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  Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Thursday, November 3, 2005

Sitting here is Tasmania, looking back at a frantic week or so. Three countries, three planes, two borders and a taxi ride!

After a late flight back on Sunday night to Johor Bahru, we spent a couple of nights in another Hyatt - still enoying the luxury of the spa and the gorgeous swimming pool. Took a walk into Johor and just about got to the mall (after a slight deviation - the map was clearly wrong!) before a massive thunderstorm. Went to see a Hong Kong movie with subtitles which was my first experience of that - another first. There were definitely some moments that were lost in translation - everyone else laughed and we didn't. But we were all crying at the same bits!

From Johor we went back to Singapore, this time in style. No more stuck luggage, buses going without us and lugging backpacks - taxi to use up the last of the Ringgit - I would highly recommend it! Back to a dorm room (bit of a shock to the system) and head out to the city and Chinatown. Saw over peoples shoulders some Chinese theatre with the amazing costumes and makeup (but no subtitles so didn't understand a word!). Spent another couple of days going swimming, exploring some more and chilling out. I think we needed it!

For our last evening we headed to the New Asia Bar for cocktails, 70 floors up, to watch the sunset (well, that was the excuse, it was cloudy at the time). We had a fantastic time - whilst there wasn't actually a sunset, watching the lights come on and the city come to life at night was great. Once happy hour was over (there were 6 of them - we weren't there the whole time - honest!) we headed down to Clarke Quay for a mooch. Having packed before we left, we could safely stay for a drink! And that was our last night in Asia. Watched a fantastic Indian film (made in New York!) back at the hostel before hitting the pillows.

And hello Sydney! Quite strange to be back in the western world and the pockets felt the change too. Cheaper to stay in the Hyatt in Malaysia than the YHA in Sydney!!!!

Had a couple of days to regroup and say our farewells, as Hilary and I were going our separate ways. Did a bit of sightseeing and tried to go swimming. However, when we arrived at the local pool, diving in could have caused serious damage - the pool was empty! So we went for brunch instead and I had the most amazing mushrooms on toast ever. The toast was an inch thick and the juices of the mushrooms had all drained through - so it was just the most amazing taste and texture. I'm dribbling just thinking about it!

You might remember I did my NLP course before I left. Hilary has been a willing client for the trip and we've had some fun and amazing results. The best bit was being able to meet up with Bruce who trained me as were were all in Sydney! We met him, along with Kate and Toby from the British Board of NLP for dinner in Darling Harbour for a fantastic Italian meal and brilliant company. It was so good to catch up with them and share all results of putting my new skills into practice. We had a laugh at the fact that I had brought along an example of my work (Hilary - I had to mention it!) and many more laughs beside. Fantastic to see them all and hope they have a good trip home.

I would share some more photos, but the memory card has been wiped by the machine here in the internet cafe. I'm trying not to cry.

Anyway, moving on. Our time in Sydney seemed very short and I'm looking forward to being back there for a bit longer when I get back from Tasmania.

So here I am in Tasmania, Launceston to be precise. It's lovely! Walked the Cascade Gorge this morning and catching up on some of the stuff that I didn't quite get done in Sydney. Off for a wilderness camping trip next - so if I survive - I should have lots of tales to tell on the next update.

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