Jason Harley's Corner of the Web

We landed, hired a car and decided to take in the Great Ocean Road before the city and headed for a place called Anglesea, within the hour we were standing on the local golf course surrounded by Kangaroos. Hundreds of them grazing in the late evening sun. I was convinced we'd only see these animals in the wild outback, but turns out they are partial to a game of golf, with their handicap being the tourists coming to take photos of them.

We moved down the Great Ocean Road, towards Port Fairy for a nights accommodation but had to pass the 12 Apostles. Apparently one of Australia's most photographed part of coast, the rock formations provide picture post cards, but overall compared to the Big Sur drive we had in California, The Great Ocean Road lacks behind a little bit, not least because on most of the road, you can't see the bloody ocean!

One thing you can see is the wildlife and without too much effort as soon as you can smell the eucalyptus, look up and you'll see a Koala bear. We found 2 hanging over the road side doing not much but sleeping. The temperature had hit 37C giving these bears more of an excuse to do nothing and the locals an excuse to hit the beach. We took in both these Aussie past times and hit the beach to do nothing.

Australia is an extraordinarily new country (excluding the Aboriginals who have lived there for thousands of years - and they do get excluded by mainstream Australia... a lot) which means that culture in this country is without tradition. Things happen because they should not because they have in the past. For example, they have drive in Off Licenses - as it's easier to buy your beer without getting out of your car - you can't help looking at things in Australia being initally uncomfortable with them then thinking 'Why Not - what a great idea'.

Melbourne

Melbourne is perfect. Voted the world's most livable city (twice) you immediately find out why. The food is from all over the world and excellent and cheap, the city is new and planned well, the trams are never crowded and most places (despite having 4 million people) you can walk. It's exactly what you want in a city. Take all the best bits of London - I suggest Covent Garden, The River Thames, Restaurants, The West End, The Royal Parks, Shopping, Wembley Stadium and Wimbledon Tennis - now put them all close to each other in a clean city half the number of people, add a beach, formula 1 circuit and some space - PERFECT!

Neighbours

OK so I remember Scott and Charlene (Jason and Kylie) but after 1988 I got a job and have no idea who ToadFace is! Zoe dragged me along on the Official Neighbours Tour to have our photos taken in Ramsay Street and go past several important Neighbours sites. The trip itself was really good fun as they realise just how chessy it all is and we had a laugh taking pictures of Harold Bishop's garden!

Comedy in Melbourne

I got a try out spot at The Comics Lounge and did 15 minutes. They liked what they saw and invited me back to do a 10 minute spot at their Xmas party night a couple of days later. A great room, not full (the temp was pushing 34C at 9pm) but a good night. Met loads of Aussie Comics some who have been to London and some who are coming. If you get a chance see Jonny Katz when he hits London - very solid and a nice guy.

Orphans Christmas in Melbourne

We moved from our hostel into Annie's Bed and Breakfast for Xmas and a few friends had sent cards and gifts for Christmas morning. The B&B was really nice and our host Annie made us feel very welcome with breakfasts featuring the freshest ingredients from the local markets. A really nice treat for the few days around Christmas.

Many of the local pubs put on Orphans Xmas eve nights for those Brits abroad but Xmas day is a beach affair, so with picnic lunch and a few bottles of pop we headed to St Kilda. I'd met a fellow UK comic at the comedy night who I'd known from London (Mark Butler), he now lives in Melbourne so joined us with his girlfriend for a most unusual Christmas day - Champagne, suntan lotion, swimming and a picnic.

The boxing day tradition is everyone heads for the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the 1st day of the 2nd test of Australia vs Another team in this case Pakistan. We joined 61,000 other supporters and the beer flowing freely, it's more about the day than the cricket which was for the best as Pakistan twatted the Aussie bowlers around the ground reaching 318 for 6 wickets, Youhana the captain reaching 111. A few late wickets gave Australia a chance of an even game which no doubt they'll take. Aptly on Boxing day, the violence in the stands seems to increase in proportion to the beer drunk and a few mini riots prompted police to send in snatch squads to remove trouble makers.

The South East Asia Tsunami Earthquake Disaster

We have watched in horror along with the rest of the world as events have unfolded in South East Asia. We had aimed to finish our trip in Thailand and would have been on those very same beaches in a few weeks time.

If you want to donate some of your loose change, then click here now... Disasters Emergency Committee Thanks.

New South Wales 27th-4th January 2005

We landed in Sydney and immediately jumped on a train to Katoomba in the Blue Mountain region (a few hours from Sydney). The mountain range provides spectacular views, walking, camping and a cooler outdoor getaway for Sydneysiders so we explored the area and took a trip to the Jenolan caves along with loads of other tourists enjoying the festive break.

Sydney - New Year 2004/2005

We had planned to be in Sydney for New Year at the start of the trip so with an expected 1 million people collecting around the harbour we got to Milsons point on the North Harbour at 10.30 am opposite the famous Opera House. Covered in Factor 30+ and with good book and a picnic we soon made friends and settled in waiting for the midnight fireworks. A one minute silence at 9pm for victims of the Tsunami Earthquake Disaster, then the mood changed from reflective to party atmosphere.

The theme of this years celebrations was a huge disco ball suspended from the Harbour Bridge and while the fireworks lit up the night, the hard to please Sydneysiders seemed disappointed with the lack of ball action. It just hung there looking pretty and most had expected a lazer light show. Us poms were well impressed.

Alice Springs / Uluru (Ayers Rock) 5th-10th January 2005

With the majority of Aussies living on the coast, the Outback is exactly that - face the sea and anything behind you is Outback. Alice Springs regularly gets to 40C and we headed for the town which was more like the centre of Skelmersdale than the outback post we'd expected. We'd booked on the highly recommended Mulgas Tours (Website) for 3 days and 2 nights Outback and Uluru (Ayers Rock) experience.

