Goodbye Sydney, Australia, Southern Hemisphere

Our last couple of weeks in Sydney were a festival of eating and drinking, eating and drinking, and then saying goodbye. Hayley and Meg, our hostesses in Auckland a year ago at the start of our trip, were out in Sydney for a week for Hayley's birthday, so that was even more excuse for eating and drinking. (Yes, we're both in need of some stomach bugs in Asia to get back down to fighting weight.)

Unable to move after eating the skin of five pigs at Pilu


Not a bad spot for a cocktail eh? Enjoying a free meal at Cafe Sydney courtesy of Faye's friends in the south. Thanks!

Our second visit to Hannibal's for Lebanese cuisine and a couple of hookahs to share

If you like meat, and you're in Australia, go to Hurricane's in Bondi.

And that's it for Australia! Cheerio. I haven't been totally won over by the place, as you might have gathered in this blog, but here are some of the highlights:

Kangaroos in the wild (especially when they hop across the highway in front of you)

Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef

Surfing, when there's a blue moon and I get it right

Tinkerbell, the comfiest van in the West

Travelling in an elderly Japanese van convoy from Darwin down to Perth with Rich, Rach, Jon and Louise - together with the 1978 Nissan E20, known as Team Ernie

Broome, especially the outdoor cinema and the colour of the sea after weeks of red dust

The Ningaloo Reef on the West Coast - amazing snorkelling just yards from the beach

Eating out in Sydney [burp]

(And I have to mention it - winning the first match in the one-day final series of the cricket, on our last night in Australia! If only I'd had more time to enjoy it.)

So that's that for this blog. Head over to brockersinasia.blogspot.com for more...