A trip of a lifetime to Australia and New Zealand

Having seen a number of my mates disappear back overseas with calls of "come out and see us" , I decided that it was time to travel to Australia before I got too old. My job at the bank which I had spent five enjoyable years was going nowhere - I later found that they closed my department down a few months after I left. The decision was made and the ticket to New Zealand and OZ was booked. I was finally off to sunnier climes via Hawaii and Los Angeles.

On the 6 January, I jumped on the Tube to Heathrow and was on a trip of a lifetime - bit of a cliche, I suppose. I spent couple of hours at the airport doing the usual things; buying a good book, getting the necessary Duty free ( I had read somewhere that it was a multi-purpose item). Oh yes I had to write to postcard home to the folks, saying that I was going away for a few months to the other side of the world and not to worry.

At about the same time, my flatmate Fiona was heading east to Bangkok , intending to visit Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. A couple of weeks on that island jewel called Ko Samui was also the list of things to do. She also was heading to OZ but had no fixed date to get there. You might be able to guess where this story is going.

I was sitting at a cafe in Cairns, thinking about my trip to New Zealand where I had spent a very enjoyable couple of months travelling around North and South with a fantastic bunch of Swedish girls. Sydney followed that - I stayed at Coogee Bay and walked round to Bondi Beach, which after the North Beach in Hawaii, was a bit of a downer.

I was expecting bigger surf at Bondi but I have since learned that size is not everything. A wonderful trip up the coast to Cairns followed, with stopovers at Aylie Beach ( highly recommended ), Brisbane and Townsville. Cairns was also always a must - one has to visit the Great Barrier Reef and do a bit of diving. It was one of the livelier stopovers on my trip.

Anyway I was sitting at the cafe having a drink and was waitng for the Greyhound out to Mt Isa and onto Alice Springs. I suddenly saw this figure walking towards me. It was Fiona, my flatmate, whom I had seen or heard from for two months.She had just flown from Alice Springs and was off to Sydney the next day. She had just decided to go for a walk and happened to pass by me. I was due to catch my Greyhound bus ten minutes later. It was an amazing coincidence for us to meet. It just shows how small the world is.