Japan

We took the route to Australia via Tokyo as it's a place we've always wanted to visit. We were there for 4 days / 3 nights. It's a huge city - there are some 42 municipal councils that make up Greater Tokyo. Public transport is efficient and the quickest way into the city from Narita aitrport. Whilst waiting for the train I notice a drinks machine and the first culture shock, firstly, you can get cold and hot drinks out of these machines and, secondly a beverage called "Pocari Sweat", which is an isotonic drink. I mean you can hardly call out, "Hey Chuck! Want a drink of sweat?".

Arriving at the hotel (The Conrad), we were shown to the room. The en-suite has one wall that is glass, so you can look out onto the city duriing your bath or shower whilst the office workers in the opposite block can watch you. There is a blind that lowers for privacy. Staying on the bathroom theme, there was also the most technologically advanced toilet seat I have ever seen. I though this may have just been this hotel but they were common throughout our stay. You get controls for seat warmth (and a warming not to burn your derriere), music to be played, the "flush" sound you like and which (if any) of the jets of water you would like aimed at you (bidet, shower). I kid you not.

Public transport was great - we used the "Yamanote Loop" most of the time to reach the major areas, the downside is that there are many railway companies in Tokyo (JR, Metro, Keisei Electric Railway, etc) so you need to be carefull which ticket you buy. Out into the city itself I noticed two things that seem to be missing: I did not see a single souvenir shop and a distinct lack of green space. Tokyo is very built-up so that when the Apple Blossom starts to come out, whilst we were there, the few parks get very, very crowded with folk. The custom seems to be to take a picnic and canvas groundsheet to sit on and enjoy the blossom. It's a striking event. Ueno Park was very busy.

It was not as expensive as we were led to believe. The most expensive thing was fruit - they don't seem to eat much of it so it can be £4 for an apple. Eating was relatively simple since almost all restaurants have plastic "mock-ups" of the dishes in the window, which can make it hard to see inside the restaurant. So, you can just take the waiter ouside and point. The Conrad is near Shimbashi station and if you take the Ginza exit there is an alley that leads to many restaurants, where you get to eat with the locals.

The culture seems to be that blokes work all day, then go out for dinner with their work colleagues so we didn't see many women or family groups in restaurants. Odd. There was a program on the TV and a lady was saying that she hopes her husband takes up golf when he retires because she's not used to him being about all day and every day and he'll get in the way of her pursuits.

Ever though of a Fish Market as a tourist destination? Well, the Tsukiji fish market is there in Tokyo and it's huge. It closes relatively early but it is interesting in it's own way - huge Tuna weighing 60-80Kg that need two people to lift are raised onto the tables ready to be filleted. If it comes out of the Sea then it's there. Surprisingly, it doesn't smell bad at all - fresh fish doesn't. It's a working market though so beware the small trolleys that are driven round (often at speed), watch out.

Takeshita street (really, it is called that) is where the young trendy's hang out and it's directly opposite the exit to Harajuku Station. Some of the shops are known as "antenna shops" to which manufacturers send prototypes for test-marketing. It's interesting to see what Tokyo youth considers chic. It looked mostly Goth to me. You can also buy a football strip for your dog.

Cairns

Tropical Cairns was reached by an overnight flight. On arrival, as is usual in Australia, you enter an area where sniffer dogs operate. I always thought that the (mostly basset) hounds would bark if they found anything, but they don't - they are trained to sit and put a paw on the offending article. I saw one dog do this because someone had some baby food packed away. One dog was in training an had a coat on with an "L" plate. Cute.

Arriving at 6am in the morning the hotel let us check in very early and catch up on sleep. We then went by bus to Palm Cove - just up the coast. Very pretty, but no-one in the water. A good pointer in Oz is that if the locals are not in the water then don't go in yourself, clearly they know the dangers better than you. A few days after this visit they found that a saltwater crocodile had got over the net and was swimming up and down the protected area. The beach area also has bottles of purple vinegar because acetic acid can counteract stings from jellyfish. The only reason it's coloured purple is to stop people putting it on their fish and chips!

We went up to Kuranda - a village in the rainforest, which I was disappointed in (too much of a tourist trap) and the train that takes you there was not running because landslip had taken part of the track away. Shame. The main thing I can recall is the noise of the place. There are places you can walk in the forest and, although it's difficult to spot any birds or insects, it's very, very noisy. Suprisingly so.

