Sydney - Tuesday January 12th 1999, 11:30am

Travelling during Christmas is a bit strange. I arrived at the airport in Bangkok on Christmas eve. The airport was not very busy and many of the workers had some kind of Christmas decoration on their uniform. The stewardesses on the plane were even more colourfully decorated. Mine had flashing red antlers! As long as the pilot was not partaking in the celebration I was happy. I arrived in Sydney early in the morning and even though I had given my friend Mark (met in India) less than 24 hrs notice he met me in Sydney and took me back to his fathers house to celebrate Christmas. I had a quiet day and found it very difficult to get into the Christmas spirit as it was very hot. The next day I moved to DC's (met on the motorcycle trip in India) house in Sydney and have spent the last 2 weeks there. I have had a fantastic time in Sydney. This is mostly because I know several people here which makes all the difference. Sydney harbour is a beautiful place. There are many nice beaches all around the city and there are even some in the harbour. There are also national parks all along the harbours bays and coves. There are also the man made sites such as the opera house, the harbour bridge and the botanical gardens. On top of all this is the amazing weather. I spent most of the 2 weeks meeting up with friends. DC was kind (crazy) enough to lend me his motorcycle (Honda Transalp) a few times. I got to go on three rides. The first was up north to mount white with Mike (runs the motorcycle trips in India). The second was up to Palm beach which is one of the nicest Sydney beaches. The third was down south to a place near Wollongong for a family BBQ with Andrew (again from the motorcycle trip in India) we rode through a national park and stopped at Bald hill to watch some handgliders. Andrew was also kind enough to let me ride his motorcycle, a 1982 Ducati Pantah. There were many memorable days/nights. I spent New years eve with DC and many of his family/friends. We got to a spot just under the north side of the harbour bridge at 2pm and set up a picnic. We left at 2:30am after much food and drink and some great firewroks. Eric (also from the motorcycle trip in India) took me out for a day on the Hawksbury river on his boat. I went with Mark to the Blue Mountains and saw the three sisters. We also had a get together of all but two of the people that were on the motorcycle trip at Greg's (the bloke who made the doco) place. Mostly I just enjoyed the company of friends. Australia seems to be a mix of America and England. The country's size and look (man made stuff) remind me of America but there is much English culture here. The people here have been incredibly generous. Because of this I felt at home. I friend of mine, Ian, arrived from England a few days ago. We hope to pick up a campervan today and head up to Cairns along the coast. Rupert

Auckland, New Zealand