbai, India

After Rainbow Beach I bussed straight to Cairns, which took about 24 hours. The next morning (28th May), I started a diving course. I would have 2 days of instruction in a classroom and a bit of faffing in a pool. Then I'd go to a boat out at the barrier reef, stay overnight there, do some dives and come back to Cairns. I'd fly to Japan the next day (that was the plan).

On the first morning, there was a huge amount of form-filling and signing things. We were then shown some videos which were quite boring. Going in the pool after lunch was more fun. After a bit more faff, we were shown how to assemble the scuba equipment and put it on. It seemed a lot to remember. But going right down under water was amazing. Because you could breathe normally, it felt like being in another world. For me, it was even more of an experience because I had a prescription mask - I realised I'd never been able to see properly underwater before.

On the second day we went in the pool again. We practiced such skills as taking our respirator (the thing you stick in your mouth) out, throwing it behind us and finding it again, and removing and replacing our masks. In the afternoon was some more classroom stuff. Finally, we went through a practice exam that our instructor said was "very similar to the real exam we'd be taking." Oh yeah? I could see what was coming.

I had arranged for a few things to be sent to the post office in Cairns, most notably my passport and visa from the Indian consulate. I went to check - he stuff from my parents was there, but the passport wasn't. They had promised it would be sent on the 24th. I'd used registered post and there was no record of it, which suggested it hadn't been sent yet. Naturally, this stressed me out quite a lot. I phoned up the consulate (during office hours) but the phone just rang and rang. I phoned Quantas to change the date of my flight to Japan. Luckily, I could change it as many times as I wanted: this would be useful because I had no idea when I was going to get the passport back. For now, I just put it back one day, so I'd have a free day in Cairns after the diving course.

Later in the evening, I went to a lecture called 'Reef teach' which was amazing! The lecturer was Irish and was excentric almost to the point of it being uncomfortable to watch. He staggered about the stage, shouted and occasionally threw in ridiculously high pitched or lengthened words...but he was absolutely hilarious. I learned how to classify fish I saw into general groups and learned so many amazing facts about the reef like....um....well there were more amazing ones than this, but I can't remember them: every member of a certain species of coral manages to release their eggs and sperm on exactly the same day of the year, on the first full moon of October of something. Free tea and biscuits were also provided at the lecture. I now have absolutely no self-control when it comes to free food, so I ate so many biscuits I felt a bit sick.

The next morning we took the exam we had been through the previous night. This reminded me of A level chemistry. Even if anyone had managed to fail, they would have been told the answers and allowed to do the test again...as many times as necessary. It really was a bit of a joke. We then took a boat out to the other boat at the reef. I hadn't felt travel sick at all on this trip, but now it took all my willpower to hold my breakfast in.

We did 2 dives during the rest of the day. Being in the real sea for the first time was quite scarey. I wasn't used to going so deep, and getting that horrible salt taste in my mouth and up my nose, etc. For the first few dives I didn't do very well. The idea is to let air in or out of your bouyancy jacket so that you naturally stay at the same level in the water. But no matter how hard I tried, I kept floating up or down. So I wasn't concentrating on the amazing coral as much as I should have.

I liked living aboard the ship - again largely because of the free food. And they had the best kind of meals: buffets! They obviously didn't describe them as 'all you can eat' because that would have sounded tacky...but that's how I treated them.

The following morning, we were wokem up at 5.30. Yes 5.30. I didn't feel like I wanted to be 18 metres under the sea 45 minutes after waking up - but that's what happened. We did 2 dives that morning, and practiced a few skills. After that I was certified! We all went up to the top deck and had a happy presentation ceremony where we got given little cards. I had obsolutely loved the last dive - for the first time I'd relaxed, enjoyed the surreal, weightless feeling and taken in the amazing underwater world. It seemed a shame to get certified, then go straight back to Cairns. So, in a crazy spontaneous gesture, I paid to stay on the boat for another 24 hours. I thought I had better so something about my passport, though, so I used the satelite phone on the boat to call the Indian Consulate. They claimed they'd sent it on the 25th. I briefly felt relieved, which quickly vanished and changed to resignation. If it HAD been sent on the 25th, the post office would have had a record of it when I checked. There were many explanations, but I deduced the most likely one was it had got lost somewhere between the consulate and the post office. But I didn't care because I was doing diving at the barrier reef!