Mick, our guide was excellent and with a combination of 'chit-chats' and rock formation demonstrations, guided us through the history and cultural background of the area. Hiking through the Kings Canyon and Olgas was spectacular, however the highlight was Uluru, firstly at sunrise, then at sunset and again at sunrise from a different angle. It's amazing how many pictures you can take of a rock, but it's enchanting. All this and sleeping in a swag (outside) and watching shooting stars, the experience was one of the highlights of the year so far. We'd planned to climb the rock on the 3rd day, it's suggested that it is disrespectful to climb it but we'd also heard that climbing is a spiritual experience, however strong winds and high temperatures meant that the rock was closed. Mal and Nicki from Cumbria, made our 3 days extreme fun and don't think we've laughed so much, had so little sleep and drank so much beer in the last 8 months.

Back to Sydney, we climbed up the harbour bridge - check it out - Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb Website and met up with friends from Fiji and even managed to squeeze in a comedy show with Brian Damage and Crystal Clear, before we boarded another plane and hit Brisbane, Queensland - the sunshine state!

Queensland 11th January -2nd February 2005

A stoke of luck in Brisbane as Zoe has relatives so Neil kindly put us up for a few days as we enjoyed entertaining his 3 kids and swimming in his back garden pool. Comedy is big in Brisbane and a few contacts enabled me to get 3 nights on the bounce performing at Sit Down Comedy and Dockside Comedy. All top stuff performing with some of Australia's top comics.

Brisbane is also home of Steve 'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin and we visited his Australian Zoo to see the man himself in action and an excellent 1.5 hour show with crocodile, snakes, birds, tigers. In addition a chance to feed some Kangas and have pictures taken with Koalas. Check this out - the website of the Crocodile Hunter himself. A few days on the beach with the kids we headed north for Fraser Island.

Fraser Island 3 day tour

There is a song they play called 'Welcome to Australia - you might accidentally get killed' and Fraser Island is the place to see the dangerous sort of wildlife mixed in with the beauty of this sand island. Spiders, sharks, jelly fish, crocodiles, and of the top 10 deadliest snakes in the world, Australia has 6 of them. In fact if there is 2 words you do not want to hear precede any of these animals - it is 'Common' and 'Deadly' yet worryingly most of them are named both. We saw the Common Death Adder (number 7 in the list of deadly snakes) and the Common deadly sea snake (Number 1!!!). Plus the dingos (wild cute dogs) on the Island killed a 9 year old boy 2 years ago. So it is a place to be seen with a guide and ours was Graham, a real Aussie bloke but with the charm and in depth knowledge to keep everyone entertained. The Island is stunningly beautiful and few safe fresh water lakes allow for swimming and wildlife spotting. More info at Cool Dingo Tours

Bundaberg - Midwife to a Turtle

Between November and March, Loggerhead and Green Turtles head for Mon Repos beach to lay there eggs or be born and race for the sea. David Attenborough style we headed for the beach as part of a tour and after waiting a few hours were called to see a nest explode with hatchlings. From nothing in the sand, 98 baby turtles appeared as researchers and scientists counted, measured and educated the on looking tourists. Once they had been collected 6 lucky tourists are allowed to help with their release by forming a path of light with their torches and guiding them to the sea, while the newly hatched turtles follow the light to reach for the relative safety of the water. Zoe was chosen and stood ankle deep in the water encouraging the baby turtles to her and the sea. An absolute amazing experience - it has gone straight in at number 1 highlight of the trip for Zoe having the baby turtles run over her toes. She was even interviewed by a TV crew asking how she felt about the experience.

We hung around hoping to see more and just after 12am got the call that a mother had landed on the beach to lay its eggs. With the help of Rod, our guide we watched as the 100kg, 1 meter long, loggerhead turtle dug a nest in the sand, laid 121 eggs, covered any evidence to protect her eggs from predators and made a slow return to the sea. Unfortunately, the researches felt that she had chosen a place too close to the edge of the dune, so we help relocate all 121 eggs in a safer spot. Our help towards nature finished we returned home at 3am, like proud parents, but hoping that more than the average 1 in 1000 of our eggs would survive to adulthood.

The Whitsundays

We arrived in the midst of a cyclone which seriously reduced our chances of sailing around the Whitsunday Islands. Many other ships were cancelled and the rain had flooded both the north and south exit roads from Airle Beach meaning loads of stuck, wet and miserable people. However, the weather turned and we headed for the Solway Lass (website) to board on Tuesday night with 27 other guests and 5 crew. We spent our 3 days cruising around, snorkeling, swimming, and sun tanning. The food was great and the boat was big enough to spread out and find a quiet spot or join in the drinking every night when we anchored up.

The SS Yongala

One of the top 10 wreck dives in the world, this ship wreck from 1911 is one of the most complete wrecks around. Now covered in coral, the fish swarm to the wreck attracting divers from round the world. Have a look at this!!!... SS Yongala website. The surface current gives a challenge to the best swimmers as you pull yourself on a rope over the dive site, but avoiding jellyfish, sea snakes and curious turtles the wreck opens up in front of you like a lost treasure. The detail is amazing and you can see the kitchen, toilets and further up there is a collection of bottles and even a femur bone from one of the unlucky passengers on board. The marine life is second to none as we saw, countless species of fish - the highlight being a 3m eagle ray and several large wrasse. This is a must for any diver.

Cairns

Our last stop in Australia, this is Great Barrier Reef HQ. A lack of time and money meant that the reef will have to wait for another day (we'd heard mixed reports that the reef is over dived and dying). A time to catch up with laundry, real food and relax a little before hitting the vibrant Singapore on Thursday.