Originally a stop in Thailand on the way out of Australia seemed like a good idea. Then on the news we could see the floods getting worse and worse and we tried to cancel the few days we'd booked in Bangkok to no avail. We'd be allowed to re-schedule for a later date but couldn't cancel. So with the prospect of just losing money we decided to go ahead anyway, especially after having read various accounts on the web that the newspapers, as typically happens, were exaggerating the extent of how bad things were in the city. Then a week before going Thai airways changed the time of day of the flight, meaning we'd have to go the next day and lost out on a day anyway. Maybe I'd just forgot in the time since I'd last visited, but the heat, noise and garbage came as a bit of shock. Mothers and babies begging next to skytrain escalators across the road from 5-star hotels. It was no hotter than in Cairns but with the humidity and concrete it just felt hotter. And though there was no flooding in the city we could see, there were sandbags everywhere just waiting for the water to come, and we saw plenty of flooded areas as we landed. With our three days there we couldn't take a day trip to Autthaya because the trains weren't running. And we couldn't take a ferry on the river because they weren't running either. On the upside, maybe due to all the cancellations, the hotel gave us a free upgrade to a big room, and they had a rooftop swimming pool with a great view of the city. This was K's first chance to see South East Asia (and who knows if I'll ever get a chance to come back here) so we did manage to squeeze in a few of the tourist spots - from the Reclining Buddha, Jim Thompson's house and we walked around the Palace in the afternoon heat like complete amateurs before collapsing at some crappy cafe on the Khao San Road with heat stroke. We had arrived into Bankgok in time for the Loi Krathong festival, which normally would have been a really cool site, seeing thousands of candles and lanterns floating on the rivers and lakes everywhere. But I think the locals were rightly pissed off with any spirits responsible for the waters and the night was pretty quiet. We went to one large city park with a lake and, judging from all the tat sellers on the ground at the entrance, thought it would be crowded and there would be floating lanterns everywhere. But there were hardly any, and their flames went out faster than any new ones were lit. We got a chance to sample the delights of meals and beer for $2 on Sukhumvit Soi 38, the guidemap's recommended spot for street food. And it was exactly as advertised - cheap beer, fried rice, noodles and general surrounds that would make restaurant health inspectors speechless. It was only after walking around that I realised it was the same street that I'd stayed in a hostel that last time I was here.

We couldn't really leave Australia without some sort of visit to the Great Barrier Reef. That was the one place I wanted to visit more than any place in the bush I was slightly worried on the flight up that I might experience some pain on the decent as I'd recently had a cold and had trouble like this before. Unfortunately I was right. My forehead exploded in pain shortly after our decent into Cairns. It really felt like my head was being torn in two from the inside. It was agony. I was surprised to find myself still alive when the plane landed and I seemed to be ok twenty minutes later. Thankfully It turns out to be a real complaint and not some sort of stroke. We were staying in Palm Cove, a small hamlet on the beach half an hour up the road from Cairns that almost gives the appearance of one single private resort. We had a hotel room in a self catering place with a pool which was just as well as there was certainly no chance of swimming in the ocean thanks to the jellyfish and crocodiles. The weather was a constant 30+ degrees the whole time, and 10 minutes parked in the sunshine was enough to turn the car steering wheel to molten rubber. But despite everything burning in the sun the weather was perfect almost the whole time. Before our day trip to the Barrier Reef we had a couple of days to drive through plenty of tropical rainforest, both in the Daintree further north and Kuranda right next door. The countryside was a huge chain from Sydney and only familiar to me from movies; I either expected to see helicopters dropping napalm onto fields of sugar cane or gorillas among the forested hills beyond. We bought fresh mangoes from the roadside and I even ate my first crocodile burger (yes, like chicken). We were promised plenty of wildlife, or at least there were enough signs warning us on the way. Unfortunately the only wildlife we actually saw was confined to Bird World. However, in fairness to Bird World it was class. Every single parrot you could imagine and all cheeky enough to hop on your shoulders looking for any loose threads or buttons to nibble. On our final day we went to Port Douglas further up the coast an hour for our day out to the Barrier Reef. Despite being a Monday in the low season the tour was full and we were given free cups of tea and biscuits to munch on while we cruised the 45 minutes out to the reef. We had signed up for the basic tour but there were a million extras offered for a price - from scuba lessons to marine biology courses to helicopter rides. All of these extra which were advertised over and over gave the trip a bit of a sour commercial taste to it. However once out there, in the water and in our full length lycra suits to protect from any stringers, it was great. And though It was my first time snorkeling no amount of swallowed sea water (and there was a lot) took away from the experience of seeing, swimming with, all the fish and coral and giant clams. Unfortunately the day was almost over as quick as it began - leaving the reef at 3ish left time only for lunch, a quick spin on the glass bottomed boat and one good swim in the water. And that just left me hungry for more.