So I did one more dive midday, one at night in the dark (we all took torches) and 3 the next morning before leaving. This would be the ideal place to post some photos.....but unfortunately I don't have any. I was supposed to hire an underwater camera several times. I finally got hold of one for my last dive...I took a photo of the bottom of the boat...then it stopped working. So I'll just have to write 1000 words instead. Wow, the fish are really colourful. Some have simple black and white stripes, some have eye markings like butterflies, some have a whole spectrum of colours. I especially liked the tiny ones which hung around between the 'branches' of these little bush things. My favourite animal had to be the turtle. Something about their slow, lethargic movements and comical shape appealed to me. I also saw a few sharks cruising around on the bottom (apparently they never eat anyone). The coral looked kind of messy - not the pristine white formations you see in promotional photos. This is probably due to the divers - you're not supposed to ever touch the coral, but my lack of control (along with the rest of my groups') meant I kept kicking it. The coolest kind is known as 'Christmas tree coral' - it has these littly blue or white fluffy balls growing out of it; when you wave your hand over them they disappear inside. The coral mainly grew in long walls, but we also had a swim round a circular clump that was like an underwater mountain. While enjoying all this, you can just drift, in 3 dimensions, unconstrained by the usual laws of physics. It really was amazing.

So it was a shame when I had to go back to a mundane existance in Cairns. The next morning I went to the post office. I was supposed to by flying at 2 in the afternoon, but as of yet, I didn't have my passport. It had arrived! So it seemed like all the stress had just been caused by the registered post not registering. I put my flight back one more day, though, so I wasn't too rushed. I therefore had a free day in Cairns. I walked along the waterfront (which isn't that inspiring), went shopping for clothes and guide books for Japan and Hong Kong, and sold my Australia Lonely Planet. In the evening the diving school had hired a bit of a bar and put on a party. I got a bit of free beer and pizza and met up with some of my diving buddies - it was fun. I flew to Japan on 3rd June.

Well here's one photo I could include. I wouldn't say that I grew a beard...more that I just didn't bother to shave for longer than usual.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Next, I stayed at a small place called Rainbow beach. I was attracted by what I'd read about the coloured cliffs, and I was keen to stay in a small village for a change. I spent a full day there, during which I walked up a huge sand dune. What I wanted more than anything was a day laying on the beach doing nothing - I hadn't done that yet on my travels. Unfortunately it was a bit chilly for sunbathing. And this is supposed to be Australia!

For the next 3 days I was on a trip to Fraiser Island. The hostel organises people into groups of 10 or so, the group hires a 4 wheel drive and heads to the island on their own. I had a very friendly group with lots of lovely people in, but unfortunately also some extremely whingy girls. We were also pretty useless, as you'll see. This is the group.

On day 1 we drove to a lake which wasn't particularly inspiring. Then we drove to another lake which looked really nice. The sand was very white and the water was the clearest I'd ever seen. We swam and frolicked for a bit. We then headed to the campsite. Of course, I had no idea now to put the tents up. Staning back and looking on objectively, it was hilarious watching the others' attempts to assemble them. It didn't help that it was getting dark. We finally managed it, though. We then plugged our light into the car and had a delicious barbeque. Someone set up their iPod and speakers, so you could just hear quiet, tinny music if you stood next to the speakers. Everything was prepared for a party! It was a fun night. I wished I'd bought more alcohol. The drink of choice were these boxes of wine, which apparantly are called 'goons' (this was news to me). I shared a box with someone, which gave me the equivalent of half a bottle of wine per night. I thought this should have been plenty...but a lot of the others had brought 2 boxes each. So I lagged behind on the drunkenness. Later, when I was ready to go to bed, I found there were already 2 couples 'sleeping together' in the tent! This was inconvenient. I had under the flaps of the tents with some of the others, and went to bed later.

I'm rather jumping ahead of myself. Fraiser Island is the largest sand island in the world. It's pretty big - we got nowhere near seeing all of it in 3 days. Then again, we spent most of that time faffing. It's hard to beleive it's all sand: there's a standard size beach, and the rest of the interior of the island is covered in forest. We spent the first night in a campsite deep in the forest. The eastern beach is the main highway and is heavily trafficked by tourists like us. There are some extremely bumpy inland tracks which were great fun to drive over - I wish I could have gone faster but I was worried about moaning coming from the back. The sea is shark-infested, but there are loads of lakes dotted about the island which are great for swimming. One species native to the island is the dingo (below), which are an evolutionary relick of dogs before they attached themselves to humans (I think).

We had watched an extremely patronising video before leaving. One of it's main points which was repeated over and over again was DON'T FEED THE DINGOS. We also weren't allowed to leave food boxes or rubbish bags outside during the night, because they can get food from that. Everyone else who talked to us about the trip mentioned this as well. God, how many times do you have to tell us?

