22 June

I know I am back home when I can get Teddy Bear biscuits at almost any shop, when I see Vegemite on the shelves in all the supermarkets (but what happened to the 910 g jar?) and when the papers have Australian news in them.

I am really enjoying driving DOUG again. After a short drive to make sure all was okay after his long rest, he's now gone to Donald, Mildura, Broken Hill and Adelaide. He still has to do another 2000 km before next Monday so he will be right for his 165 000 km service. Then we will be off to Perth, but I'm not sure whether it will be early or late July when we do that.

ARTIE is also back on the road. I have to do a lot of distance in him, because of not being home for five months and not being at work. The only problem with clocking up distance will be that he is really a two-hour car and I really like driving long distances without a stop (but the Renault Clio has given me a slight back problem from sitting in it so long at times), but I suppose I will have to get used to stopping every hour and a half or so.

I've unpacked all the parcels I sent home (to Fran's), but haven't found a CD of the tour of Alcatraz I sent. It may be because I didn't look carefully enough or that I have placed it carefully between other things. The plastic container I placed everything into is HEAVY so I will have to get help putting it in and out of DOUG.

I am now very busy concluding the arrangements for my next (and last) overseas trip. My passport and photos have gone in and the final prices and times for everything are filtering through. I will begin posting for that trip on August 17 (I leave on August 18), but because I'm on organised tours for most of it, I am unsure about the routine I will follow for preparing my material and how I will get on with Internet access.