Brisbane

We went to Brisbane for the week-end to see Steve and go to his sister's wedding. We flew with Virgin Blue, a low-cost airline owned by a certain Mr. Branson. It's a really fun airline to fly with and each time I've used it I come of the plane with a smile on my face - can't say that with some other airlines I've used.

Steve was in fine fettle, he even announced his own nuptuals this forthcoming September! His Mum and Dad were cock-a-hoop. Somehow, I even managed to make a date with Steve's Mum to meet her in Bangkok!

On our arrival back in Cairns the taxi driver said we'd missed the tsunami warning - an earthquake in the King Solomon Islands had occured and it was feared the wave could hit Cairns, but it was all over by the time we landed.

We managed to get a trip onto the Great Barrier Reef and dropped anchor at Michaelmas Cay, normally you visit two locations but the weather was rough so we only stopped at the one. We did get to go snorkelling though and it was amazing, huge fish, coral, clams, small fish that were brightly coloured. It's like swimming in a fish tank. Marvellous. After the lunch on board one of the crew throws some prawn shells overboard, the speed and ferocity of some of the fish as they fought for it was awesome.

Tasmania

Launceston Airport is such a small, dinky little place that Jack and Jill (my sister) were virtually standing on the tarmac to greet us. We like Tasmania; it reminded us of Scotland - only warmer. Campbell Town itself is a small town roughly in the middle and on the main street is a line of bricks, each bearing the name of a convict, the ship they came in on and the offence commited, like stealing a loaf of bread. We managed to see Swansea, Bicheno, Bagdad(!), Richmond but not much of the West Coast because, as my sister says, "The weather is crap over there".

We went to Hobart, with it's Salamanca market - it's a biggie and we managed to find a stall selling Ollie Bollen, that's Dutch doughnuts to you. Delicious. We went down to Nubeena for a couple of nights and stayed in a "unit" (holiday chalet) near White Beach - beautiful sunsets and fish that were literally jumping out of the water - you wouldn't need a rod, just trawl along the waters edge with a net. We stayed at Nubeena so we could visit Port Arthur - a heritage site that was once a penal colony. It was a beautiful setting and didn't look too bad for a prison. Of course, the guide put us right on that one, but towards the end of it's life it must have looked like a softer option that Wormwood Scrubs or Pentonville. It's reckoned that one in three Taswegians are descended from convicts.

On the way back we visited the tesselated pavement and crossed the line of dogs; the whole of the Port Arthur Peninsula is joined to the rest of Tasmania via Eaglehawk Neck, a tiny strip of land just 100m across. When the prison was created they put a line of semi-starved, ferocious dogs across to prevent the prisoners escaping and told them that the waters contained sharks. Only one man managed to cross it and he was captured later.

Sydney

Ah Sydney. One of our favourite cities. We were staying with friends at Bundeena about 15km South of the city centre. You take the ferry across to Cronulla then the train into Sydney. After you have marvelled at the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, take a water taxi to Watson's Bay and Doyle''s on the Beach, one of the best seafood restaurants around. Our waitress on this occasion was from Abersoch, small world isn't it?

Our friends were working at ANSTO, where the new OPAL facility was to be opened by the Prime Minister, John Howard, so we got a tour before him - a very interesting site. It even has a Kangaroo sanctuary just by the main gate.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong has changed a lot since the last time we visited a couple of years ago. Huge amounts of building work going on and many more "barkers" or "touts" offering you fake watches and handbags. It's still a vibrant and exciting city though. At the moment they have the Symphony of Lights display at 8pm - the skyscrapes on each side of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island have a light show to music. Very impressive.

Of course, I had to get another couple of suits made so we went to Sam's tailor on Nathan Road, the one where Sam has hundreds of photographs of him makeing suits for the likes of George W. Bush, Tony Blair, etc. In at 10am, back at 5pm for a fitting then pick it up the next day at 5pm - a hand tailored suit in 30 hours.

We also took the bus to Stanley Market, which is much smaller than it was last time. Shame because it's great fun to wander around. Re-development of the quay-side has removed large parts of it and I hope it doesn't get any smaller. We also took afternoon tea at the Peninsula, a must-do if you like a sting quartet over your Earl Grey and sandwiches.

One of the great things about travelling is seeing language used in a different way. In Hong Kong the "House Chop" is not a meal but a rubber stamp on your hotel bill. So, it came as no suprise to me to see a shops called "Dave's Rubber Chops"!