I should have mentioned this first. But I was only reminded by one particularly big roach coming in the window the other day and running behind the TV. Before coming to Australia I would have always associated cockroaches with filth but here you can see them running around on pavements outside at night anywhere. And plenty of times we've left windows slightly (or completely) open on hot summer nights only to have these thumb sized unwanted guests.

They still give plastic bags away everywhere, to the extent that I collected then faster than I could get rid of them. It's not just plastic bags though; plastic food cartons and boxes are used way too much and most of it just goes in the bin.

This is probably another one of those things that goes hand in hand with a nice climate. Lots of places selling mountains of gelato. As opposed to frozen blocks of ice cream.

Last day in work yesterday. Surprisingly, I've lasted longer in this job than in any previous ones. So to me it felt like a bigger goodbye. But part of that was undoubtedly that I'm just not going to "see you around" or have a chance to catch up to see how peoples career's are going; I'll probably never see any of these people again. So that feels a little strange. Also in the back of my mind is a constant reminder that I'm freely giving up a good job in a country with a good economic situation to move somewhere where there's neither. We've been lucky to get somewhere to stay for the two weeks since moving out of our old place. Moving out was threatening to be a disaster as the vacuum cleaner keeled over and died literally the night we were cleaning up and left us with no other choice than to clean the carpet with our hands. We've shipped as much crap as possible, thrown out tonnes of perfectly good clothes and towels and kitchen utensils just because we can't fit them into the one suitcase each the the airlines so generously allow us. But spending the last couple of weeks back in our old haunt was worth the short move. It's so much nicer here, the weather has turned all summery, as if the place is trying to get us to reconsider leaving. We have actually being trying to change our travel plans as we'd booked a few days in Bangkok on the way out but that's now impossible with all the flooding. This is the first time that I've used a travel agent to go anywhere and the first time to get full travel insurance so that's got to count for something. Anyway now that I'm finished work I've got a few more days to take those last photos of places I'm unlikely to visit again. It's not like I'm can casually drop by anytime soon.

In almost every pub/bar and in many cheat-eats places once you've ordered your food your given a beeper to take to your table which then buzzes and beeps when your food is ready for collection. Why isn't this everywhere?

I was pretty surprised to be hassled by security guards leaving a shop when I first got here, asking me to open my bag so they could check I wasn't shoplifting. When there's someone standing sentry at the door to a store you can be pretty sure he'll be stopping everyone leaving and having a look in their bags. I didn't think shoplifting is such a big problem over here. But the hassle of it all has been enough to make me think twice about entering somewhere just to browse if I have a bag on my back.

I was surprised to see that schiztel was a popular food here (maybe something to do with wartime immigrants?). Anyway, while probably not as large as those from more germanic speaking locales, I will miss being able to order a giant wiener-schitzel for a reasonable price.

Good idea for cold beer in a hot climate. And still comes in a manly pint-style glass. Also will miss: twist top beer bottles - simple and saves a lot of dental wear and tear. And also on the topic of beer, I will miss Coopers.

Complete with ye olde' time squat bottle and ring pull cap, this certainly does his the spot on a hot summer afternoon of which there are many.

I know meat pies are originally from the UK, but before coming here I'd hardly every had one and I'm pretty sure you can't get them at all in Ireland. But whatever about their origins they're firmly established in Australian culture and this particular chain (popping up absolutely everywhere in Sydney recently) has been pretty good to me on lunchtimes..

Having spent most of my time as a predestrian, I absolutely won't miss the ability of cars to turn across junctions during a green pedestrian light. This results in car traffic creeping closer and closer to people walking across junctions to intimidate them to run to the other side. I've had cars honking at me because I was apparently walking to slowly across the road even though I'd barely stepped onto the road for 30 seconds. Stupid rule and stupid drivers.

This probably comes as a necessity in water-scarce Australia but they're a simple addition to the humble loo and save tonnes of water.