Spikey hair was a real hit. I only wonder what fun and games I've left behind. Sorry!

Visited the Sydney aquarium..totally excellent place...they've done it really well..the shark pit is really quite disturbing. Went on a harbour cruise...mostly dull..but man, that harbour is so pretty in the sunlight.

Muet up with Aussie Adrian, Peter and Jeff in The Oaks. Waited around an hour for them to come...but it was good craic. It's a pity my holiday wasn't extended by a couple of days.

The kids [and myself] have been playing Harry Potter for the past couple of days now...and it's totally addictive...I'm definitely tempted to buy the books and read them now.

On other news, drove up to the Blue Mountains..had a wonderful walk, got lost for an hour, got scared shitless, drove home, collapsed.

Australia has the most amazing collections of animals and birds who manage to get quite a noise to scare the willies out of you at night. I suspect this is one of them.

The kids were the guides today as they brought me around Taronga Zoo. It was a really wonderful place and although I'm not much of a captivity person, I really feel that this is so important for the kids to see while they are growing up.

Saw bondi beach for the first time. It's not as touristy as I thought it would be. I was told that people bring fridges and sofas out on Christmas Day. I would love to be there to see that. How bizarre.

We went to the fish market and bought some fantastic blue eyed cod and some baramundi. Had some sort of thai style fish for dinner. It was absolutely yummy. Thanks Sharon.

Went for another wander around the city and took in the Opera House. In all honesty, it's a pretty awful building...it's just concrete and metal. In saying all of that, the roof is just awesome.

Then went for a wander around the Botanical Gardens today. It's so amazingly quiet even though it is slap bang in the middle of the city. They allow tree hugging there and, indeed, encourage it.

Finally met up with Jeff and his SLUGers today. They are mostly all pretty cool and it's a pity that I won't be around in Australia for long enough to get to know any of them. Oh well, at least I beat Jeff at Foosball ;)

I've been taking the ferry every day across from Mosman Bay into Circular Quay. I've convinced it really is the best way to go. Another reason to move here.

Sydney has some really excellent museums. I went into the Australian museum and while a lot of it was dull, I was fortunate enough to time it for the World Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards. This was an absolutely stunning array of photos.

Managed to pick up a copy of the Sydney Bouldering Guide and found out that there are two places really close to where I am staying. The rock is sandstone and generally a little loose in places, but there is just some ace bouldering.

This is just a magical place. So many hidden bays...you almost think that you were somewhere far, far away from any life. Until you listen and you see...

No shit.

I will never drink again.

Hangover. All day. Real bad. Real real bad.

Went out on the tear with a guy called Jason [and a few friends] to see some of the Sydney nightlife. It proved to be a rather large session. Started off in the Cargo bar [apparently where they served emu and alligator pizzas] and then proceeded to head to a large amount of pubs between there and the Rocks. Vaguely remember walking around some Sydney suburbs trying to find my way home.

This is what I'm faced with at 7 in the morning. Welcome to Thursday.

Had to get up at 5:30 to catch a taxi to the airport. The driver insisted on talking about cabbage and bacon all the time. Then got to Sydney and talked about linux and macs with the bus driver to the city. Very odd trip altogether..Anyway, I'm here..with the photo to prove it.

Final day in Brisbane. It's been fun. Although I'm not sure if I would like to stay here. The rocks are awesome, the people pretty friendly..I'm just not sure about the atmosphere.

Had a couple of fun days wandering around Brisbane. Not a large amount to see and do..it's still very much getting used to being a city since its conversion from a rural town.

Last night was the conference dinner, and apart from having some woman droning on for hours about legal stuff, it was mostly enjoyable..A couple of beers after made it more so.

Repeat after me - Buy an Airport Card, Buy an Airport Card. These are especially useful at large conferences.

Some really excellent talks at Linux.conf.au. A rather bemusing tutorial with Rusty Russell about Linux kernel hacking and then a lovely php tutorial. It's pretty amazing what they are doing with php these days

I am beginning to like Australia very much. The whole idea of going to work on a ferry appeals to me. I think I am going to like Sydney even more so.

Brisbane remains hot and humid and I'm starting to get dagger looks for having a room with air conditioning.

Why don't they have these things on thinkgeek?

Last night, we went knacker drinking on the oval...except that Aussies call it something different..something with bankers..

So I arrived in Brisbane. Amazingly humid. Well at least it wasn't raining...for a minute I thought it was following me around.

The Japanese are a cool bunch of people. How often would you find tv shows dedicated to childrens football in Europe?

This was the most weird, and quite frankly, disturbing in flight safety video that I have seen for quite a while. They appeared later to demonstrate some in flight exercises.

Flew out a day earlier than I had planned. Everything worked out okay though, especially the luxury of having 3 seats on the way over to Japan.