So when we woke up in the morning, we discovered that one of our rubbish bags had been left out. We could have been heavily fined if a ranger had found out. My immediate reaction was that it wasn't my fault...but then I expect the others were thinking the same. The trouble was, there was no one in the group who acted as a leader.

We basically only managed to visit one lake, Lake MacKenzie (below), on day 2, but it was amazing. It was even more beautiful than the first day's and the sun was shining brightly. It was also extremely busy - it looked more like a beach at a popular resort town. I could have stayed there all day, but we needed to get moving because of tidal considerations and driving on the beach. We camped out just behind a sand dune at the back of the beach that night, and had a more sedate evening. The sky was clear and the stars were breathtaking: the Milky Way was so bright it looked like a cloud. The night sky is way better in the southern hemisphere, by the way.

When we woke up we discovered our food boxes had been left out. The dingos had taken everything they could in there: bread, sausages and, inexplicably, tomato ketchup. Again, I was sure it wasn't my fault...but thinking about it, I was one of the last people to leave the area where the boxes had been.

We had to fit a lot into that day because we'd been behind schedule on days 1 and 2. First we drove along the beach as far north as we could go, and climbed up the rocky outcrop there. I had decided to show a bit of maturity and try to organise the group, so I had written out an itinerary for the day. This sucked, though, because while people were enjoying the lovely places, I had to go round telling them we had to go. We then drove back down the beach, stopping at some colured sand-cliffs and this shipwreck.

Our last stop was another lake. This one was particularly exciting because running along it's length was a huge sand dune. We had hired a sand-board, and it was great fun sliding down and splashing into the lake, as shown here.
However, I spent most of the time there in a high state of stress. I was under the impression that the last ferry off the island was at 3 o'clock, and we were cutting it very fine. I told everyone what time we had to leave, at the latest, but no one really showed any urgancy. I don't think I'll bother taking on the leader role again. First, I didn't like acting like a schoolteacher. Secondly it didn't seem fair: everyone else knew that I was thinking about the time so they assumed it was under control. They didn't worry about it and could have lots of fun, leaving me to be stressed for the whole group. I became convinced we weren't going to make it in time. The island had been awesome, but I really didn't want to be stuck on it for another day. We were now out of food, I was out of clean clothes and felt dirty all over. I was correct, in that we got to the ferry after 3. But they were still running: the 3 o'clock thing had just been advice because of the tides and driving on the beach. I wish I'd known that before, it would have saved so much stress!

That evening was one of those coming-back-to-civilisation times. Having a shower, washing my clothes, eating a steak all felt absolutely divine.

I had one more day in Rainbow Beach before leaving. I walked down the beach with a guy from the group. We were looking for these coloured cliffs that the guidebook mentioned. We found them, but they were underwhelming. They were kind of stripy red and orange and yellow. Normally I would have been well impressed...but because of the town's name I had assumed, rather unrealistically, that the cliffs would have all the colours of the rainbow! We walked back and I spent some time on the beach. There were some huge waves and I had some great fun bobbing about in them (in the lifeguard-supervised zone, mum). I then wanted to lie sunbathing on the beach for hours, blissfully unaware of anything else. But it was too chilly again. Dammit!

Bangkok, Thailand

Next I went to Sydney. I really like Sydney: it has the skyscrapers, beautiful harbourside location, world-famous landmarks, large green areas and even some historic buildings. As soon as I arrived (on Friday 12th May), I went into the centre and efficiently saw a lot of the main attractions. The Opera House didn't really blow me away - it looks a bit smaller and more squat than you imagine it. But now I get all the fuss about the Harbour Bridge - the thing is ENOURMOUS! Later, I asked in the tourist information centre if any classical music concerts were on. There was one in the Opera House that very evening...and what's more, they were playing Dvorak's Cello Concerto! (My favourite cello concerto). And Anna Hamilton was playing the solo! (Just kidding, it was some Russian guy). (hmmm, I'm not sure if there's anyone reading this that will get that joke. Oh well.) I decided I had to go. It was a fantastic experience.

