It's a sad sign of the times when one is on the other side of the world, seeing amazing things, like the cast of Finding Nemo whilst snorkeling off the coast of the Whitsunday Islands, or enjoying glorious weather or just doing something different everyday that whilst appreciating all these wonderful sights and sounds the only thing I really want to be doing is either a) sleeping or b) drinking a cup of tea whilst watching some cheesy tv.

I know I'm moaning, I'm tired. My poor brain is saturated with three months worth of wonder and now I'm looking forward to all my home comforts, the greatest appeal of which is that I don't have to ooh and ahh in amazement and gratitude at the sight of every new town or beach or brightly coloured tree.

They are all very nice in their own ways, but it gets a bit monotonous when every town has an Anzac Memorial, a Flinders Street* a McDonalds Olympic/Millennium Plaza/Park/Walk surrounded by oddly harsh and sterile (although brightly coloured) architecture.

I preferred New Zealand to Oz, much nicer place to be as a rule. Although it was good to get back to Australia and back to a proper city.

This trip has basically confirmed I'm a European at heart and I don't think I could live long term outside the good old EU. I like a place with a culture thats been around more than 2 centuries and where that culture is actually ingrained in society (again, another reason why New Zealand a lot better than Australia, don't get me started)

So, I'm back home in around 2 weeks now and I can't wait. I'm just deliberately ignoring all the things I have to do when I get back, ie: find a job, move out of home, plant my feet firmly on the ground once more... You know, real life. Ask me in 3 weeks, i'll wish I was back out here. Oh well, C'est la vie. The grass is always greener and all that I suppose.

*Damn you Matthew Flinder! Apparently this guy is so important in Australian history that every town with more than 3 streets feels the need to pay homage to him by naming a street after him (much like Notts' City Council did with Brian Clough Way) thereby confusing hundreds of thousands of tourists per year who have just figured out that there's a station on Flinders Street in Melbourne then are told there's actually a hospital/pet shop/takeaway/brothel there when they get to the new town.
You would think that you could tell the difference between towns but when they are all set up in a grid with the same street names ie: Flinders, Elizabeth, William, Queen, King, Adelaide, etc it gets a bit confusing remembering not only which city you are in but also in which direction the Queen Street is in comparison to Flinders in this particular town with the sun shining at an approximately 30 degree angle perpendicular to the ground and the Southern Cross hovering above that homogeneous shopping mall so it should be left at these lights. I think.