Australia

The next stage of my trip was Australia where i spent just 3 weeks. I wasn't so sure if Australia would be as good as Asia but it defintately was. Stepping off the plane in Perth the first thing i noticed was, 'hmmmmmm it's not horribly sticky and sweaty'. Although I had got used to the humidity it was amazing to leave it behind. I spent just under 10 days in Perth staying with my cousins and had a fantastic time, mostly just resting after 3 month of travelling. My first few days there involved sleeping, eating, swimming and errrrrr sleeping some more on Cottesloe beach (White Sand and clean water). On top of that i went to a Casino and doubled my holiday budget!!, watched a football (soccer) match, explored the city. I also visited Rotnest island which was a 30 minute ferry ride from Perth which was an a really good day trip. Because there are so few cars on the island everyone cycles and there are maybe a hundred or more pristene, yet deserted, beaches with crystal clear water and place to Snorkel all of which you can easily cycle to.

My next stop was Melbourne which was a really fun city with plenty to see and do. I stayed in Williamstown with Carol, Roger, William, Rebecca and Sarah who were very friendly and left me well placed to explore the city. I had a break from Melbourne to venture about 270km inland to the Grampian National Park and stayed in a place called Halls Gap from which I went bush walking, biked up mountains and saw lots of Kangeroos. While i was there the temperature was in the mid 30 degrees and was nearly 40 degrees when i left. (I was only 70km away from the Australian Horsham as well which was funny).

After returning to Melbourne i took the overnight bus to Sydney and spent the day walking arounf the city in the pouring rain. I stayed with Sue and Steve who, on the following day, very kindly took me on a tiki tour of the Coast line south of the city center and had a swim on Bondi Beach.

From Sydney i flew to New Zealand.

Malaysia, Singapore

I didn't have as much time as i would have liked to visit Malaysia so I decided to only do the West side. My first stop, Penang, was really nice. I only visited the main town, Georgetown, which was a really nice old colonial city with lots of old buildings and excellent food. The main difference i found between Malaysia and everywhere else i visited was that Malaysia was much more ethnically diverse - 90% of the population is Chinese, Indian or Malay. So i could have a nice curry in Little India and then wonder over to Chinatown for some noodles.
After Penang i went inland to the Cameron Highlands, it was considerably colder up there which was a nice relief. I spent 3 days there and spent half of each day trekking in the jungle and the other half watching films or reading which was pretty cool. I also found a lady who cooked the best curry dishes i've had. so i had indian food 3 breakfast lunch and dinner all 3 days.
I then headed off to the Capital of Malaysia, Kualar Lumpar - Basically a big Asian city. The most spectacular things there by a long way were the Petronas towers which were simply incredible. Next was Melaka which was like Penang just more touristy.

Overall i really enjoyed Malaysia (especially the food as always) but didn't have enough time to see it all. I then spent 3 days in Singapore exploring the city before heading off to Perth in Australia.