For the next few days, I stayed with Jan, a friend of the family. Hi Jan, if you're reading. Her apartment is in Coogee, a charming suburb right by the beach. We had a little walk, but after that I was happy to just sit and watch TV. It was such a novelty, I must have wasted hours sitting there watching nothing in particular. England v Sri Lank cricket tests were on at that time, and I watched a good deal of those. The next day I took a stroll along the waterfront to Bondi beach. That was nice, but the stroll back was just tiring. I was planning on moving back into the centre of Sydney the next day, so I didn't impose on Jan for too long. But...I had free accommodation, I was being cooked delicious meals by Jan's flatmate Julia, I was being given wine, I could watch TV...obviously I decided to stay. They were so hospitable...thanks again if you're reading. So the next day I did nothing. Absolutely nothing (that's not counting the cricket, of course). It was fantastic. The next morning was largely spent trying to sort out my visa for India at the Indian consulate, which was a huge hasstle. I was alarmed when I found I had to leave my passport with them. They were going to send it to me in Cairns...but if it was a few days late I wouldn't be able to go to Japan. I was just dreading there being some problem. The day after, I actually got out of Sydney to an area nearby called the Blue Mountains. As soon as I got off the train I could feel the difference: the air was cool and fresh and there was a tree-like smell on the air. I did a couple of walks along cliff tops, which afforded beautiful views over the densely forrested vallies and huge rock formations.

I had one more day in Sydney, during which I filled in all the sightseeing things I hadn't done. For example, I climbed up one of the pillars of the harbour bridge.
I took a night bus to Brisbane. In the morning we stopped at a service station which was topped by this terrifying prawn. The Australians...what are they like?

I was expecting the worst from Brisbane - therefore I was pleasantly surprised. It's a pretty standard city: some nice bits, some not so nice bits. One thing particularly struck me. Normally, a large river running through a city is an attractive feature - it provides a more natural, open space amongst the mass of buildings, and forms a focal point to build around. However, Brisbane's wide, meandering river seems largely ignored - all the buildings seem to face away from it and the centre is a few blocks in. And along the riverbank, is there a stately riverside walk? No - they've actually built a motorway on stilts in the river, which runs along the water's edge for a few kilometres. What a way to make a city look ugly. One of the good bits is an artificial swimming lake and beach by the river, on the other side. That evening, I watched 'Da Vinci Code' which I'd been looking forward to for ages, and thought it was pretty good. Of course not as good as the book - they never are. I just stayed in Brisbane for two nights.

Hong Kong

Goodness, this is difficult to keep up with. Well, it will be a good exercise in summarising.

So, I got up at around 8.20. Actually, it was more like 8.30. I had a dump and had a shower. Then I put some clothes on. Then I went into the kitchen for breakfast. I think I had cornflakes with milk that morning. I normally have cerial - you can buy a box from the shop quite cheaply and it lasts a long time...

Just kidding! So after Melbourne I visited Canberra. It's one of these relatively new, planned cities and apart from being the capital, doesn't have much going for it. I did like the overall design which has a high level of symmetry. The city is built around a massive lake. Parliament house is on one side of the lake, and radiating from this are 3 imaginary axes. For example, one axis cuts through the old parliament house, bisects a row of all the flags of the world, goes across the lake, straight down a long street, straight through the war memorial and ends at the peak of a hill outside town. However, I sort of got the feeling that something was lacking - money? vision? - when the city was being built. There just aren't enough interesting things to fill all the space. Looking at the street plan I saw one area which looked exciting: a point surrounded by concentric circular roads, and perpendicular roads radiating out in all directions. I went to look at this, thinking it must be a prestigous area and a focal point for the city. What would I find: dramatic buildings, sweeping public spaces, fountains. . . Instead I found a series of car parks, and the central bit looked like (and indeed, was) the centre of a roundabout.

The lake was very nice, though, and I set off to cycle round it. One thing that struck me was all the parrots, parotkeets and that sort of thing, just casually living in the wild in the trees all round the lake. Before, I'd only seen them in zoos or cages. By the end of a long day I'd only got got half way round (after making some stops, of course) so I cut my journey short and cycled over a bridge back to the city centre.

The best attraction there was the spectacular new parliament house (above). I went in for a look around. To my delight, a session of Prime Minister's questions was on, and I was told I could go in and watch it. So there I was, a few minutes later, sitting in a room with all the top members of the Australian government, something I hadn't expected. There was some reasonable banter going on and it was quite fun. But the only person I recognised was John Howard. I was willing him to get up and speak, but he resolutely sat there looking bored. When he finally did, it was to ask to leave. Most of the talking was being done by the treasurer, Peter Costello. It's likely he'll be the next Prime Minister, but I don't like him: he has a slightly droning, nasal voice.

Well, I should go to bed, but I'll write about Sydney soon. It shouldn't take me longer than...oooh...2 or 3 months?